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2024-10-29 19:42:56Between no longer being punchy from fatigue, as well as becoming desensitized to how awful most of the names are, their continuation of going over the list of supervillain organizations doesn't grab them anywhere near as much as it had last night. There are still the occasional chuckles and bits of snark, but it is half-hearted at best in comparison.
The multiple pages of names beginning with Villain, Villains, Violence, and Violent are so numbing that they're all extremely thankful they stopped when they did last night.
Starting the W's earns a pause though when the very first entry is 'Wahahaha!' Needless to say, Lucas and Jonathan take turns doing their best evil laugh to try and do the name justice.
Not wanting to miss out, Willy gives a warbling howl as well. This has apparently startled one of the neighboring building's dogs, who howls back, startling another and... It's Howling Cartographer all over again.
[...If canines had GDV tracking, I can guarantee he would have lost points for starting that resonance cascade both times.]
'Hah! That'll teach Boss System for not taking animals seriously.'
[…]
Once this bout of silliness is out of their systems, they return to their villainous research, a bit more energetic than when they started this session.
"Hah, 'World of Evil', isn't that a bit too on-the-nose?" As Lucas muses this out loud he gets a brief chuckle from Jonathan. He then continues scrolling right past without putting any more thought into it, the name already forgotten.
Not too much further, Lucas pauses once more.
"'Wrath of Golden Crown'? I mean, I sorta get it, but it also doesn't seem quite right..." While Lucas stares at the name, he has a slight frown of annoyance, although he can't quite put a finger on why.
'Seriously though, why's it bothering me so much?'
[Well, for one, the grammar is off.]
'I guess, but I dunno, I doubt that's it.'
"Um, well, there's no sort of royalty... Is it just because it's valuable?" Jonathan is also struggling with wanting to get the name to sit right in his mind.
[Hmm... Speaking of valuable, haven't you two been flaunting your wealth, so to speak, ever since you got it?]
'Eh? I guess... We didn't really try to hide it at all, huh?'
[Well, it's something you two now publicly have in common. Maybe it could help narrow down some ideas for your organization's name?]
'Hrm... I'm not big on gold... But it makes me think of silver... Wealth... Oh! Something about being born with a silver spoon in your mouth!'
[...Another idiom from your world I take it. Even without any further context, it clearly has something to do with wealth though.]
'Yeah, heh, I can work with this.'
"Hey, speaking of valuable, should we maybe go that route?" As Lucas suddenly speaks up again, he turns his attention back over to Jonathan and Willy. Willy tilts his head in typical adorable pup fashion and Jonathan's previous look of confused contemplation switches to one of eagerness.
"Oh! Did you get an idea? What is it?" As Jonathan's curiosity peaks, he subconsciously leans forward a bit, hugging Willy close to his chest as he asks.
"Well, we kinda want to make fun of how dumb the names are, yeah? Whatcha think of 'Brotherhood of the Silver Spoon?'" As Lucas asks this with a raised brow, he somehow maintains a much more serious expression on his face than the name deserves.
Jonathan bursts out laughing, giving a thumbs-up as he does so. Willy rocks a bit with the movements of Jonathan's laughter, wagging his tail along happily and giving a bark of approval.
"Hah! Guess that's settled then. You know though, we've gotten so far through the list I kinda feel like we should finish, if for no other reason than to be able to say we did..?" Lucas reaches up and rubs his chin a bit as he says this, looking back down at the laptop for a moment before turning to look at Jonathan and Willy again.
Jonathan has mostly calmed back down from his burst of laughter, nodding a bit while still chuckling. Once Lucas has finished speaking, he voices his agreement with a simple "Sure!"
Willy proves agreeable as well, barking once as he turns his gaze back to the laptop screen, tail still happily wagging as he does so.
Resuming scrolling through the largely complete lengthy list of villainous organization monikers, they get through the rest of the W's as well as through the X's with intermittent laughter.
Once they're most of the way through the Y's, they can't help stopping for a few minutes and have the greatest laughing fit yet today.
"I... I don't know what I love more! Bwahaha, what the hell is with 'Your Reliable Evil News Network (That Totally Doesn't Lie, Ever)'!? What even is the max size of names anyway!? Is there one!? No, the spelling correction of 'Your Mom*' is the best one, who am I kidding!? Why even were there five different versions for 'your mom'!?" Lucas has fallen into laughing so hard he's started crying. His mental maturity in the face of yo momma jokes is self-evident.
Willy had to jump down off of Jonathan's lap as Jonathan was laughing so hard he fell over, though not being one to miss out he has been barking out his agreement with Lucas's rhetorical questions from the floor.
After nearly half of an hour, they've finally gotten themselves under control and are breathing with some semblance of normality. Lucas spent no small amount of time fanning his face, his eyes and cheeks are red from the strain of laughing too hard.
Somehow, the laptop has thankfully survived the ordeal.
Now that they're calmed down, Willy hops back up onto Jonathan's lap and the trio turns their focus to the laptop once again, ready for the final sprint of the monstrous listing.
The snark as they finish the Y's and chip away at the Z's is fairly mild, with the occasional snort or brief chuckle.
Scrolling past more zombie names than they would have anticipated, a pair of names next to each other catches Lucas's attention for the umpteenth time.
"'Zone of Death' AND 'Zone of Doom'? I know some names are similar..." Before Lucas continues further he stops and snorts thinking back to the affronts against mothers. Stopping to clear his throat he then manages to continue. "But still, that feels kinda lame? Eh, whatever. We shouldn't be surprised at this point."
"Ehhh... Yeah..." Jonathan gives a sluggish agreement and they finally continue scrolling down to the end of the listing.
As shouldn't surprise anyone, the very last entry earns its own laughter.
"What the fuck!? Hah! That's one two three... Ten Z's? ZZZZZZZZZZ! I'm almost surprised someone hasn't done one with eleven to steal his spot as last!" As Lucas cracks up with the finale, Jonathan's laughter is a touch more intense, mainly due to Lucas's attempt at pronouncing it.
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 0
Lucas total kills: 6
Lucas deaths this chapter: 0
Lucas total deaths: 10
Lucas current GDV: 8.77
Lucas's fame level: 2* (Mostly just local)
Lucas's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)
Jonathan kills this chapter: 0
Jonathan total kills: 5
Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0
Jonathan total deaths: 2
Jonathan current GDV: 1.78
Jonathan's fame level: 1.5* (Just local)
Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)
-----
Little character theater:
Jonathan, now also buzzing out his own attempt at the name: ZZZZZZZZZZ!
Lucas continues ping-ponging back and forth with Jonathan's buzzing as he closes the laptop, maintaining eye contact the entire time.
Willy is serving as some sort of scorekeeper, facing whichever of the two are buzzing at any given moment and barking once their turn is over.
427, overwhelmed by the stupidity going on: [I really need to get a temporary deafening feature...]
Author, grinning evilly: Sorry 427, you will continue to suffer.
Mr. Quacks, attempting to also participate in the buzzing contest: Quuuaaaccck!
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The duo’s fiery funnel further forces the growing multi-car pile-up towards the middle of the street for a few seconds longer. Finally, the flames falter and fade. After a short delay, the wind wanes as well.‘Oh, I shouldn’t give them any extra reasons to think I’m a threat.’Jonathan swiftly shuts and pockets his switchblade as he follows the sidewalk. While doing so, his attention flicks between the ongoing chaos in the street and the front door of Howling Cartographer’s HQ lobby.Ashley steps through the door with Jason right behind her. They both take a moment to appreciate their destructive handiwork with smug expressions. Considering that Jonathan is conspicuously the only person still in the immediate vicinity, they quickly focus on him.Before either of them manage anything beyond a glare, Jonathan raises both hands in a submissive gesture, showing that he isn't wielding a weapon. "I-I just wanted his gun!"Ashley's exposed eye squints with amusement, the not hair-hidden cor
