PC: LIVIO

[frogzoned]

Comments

WEEKEND ZERO - SATURDAY

[frogzoned]

[ from here ]

Well, yes, I was aware of that. I know what she looks like, and it is not you. Just a little joke.

[crimebaby]

Oh. Right.

[ trying to laugh, and it sounds a bit forced ]

That was a great joke!

w0, TUESDAY

[frogzoned]

[ hello livio ....... where you at. frogboy is hanging out somewhere, probably near the mcdonald's, comtemplating nuggies. ]

What do you think these are made out of ... ?

[crimebaby]

[ he is here now ]

It says chicken....?

[ pause ]

It.... doesn't taste like chicken though....

W0 - MONDAY

[frogzoned]

[ HE'S JUST. eyeballing the hotdog stand. ]

Whatever you do, you should not eat those.

[crimebaby]

What's wrong with 'em...?

[ he knows gerard doesn't like meat, but ]

W0 FRIDAY

[crimebaby]

Hey.

Ya need anything?

[frogzoned]

I myself am alright.

If you've heard anything - seen anything - that would be appreciated.

W1 - SATURDAY - TEXT

[frogzoned]

Thank you.

[crimebaby]

[ livio doesn't feel like he should be thanked because he sucks but he has the sense not to argue! especially not with gerard who has had a fucking week my god ]

I'm glad we caught the right person.

W2 - THURSDAY

[crimebaby]

[ hey here's here to fuss!!! woah woah here he comes!! ]


--- Mister Gerard?

[frogzoned]

[ he's just chillin' somewhere kind of quiet for a while. the library, probably, something like that, where he can just stare off into space and. uuuuh. think. he seems a little surprised to see anyone, even though people have been coming up to speak to him. ]

Ah-- Livio. Hello.

W3 - FRIDAY - TEXT

[frogzoned]

Are you alright?

[crimebaby]

I'm alright. Are you?

W4 - MONDAY

[frogzoned]

[ NO PREAMBLE, ONLY PIG. ]

It’s been a long day of killing spiders. After the battle, you decide. Maybe you should say something. You go to Ylfa, and pull her aside.

“Listen, some of the things that you were saying during the battle and kind of pre-battle, just, you're- during the battle and kind of pre-battle, just, you're-“

“Forgive me. Am I in trouble?”

“No, no no no. You're not... You're not in trouble. You're not a monster.’

“Oh. I very much so appreciate that, Gerard, but I did blow my family away, and in this timeline, I killed a huntsman. And actually, you're right. I mostly took damage down there, so that was not as monstrous.”

“Yes, but I mean, do you…” You gesture over to Little Miss Muffet, picking at some food, her spidery jaws working nervously, small human hands tearing apart a piece of bread. “Do you blame Goldilocks for what happened when she was a spider?”

“No, but I do notice the way that people are scared of her and they treat her differently. I'm aware. I see it. I get it. I mean, you obviously must know. There's a reason that you're trying to still be a prince, right? I mean, you're kind of in a similar situation, right? You were a frog, and then you got to be a prince, and now that you're a frog again, all you want to do is be a prince. And your Elody, if Elody had a spider for a face, would you have fallen in love with her?”

“You know, yes, I think I would have.”

“… I’m sorry, am I talking back too much?”

“No, you're not talking back at all. Listen, you actually are quite different from me, because when I was a kid, I was very, um, I was very selfish and I was very rude, believe it or not, and that's why I was cursed to be a frog in the first place. and that's why I was cursed to be a frog in the first place. And you're... You're very much not that. You take care of these people around you, and when I want to run away, you're always... You stand up to people, and I know that everything that's happening is very scary, but I think that maybe these are the people that we need to be to survive in this world.”

“Don't you just kind of wish that the person that you needed to be to survive in this world was a handsome prince?”

“Yes, very much so.”

There’s a long pause, an awkward silence.

“So, you know, I can, I'm accepting my station, but I'm trying to make peace with it, too. That feels like the next step, right? You got to accept it before you embrace it.”

“Yes, but I will add, Red, that, I don't know, thinking back on it now, when I fell in love with my wife, I was a frog then. She would... She would-“ “She loved you for more than how far you could hop?” - You laugh. “Yes, yes, yes. She... And back then, I didn't have sort of the princely things to rely on and I think maybe, maybe I was a little bit more interesting and thoughtful.”

“Whoa, really? You think that you were more interesting when you weren't a prince? That's crazy. I feel like all the stories are about princes and princesses.”

“Well, they usually stop once the person becomes a prince or a princess, don't they?”

“That's true, I would say what I just saw you do down there with that spider was way more interesting than any story I've read about a prince.”

“Well, thank you. Elody, my wife, did things like that. She's very brave, but … “

“Can I ask you, what did you love about her? You said you'd love her even if she had a spider for a face, so you must have loved something else about her.”

You’d think it’d be harder, to think of the things you loved about her now. You have sets of memories of the wonderful life you lived with the Princess Elody, but this world, the attack from Snowhold was so much more violent, the losses so much greater. You remember seeing Elody astride a blood-soaked horse, her eyes wide with battle rage, huge, golden mace overhead. This is a darker version of your story, and you are most confused about the manner in which you changed, because you thought you remembered receiving a kiss from a princess in the form of a frog as the act of faith and love that transformed you, but you have this strange, surreal memory now of being picked up and thrown into the wall.

“Well, I suppose she was always very adventurous and rebellious, and she would clash with her parents, and she would run off into the woods and talk to me. I just found her fascinating, sort of her rebellious spirit, and then sort of once we got together finally, maybe I got too complacent or comfortable. …. So, I didn't mean for this to turn into you having to... You're not a monster, is what I'm saying.”

“Oh no, I mean, I just was curious, so I asked, 'cause I don't know what makes people fall in love with each other.” She pauses to think. “I’m pretty sure I loved my grandma … ?”

“Yeah.”

“But that's different. Okay, sure. I don't think I'm to that stage of the change yet.”

“But you don't have to make the same mistakes that I did by sort of rejecting the changes that you're making, because then you could end up going back. That's all I wanted to say.”

“Okay. Well, thank you, Gerard.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll think about it. I'll really think about it. I'll give it a good noodle. That's what Grandma used to call it when we have to think about something that we're undecided about.”

“Does anyone have any ale?“

[crimebaby]

[ it still feels so intrusive to see all these memories.... but this is actually kind of.... sweet. both gerard trying to comfort ylfa, and admitting that he used to be kind of useless. ylfa has a point here. maybe he was better as a frog, then just a plain prince or princess. ]

[ but also did his wife throw him into a wall? hello? ]

Oh... sorry. I didn't mean to see that.

[ first response ]

You're... a pretty good mentor, Gerard.

[ it doesn't surprise livio, because he does think of gerard as pretty wise and cool. somehow. god ]

[crimebaby]

[ doing it separate form the other thread so we can do both simultaneously but hewwo meme ]

W4 - POST-TRIAL

[crimebaby]

[ froggy.... where are you ]

Gerard. Sorry.

[frogzoned]

[ he's just sitting outside his warehouse, sort of like. frogsquatted on the ground. he's contemplating if he can smoke or not. ]

Sorry for what? I don't think you have anything to apologize for.

W7 - MONDAY

[frogzoned]

[ hopefully livio is standing around somewhere concentrating ]

Okay, I'm really not trying to shock you or anything ...

[crimebaby]

[ he is concentrating very hard bc he wants to see gerard :( ]

I hear you!

[ looking around to try to see him... he is in a maid outfit, i am deciding this ]

W7 - WEDNESDAY 2 (FRIDAY)

[frogzoned]

Are these going through ... ?

[crimebaby]

Gerard! Is that you? Are you okay?

ENDGAMEEEEEE

[crimebaby]

[ livio will go see gerard after he hugged gerard against his will ]

Hey. Looks like... it's all over.

[frogzoned]

[ its cool he is just getting used to hugs. he has not been hugged by a lot of people before, literally probably only his wife. ]

It-- ... It is? Isn't it. Fuck.