showmaster | SHOWMASTER HEART GAME (SATURDAY)

SHOWMASTER HEART GAME (SATURDAY)

A familiar voice can be heard above you, you're not sure if they're talking to you or not but it does feel like you're part of this conversation:

"What a Wonderful Story that you have. I've read it many times when I was feeling sad. You know, I wanted to keep it in my personal collection, but it doesn't seem that's going to be possible. To grant my wish, I'd have to sacrifice what it means to be a reader ... to become the story. That's The End that I'm looking for.

...

...

...

...

..."

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[As you walk through the door, you find yourself walking down a wooden plank path where flowers are growing alongside you. The smell of the ocean becomes stronger and stronger as you get closer. It's dark, but slowly above you, you can see stars glistening above, illuminating the area to where you can see just a little better at what you're stepping through.

The flowers you're stepping over seem to be . . . covered in writing. Little words handwritten, some printed, some typed, but every single blue petal is covered in words. If you touch one, you'll find they feel like paper.

As you get closer, the sky begins to brighten slowly just as if dawn was approaching. Once it's bright enough, you realizing you do find yourself facing . . . a beach! A beach where the tide has pulled away a good distance, but a beach nonetheless. The sand on your feet, the shells on the ground and the scattering of flower petals littering the area wherever you go . . .

In the distance is wet sand where the ocean used to be.

There is a small child, hunched over, crying.

You can still see the stars in the sky, a splattering of different colors, and the three moons that are familiar to you. There is also just a random door in the distance, an odd thing to see, but it does have a floating "exit" sign above it.]

[ well, this isn't entirely unfamiliar. moving to pick up a shell and hold it to his ear to see if he hears anything. first. ]

... this is probably when they were separated.

[reaching over to give his hand a quick squeeze]

I'm glad neither of us are alone.

[heading towards the figure crying after he says that, carefully]

[It is 1000000% a smaller child version of the Showmaster, covered in terrible scars that don’t seem natural, stitching that seems to be keep patches of skin together and pieces of fingers and toes missing. She’s only in a hospital gown, no shoes, quite distressed really.]

Edited 2026-01-18 02:49 (UTC)

Yeah, me too.

[before he listens to the shell and gently puts it back down and turns to them, ]

[ that's. a lot. glancing at gingham and then moving to sit next to her]

Hey.

[The child doesn't respond, they just cry and cry and cry.]

[coming to sit down next to her also]

Hey. You want to try and take a deep breath with me?

[ nods a little, letting gingham take the lead. hey celi i guess i should ask what the pain/distress meter feels like i imagine it's a lot - ]

[ reaches over to gently put a hand on her back while gingham talks, tho it's slow enough that he'll retract it if it seems appropriate ]

[It is probably like 100 on a 100 scale, it's NOT GREAT.]

[Hence, she's not very good at taking deep breaths right now. Instead, she starts to get up and try walking as if she's trying to find the edge of the ocean. After a while, you can hear her start wailing for her brother.]

[startled as she gets up, he'll stand as well and head after her]

Hey - at least let us help you look, okay?

[ getting up to follow after, too. ]

Yeah, we'll find him. It's too dangerous to run into there alone.

You'll never find him, he's gone forever! He's gone! He's not even my brother anymore!

[She doesn't stop walking though she really probably shouldn't be with the way her feet look.]

[ well. that hits a note that's too familiar to him when he races to catch up, ]

Hey. At least let me help you, okay? With clothes, your feet's just going to get more hurt - We can help, he'll still be there.

[The little child flops into the sand, face first, and just starts flailing her limbs in the biggest upset of her life.]

[trying to gently move her upright just enough that her face isn't on the ground,]

I'm so sorry. I know you're having a really hard time, but - we don't want you to hurt yourself on accident.

You can't get to or help him him if you get hurt.

[he says, nodding along shifting to kneel with them. while gingham tries to get her seated can he help ? heal her at all? ]

[Eventually she's going to get tired and give up on moving at all, just small hiccups and sniffles as she just lets them do whatever they do.]

[hesitating for a moment, before]

Do you think you can stand up if I help you?

[sorry little showmaster. ]

We're here, you're not alone.

Where are we going...

We can go wherever you want. Or we can stay here for a while, if you aren't ready to leave yet.

[ not into the ocean he wants to say, ]

Whenever you want. You want to find your brother, right? I know how that is - we can find him, whenever you're ready, family is forever.

[You can tell that she looks distraught. If she leaves this spot, will this be yet another mistake that she makes? What if she can't trust these strangers either? If she doesn't go, will she be responsible for more of her own brother's pain?

Even if she doesn't say these words out loud, it seems to be apparent that these are the kinds of thoughts she's having.]

...where?

Do you want to decide, or do you want us to help you choose which way we head?

THE BEACH (REGRETS)

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cw: child harm

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Re: THE BEACH (REGRETS)