If I have to explain it to you, it's not funny

[Laurels]

((Ellis Wheaton continued from Beautiful Dead))

"Wow. What happened here?"

The answer was deep in the back of Ellis' mind as he stared at the wreckage of the bar. The answer was that there were two boys blown up by the island's most infamous killer. But that had long since been buried underneath the knowledge that Kathleen was dead. Ellis had spent the entire day yesterday trying to find her, but she had completely slipped from his radar. He had hoped to wait at the research station for her, but he had to book it once it was declared a Danger Zone.

It didn't matter that much. Jack and Kathleen were both truly gone now, so it wasn't like he could wait for them to come back there. There wasn't anyone left for him now. Everyone he had met and traveled with was gone. Eden, Jack, Timothy, Kathleen. Even some of the people he had less than pleasant encounters with were gone. Juanita was still alive, as was Connie, but he had no clue where they were.

Ellis made his way to the backdoor of the bar and hurried inside. There he got a better view of the wreckage, including the two bodies that were on the announcement.

He found one chair that was in a somewhat usable condition and sat in it, staring at the two bodies. He sighed and kept his gaze on them.

"Well, if you guys aren't going to leave, want to hear my routine?"

Ellis had wanted to be alone ever since he cut ties with his family on camera, but even he had to admit that loneliness was something that should only be in small doses. He needed some normality at the end of this game.

He raised his right hand, putting his thumb under his middle and ring fingers.

"Pretend there's a squirrel here. It'll make more sense."

[Ryuki]

It had been a couple of days of travel, but they had reached the mining town.

(Wendy Kennedy, continued from Strut)

The weather was nice and calm, making getting to town easier. Still, Wendy was tired and needed a rest. Her stomach growled. She looked inside her bag for some food. She still had some bread and a couple of energy bars, and about a couple bottles worth of water. She wanted to find a place to sit down and eat soon.

The announcements had played earlier that morning. Kitty Graves had won the "Best Kill Award" for blowing up two boys. How she did this, Wendy was not sure, but she shuddered at the fact that someone on this island could be packing explosives.

Just then, she saw the hunting bar. Or, what was left of it. The front of the building was collapsed. Was this where Kitty blew up those guys? Wendy stood in awe of the damage, then spoke.

"I...I think I wanna get a closer look," she said.

[Yonagoda]

"OK," she said, for the lack of a better response. Her mind was in another place, after all.

Amy never got the thought process behind buddhist-styled metempsychosis. It's way too easy to get into a loop, right? If you were a bad person, and you get reincarnted into someone in a really shitty situation, then pressing circumstances means you're a lot more likely to die young or break the law to survive or learn bad habits from those around you. And that meant you're less likely to earn a better life after you kick the bucket, and the cycle starts again, so on and so forth. And that'll be deeply unfair. I mean, if you were born as a baby with some incompatible with life condition and die a few minutes after birth, there's not much you could do to earn a good reincarnation. That's not even accounting if you became an ant- like, what could you do to be a Good Ant? Do you get to become, like, a toad or something "higher" if you brought home the most breadcrumbs?

That's not to say she'll just dismiss it as a possibility because it made no sense. So many beliefs hinge on not making sense.

[Laurels]

"Hey Armand," Ellis said, looking at his empty hand. "How have you been lately?"

"Oh Ellis," Ellis said, moving his hand like he was operating his favorite puppet while speaking without moving his lips. "I've been having a really, really nutty time lately."

"Really? I thought you liked when things got nutty?"

"Yeah, I like feeling like I'm in a nuthouse, but now I feel like I'm actually in a nuthouse!"

Ellis paused, waiting to see if the corpses would laugh. They didn't.

"Well, what makes you feel like we're in a nut house?"

"Everyone here has gone so crazy!" Ellis' hand continued. "Everyone forgot about all the fun times we had back in Salem and are now killing each other because some bad guys told them too."

"But I don't think people in a nuthouse are known for taking orders."

"Sure they do," Armand replied. "They always listen to the voices in their heads!"

Ellis waited again for a response. He then turned his hand to face him, trying to make out the image of Armand on his hand beyond the dirt and dry skin.

"Armand, I think I might be hearing a lot of voices in my head too."

"No you're not, El. You are speaking two voices though."

"Hah. Meta humor. I should have tried that more."

"You should have tried a lot more in general, buddy."

"Yeah."

Ellis lowered his hand, then hung his head.

"Yeah.

[Ryuki]

Wendy walked closer to the wreckage of the building. This was the kind of stuff you would see in a movie or a game. Or maybe on the news. Getting to see something like this in real life was a surreal feeling. Then again, if terrorists could kidnap over a hundred students and force them into a deathmatch against their will, anything is possible.

Wendy took a look inside one of the remaining windows. Was somebody there? She could see a boy inside the lodge. It looked like he was... talking to his hand. He was moving his fingers up and down, as if he were working a puppet. This was definitely weird. He was cracking jokes as if there were an audience watching him. However, the only things inside with him were... a couple of dead bodies. As the boy's comedy routine came to a close, Wendy slowly backed away from the window.

[Yonagoda]

The boy was sad and relatable and herself and the furthest thing from herself at the same time. She couldn't narrate it because she didn't have the right collection of words and phrases to get it right. And it would be awfully depressing for her to admit that she's been doing the same thing for years.

So, instead, she looked at the girl besides her.

"Do you think we should go in?"

Famous last words! Maybe. Maybe not... Well, she won't have that many words left. Better get them out.

[Laurels]

Ellis let out a long sigh. This place was becoming too miserable for him. Clearly he wasn't good enough at comedy to try and make the wrecked bar and the dead guys any less sad. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Damn, Ellis. You made it all this way, and you still don't have any idea why," he muttered to himself.

Ellis could swear he heard some noise near the window, but he barely responded to it. If it was someone to come in and kill him, then they had every right to. He still only had a knife, so he was likely to go down easy.

Still, they weren't bursting in, so perhaps he had a moment still to get things done.

Ellis raised his hand back up, making it into the shape needed to move his puppet's mouth.

"You know what, Armand?" he said to his hand.

"Yeah?"

"I think...I want to use my voice for something else. Not for comedy, not for exposing my shitty family. Can you and the others help me?"

"I can't make decisions for myself, El," Armand's voice replied. "You make all of them for me."

"Ah. There's more of that meta humor. Maybe that was the angle I needed instead of nut jokes."

"Well, you know the answer already."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

Ellis paused. He then shouted to the air, instead of Armand.

"Look, if anyone wants to hear a psycho talk to an imaginary puppet hand, feel free to come in, because I'm retiring from ventriloquism after this and this is your last chance to see what could have been a future entertainer on the Vegas strip! I'll give you a minute to come in!"

He waited to see if anyone would respond.

[Ryuki]

"I'm not sure," said Wendy to Amy, "He might not be in the mood for company."

Just then, the boy began talking to his hand again. From what she could hear, he wanted to expose his "shitty family." This boy must have had some issues to work through, and talking to his hand like a puppet was how he dealt with it, Wendy thought.

And then, the boy shouted.

"Look, if anyone wants to hear a psycho talk to an imaginary puppet hand, feel free to come in, because I'm retiring from ventriloquism after this and this is your last chance to see what could have been a future entertainer on the Vegas strip! I'll give you a minute to come in!"

Wendy looked at Amy, and then to the boy inside.

"Uh, okay!," said Wendy loud enough for the boy to hear. She then turned to Amy. "Guess we're going in after all."

Wendy proceeded to look for a back entrance, since the front was obviously not an option. She found the back door to the lodge and headed inside with Amy.

[Yonagoda]

Sanguinators are common in Saerenite folklore, depicted as either little girls or old women who command hematophagous creatures, usually bats or mosquitoes. They are highly tied to the worship of the Entangled Lady, with whom they share the trait of birthing their spawn using ingested blood. This label is often given to women who suffered from stillbirths, and they were forcibly marked. In this-

"Alrighty then."

She stepped in. Right foot first, then left. The air smelled like blood, but her nose was stuffy, so it might've smelled like something else too. To be honest, she was surprised that her body didn't give out yet. She tugged on Josh's scarf.

"Hello," She said to the boy. There was not much else to say, you know? Aside from the please-don't-kill-mes, which sort of ruins the mood.

[Laurels]

Ellis turned to see two girls walk into the room. He didn't really recognize who these girls were, but he gave them a look up and down. He was just glad that there were some patient, nice-appearing girls here instead of any of the killers.

"Thank you for coming," Ellis said to the girls. "Make yourselves comfortable."

He didn't even wait to see what the girls did. He adjusted his Armand-hand and began.

"Hey, Armand, can I be real with you?"

"Of course you can. As an imaginary puppet, can I be real with you?"

"Sure. I guess you're real in this moment. I gave you a name, characteristics, and acknowledgement. I guess that's all it takes to be 'real.'"

"Indeed. Although I feel like I'd be more convincing if I wore my squirrel skin."

"Perhaps. I feel like I'm more real than I ever have been before."

"Why's that?"

"Because there's a camera pointing at me."

Ellis made 'Armand' face one of the cameras in the room.

"Really?"

"Of course. If there's a camera and it's filming, then it's true. You can't obfuscate what is on it. Well, normally, since I guess deepfakes are a thing we have to be worried about in the future-"

"-That the world has to be worried about. We don't have a future."

"Yeah, sure. But anyways, before it gets edited, packaged, and sent out for distribution, everything on film is real. It's the subject at their most authentic. These are supposed to be live streams, so unless there's a black box over my mouth and a bleep sound covering all of it, I, Ellis Wheaton, am at my most real self."

"But you could be putting on an act in the name of 'realness.' Heck, I'm an act."

"Indeed, Armand. But I don't really have anything to gain from lying. I didn't lie when I doxxed my family back home, and even though some people may doubt what I said, enough people will believe it to be true that they will look into it and verify it themselves."

"True. Your dad could be getting his ass beat in jail right now."

"Ah! Wouldn't that be nice?"

"But Ellis, what's the point of all of this?"

Ellis paused for a moment.

"I guess...I just wanted to acknowledge that I'm real, these two girls are real, these dead boys are real, everyone who died is real, everyone who is still alive is real. Once the game ends and the cameras stop, we're going to become colors on a film strip, or code in a digital file, whatever. People are going to forget that we were once real, breathing people. Sure, our names will appear on websites and memorial sites, but in this moment, before my life ends, before I finish this dialogue with you, I want people to know that I, Ellis Wheaton of Salem, Mass, was a real person. Yes, I had a fucked up home life and a lot of issues that were probably exacerbated here on this island. But in this horrible fortnight, I was probably my rawest, most authentic self. There was nothing to hide nor nothing I could conceal. I was the most genuine I've ever been, and even if that moment passes and I become an afterthought, it was proof of my existence and self."

"...wow...that's heavy...but, Ellis, what about me? I'm only real as long as you say I am, and no one will ever acknowledge my life once this ends. I'll just be a voice you made and gestures you made with your hand. I won't be remembered or cherished like you and the other kids here. I mean, Madam just because a toy puppet in a glass case once Waylon died. You don't even know where I am here."

"I know. And that's my fault for not holding onto when I was taken or really looking for you with the others. But you know, Armand? I think...you were always part of me."

"I was?"

"Of course! You were my first puppet, the first time I tried to be a different voice. You're who I was when I was ten and you've grown with me. I mean, you wouldn't have made meta jokes when I was ten."

"True. You fucking sucked at this when you were ten."

"See! You said 'fucking'! You're basically a teenager."

"Oh, I guess I am."

"Armand, maybe you're not going to be as famous a ventriloquist puppet as Madam or Walter or Monkey, but you're a reflection of me. A mirror that captured all of my thoughts and ideas and pushed them out into the world. Everything I wouldn't will myself to say."

"Oh, that's true. I guess that makes sense. But then again, I've never had my own thoughts, only yours."

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll ever let you go. I won't be a ventriloquist. That opportunity was lost to me when this game started. Or honestly, it probably was lost to me once I was born a Wheaton. But you know? I'm glad I met you. I lost all my friends here, but I'm glad I had you, even if I didn't have your puppet body with me."

"Yeah. Thank you, Ellis. It was nice to meet you too."

"You too."

There was a pause.

"Ellis."

"Yeah?"

"Why did it take so long for you to talk to me? I mean, you had so much time here."

"I think...I had to find my way back to you. To remember that you were with me, even if your puppet body was taken from me. All that time to travel with others, to watch them die, to lose them, to sit in the cold. I had to remember you were there if I needed you."

"Alright. Well, thank you for remembering me after all this time. I'm feeling a bit tired now."

"That's fair. It's winter, and you should be hibernating."

"Oh yeah. I think I'll go to sleep now."

"Good idea. I'll see you in the spring."

"I can't wait. Good night, Ellis."

"Good night, Armand."

Ellis lowered his hand. He wiped his eyes and let out a long sigh. He then stood up from his seat and spoke to the girls.

"Thank you for being here at the end. Stay safe."

Ellis grabbed his bag and walked out of the tavern. He didn't look to see if the girls had anything to say. He was done talking for now, and it was time to move on.

((Ellis Wheaton continued in Like a Glove))

[SOTF_Help]

Wendy was about to call out to Ellis further, a greeting or something, but stopped and covered her mouth when he began to speak to his hand.

The interior of the building was half-destroyed and he was performing for two bloodied corpses on the ground. It was a tableau from a nightmare.

Wendy looked back fearfully at Amy, then back at Ellis as his speech progressed. He spoke of himself, of his family, of what he wished, of what he’d lost and what he had found again.

It caused Wendy to involuntarily think of her own family, her own dreams of going to school and making a living off her art. It was almost like she was looking at herself when she saw this boy pontificating to himself on what he hoped when he sat among the viscera and rubble, things which made it clear what the cost was.

Blood was expected to be exchanged for the chance at a future. Others had punched their ticket, but it was an impossibly steep price Wendy didn’t think she could pay.

Ellis thanked them, then left without another look or word.

“I can’t… I can’t do this. The idea of taking a life — I didn’t sign up for this,” she said, tears starting to well up. “I just wanted… to spend time with my friends and drink coca.”

((Wendy Kennedy continued elsewhere))

[Yonagoda]

...

"Ew."

"Um."

"Bye?"

"Ok, sure, then."

[Yonagoda]

Amy reached to her partner, trying to look reassuring. The girl ran away instead. What did she do wrong this time? Why did this always happen? Nobody she was with had stuck with her for long. Was it her fault? She wasn't good at protecting people. They didn't even give her a chance.

Amy was angry. She wasn't that angry, but it was still uncomfortable because she never was an angry person, and the thought of her actually feeling it as an Emotion, viscerally and fully, breaks the perception of herself that she set. Just when she thought there was someone- ugh! And right here? In the Exploded Bodies room?

She huffed.

Alright, priorities:

[Yonagoda]

First of all, what happened here? She didn't listen to the announcements because she couldn't really remember people's names anyways. Given that the bodies' faces would've been unrecognizable anyways, Amy scratched the idea and went onto Step 2:

[Yonagoda]

Anything worth scavanging here? Nothing worth dirtying her hands. So, then, Step 3: