Chapter Twenty-Five

[thebestseller]

Good citizens of Paradisa, the last few months have been pretty bad and I haven't had the opportunity to do a betting pool. That changes now. My old buddy Gary started this fine tradition, and I decided to carry on in his honor after he left- because some of us just want to make fun of Paradisa in return for all the ways it screws with us.

For newbies and oldbies who need a refresher, here are the rules:

1. Bets are for correctly guessing the first castlewide incident that will happen during the month of May. Exact guesses not necessary- if you get close enough you may still win.
2. I'll take bets for any amount from 1 to 100 Caisos.
3. Bets will be taken any time from now until the first event hits.
4. In the event that more than one person guesses correctly, the pot will be evenly split.
5. If nobody wins for the first event, I'll keep rolling the bets over til someone wins. If nobody wins, everyone gets their money back and we try again next month.

So, what's everybody want to guess? Me, I'm going to play it safe and say we'll have some sort of wacky fun this month.

Edible flowers. Green ones taste like sour apple, blue ones like blue raspberry, snozzbery-colored ones taste like snozzberries.

Lay it on me.

Comments

written;

[themuse]

I'm not even gonna ask.

written;

[thebestseller]

Just a little harmless fun.

written;

[themuse]

Harmless? Castle, this isn't a joke.

written;

[thebestseller]

I haven't gotten smote for it yet.

dicated;

[themuse]

[She too irritated to even write, so she just talks instead.]

You know what I mean. How can you not take this seriously?

dictated;

[elsaplz]

Wait, how will we know the flowers are edible? Wouldn't that mean someone would have to eat the flowers first to know that?

... And what's a snozzberry? I've never heard of that one before.

dictated;

[thebestseller]

... you know, you do raise an interesting point. But then again, I'm sure someone would try, especially if they started appearing in odd places around the castle.

Snozzberry is a reference to a popular childrens' book where I come from.

dictated;

[elsaplz]

So... you're telling me that people are so used to strange things around the castle that they'd be willing to taste a flower? Just because it appeared in strange places? I'm just going to say it-- People around here are weird.

Oh, I don't really read a whole lot so I probably wouldn't get it anyway, but that doesn't really answer the question. Is it actually a berry?

dictated;

[thebestseller]

Not gonna argue with that. But yeah, that's sadly accurate- whenever things start appearing where they shouldn't, we assume the castle's sprung some more weirdness on us. And some people are strange enough to begin with that they'd take a chance on eating flowers.

Nah- it's just something made up.

dictated;

[both_neither]

Would it be cheating to guess something that seems to happen every year?

dictated;

[thebestseller]

I'd say "yeah". Unless someone else guesses and you'd be willing to split the pot with them.

dictated;

[both_neither]

Ah, too late. Anybody who's been here more than a year would bet on the babies. Alright. I'll match his bet for the same thing [He draws an arrow down to Crowley's wager]. And if I can bet twice, I'll put another ten on the babies arriving by actual storks this year.

dictated;

[thebestseller]

Done and done. ... I should have guessed that someone would try to pull that, frankly. Why am I not surprised at who it came from?

[onlyanapple]

You know I'm always game, Castle. I bet fifty on babies. Bundles of joy to look after.

[Sorry, Gren, he has zero issues with cheating, you snooze, you lose.]

[thebestseller]

[Oh Crowley.]

Ahhh, well do I remember the joys of being a new parent.

[onlyanapple]

It's the sort of thing you never really forget. Onky had it the once, me, in my whole time here.

[thebestseller]

Me, too, but it's an experience that never leaves you.

[patheticvillain]

Twenty on everyone switches bodies.

[thebestseller]

Hey, I like that idea. You're in.

[patheticvillain]

Get used to it. My ideas are one hundred percent amazing.

[thebestseller]

I look forward to seeing what you come up with every month, then.

Dictated

[sugarwaffo]

Oh! This is a game, right? How do you play? [Yes, she read the rules, but most of the lingo went over her head. What's a betting pool? Is it related to the large body of water in the castle??]

What does a snozzberry taste like?

Dictated

[thebestseller]

[OH MY GOD WHY IS THIS GIRL SO CUTE.]

Like a snozzberry. Actually, nobody knows what it tastes like- it was made up for a book in my world.

Well, we're trying to guess what's going to happen in the castle this month.

Dictated

[sugarwaffo]

[She's born this way.]

Really? Do you think we could wish one up?

Is that it?

Dictated

[thebestseller]

Maybe, but then again, Snozz doesn't sound very nice, does it?

Yeah, that's all. A guessing game.