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))
long_live_the_queen: (hope they don't die)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2017-05-19 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucy shook her head in immediate, defensive denial, glancing away. It was true that there were a lot of things she didn't like, that she was suspicious of.]

People are dangerous. Hateful things. Smiling until your probation is over. Then they want something for every nice thing they've ever done for you, because you didn't fucking deserve it. It's only a matter of time.

[Her voice started to change from flat and neutral to increasingly agitated; by the end, almost a snarl.

By then, she wasn't talking to Ryoji anymore, but spiteful memories spun out of her own mind like echoing ghosts. The smiling face today could turn spiteful the next, for no reason Lucy could understand—again, and again, and again. Better to hate them all first, and save them the trouble. Keep herself safe.

...but more recently there was a persistent, small little voice, constantly tugging at her negative thoughts. Pointing out the contradictions and hypocrisies in her hostile worldview. 'What about Minako? What about Freya? What about May, or Chloe?'
]
long_live_the_queen: (quiet)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2017-05-19 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucy started suddenly at movement in her peripheral vision, coming back to herself as her mind switched gears from festering resentment to flight. Ryoji was in front of her now, closer to the ground from where she was sitting, not threatening (yet), still talking to her (why?). She could kick him over from here; her ankle would hurt again, but it'd give her time to run away. Unless he grabbed her feet—

The teenager shook her head, pinching her eyes shut briefly. To stop herself, and to keep her worldview from crumbling too much and leaving her in a foundationless panic. No, that couldn't be true (it could). Lucy was a bad person. This was what she deserved. This is how she kept herself safe. Considering everyone the same, everyone as capable of hurting her, avoiding who she could and putting distance between herself and others (even Minako?). So what if she was lonely?

...she deserved that, too.

It was fine.

(No it wasn't.)
]

...why are you telling me this? I'm a bad person. That's all.
thesettingsun: smile (without a 300 dollar pair of shoes)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-05-19 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Still human. Just a human who doesn't have to eat.

[Shuji's going to stubbornly insist this until the end of time.

Although, there are far more important topics to focus on right now:]


Wait, if you don't have to eat, do you still have to go to the bathroom?
thesettingsun: smile (I'm a good guy)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-05-20 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Yes he does qualify, shut up. Also sorry for Shuji's lack of tact.]

...Can you still get fat if you do eat? There are a lot of interesting questions about that, biologically. I'm asking for science.
thesettingsun: smile (I'm just as good as you)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-05-20 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
Having the weird powers is shitty and you don't deserve this, so you should at least get something out of it. Pizza and ice cream forever doesn't make up for the other stuff, but at least it's a perk.
true_noir: (Hmmm)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-05-20 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
[All that is almost certainly a good idea. Everything about the evoker was a little freaky for her as it stood.]

Yes, I noticed the cracks. I'm not even quite sure what to think of those. At this point, I am not entirely sure of the direction, though if I can find one I will definitely home in on it. [A pause and then she thought of something.]

But, on a related note, do you happen to know anyone that can read blueprints?
true_noir: (Default)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-05-20 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
A building, that much I know, and I would ask that you never mention it on the network. I do not want Retrospec to be aware that I am asking in the first place, because they might realize I found something.
true_noir: (Cloak11)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-05-20 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
[She reached into her bag and produced a photocopy. The original was hidden. It was a fragment of a blueprint, with the retrospec logo on it. It was clearly torn from a page, as if in haste.]

This is a copy. I can't say where I got it. [Because it was very illegal.] But it definitely has something to do with them... after all, the logo.
thesettingsun: smile (I am what I wear and how I dress)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-05-20 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
Then eat whatever you want. This Retrospec bullshit has been bad enough to you that anybody who tells you not to make the most of it is an asshole and you should punch them.

[Just not, like, fatally.]
true_noir: (Hmmm)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-05-20 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[It wasn't complete as buildings go, but it was definitely a building. The implications would be more obvious to someone who knew blueprints, but it had the look of being the sort of document that was used to display a building's layout.]

I'm guessing that it is, yes. It does seem to be for a building, but whoever it was that took this from the place I found it, they were so hasty to get rid of it they left part back.

A game might be an option... do you know anyone in that case?
covenantal: (o94.)

[personal profile] covenantal 2017-05-20 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
No.

[ His fear, his anxiety, these are buried deep in his heart. Yu takes another step forward, his frown a slash on his face, seemingly fearless. The hand at his side uncurls, and for a moment there's a flicker of light, something blue, but then it's gone. He shouldn't, he thinks, summon his ... whatever that is here. He still can't control it, and while he feels fairly sure it has fire magic, he doesn't think he could even use it if he wanted to. Aggressing when this thing has yet to attack could lead to a situation he can't get out of.

Breathe steady. You can do this. ]


Why won't you answer my questions? What's going on?
explodosafe: (reality check pls?)

A

[personal profile] explodosafe 2017-05-20 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
[Cutter had been out and about on the streets that night, feeling the familiar itch of too much energy and too little to waste it on besides thoughts he didn't want to think just yet once again. The experience with the shrinking and the subsequent trip into the woods are still fresh on his mind, the emotions he's felt weighing far heavier on his heart than any of the strange things he actually experienced.

Maybe it's because of that that he glances up and decides to investigate rather than to do the smart thing and just mind his own damn business. Strange things are something he can deal with. Maybe whatever he'll find will scare him, maybe it will be dangerous but at least he will be able to know exactly what it is that is causing those feelings.

That's much better than spending another night with nothing but the thoughts inside his head, really.

So he ignores all voices of reasons and heads toward the source of the commotion, using the marks on the street and strange lights as a trail until he has found the source -- or got found by it in return, since the first he notices is the hellish wailing that suddenly fills the air.

Gripping the knife in his pocket tighter he keeps looking until he finally sees it and his mind balks. Ironically it's not the coffins that disturbs him the most. It's also not the wailing, or the morbid mask and not even the ridiculous dangerous-looking sword.]


-the HELL 's up with your legs?!

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