This is a crit post. Here you can let me know how you think I'm doing with any one of my characters (Emil, Regal or Seymour), or if you have a plot suggestion, you can leave that here too!

Comments are screened and anon commenting is on!

... I'm going home.

It's about damn time he let me out again. Looks like he finally realized what he should've been doing all along.

[Action]

[Ratatosk is currently sitting on the couch in House 18 looking very smug indeed. Now that Richter is gone and Emil isn't putting up a fight, his life is much easier. Beware, he'll be even more of an insufferable jerk than usual, because now he's a HAPPY jerk.]

[The first sound that can be heard is a loud thump as the journal hits the floor and pops open to record everything that follows.]

No...

[Emil isn't even aware that his journal is open and picking up all of this.]

No, no no please no please... no... no!!

[His voice escalates in pitch, ending in a strangled, heart-wrenching cross between a scream and a sob.]

Richter!!

[It's the middle of the night and Emil is wide awake. Usually this would mean he's had a nightmare or something else equally unpleasant, but this time he's awake for a very specific purpose. Good thing Richter is a sound sleeper and hasn't even noticed that Emil has been out of the house for a few hours already.

Now, though, he's completed his secret mission, which means it's time to wake his bedmate. After crawling back into bed, he leans over to give Richter's shoulder a gentle shake.]

Hey, Richter. Wake up.

[Just what is he planning?]

[His voice is calm, level, yet if you listen you can tell that it's somewhat strained as he speaks.]

... I know I've been apologizing a lot lately, but... I wanted to say I'm sorry to anyone I upset over the past week. I can't keep making excuses for it no matter how much I want to. What I said was wrong, and I apologize.

[He sighs.]

I'm just glad that everyone is all right after what happened.

[Considering he just woke up about 30 minutes ago after being out cold as a result of spending such an extended period of time in Ratatosk Mode, Emil has only a vague idea of what happened. All he knows is that it wasn't good, but he hasn't had the time to do more than skim the journals to see what he missed-- meaning, of course, that he spotted his own earlier entry. Well, Ratatosk's entry. You'd better believe he went through all of the comments in that one. He doesn't know any of the details of the battle, nor does he have any memories of fighting in it.

Right now he's just sitting in bed and flipping through the journal, looking unusually solemn.]

If this is how you handle something that isn't even a threat yet, it's no wonder the Malnosso were able to capture all of you so easily. What good do you think flailing and panicking over the journals is going to do? All you're doing is encouraging these intruders and the Malnosso.

Everyone here really is pathetic.

I, um... I wanted to apologize to everyone I signed up for that pageant. Richter, Asch, Regal, Tenebrae, I'm really sorry. I know you didn't want to enter, and even though it was because of the experiment, I still feel bad about it. So, um, I understand if you're mad at me right now. I'm sorry.

[Action]

[Emil is out in the kitchen, making dinner as usual. However, what's not usual is the rather loud crashing/clattering sound, as if he dropped something or knocked it over. Richter and Tenebrae will undoubtedly be able to hear it from elsewhere in the house; it was a pretty loud noise.]

At least it isn't raining today, even if it is cloudy out. All of that rain was starting to get depressing. It's too bad Tenebrae isn't here right now; he'd probably like this weather because of how dark it is.

Oh, I also wanted to thank everyone who offered to be Richter's friend. He may not have seemed too excited about it and he may even have been a little gruff, but I think he really appreciates it. But, um, who suggested that he take up cooking as a hobby? I know that he wants to help out and all, but... he really should just stick to reading instead.

[That's actually why Emil is sitting out on the front porch of House 20-- he's still feeling a bit sick from being a good boyfriend and trying to stomach Richter's latest culinary... disaster. Hopefully some fresh air will help him feel better as well as cheer him up from Tenebrae's kidnapping. Feel free to come say hi!]

... I think I'm staying inside for the rest of this experiment.


[OOC: Emil really, really dislikes the Martel Knights for what they did in Palmacosta and Luin, so he gets to be Magnar for the rest of the week.]

[Much to his embarrassment, Emil is terrified of storms. He's been trying to hide it ever since the thunder and lightning started and has been doing a decent job of it until a particularly loud crash of thunder awakens him with a start, causing him to jump and bump the nightstand. This jolt knocks his journal open just in time to catch his frightened yelp.]

Aaahhh!

I guess that giant squid really wasn't a dream... I'm just glad everyone's all right. Does anyone know how it got through the barrier? If it could get in, that means there must be some way for us to get out too. We just need to find what it is.

Oh, um, and I was talking with Stahn and Kairi about having some sort of party near the lake in a couple of weeks once the water gets a little bit warmer. Would anyone else be interested in that?

[Filtered to Richter // 40% unhackable]

Um, I'm really sorry about that... I had no idea she was going to ask you about that over the journals. In fact, I didn't think she was actually going to ask you at all. Shows how much I know about girls.

... you're not mad at me, right?

[/Filter]

[OOC: Apologies in advance for my slow tags-- I'm down at the beach and, aside from the obvious distractions, I have my choice of dial-up or my phone for tagging, both of which are a slow process.]