SEMPER VIGILANTEM

At this point, Hiyori considered putting her hands over her ears in hopes of blocking out his words. A long list seemingly appeared out of nowhere and Hiyori braced herself for the onslaught of nonsense he was undoubtedly going to spew. And sure enough, there it was.

Screaming tornadoes? She clucked her tongue in annoyance as she envisioned cyclones with huge mouths screaming nonstop. Hiyori grimaced  – the idea itself was enough to tire her out.

“Your request is terrible! And it’s barely the first one! This won’t help Amaranth in any way at all.”

“I don’t want to hear the rest of your list. I just came here to drop this off.” She slid her note into the box, a pout on her face.

Her sentiments were obviously shared amongst the others who were patiently waiting their turn to drop their own comments and concerns into the suggestion box, their annoyance shown in glances at imaginary wristwatches or turning tail altogether to wait for a better time. Even for those who remained silent, although his suggestion was far from being implemented by the gods of Eternity, most felt that they were already  weathering a storm of nothing but absurdity.

Bill, for his part, looked put upon in the extreme - hands against glowing sides as blue magic worked at the task of fitting the overlong list into the suggestion box. It was clear they’d come to an impasse and would have to agree to disagree, or else be trapped in an endless loop of Bill reading another ridiculous suggestion and Hiyori pointing out how completely terrible it would be for anyone other than him. “I’M UNAPPRECIATED IN MY TIME,” he sighed, somehow giving the impression of shaking his head in disappointment despite possessing neither head nor neck. “BESIDES, LAST I CHECKED, NO ONE SAID THEY HAD TO BE HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS."

She bristled at that and the urge to swat him across his face like a fly came up but no, no, she doesn’t want a repeat of that again. Her impulsive nature had gotten her into trouble too many times and this wasn’t the place. “I don’t think anyone enjoyed your so called party.”

Sighing, Hiyori watched as he rummaged inside the box, reading off the suggestions. Some of them were nice and others a bit silly (a potato, really?).

“I don’t think so.” She said as she clutched the paper tighter. “Isn’t that invasion of privacy? I’m sure these are only meant to be read by the people in charge of Amaranth. Besides, I don’t really want to know what you want.”  

A dark hand was pressed to glowing bricks in an over-exaggerated gesture of offence at the implication that none of Amaranth’s residents had appreciated his year-in-the-making extravaganze. “I DID!” Bill’s words were spoken as though that excused all the damage done over the course of those two turbulent weeks. He was the only one who had but, despite his showman persona, he hadn’t done it to entertain the masses. The line he often gave about how it was to everyone’s benefit to peer beyond the grey curtain of reality was just that, a line. It was all about fun - however obscure his definition of it was.

With the various submissions already broadcast to anyone within earshot and discarded to the concrete below, dismissal of her objection would have been more conspicuous in its absence. "PRIVACY SHMIVACY! BESIDES, DON’T YOU WANT TO GET THE CREDIT WHEN THEY PLOP DOWN SOME NEW BUILDING AT YOUR REQUEST?” This was an old routine, one he trotted out to all the visionaries reaching beyond their grasp to ask for his knowledge, and one that probably wouldn’t move someone who’d seen his true colours. “HERE, I’LL START!”

So the prophecy came to life; the demon was trying to turn him to sin. All the same, wasn’t this what he wanted? Elysius had ruled with benevolence and proved it to be ineffective. Now that Shade had his own chance, wasn’t it smarter to teach his underlings fear over love? However, finding justification for hurting an innocent person, that was the hard part. He couldn’t see a way around it. Surely an empty bluff wouldn’t work against this group…? They stared at him expectantly, waiting for a show.

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this. Harming the innocent isn’t usually my style.”

He threw a hand and summoned a cloak of darkness. The smarter of the group decided to leave before his threats became a reality, while others stayed out of a sense of machismo. Humans were a stupid breed. The first thing he did was grab a stick and rake it across his inner arm. Blood cascaded down, staining his hand; it didn’t look like his own from a first glance. Shade repeated the same process for his other arm. He walked about the crowd, sizing up the most cowardly of the group the same way a wolf chose its prey from a herd. A woman, he picked out a woman, stroking her neck with a finger. Wet–sticky–warm. She screamed. It was enough to make half the group run, while a select few moved towards the sound to ensure the woman’s safety. Shade grabbed and pulled the woman back, hands around her throat to asphyxiate her. As soon as she fell unconscious he dropped her to the ground. That was all the damage that needed to be done here. He lifted the darkness over the area but left himself looking like a monster; eyes pure black, breathing a dark smoke into the atmosphere, dripping blood and standing over what looked like a corpse with its neck stripped. The rest of the group bolted. Shade waited a minute before his lips turned to a smile. “Do you really think that will have a far reaching impact? …Regardless, we should probably leave before the authorities come, and before she wakes up.”

The other’s time spent in thought was a show of prudence, given the fact that the gods of Eternity had made it clear that widespread damage to their little slice of paradise wouldn’t fly. If someone managed to get around the failsafes inherent in the physical laws of the universe (as he had months prior) they would set it back with a wave of the hand and a slap on the wrist - tabula rasa. If Bill was the demon on his shoulder, he was lending an ear to the angel.

Not that Bill wasn’t content to wait for the deity to reach his own decision. Often these things required a subtle touch and he’d already said his piece. He watched the tittering of the crowd with the passivity of a saboteur watching a train derail until he was decried. “HEY NOW, I’M NOT MAKING YOU DO ANYTHING. I’M ENCOURAGING! TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS.”

Yet it seemed he had already made up his mind, shadows answering his call only moments after Bill had spoken. The dream demon kicked back in midair to watch the show. Show was certainly the operative word, as the actual damage was minimal. It was theatrics and the cover of darkness did the heavy lifting. When the last of the audience had recovered from tripping over their own feet and started to put as much distance between themselves and the pair as possible, he offered his opinion.

“I GOTTA SAY, I’M IMPRESSED! YOU’VE SURE KNOW HOW TO SPIN ‘EM! AND TRUST ME, WORD GETS AROUND. YOU EVER PLAY A GAME OF BROKEN TELEPHONE? I BET IF YOU HEAR THE STORY A FEW DAYS FROM NOW, YOU WON’T EVEN RECOGNIZE IT.” To make his point, Bill snapped his fingers, causing a newspaper with a nonsensically exaggerated headline about what had just happened to appear and drift down to cover the woman’s closed eyes. Too bad he couldn’t stick around to see the look on her face when she came round!

“Yeah, how about no?” Hien crosses his arms and gives Bill the stink eye as he pours the drink out on the floor–the one that he just spent scrubbing for two hours on. “I don’t give a damn if I was popular or not. Do you know what it’s like getting picks up against your will and forcibly snuggled? They put me in a hutch, Bill, a hutch!”

“I had to chew my way through the wires to freedom! Not to mention you turned my pet cat into a loaf of bread, so I see no reason to forgive you.” Hien’s blunt–maybe a little too blunt. It’s how he’s always been. He makes no effort to reign in his emotions when he dislikes someone. It’s funny. Hien’s biggest descriptor used to be “very polite,” but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“I’ve led PLENTY of insurrections before,” he continues, curling his lip at the yellow triangle. “Pull another stunt like that, and I’ll do it again. I have no time for tricksters and mischief. If you want me to forgive you, then you’d have to sell your soul to me.”

It was a long shot. Much like his partnership with good ol’ six-fingers, it had taken only a year to sour. The onslaught of hardships Hien had faced at his hands were weathered with bricks shuffled to face the cupboard again, his attention focused on rummaging unbidden through its contents again - no doubt with the intention of further ruining everyone’s appetite. “IT’S NOT LIKE ALL OF THAT WAS MY FAULT. SURE, I UNLEASHED UNBRIDLED WEIRDNESS ON ALL OF AMARANTH, BUT WEIRDNESS IS AS WEIRDNESS DOES!”

Quoting mere semantics, he concluded his search with the finding of a sugar bowl, removing several cubes from the top to make his next point. “YOU WANT CATS? I CAN GIVE YOU CATS!” With the blue glow of magic, each cube morphed into a cat. (They were only ‘cats’ in the loosest definition of the word; a few resembled sabre-toothed tigers moreso than housepets and ranged in size from palm-sized to nearly as large as Bill himself. Those in the latter category were deposited on the floor; one went to lick up the honeyed tea he’d poured out earlier.) “NO HARM, NO FOUL, RIGHT?”

Oh great. Of all the residents she had to run into, it had to be him. And at a party no less! Though she really shouldn’t be surprised– it seemed that he had a particular affinity for said events. And while she didn’t mind parties, his idea of a fun time was completely different from hers.

Simply ignoring his touch, Hiyori clutched the folded note in her hand, deciding whether or not if she should submit her petition. It wasn’t much, just a suggestion or two, but she didn’t doubt the higher ups would gloss over it.

“Yeah. I want to ask them if they can set up a restraining order. You know, so a floating triangle won’t hijack someone’s body.” A lie of course but she was still sour over that.

“YOU THROW ONE PARTY AROUND HERE-- FIRST BUNNY BOY, NOW YOU. SHEESH! CAN’T A GUY CATCH A BREAK? IT’S NOT LIKE YOU WERE USING IT AT THE TIME!” Although the reasoning was technically sound, the callous principle of it was enough to make anyone bristle.

Returning her stolen personal space, he lifted the lid off the box with all the mischievous glee of a child pawing through a cookie jar, unfolding the little thoughts inside each ballot and reading each aloud tactlessly. Most of the suggestions were humble and carefully considered (one asking for another library, another for help in organizing celebrations for holidays that existed back on their former world) while a few were on the sillier side, and one person had left an entire potato with a face carved into it at the bottom of the box.

Shade, too, raised a brow. The triangle was beginning to remind him of the God of Fear–all smiles, but a vile poison deep within. There was one difference; the God of Fear lived up to his title well, whereas the triangle had the aura of ‘village idiot’. Then he was accused of moping.

“Of course not!” He could feel uncouth embarrassment swelling inside, for moping was exactly what he’d done so far. “It’s just…” How could he ever excuse inaction? His wishes were simple; to gain the respect of the people, and to rise in power equal to that of the green-haired goddess. Easy, no, but better to work towards that than wallow in self-pity. “I want to be feared. Like you.” How had HE managed it? These people didn’t dare to act against the demon.

That vehement denial drew the lines of Bill’s eye upward in his equivalent of an impish smile. Even those who chose to waste their eternity away dwelling on ‘what if’s and ‘why didn’t’s never liked having it pointed out but, in this case, the god’s intent to change that was more interesting to the dream demon than most others’ - so much so that he was happy to nudge him in the right direction. While the caveat ‘like you’ might have been intended to butter him up, he was biting the proverbial fishhook with full awareness of that fact.

“SAY NO MORE! I’LL GIVE YOU THE CERTIFIED BILL CIPHER METHOD, FREE OF CHARGE! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SET OFF A DIMENSION-WIDE APOCALYPSE.” From the finality of that statement, it was doubtful that any fuller explanation of ‘how’s and ‘why’s was forthcoming, a fact proved as he continued. “HONESTLY, I’M KINDA SURPRISED THEY’RE STILL MAD AT ME ABOUT THAT. I WAS THE ONE WHO GOT PARTY-CRASHED AND, PERSONALLY, IT’S ALL WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE FOR ME.” The expressions of flat disbelief on nearby faces said it all when it came to the difference of opinion between Bill and the other residents of the afterlife.

“LOOK WHO IT IS: EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE NARCOLEPTIC!” Distracted from talking off the ear of an elderly shop owner (whose patience was a miracle that would easily have her up for beatification) by the girl’s appearance, Bill floated over to the newly minted suggestion box that she stood in front of.

strictly speaking, I probably should have done this during November when I celebrated 1 year of roleplaying as Bill but since the official event for the group as a whole is happening now, here’s a mushy post about 1 year of roleplaying in Amaranth 2.0!

firstly, as a mod, I want to thank everyone who has served alongside me as a mod throughout our run. whether they left long ago or only recently, their contributions have helped to make this group what it is and I doubt it would be here today without them. special mention goes to our founder, Efi, without whom the group would definitely not be here today!

secondly, a shoutout to everyone who has ever threaded with me & Bill! I’ve had a blast writing him all this time and I hope you all have enjoyed interacting with him as well. a lot of connections I made with other writers in this group continue to this day and have only gotten stronger, even if they are no longer members. plus, the objectively best Bill Cipher ship, Billmaru, and the coolest apocalypse crew, demon squad, begun here and for that, I’ll always be grateful! (BILLMARU2KEVERYYEAR)

and now there’s looking toward the future. Bill himself hasn’t changed much since he’s an immortal amoral space demon but I feel like I have! I’ve improved as a writer and learned the ropes of mod work, eventually becoming the longest-term member of the mod team here. I was even able to host amageddon, an event that was nearly a year in the making, and it was an amazing experience. things on the dash have been slow lately but, personally, I have no intention to close this group while even one member remains who wants to write here. it’s my hope that Amaranth will continue for a long time and that I’ll continue to make wonderful memories here!

He could almost hear her laughing at him from her ivory tower.

“OKAY, I CAN TAKE A HINT. IT MIGHT NEED SOME REDECORATING BUT IF THE PLACE’S DRESSED FOR A PARTY, WHO AM I TO SAY NO?” Whether or not that was the goddess’ intention (it probably wasn’t), Bill had never been one to turn down an invitation to a party. One by one, each of the decorations burnt away, replaced by his own artistic flourishes in the same vein. “USUALLY I DON’T WORK ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE BUT FOR YOU, GREENIE, I’LL MAKE AN EXCEPTION. I HOPE YOU’VE GOT THOSE INVITATIONS DRAFTED!”

“No. No no no,” Shade shook his head fervently. “I don’t do friends. I’m happily friendless.” And besides that, there were a hundred reasons not to choose this particular ‘person’ as a companion. Sure, Shade could pretend to be friends for access to that seemingly unlimited power, but without a use in mind why put up with the torture? Being civil was enough.

“So suppose you’re an… expert on fun, and that’s really all you’re after. What are you doing in an afterlife for humans? There’s more mourning than fun here, no matter what your ‘perspective’ is.” Nevermind that he wasn’t human, either–he couldn’t explain that. A dead god was supposed to turn into nothingness. But on the other hand, if Shade’s knowledge was indeed correct, demons were supposed to be able to phase through dimensions. That meant this guy must be here willingly.

Despite the outright dismissal Bill kept one foot planted firmly between the proverbial door and its frame. While the fixed goal he’d been working toward for his first year in Amaranth had disseminated into an agenda of pure weirdness with occasional jabs at the powers-that-be, it was best not to burn any bridges-- unless it was fun to watch them burn! “I’D KEEP MY OPTIONS OPEN IF I WERE YOU BUT, EH, TO EACH HIS OWN! IF YOU EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND--!” He wiggled his fingers in vague imitation of a handshake.

The deity’s second question served to highlight the difference between them more strongly than the last, the triangle didn’t miss a beat in responding. “YOU SAY THAT LIKE IT’S AN ‘EITHER-OR’ THING! MOURNING IS HILARIOUS! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SHAKE LOOSE A FEW ELEMENTS OF NORMALCY AND YOU’VE GOT EVERYONE LOOKING LIKE THEIR DOG JUST DIED! THEN AGAIN, I GUESS THAT ISN’T TOO FAR OFF THE MARK.”

Shade crossed his arms loosely and looked at the ground. “Hm. Fun,” he muttered. After a moment of meditation, he looked up at his counterpart again. “Forgive me, I’m no expert–I’m not a five-year-old–but aren’t you supposed to have fun… with your friends?”

Fun was something that never entered Shade’s mind, and quite frankly, he didn’t trust that it was the demon’s motive either. There was nothing fun about messing with a dumb animal, and the onlookers confirmed that with their dismayed reactions. Even the triangle itself hadn’t laughed while committing the act.

Placing one hand on his surface in the reflexive way one would cover a wound, Bill’s answer was difficult to take seriously. “OUCH! JEEZ, YOU DON’T HOLD BACK, DO YA? WELL, I DO HAPPEN TO BE AN EXPERT ON FUN, ACTUALLY!” Producing a pair of scholarly glasses (with only one large lens as opposed to the usual two), he elucidated.

“NOT TO GET ALL PHILOSOPHICAL HERE BUT IT’S ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE. FUN FOR, SAY, JONES OVER THERE--” At the mention of their name, the passerby in question nearly jumped out of their skin, turning to look with trepidation up at the triangle. “-- IS KICKING BACK WITH SOME KNITTING AND THE AMANEWS NETWORK EVERY NIGHT! WHEREAS THAT GUY --” Another indicated person stared, this one far more obviously annoyed with being dragged into Bill’s dog and pony show. “-- UGH, Y’KNOW WHAT, YOU PROBABLY DON’T WANT TO KNOW.”

Xavier jumped at the sudden screeching voice coming from behind him. He twisted around, staring at the strange polygonal being talking (yelling?) at him. He stared for a few seconds before realizing that was probably rude - he’d seen stranger things wandering in the Core - and remembered they (he?) was talking, and that he should probably be listening, since it seemed they knew what they were talking about. The triangle stopped speaking then, though, and pointed at a blank bit of screen.

He looked at the blank spot for a few seconds, and started scrolling through curiously.

“Waiting around would be boring…are any of the ones around now cool…?…Demon’s town…that sounds spooky. And dangerous, too!…not ready I’m sure to double-die yet, but it seems worth checking out sometime…”

Xavier looked back up at the triangle man. “You seem like a guy who knows how to have fun. What’s there to do here?“

“OHO, YOU’RE A MAN OF ACTION, HUH?” He laughed. “I LIKE THAT MOXIE OF YOURS, KID!” He pushed at neither of his flippantly suggested angles, though admittedly being witness (or so he would say; mischief was his middle name and meddling was the name of the game) to either direct or indirect appeal to the fabric of reality itself would have been pretty funny!

Less animated in his actions, Bill’s single eye flicked back toward the screen at the mention of the town which housed the Fearamid. The newcomer’s abject interest was uncommon. Of course, he had no context as to why it was avoided - more for its notorious resident than its less-than-stellar upkeep and dangerous nature.

When asked for his opinion, the dream demon was happy to oblige. “USUALLY I MAKE MY OWN FUN! BUT THEN IT’S ‘UNETHICAL’ AND ‘FRIGHTENING TO YOUNG CHILDREN.’” The air quotes in his speech would have sufficed to be clear in his tone, hands occupied by reaching around the other to scroll down through the remaining options on the Telepiece, but Bill took the matter into his own hands nonetheless as a pair of disembodied fingers from each hand waggled sarcastically in the air before disappearing.

Shade’s awe was apparent in his jaw dropping. Not at the teeth removal, but at the sheer power to manipulate matter without consequence. Was there a way to use that ability for his own gain? Shade couldn’t think of anything he could want now that he was dead, but maybe he could come back to this later when he had goals. “If you disrespect me again you’re going to regret it,” Shade chose to say despite his train of thought. Though the fact that the nickname was so close to his real one–did that mean the demon read his mind? Such a thing was dangerous. Perhaps Shade could, and should, keep his most private thoughts under the surface. “So why did you do all of this?” He was more confused than bothered about the situation–he’d seen men torturing men before, to disable an animal was something to sneeze at.

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! IF YOU DIDN’T WANT THE TEETH YOU COULDA JUST SAID SO!” His purposeful misattribution of the deity’s cautioning led to the teeth flying back the way they’d come, inserting themselves back into the animal’s mouth as though they had never left. The grass the deer had been ineffectually pawing at was soon pulled up, he creature leaving a few sizable holes in the landscaping. Bill, despite appearing infuriatingly obtuse on the matter, was unrepentant as ever; if anything, he was only more likely to push at the boundaries of the other’s patience now that he’d been warned off it. The last time he’d caused trouble for a god had been a real hoot!

The question of motive received the selfsame answer he’d given so many in this universe and others: “WHY? BECAUSE IT’S FUN! ISN’T THAT WHY ANYONE DOES ANYTHING?” Flatly disregarding ideas like duty and love, that single word had been the dream demon’s sole guiding principle since he burned his dimension down.

Oh god why.

Hien wrinkles his nose, visibly cringing in disgust as Bill pours honey into his eye. It’s not like he paid for that or anything. His appetite ruined, he turns around and flicks his feet in Bill’s direction–a Shakukopolu insult. 

He turns his head pointedly at him, glowering as he makes a mess with the honey. Why does this guy feel entitled to messing up his shit when he already had it arranged PERFECTLY? “Oh, me be upset that you turned me into a rabbit?” Hien states with a flat affect. “Why would I? It’s not like I find it dehumanizing when people reduce me to just my ears. Not at all.” 

That tea had to be more honey than drink by now. Hien shakes his head, not knowing how he’ll get rid of Bill. “What do you want this time, Bill?” he snaps impatiently.

Flippancy born of a month’s time to let his defeat cool from molten present to ancient history fed into his pleasant tone, having always had more fun contrasting the other’s outright hatred of him. Perhaps that was why he kept pushing at it. He left his teacup suspended in the air, one arm snaking around his shoulders while the other gestured to clear the air.

“I’M JUST HERE TO SMOOTH THINGS OVER! C’MON, CAN’T WE LET BYGONES BE BYGONES? I TURNED YOU INTO A RABBIT, YOU LEAD AN INSURRECTION AGAINST ME. WE’RE BOTH BETTER FOR IT!” Such empty moralizing must’ve rung too hollow even for a practiced liar like Bill to get through, the look in his eye making it obvious that last part had been little more than a joke. “BESIDES, I HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY THAT YOU WERE A BIG HIT WITH THE POPULACE! HECK, PUTTING IT THAT WAY, I SHOULD BE THE ONE HOLDING A GRUDGE HERE.”