mochizuki ryoji ([personal profile] appraiser) wrote in [community profile] recolle2017-05-16 03:46 pm

[semi-open] harbinger of suffering and grief

WHO: Ryoji and whoever doesn't sleep at night, I guess
WHERE: Apprassage to various places around the city, Recollé Woods
WHEN: midnight 5/17 and onward towards the end of the month
WHAT: Ryoji regains his Thanatos form; unable to control his powers, he flees, leaving destruction in his wake. He's generally very upset about it all. Please help.
WARNINGS: fighting, violence, mentions of death and suicide

[ —a screech pierces the stillness of night over the quiet streets of Apprassage, the bite of burnt rubber and asphalt filling in the space where a car now lies turned around and stalling traffic, shattered windshields spilling glass onto the street and the crumpled hood sending smoke into the air. The blaring of the car alarm falls on deaf ears of the boy standing before it, eyes wide and unseeing as he clutches his head and screams, the shimmering barrier around him dissolving back into darkness and then— ]

A. midnight, 5/17, various (CLOSED to those I talked to on May's plotting post here)
[ A brilliant flash lights up the sky outside, brief, overwhelming, then everything is plunged back into darkness. Whether the noise had woken you up, or you were awake in the dead of night to begin with, eyes lifted towards the sky might spot a shadow take off past the rooftops, deep rumble felt through the earth behind it.

Those who venture closer— the curious, the brave, the foolish— would find deep gashes on the roads, dragged long as if a sword pulled across the ground, scattered potholes still burning with the last wisps of an eerie glow. The sky flashes again, the shadow in the middle a dark hole that swallows up all light, monstrous figure apparent with the stark contrast that makes it easy to follow; even blind, one can do so by listening for the unearthly wail that cuts through the air and may dizzy the mind even from so far.

Close, it's hard to see, harder to believe: a sharp white mask reflecting the moonlight; serrated sword out of its scabbard and caked with dirt and rubble; coffins draped across its shoulder, rattling and coming for you. Every encounter brings it further and further out away from the innermost parts of the city, and each time, Thanatos stops and turns, breath visible as it chills the very air around it, waiting.

>> Hollingberry Field
>> Recollé Woods
>> Peach Beach
>> The ocean
>> ???

Select your arena, and let's go. ]


B. nights, 5/18 onward, Recollé woods (CLOSED to those above, and anybody who has interacted with Ryoji at least once before)
[ The pain disappears faster than it should have, but Ryoji would have preferred it to the emptiness in his chest, the way his hands won't stop shaking. He fumbles with his phone, startling when a twig snaps underfoot and he throws it from himself as if it burnt his hands.

He leaves the phone there for the time being, nestled on top of damp, rotting leaves as he picks his way a little deeper into the woods, a mutter under his breath: "Keep yourself together." Because whatever... whatever happened yesterday, he can't let it happen again, losing control and hurting others— killing, for all he knows, because he'd fled to the woods and hasn't gone back since the night before, hasn't talked to anybody in person except for some texts on the phone.

He's got to figure it out. Somehow.

It's here in the woods he'll stay until he can, out of the way and hoping nobody would come near after the unnerving draw of the woods earlier in the month, practicing under the veil of night. He'll manage it eventually, the flicker of shadow and a rumble, a light show, the splintering crack of felled trees. He's not as careful as he could be, frustrated, exhausted, distracted enough not to notice whoever approaches to see the arched back of a boy, head bowed and clutching his knees as he struggles back to his feet... or the back of a monster, sword in hand gleaming with the moon. ]


C. days, 5/22 onward, various (OTA)
[ Days pass, and it feels like he understands less and less of who and what he is... and why... The first time it happened, only a handful of days ago, it was a car accident. He'd frozen there in the middle of the street, staring down the pair of headlights as they approached. He had not died. He should have...

...Ryoji shakes the thought out of his head. Something had protected him, a power that welled up from within and then- gone. He couldn't do it again, hold out his hands and block the fluttering of petals onto his head in the park, or the cat that meets him on the road, rubbing its head against his ankles twice and then runs.

Maybe it had to be something similar, either to the situation or the feeling; there's no way he can know but to try, reckless and stupid as he stands by the busy streets of Tisse contemplating stepping out into traffic; holds a switchblade in his hand on the rooftop of an apartment building in Apprassage, flicking the blade in, out, in, out; up high on the bridges of the Towers, leaning dangerously over the edge as he stares down at the ground far, far below; at the zoo in front of the lion's cage trying to get it to wake up so he can climb the fence and stick his head inside its mouth; he doesn't know, nothing's working and he needs to know. ]


D. 5/26 onward, various (OTA)
[ the one lighter prompt, save me ]

Hey. Hold out your hand for a moment? I want your opinion on something.

[ If you comply, Ryoji tugs out from beneath his collar a thin silver chain, on the end of which a gold ring dangles momentarily before he presses it into the palm of your hand, closing your fingers back over it. Despite having been tucked under his shirt, the ring is cold against your skin, a faint glow emitting from in between your fingers while no sun reaches it inside your hand. ]

...How does this make you feel?

[ Stupid, probably, as if holding a ring would evoke some sort of emotion, but that's what it does for Ryoji, looking equal parts expectant and hopeful as he looks from you, to the ring delivered to his door courtesy of Retrospec, and then back. ]

--
( ooc: Aside from being able to shift into the form of Thanatos, Ryoji's powers include: ghastly wail (fearful opponents fall unconscious), tempest slash (sword attack), megidola (almighty magic attack), moonless gown (barrier that reflects all attacks, max three activation per day))
thesettingsun: smile (I am what I wear and how I dress)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-05-21 09:38 am (UTC)(link)
At least mine didn't have talking frog police officers.

[Just normal human police officers for him, thanks.]
complementing: (Default)

[personal profile] complementing 2017-05-21 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[She's startled, hearing Ryoji's voice out of nowhere, that instinctively she looks around for him, as if he might be so playful as to hide behind a pole or be crouching on the floor in the midst of a dangerous being like Thanatos. But the uncomfortable twist in her stomach supplies her mind with the answer, even as she cuts her gaze across the whole bridge looking for her best friend.

Her best friend is right here. Even with Thanatos in front of her, his voice is unmistakable.]


Oh. Oh no. Ryoji.

[She takes one weak step forward. Stumbles, rights herself, and then she's running, flying forward, her spear abandoned so she has both hands to search for what is hurting him, anxious to soothe his worries and fears and dry his tears even if she were thousands of miles away.

But she can't do that this time. And the distance might as well be the same. This horrible change has made her gentle Ryoji into something he never, ever would want to be, and she can no longer believe that there's a parallel universe or they've been seeing hallucinations or whatever other fucking bullshit excuse she's been trying to delude herself with. This is Ryoji. This is real. He's become the fearsome creature of his visions, the memories of pitch black ichor, of green night skies and too large moons and violent, uncontrollable power-- all true. Inescapable. Cold, unrelenting fact.

And she can't do anything for him. What is she, compared to an avatar of death? What is she compared to the force that made him so in the first place? She is nothing. She is one pebble in a flooded river, hurled down the stream, with no choice but to accept the path that is rushing past her.

She can't do anything. But she's damn well going to try. She is nothing, but to Ryoji, she is something. Someone. That has always been enough for him, so that is who she will be, if she is nothing else. She will be strong for him, because she has taught herself how to be strong, and because if there is no other choice, that's the choice she's going to make, damn everyone else.

So by the time she comes to a stop in front of Thanatos, Minako has made up her mind.

She is on the verge of tears as she holds out her hands to Thanatos, to Ryoji, offering them for him to take, just like ever before. As she ever will.]


Ryoji.
goen: (c(゚^ ゚ ))

[personal profile] goen 2017-05-21 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Yato rises and dusts the dirt and grass off his tracksuit, frowning at the slices in his clothes. He'll have to sew those up in the morning. Ryoji's admonition, he ignores completely. ]

Not tonight, obviously. Tomorrow. When do you usually change?
goen: (time for placeholders)

[personal profile] goen 2017-05-21 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Look Ryoji he's trying to coordinate and set up a fight date, it's only polite. He wouldn't want to be late? ]

Well, that works just as well. If it'll keep you from changing, I can sit with you all night.

[ If Ryoji is going to be difficult, Yato will happily be just as difficult. ]
goen: (GOD FUCK TRASH DAD)

[personal profile] goen 2017-05-21 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ omg his sword

Well that's fine, he'll just fetch it later when he COMES BACK TO FIGHT RYOJI. ]


No! I wanna go to the river!

[ He PUULLLS back toward said river, resisting with all his might. He will fight Ryoji a second time for this, don't even doubt it. ]
goen: (and we can't fix it)

[personal profile] goen 2017-05-21 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh... Yato stumbles when Ryoji lets go, just barely regaining balance on the tips of his toes. Now free, he spins back around. Apparently he's not leaving just yet, because he loves to be a rebel... ]

You have a choice, Ryoji. You can deal with this alone -- badly, I take it. Or you can work with someone who can defend himself and push yourself a different way. The faster you get this under the control, the better.
long_live_the_queen: (half turn)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2017-05-21 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucy's hand opened and closed again, like she could catch whatever it was between her fingers. And that...other thing she saw, and heard; hands that weren't hers coiling together in front of her eyes. A blink, and it was gone. Just like the shield around Ryoji—though it lingered too long to be just another memory.]

They gave it to you, didn't they?

[She didn't elaborate on who she was talking about. Retrospec was a convenient punching bag for this sort of thing.]
burningblossoms: Most From <user name=eeveelutions> or made my me (Intense)

[personal profile] burningblossoms 2017-05-21 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sumeo-Okami knows better than that. Being representative of what she is, she turns her back to shield the girl, grabbing her up in metal arms and taking off. Stone chips and wood shred her leggings, bloody her thighs, but she's clear of the worst of it for now. Healing requires more effort than it's worth right now...so in another calculated risk, Yukiko's Persona faces the monster with an outstretched hand.

Yukiko's joins it, and they launch another spell. Another lance of fire, aimed squarely for Thanato's mouth. This time she's angry, and more accepting that she needs to help her guardian angel, whatever it is, and the spell is stronger than before.]


Go...Down already! Stop this!
Edited 2017-05-21 20:30 (UTC)
goen: (these will be times that i will miss)

[personal profile] goen 2017-05-21 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I can. And you're gonna trust me not to die. Because I'm...

[ Good with a sword? A tenacious bastard? It isn't just that, and he knows it.

He's changing. The clues are there.

No one has stopped him about his sword because they can't see it. They can't see him. Even if they answer him when he grabs for their attention, their startled looks when their eyes finally focus on him say everything.

It is the beginning of an end. Ryoji says Yato has a life to return to. Yato wonders what kind of life that will be. ]


I am a god. A warrior god. If I'm not good for this, then no one is.

[ It's a bold proclamation, but it arrives like a confession. This is something he has to admit to himself. ]
true_noir: Aged-Up Commission (Looking Back)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-05-21 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I think that applies to a lot of us. Only a few can truly say that we are professional regardless of what it is that we are talking about. Still, an amateur may be be much better than nothing.

[A shrug] Overall, it's a mixture of the app and occasionally running into them out here. It isn't entirely predictable, mostly because our lives have been less than predictable lately. What about you?
true_noir: (Hmmm)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-05-21 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
He is one of Dr Grell's associates, is he not? I think I might have seen him around on the app before too, yes. I guess that there's an advantage in knowing the friends of friends over and above the random people this app might show you. At the very least, your friends can speak for them, right?

Though, the problem now is that we're floundering, hunting for ways to fill in the blanks of our own knowledge.
accordance: (09)

[personal profile] accordance 2017-05-21 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's such a simple thing, isn't it? To want to be happy. ]

Things are not set in stone. It can be changed. That is what you have been working towards, is it not? Learning to control this shadow. You can take back your life and make it your own again.

[ Nothing is impossible unless dictated by laws of physics, but even then... ]

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