(open) give luck a chance

[erythristic]

WHO: Grell Sutcliffe and open to all.
WHERE: Around Recolle Square
WHEN: July 2nd.
WHAT: The answer to a problem lies in the annals of myth. So it's time to research.
WARNINGS: Will be added if they need to be.

[the remembrance clings to her like a veil, prickling at her skin. Grell isn't happy to have to hold it in, but before she begins to tell and unpack any of it, she wants a name. she wants the words to describe what's happening, and the desire to know is why she comes out of the library with not a new horror novel to tide her over, but nine books on different myths, creatures, and legends. there's looking it up online, of course, but she was already there, and the books were in front of her, and there was something appealing about sifting through a tome for the answer to a mystery.

there's slight regret when she's actually carrying all of them in her arms, but it's fine.

where she's chosen to do this work is in the park, tucked comfortably in the shade of a tree and with her books scattered around her. a few are open to different places, and she switches when she gets frustrated with one, skimming around and tearing through for something that could explain that moment. what thing could do something like that? what magic, as much as she doesn't want to say that, could be part of this?

of course, the park is public, and despite her concentration, Grell isn't inapproachable. sometimes another presence would be welcomed, to ward off the headache she feels growing in her skull. giving up is out of the question, at least for today.]

Comments

Throwing the Mythology Buff Here to Nerd Out

[storytelleroftime]

[Magilou is busy today. Incredibly, incredibly busy. She arguably shouldn't be stopping, but she's on her lunch break and is heading back, and then she sees a redhead reading under a tree. The hair is a pretty color, she notes. Of course, she then stops in place for a second when she notices something else.

The green eyes.

Her curiosity is sufficiently piqued at this point to start going into information gathering mode. If she interrogates she does so only after at least getting the person to warm up to her a bit. Always better to soften up your opponent before you struck the killing blow. She should be going, but yet her curiosity gets the better of her.So she approaches Grell, heading right over to her side and taking a seat. She peaks over her shoulder at the text Grell is currently reading.]

"So, what are you reading?" [She asks as she glances at it. No greetings to doing this to a complete stranger. Even if she can write and act out normal human interaction, it's not something she really has that much of a grasp on in practice.]

[thesettingsun]

[Shuji trusts Grell's taste in books, after their conversation in the Inkwell. So when he sees her with an array of books around her, he naturally goes to plop down next to her on the grass.

He's wearing (grey) jeans today, it's fine.]

Studying mythology?

[It's not his strong suit, but he does know a couple of things here and there. Enough to know that Disney's Hercules was not an accurate movie.]

[okitactless]

That's quite a collection.

[Yamato may work in the children's section of the library, but that's far from the only place he spends his time. And as an extremely superstitious person to begin with, all of this Retrospec nonsense has had him digging up books on history, as well as myths and legends, just like Grell.

He isn't familiar with all of the titles she's got on hand, but he recognizes a few of them, stopping halfway to his usual practice spot in the park. He's got his bokuto bag in hand, messenger bag slung over his shoulder, but he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get to where he's going, apparently more interested in looking at the books around her.]

Are you looking for something?

[erythristic]

Currently, a collection of collected popular legends from all over the world. I've gotten to a story on the vila.

[this person, she doesn't know, but thankfully Grell adapts in an instant and accepts this new turn of events. sometimes the most important meetings began by pure chance - one friend she met by him calling to her on the street, after all.

those green eyes turn to Magilou, the expression on Grell's face curious.]

Are you drawn to such things?

[erythristic]

Something like that.

[Shuji gets a smile, and Grell pushes aside some of the books to make room for him.]

You could say I'm searching for something. Trying to pin down an idea into words I know exist somewhere within these tomes.

[truly confessing what she's doing isn't going to be forthcoming, but she can make it sound good, at any rate.]

[erythristic]

[she looks up from where she's been reading in Fantastical Creatures of the World, and straightens up to see the stranger. no harm in answering as honestly as she feels comfortable with.]

In a fashion. I think my answer is somewhere in all of these - I just have to stumble upon it.

[a pause, though.]

...Somehow I feel as though I was charmed into taking too many and yet not enough of these books out. The library truly has that effect on a person.

[storytelleroftime]

I suppose you could say that.

[She is somewhat surprised, somewhat glad. Certainly not a subject she was expecting yet one she was decently well versed in. Well, at least, depending on what you were researching. She didn't know everything about everything, exactly. But still, the subject was the thing that was catching her eye now, and that was enough to make her almost forget about her previous thought processes and goal, though not completely. She feels a small smile creep onto her face.

Looks like she might have found something way more interesting to get into here.]

"So, are you looking for anything in particular?" [Might as well see if she can lend some of her knowledge to this besides in casual observation.]

[thesettingsun]

[Thank you Grell, he wouldn't want to put his shoes on library books. That would be The Worst.]

Something you remembered seeing and want to put a name to, or heard of and want to learn more about it. Sounds reasonable.

[Shuji's here to make assumptions, even if she's not confessing.]

You wouldn't have read about anyone - anything with ink instead of blood?

[okitactless]

It really does. I guess that's how they get you to come back, right? [There's a sense of understanding in his smile; Grell isn't the first to feel this way, nor will she be the last, that's for sure.]

Do you need some help? I read books like this a lot.

[And half the time they give him nightmares, so maybe it's unsurprising that his memories have been full of blood and monsters.]

[erythristic]

Ink instead of blood? Not yet, but I wouldn't rule it out, these books are pretty extensive.

[reaching over to one bound in blue, she offers it to him.]

Why not look with me? If nothing else, we can share whatever catches our eyes.

[thesettingsun]

Works for me.

[He'll start flipping through the blue book. It looks like a general encyclopedia of myths - covers a broad spectrum, but doesn't have all that much detail on any one thing.]

Have any idea of which mythology for yours?

[erythristic]

Something involving death. Fitting, with my day job, but I'm not surprised.

[her book, brown bound, is a collection of what might be considered fairy tales. it's not going great, but she's learning more about myths than she thought she'd need to in a while.]

Not like people dying, though that could be in it. More...conceptually? If that makes sense.

[erythristic]

An answer in the form of a phrase I won't even know until I set eyes on it.

[the answer's as much as she wants to give, carefully skirting details. Grell knows what she's looking for distinctly, but...if it's something she hasn't even admitted to herself, why would she tell a stranger?]

Somewhere hiding in common symbols and classic storylines, I can feel it. Waiting for the right turn of the page to be discovered.

[erythristic]

Is there somewhere you'd recommend a beginner start if they were interested in common themes, archetypes, that sort of thing?

[he's offering, so might as well. if she starts general, then she might be able to narrow things down.]

[storytelleroftime]

"Common symbols, eh? Well, that's an area of expertise of mine. All that childhood study of Jung has to have gotten me something, after all. But even so, if it's a search without a clear target, I'm afraid I can't be all that helpful there." [Well, maybe if she could get a more precise answer she could.]

"Really, the metalogic of fiction is the only logic we have right now, frankly." [What, with physics being broken left and right.]

[thesettingsun]

Conceptually... hm. Like a shinigami?

[He only has a vague understanding of what those are outside of anime, though.]

[erythristic]

A shini...what?

[how do you spell that....should she be looking that up in this book? actually, she's going to try to.]

[thesettingsun]

Shinigami. Romanized as S-H-I-N-I-G-A-M-I.

[Don't ask him for the kanji though.]

[erythristic]

[flipping through her book's index, after a moment, she shakes her head.]

I can't find anything with that word in it. Guess they could only pick up so many fairy tales. Is yours the same?

[thesettingsun]

[Flip... flippity flip... Okay, found it. He holds the book out to her on the correct page.]

Got it here. But it's not really a fairy tale, exactly, or at least not what you think of when you hear the term.

[erythristic]

Ah, but truth is stranger than fiction, so they say. And I refuse to give up on truth's logic so easily. I could hardly be what I am today if I backed down on a challenge like that one - there are answers, somewhere in the world.

[in this very city, even.]

But, you mention Jung - are you a psychologist? Or just an enthusiast?

[erythristic]

[taking the book from Shuji's hands, she turns her eyes to the page.

"Shinigami, literally translated as god of death from the original 死神, is a Japanese term for spirits that invite souls towards death, present in traditional beliefs and religion. Seen as alternately helpful and monstrous, the European equivalent would be the concept of the Grim Reaper, or simply Death itself personified."

there's more than she reads, but she doesn't lift her eyes from the page before she responds.]

I see what you mean - it's more classic fairy tale. You know, the ones that scare kids into behaving.

[storytelleroftime]

"Well, that's assuming that physical truth is the highest truth. I mean there's a lot of weird ways people look at truth. But you're right. There are definitely answers to what's going on."

[Although those answers are likely going to end up sounding like weird conspiracy theories.]

"And Jung is basically my entire childhood so yeah, you could call me an enthusiast."

[thesettingsun]

Yeah. Less Disney, more the older stuff where Rapunzel's prince gets his eyes gouged by thorns and wanders in the wilderness. Though I don't know what that's supposed to tell kids to do. Not let strangers climb your hair?

[That's not a practical moral.]

slides in

[accordance]

[ As he's been advised repeatedly by quite a few people to Take A Break, Lucian has relented and set himself on a daily walking regime. When Grell catches sight of him, he'll be dressed rather casually for his usual manner - a polo shirt paired over his usual black pants, showing pale skin and a faint scar curling around one arm. ]

Hello, Grell. What are you looking up?