James "dumpster fire gijinka" Barnes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
frostythehitman) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
recolle2018-11-16 11:05 pm
frostythehitman) wrote in recolle2018-11-16 11:05 pm
Entry tags:
the only comics characters who stay dead are b̶u̶c̶k̶y̶, ̶j̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶d̶d̶, and uncle ben
WHO: James Barnes and YOU!
WHERE: All over town
WHEN: 11/18 onwards
WHAT: James is back from the dead, freed from prison, and 20 years older! If this sounds like a shitshow, that's because it is.
WARNINGS: mention of suicide in the cause of death snippet
11/15: reports and posts on James's death (cw: mention of suicide, suicide note)
I. you could argue he is wearing a crop top (11/18 - 11/21-ish)
[ When most people move to a new city, it's kind of hard to tell--after all, with so many people around, it's easy to blend into the crowd.
However, this man....does not blend in at all. He wanders around, unevenly shaven and scruffy, wearing clothes so comically ill-fitting it almost begs the question how he even put them on. The way he ducks his head and tries to curl into himself as he walks makes him look suspicious.
What might be even more suspicious is the moment he pulls his hand out of his pocket for a brief moment to scratch at his jaw. The hand looks shiny and metallic. Maybe it's just something he's holding, maybe it's a trick of the eye--but it's definitely a strange one.
Eventually, though, he does need to ask a question, so he begins asking (either you or another stranger near you)-- ]
Hi, I need some help finding something.
II. neurotic coffee spinning (11/22 onwards)
[ By now, James has at the very least acquired a jacket to stand out a little less. He stands at Zee's ofrenda, studying every inch of the table like there's going to be a test on it later. He leans in to get a better look at some of the items, but doesn't touch them. And after a while, he places the coffee drink he'd been holding this whole time on the table, rotating it to try to figure out what angle it should be at. ]
III. your one-stop shop for impostor-ghost confrontations (11/22 onwards)
[ Is this actually the ghost of James Barnes? One might think so, with the way he keeps haunting all the places he used to go. He's spent hours going around the beach, the neighborhood just outside Fort McCoy, the buses he used to take to school, over and over again. He even used to loiter around by the high school sometimes, before he realized how bad and suspicious that looked. So now he hangs around the university instead, glancing over at the high school from down the block when it lets out every day.
The more he does it, the more he does actually start to get treated by people (and even other ghosts) as one of the dead himself. He's been trying to figure out how to get people to realize no, he's actually alive, but what is he supposed to do? James Barnes did die, and he doesn't know if he can go back to being that person.
While he's contemplating this one day, he finds a flyer posted up on one of Recolle U's bulletin boards advertising...a show being played at a tiny local venue by A Lyrical Assassination. ]
What the fuck?
IV. wildcard!
[ HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT. or hit me up over plurk to talk other prompts if you want! ]
WHERE: All over town
WHEN: 11/18 onwards
WHAT: James is back from the dead, freed from prison, and 20 years older! If this sounds like a shitshow, that's because it is.
WARNINGS: mention of suicide in the cause of death snippet
11/15: reports and posts on James's death (cw: mention of suicide, suicide note)
I. you could argue he is wearing a crop top (11/18 - 11/21-ish)
[ When most people move to a new city, it's kind of hard to tell--after all, with so many people around, it's easy to blend into the crowd.
However, this man....does not blend in at all. He wanders around, unevenly shaven and scruffy, wearing clothes so comically ill-fitting it almost begs the question how he even put them on. The way he ducks his head and tries to curl into himself as he walks makes him look suspicious.
What might be even more suspicious is the moment he pulls his hand out of his pocket for a brief moment to scratch at his jaw. The hand looks shiny and metallic. Maybe it's just something he's holding, maybe it's a trick of the eye--but it's definitely a strange one.
Eventually, though, he does need to ask a question, so he begins asking (either you or another stranger near you)-- ]
Hi, I need some help finding something.
II. neurotic coffee spinning (11/22 onwards)
[ By now, James has at the very least acquired a jacket to stand out a little less. He stands at Zee's ofrenda, studying every inch of the table like there's going to be a test on it later. He leans in to get a better look at some of the items, but doesn't touch them. And after a while, he places the coffee drink he'd been holding this whole time on the table, rotating it to try to figure out what angle it should be at. ]
III. your one-stop shop for impostor-ghost confrontations (11/22 onwards)
[ Is this actually the ghost of James Barnes? One might think so, with the way he keeps haunting all the places he used to go. He's spent hours going around the beach, the neighborhood just outside Fort McCoy, the buses he used to take to school, over and over again. He even used to loiter around by the high school sometimes, before he realized how bad and suspicious that looked. So now he hangs around the university instead, glancing over at the high school from down the block when it lets out every day.
The more he does it, the more he does actually start to get treated by people (and even other ghosts) as one of the dead himself. He's been trying to figure out how to get people to realize no, he's actually alive, but what is he supposed to do? James Barnes did die, and he doesn't know if he can go back to being that person.
While he's contemplating this one day, he finds a flyer posted up on one of Recolle U's bulletin boards advertising...a show being played at a tiny local venue by A Lyrical Assassination. ]
What the fuck?
IV. wildcard!
[ HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT. or hit me up over plurk to talk other prompts if you want! ]
no subject
Yeah. I know. I don't know why, or how. All I know is, I woke up in the hospital alive again, and then like a day later this happened.
[ He gestures down at himself. ]
It's probably Retrospec related. The coming back from the dead and being older parts, I mean. I still don't know why I died.
no subject
[She doesn't need a better explanation than that. Her concern is written all over her face, and she reaches to put a hand on his shoulder.]
Wasn't the case? You can be honest with me. No judgement.
no subject
I mean--yeah, technically. But I don't know why I did it. I didn't want to. I wasn't planning to. I just...did it. For no reason at all.
no subject
[Which says something.
But there's bits of that statement that stick out to her. They don't feel quite right. Almost enough to make her think, with all the crazy people gaining abilities, that something may have happened. Almost, but she's not making that leap yet.]
And you didn't want to, you weren't planning to. So either something acted on you to make you do it, or you're repressing memories.
no subject
It's not like I don't remember doing it. I remember all of it. I just...don't know what I was thinking.
no subject
[Well.]
I'm sorry, James. You aren't feeling like that now, are you? With all the drastic changes.
no subject
I'll figure something out.
[ Probably. Maybe. Somehow. ]
no subject
[If so, obviously she needs to know how they took it.]
...And if you need, like, work, I can help you with that.
no subject
No. I don't know how to even get in touch with them any more.
[ And he can't help but scoff in laughter a little at the suggestion of finding work. ]
God. I am going to have to get a job now, aren't I. That's what adults do. I wasn't even thinking about that.
no subject
[She gives his shoulder a squeeze. Yeah, she's touching.]
I guess you could get your band back together?
no subject
[ All his music feels small and stupid and childish to the point of it being embarrassing. It's like everything pales in comparison to all the gruesome memories bouncing around in his head, and to the fact that he tried to kill someone even in real life. How do you go back to writing songs about abstract teen angst after that? ]
I never even figured out what I wanted to do after high school, much less being an actual...adult.
no subject
[Kara...really doesn't know what to do in a situation like this. At all. This is so totally out of her depth it's almost hilarious, and all she wants to do is help.]
If you...uh...decide you want to learn mechanics, I guess I can teach you.
no subject
[ He hadn't thought about mechanics before. He didn't really think about pursing any further learning after high school--not really his strong suit, and besides, what would he even study?--and it stopped mattering altogether when he went to prison. This is a complete wrench thrown into his thought processes. ]
no subject
[She shrugs, not really fussed about it.]
It's a trade, and honestly a good set of skills to have. I don't mind teaching, if you don't mind putting in the work.
no subject
[ This seems like a really big offer, and given how much other Big shit has just happened to him, he doesn't know if he should just leap at this, or...figure everything else out first.
For the first time in his life, James Barnes edges on the side of caution and taking his time to think things through. ]
Thanks.
no subject
[She doesn't make a secret of trying to be Helpful. And he really needs it.]
Do you need anything? Like, seriously, even if it's just like cash to get some food and clothes that fit better?
no subject
...but at the same time. He doesn't have anything any more, except for a couch to sleep on. He doesn't have the luxury of turning down help right now.
He looks down at his feet. ]
...Yeah. Yeah, that'd help a lot.
no subject
[Fishing in her pocket, she pulls out a Benjamin and a couple of Hamiltons and holds them out to him.]
Won them with a scratch off, so don't worry about paying me back. I wanna know you have shoes and clothes and a full belly.
You have a device that can access Retrospec?
no subject
Oh, uh, no. No, I don't.
[ It's why he hasn't posted yet in the first place. Figuring that out was going to be his next order of business actually--maybe going to the library? Is it possible to use library computers without a card? ]
no subject
[...without waiting she flickers, moving uh...very fast. And returns just as fast, bearing a shitty, beat up tablet.
Benefits of Being Super: Being able to move like that.]
Here. You'll have to hit the library or Starbucks or something for internet, but this should get you started.
no subject
Damn people with their damn superpowers. He takes it, dumbfounded. ]
This is...a lot. I mean, seriously? You're just giving me all of this?
[ He wasn't expecting this level of charity and he's...grateful, but also overwhelmed. This isn't just an amount of stuff people can give without it affecting their day to day life. James would definitely notice it if he was suddenly short like 140 bucks and a tablet. That Kara is willing to give like that to him...he almost feels bad. ]
I can't just...take all of this.
[ This is bordering on too much--at least not without him repaying her somehow. ]
no subject
[Kara smirks.]
The tablet is a loaner. I'll want it back, I just don't need it right now.
[In all honesty, what she's not saying is that she cheated the scratch off and x-ray visioned before buying to see if the tickets were any good. This is ill-gotten gains being put to a good use.]
Dude, seriously, this is fine. I can afford to go without my second tablet for a few weeks.
no subject
no subject
[She'll take repayment if he insists, but she's more interested in getting him back on his feet.]
Please stay in touch, and let me know what's going on.
no subject
...Thanks.