magic, madness, heaven, sin

[reddosmod]

JULY 2022 EVENT

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: A statue of Lady Justice with her sword against a man's throat. ]
[Image Two: A pair of hands covered in blood. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Two people trying to reach one another being pulled back by multiple, disembodied hands. ]
[Image Two: A feminine figure lying on a boardwalk above the ocean. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A pair of black scales held by a statue. ]
[Image Two: A single hand reaching up from the water, implying drowning. ]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

GOOD AND EVIL

WHEN: July
WHERE: All over
CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, revenge, possible torture, possible death, mental manipulation

---

An excerpt from the book Thus Comes the Reckoning:

Are we inherently good or evil? Are we hard-wired for empathy? Or is violent behavior our innate reaction when the world has done us wrong? This is something that has been debated for centuries, even in the times Before Sodder. Have we evolved since the Dreamless World? Since the Nightmare? Have the Pthumerians and their blessings made us more peaceful and understanding?

While it is true that our world is more generous and caring than the ones we have read about in the Dreamless World, where in spite of our shortages, we want for nothing that we truly need, the very existence of corruption and beasthood should speak of our true natures and of the true natures of Sleepers. There is no time that this is more prominent in our world than in the month of July, when the Reckoning holds sway.

It is unclear if it is the unbearable heat, the Pthumerian's influence, or perhaps just our true selves coming forth, but each July is the prelude to chaos. The pleasantries die off, the generosity wanes, and we forget the lessons of our more kind and gentle benefactors. Fist fights over minor disagreements, people attacking one another with weapons when they don't get their way or wait too long in line, and murders over the loss of a game. Does the summer make monsters of us all? Or does the Beast Moon simply encourage what is already inside of us?

Sleepers will find themselves encouraged towards violence. Many will be drawn to do evil. They will feel a pull to hurt others, particularly those who have hurt them first. Anger will seem like a natural state and many will find that they have lost all ability to reason when they become even minorly frustrated. Vigilante justice will seem like a great idea. Did someone hurt your loved one? Then tear them apart! Did a person borrow something from you and never return it? End them. Criminal activity will skyrocket, particularly violent criminal activity, throughout the month of July. People will feel more inclined to steal, to damage property, to kill, and to get revenge. Torturing others will seem like a perfectly reasonable idea. It is the month to do so and it might even feel good to hurt other people.

Sleepers will also feel violently protective of those they love. They will want to make sure that the violent crimes happening to other people doesn't happen to their people and they might go to such extremes as locking their loved ones up so that nothing can get to them. It's an obsessive need to protect and not let go. Someone might even feel so inclined as to kill their friends just to make sure that no one else can hurt them.

On the flip side, those who manage to resist the violent urges will be more inclined to help those who are violent. Even if you are someone who has never wanted to help another person, you will be drawn to do good. It's not impossible to talk others down, to sway them to being better people and to remembering who they are. It's just a lot of work. But still, those who are impacted by the good will feel that same need to protect others; only for them, it doesn't have to necessarily be someone they know. They want to do the right thing, to protect people from themselves. Unlike the evil, they will know there are limits, and they will not hurt others in their attempt to protect them. But they may end up being willing to, possibly uncharacteristically, sacrifice themselves to do so.

QUICK FACTS: 1. You can only be impacted by The Good or The Evil at one time. Someone who is Good can be corrupted into becoming Evil. If someone is talked down from being Evil, they can either go back to being their normal selves, or they can become impacted by The Good instead. This can happen as many times in the month as possible, but they can only be Good or Evil at one time. You can not be both at once.

2. Characters who can usually heal demons/possessions/etc. can cure Evil in people. Their powers will work the same as they would in their canon/from their blood powers. Game based items that would normally cure corruption however will NOT work to cure Evil. They will still work to cure corruption/beasthood.

3. The Reckoning can still punish you. Just because you're being influenced by outside forces won't matter to her. If she catches you doing something bad and it isn't for revenge purposes, she will punish you as she sees fit. This is left up to player interpretation.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

FORTUNE'S FOOL

WHEN: July
WHERE: All over
CONTENT WARNINGS: Star-Crossed lovers, encouraged suicidal ideation, possible death

---

Love. A complicated feeling that puts people into complicated circumstances. And yet, people will find themselves focused on this emotion more so than usual this month. For someone who is already in love, the emotions will become even stronger, almost overwhelming, wanting to burst out of them like a song. For those who were not in love before, they may find themselves suddenly easily falling for others. Maybe they will love multiple people or maybe just one, but love will be an all consuming emotion to those who fall victim to it.

The only problem is that love isn't always accepted. People who are deeply in love will suddenly start to feel persecuted and judged from those around them. They will feel as though their love is unallowed, that the person that means the most to them is being rejected by their family, their friends, by society itself. It doesn't matter if that's the truth: there's just something inside of people that makes them thoroughly convinced that their love is not meant to be. Star-Crossed. Unattainable.

There will be an increased urge to solidify that love as being real and unbreakable. Maybe this is done through fighting back against those who are saying no. Maybe it comes in the form of secretly saying vows and loved ones spiritually tying themselves together forever. Or maybe in the end, the only true way that lovers feel they can truly be together... is in death. All of these will seem like reasonable options— or maybe even the only option. Love is never ending, after all, even if life is.

QUICK FACTS: 1. Anyone can fall in love with anyone else. It doesn't have to be the character that you're already shipping with if all players agree! You can fall in love with someone you know, someone you've just met, or even a total stranger. Love is a gift to everyone, right??? Who needs pesky things like introductions.

2. You do not have to commit suicide. You can, of course, and many will definitely feel drawn to it with the basis of the prompt, but it is not required. Please make sure to mark all threads accordingly!

3. The persecution against your relationship does not have to be real. You can, however, tie this into the first prompt, and have even the smallest slights be reason to think that your love is persecuted. Similarly, people who are impacted by the first prompt may be more likely to actually shun those who are in love. Feel free to work with it however you see fit!

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

OUR OWN PRISONS

WHEN: July
WHERE: All over, but particularly by the ocean.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Self-hatred, judgement, suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, possible drowning.

---

Everyone has personal flaws. Things about themselves they don't like, reactions they wish they didn't have, habits that they want to break. Sometimes the awareness of flaws can outweigh the awareness of our strengths as well. It's easy to get caught up in the feeling that we're less then perfect, that we'll never be able to fix ourselves no matter what we do.

This month, those feelings seem to be amplified. Sleepers will see flaws everywhere; in the people they love, in the Trenchies, and most heavily in themselves. Feelings of self-hatred and judgement will be amplified and even those who are usually confident in themselves will find that they're suffering from it. Sometimes these feelings may manifest as a simple bout of anger and depression; but for others, it can become more severe quickly.

Those who find themselves suffering heaviest from these feelings will feel called to the ocean. Maybe it's a desire to go back to a squid form, a place that's simpler and more straight forward. Or maybe it's the unbearable heat that's putting these thoughts in someone's head and they'll feel like going for a swim would cure it. But there's something inside everyone that knows that if they go into the ocean, they might not come back out again.

Sleepers will feel like the ultimate judgement is waiting for them out there. If they are seeing flaws more in themselves, being by the ocean will amplify feelings of suicide. If they're seeing flaws in everyone else, they might feel compelled to bring those people down to the ocean to drown them. The ocean, associated so heavily with rebirth, could be the very thing to cleanse people of their imperfections, after all. Maybe it would be a favor to everyone if someone just gave in and tried to fix themselves and others. For the good of Trench.

QUICK FACTS: 1. These feelings can cause people to become more corrupt. The longer they are exposed to these feelings, the closer they will get to high levels of corruption, and eventual beasthood.

2. Because these feelings can cause corruption, they can also be relieved through the same methods as corruption. Talking, touching, Moon Drops, get some therapy, whatever the player chooses.

3. People who do not address their feelings and/or who spend too much time by the ocean will inevitably deal with feelings of suicide and/or homicide. Please be sure to handle these topics appropriately and content warn your threads.

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

Comments

Beatrice the Golden Witch » Umineko no Naku Koro ni

[manyone]

i. In the hopes that the sea shall give up her dead (CW: Suicidal ideation, Umineko spoilers)

[ The sea is calming at first. Slowly, though, the unhappy scratching at the back of Beatrice's mind begins to rise to a crescendo, an insistent and unhappy mantra of unhappiness, imperfection, and failure. She had been created for a purpose, had a single goal. She would make Ushiromiya Battler understand his part in the Rokkenjima Massacre. She would make him see who she was. She would make him understand why these sins had come to pass.

And yet she had failed. Utterly, completely failed. He hadn't remembered anything, hadn't recalled his sin or who she was or where she came from. He hadn't even acknowledged her as a Witch. Being acknowledged as his opponent was something, at least, but the weight of her failures seemed more and more pressing. She was wrong, in some way. As a Witch, as a person, there was something deeply flawed in her that meant her failure and she couldn't excise it because it was something deep in her very soul.

Maybe it had been part of Sayo the whole time, but it was almost certainly something that had been part of Beatrice. She sits on the edge of the boardwalk, staring out at the waves as they roll in against the sand. SHe can be found there for days, simply watching, quiet and sullen and alone.

Then, one day, she finally moves. She pushes herself up to her feet and starts to walk across the sand in the direction of the sea, seabreeze whipping strands of blonde hair around her head.

She had thrown herself into the sea once before, hadn't she? Or had that been Sayo? It blurs together in her head.

There is peace there in the deep stillness of the water. Cleansing. Maybe that's exactly what she needs.

Just to rest. To sleep.

That's it.

She takes another step across the sand. ]

ii. Wildcard

[ Anything else, or if we're plotting something specific, give me a poke and I'll write up something specific! You can reach me via PM or on discord, Starlight#5914. My plotting post for the event is here.]

ii wildcard; fortune's fool; tw stalking

[makingthetime]

[The first time Leon meets Beatrice in person, outside of one of Sayo's memories, he's almost struck dumb by her beauty. His heart races in his chest when she touches his hand, and for a full minute or so he just stands there where she left him, fully transfixed, eyes wide and staring after her retreating form. At least until both his Omen and Barbra the Oshawott smack him on the shin to get his attention.

The second is much more deliberate, on his part. It's...probably not a good thing to keep an eye on her so much, but he reasons that this is a crap-ass world that's generally out to get everyone in it, so it's not too strange that he's keeping one eye on her back from afar. Who knows what's waiting around the corner, after all. But perhaps he should've been better at covering his tracks, because the third time, he stops somewhere fairly remote and glances around the place.

Looking for a flash of red black and gold.]

Hello?

Luz Noceda | The Owl House

[imaglyphwitch]

Good and Evil OTA

She could feel the rising in her head, and her head was awash with voices that were hard to ignore. Everywhere she went, she could feel her irritation getting stronger, that urge to just hit something, to give into her feelings and let that part of herself go.

And then she thought of Lexi, and that feeling, that urge, just got all that much smaller in her, and that led her to think of her home, of the people that helped her keep going, so she would manage a smile, she would bear the people pushing at her, throwing a curse in her direction, taking one hit after another. Sure, it was much harder than she expected, and she had hoped her return to Trench's every day would be less of a hassle, but that was not exactly what she signed up for, was it? So Luz endured, and was hoping she'd be able to help out anyone that was getting affected by this.

There's a Place for Us [Closed to Lexi Howard]

Luz had gotten the letter from Korra, so she knew the girl was gone. After a lot of crying (and there was a LOT), Luz finally pinged Lexi to come and meet her at her place. Once the girl arrived, she'd see Luz dressed in the outfit that Ochako had picked out for her to wear. Luz couldn't help herself: she was feeling low, but she also wanted to make an impression on her girlfriend as she showed her what had been left for her.

"Hey Lexi. Thanks for coming. I have something I want to show you!"

Our Own Prisons OTA

It had been a long month.

Luz had dealt with as much as she could, and honestly? It was a lot, even for her. While she was never one for the idea that she should ever commit suicide (she knew enough that the road to thinking like THAT was dark and meant losing out on life) there was still a lingering sad space in her heart right now, where she lost so many people in the last few months, and coming out this month had gotten her a fair share of bruises and some strange happenings that even she hadn't expected, things she couldn't help but wonder if she was becoming a burden.

She sure felt like one. Or at least, she felt like her attempts to cheer up, to try and make things better, had definitely fell on deaf ears this month. She started to wonder if being happy, something she hadn't felt for a time, had impacted her ability to be open to those that weren't feeling that way. Suddenly she started to remember ALL her failings, from Usagi to Midoriya to even Willow this month, and recall how she'd frustrated her own housemates enough that she'd caused them to be frustrated with her. Now here she was, with a girlfriend and a second HOUSE, and she had the nerve to try and tell other people to try and be happy, to resist the rage?

Who did she think she was?

So Luz walked away and had found herself where it all started, or at least where she started HERE: the waters, where all the squids came to become the Sleepers, and she looked around her, closing her eyes, slowly just...wandering in.

What would happen if she got too deep? Would she become a squid again? See all of her fellow Sleepers that left her? Would she be cleansed? Find relief?

Would anyone care?

Our Own Prisons

[aetherweaver]

Nara'a enjoys the beach, more than some might think. It's less the feeling of the sand between his toes and more the feeling of connection, of the world touching the same ocean that he's looking at. He wanders along the beach for a bit before he spots a young girl wading into the water.

Curiosity compels him to take a closer look, raising a hand as he calls out to her. "Hey there. Are you all right? You look a little sad." And no one should be sad at the beach. The beach is a place for fun! Even this beach.

Peter Graham 👑 Hereditary

[possessum]

CLOSED STARTERS

^{plotted starters here. feel free to hmu if you'd like to do something! plotting.}

— The Emperor (cw: description of dead animals, identity/body befuddlement)

[possessum]

( The bird is dead when she finds it.

Small things often can't last. Not in this heat — or simply not in general. There's so much that can go wrong when a thing is that small. It's easy to become broken.

The child holds the dead bird cupped limply in a palm. There's a solemn gentleness, but not out of concern or ache. She regards it with subdued emotion, perhaps no emotion at all, as though one would a specimen: a precious thing to be observed and utilised elsewhere. It's in good shape. She can make something with this.

With measured care, she tucks the dead bird in with the other treasures she's been collecting as she's wandered this city. Other small things that most would overlook. But not her. She sees what others might look past, and she keeps them safely with her. Her magpie's trove is an assortment of small stones, part of a fish's bone, something small and wooden she found outside of a shop, a few pieces of sun-burned grass. A lizard with a broken neck, a mouse that's half-decayed, and the bird. All of them are placed neatly into a little half-broken basket that she found tossed outside of someone's home, presumably trash — another abandoned, dead thing for Charlie to collect.

To collect and to express herself with, to recraft into something new, something more befitting of the way she sees the world. She must have been wandering on her own for some hours, so silent and content in herself as she'd gathered her selected pieces. Now she's aware that she needs to return home, that's the next step to take, but.....

...the streets aren't familiar. They're cobblestone, not pavement. And the houses are strange — all tucked in close to one another. It doesn't look anything like where she lives, out in the big house, tucked away behind the dark woods. For a moment, she's afraid for Mom to find out she's not there. Mom gets mad when she wanders off. She'll snatch Charlie by the arm; her voice will change, tongue sharpening around the edges, snapping like a predator animal against something small and quivering.

She wishes Grandma would find her instead. But she realises that she has no idea how to get back to Grandma, or Mom, or anything she knows. The temporary contented spell is broken and fretfulness begins to trickle in. Her eyes widen. She becomes aware, in that moment, that she is lost.

There is what appears to be a young man: tall and thin, with hair a mess of black curls and darkness like bruises beneath his eyes. He wanders down the streets of Gaze, movements slow and shuffling. Every few seconds, in spaced-out intervals, his tongue brushes sharply against the roof of his mouth to release a cluck-sound.

He (she, they; too many souls occupy this frame) holds the basket of lost items and dead things to the chest like a security blanket. )

sansa stark (alayne stone) | asoiaf

[dohaeris]

i. I don't want your pity [all month]

[when sansa isn't in the sanctuary or looking after the wellness center, she's out in the streets treating corruption with her blood hound knight. she seems a little impatient, and there is something very forced about her smiles, which fade into a stony mask when she's not using them.

for about week following the boat/beach fight, sansa will be wearing an eyepatch and followed by an increasing number of birds. please let me know if you'd like your interaction to take place during this time!]

ii. I just want somebody near me [late july] (cw feelings of depression, vague suicidal ideation)

[sansa had come out to the beach to treat corruption with her blood hound knight, but the glint of the sun on the ocean had caught her eye, and now the sun has set. she is still here, under the beast moon, with knight's head tilted towards her as a steady stream of corruption flows from her to the space between his antlers. weirwood sap stains her cheeks and rims her eyes. lady whimpers and whines by her side.

winterfell is in that ocean–her parents, at least, and robb. she could finally find out what maester luwin liked best to read and septa mordane was born. she could find her family and they could all swim to land together, like trouts up the trident. when they were ready, of course. it had been so peaceful in the ocean. she hadn't even thought about whether she was sansa stark or alayne stone. it had been like her dreams, where she was running through the wolfswood with lady. she hadn't had to worry if she was ever doing the right thing, or what the right thing was. for the first time since she'd left winterfell, she'd known peace.

if she hears steps, recognizes a scent, she won't bother to turn around.]

Everyone who ever loved me is in that ocean–my parents, my brother, my whole family. I never should have left them. Nobody will ever love me the way they did. I don't know why I came ashore.

[it would have been better for everyone, she thinks. she's done nothing but lie and cheat since she got here. she is not the kind, thoughtful dressmaker she pretends to be or the strong, gracious exile she plays for her friends. she isn't anything. she is a little mockingbird, and she repeats what littlefinger has taught her.

lady howls.]

ii

[manyone]

[ There's another young woman sitting on the beach near Sansa. Blonde haired and blue eyed, fit for a Lannister. She hadn't planned it that way, she hadn't meant to come close--it was simply happenstance that Beatrice had chosen this spot for her own melancholy. When Sansa speaks, her head turns just slightly, her own thoughts of the ocean, of the peace that she might find there from the bitter disappointment of failure. Peace from her anger, her despair, and her grief. She is quiet as Sansa speaks and the wolf howls. How familiar that feeling is, to feel so utterly alone. ]

It's the same for me.

[ Her voice is small and quiet, not one that the Golden Witch is meant to use.

But here, perhaps, she can be only a girl who is sad, angry, and desperate.]

They never loved me. They never had the chance to love me before they died. And all I've done since has come to nothing. Everything I did to try and make people understand--they didn't grasp it. I want to sleep that eternal sleep at last, to never wake again.

Do you think one could do that, in there?

Jun Ushiro | Bokurano

[icanhearscreams]

What You Need (cw: blood, violence, stealing)

Everything's pissing him off today. The heat, the other people, this stupid feeling that he doesn't belong... it's enough to make him really want to punch someone. It doesn't really start until someone around his age starts arguing with him about... he can't even remember, something about someone's hair looking stupid. But it devolves into a fistfight, the two boys smacking each other until they're both nursing bloody noses and walking away unsatisfied.

Jun isn't the sort of person to kill over an offense, even with his temper flaring high... but he's still prone to being argumentative and irritating. And besides that, he starts swiping things. Small things at first, just some food at first, then some easy to miss clothing. After that, though? Anything starts looking fair game. The only issue is that he's... not very good at hiding his ill-gotten gains, so it's not terribly hard to find him looking suspicious as he exits a store.


Where You Belong (cw: suicide/suicidal ideation, hallucinations, mentions of genocide)

As the month wears on and he starts to get used to life in Trench, it feels more and more like he doesn't belong. All of these people with fantastical powers and him with... nothing. He's nothing but a nobody.

Except that's not true, is it?

No, instead he's a somebody with the blood of an entire world on his hands. On the one hand, an entire world saved. And on the other...

Individual lives, snuffed out by Zearth's lasers. He saw their lights go out, heard their screams, can hear them now even as he sits on the edge of the water. How dare he live when the others died? How dare he be the one to survive in a new life? He was ready for death, had accepted death. He washes his hands in the water, trying to remove the red from them until he realizes it's not there.

He's not mentally well. That part was true a while ago and it still is now. He flicks some sand off of his hands, comes to a decision. He takes off his shoes and glasses, leaving them in the sand.

He wades out into the water. Ankle deep - it's cool and inviting. Knee deep - it's warmer than he thought. Waist-deep - it's rocking him gently...

He keeps going, step by step, not intending to stop.


Wildcard

[Got another idea? Hit me up via PM, atrypical, Discord: Matt#6266, or Jun's plotting post here.]

where you belong

[miyagimagic]

This wasn't quite what Daniel expected to see when he went out to the beach for some meditation and practice.

At first he kind of wonders if the other might just want to swim, but judging by the pace the boy is going at, Daniel is pretty sure that this isn't supposed to be a fun activity. It's not even like he took off some of his clothes first... (It's reminiscent a little of his own first day here, when a feeling got hold of him that made him so very desperate to go back to what he used to know that he just ran straight back into the ocean.)

.. maybe he's wrong. But Daniel would rather have been wrong than have done nothing at all, so he quickly jogs over towards the spot where Jun left his glasses and shoes, calling out to the boy in the water to see if it'll catch his attention at all. ]

Hey! What are you doing?!

Uchiha Sasuke | Naruto

[retsuden]

Good and Evil

[ The month isn't easy. He spends the beginning of it away with Sakura, traveling outside the city, becoming heavily corrupted in the process, and then attempts to heal from it all in her clinic in the days after they return. The burn scars on his neck and shoulders mimics his old curse mark, and are still painfully fresh on his skin.

It's not until mid-month that he's finally up and around and witnessing the chaos at hand. He's used to being the one causing disorder, hurting and killing people on mass, and it's only been in the past couple of years that he's taken to trying to stop anyone from causing the same sort of destruction. There's something inside of him that pulls him to fight the violent urges and to instead try to help those who are hurting.

It's gotta be because of the city. He's certain he wouldn't care about helping hardly any of these people if he were in his normal state of mind. Not his problem, right? But apparently it's his problem now.

Which is why when he sees someone trying to hurt another person, or trying to destroy someone's property, he's quick to jump in between them and whoever or whatever is facing the wrath of someone else's Evil feelings. ]

That's enough.

[ ... Very convincing. Master of eloquence. He's definitely the man for this job. ]

Our Own Prisons

[ A | CONTENT WARNINGS: Suicidal ideation, survivor's guilt, PTSD, and all the things that go with Sasuke in general as a character. ]

[ He doesn't have to be caving in to his violent urges to end up cracking at the increase in self-loathing. Sasuke already hates himself more than almost anyone else could hate him and the flaws in his character feel amplified ten fold as of late. The constant thoughts that were already there are practically being yelled through a loud speaker: Why was he left alive? Why had Itachi made such a horrible deal? He hadn't deserved to live when the rest of their clan was in a mass grave that no one ever visited. He didn't want to be the final Uchiha with the future of his clan resting entirely on his shoulders.

He was a bad person. A terrible person. A person who had murdered, terrorized, and tortured people. He couldn't see himself as deserving of love on a good day and now it seemed as though he had somehow fooled people into giving a shit about him on top of it. Here in particular, with friends he could barely keep in contact with because he always pulled away when people got too close. With Sakura...

She's the only thing that has him hesitating as he stands at the ocean's shore, letting the waves roll over his sandals. He stares down at the foam on the water, forehead creased. She'd be pissed. Hurt. Maybe it would be the thing she never forgave him for. It's that hesitation that might give someone an opening if they were so inclined to try and talk another person out of their plans. ]

[ B CONTENT WARNINGS: Suicide attempts (others, not him) ]

[ Sasuke's spent so much time down by the water thinking and contemplating his own woes that it's easy to spot someone else who was in the same predicament. Once he's managed to shake those feelings, he's down here even more often, looking for others who are on the brink of doing something they might regret.

If he sees someone out in the water, he doesn't hesitate. Ignoring the way the waves have become more dangerous at points through this month, he goes to dive into the water, grabbing hold of the other person tightly. It's hard to hold on to someone and swim when you've only got one arm, so he instead pulls them up onto the water's surface, using his chakra to balance on the waves and lifts them up to more or less... drag them back towards shore instead.

It's only when they've hit the sand that he lets them go again, ready to stop them from running back in if they try. ]

You know, if there's one thing I've learned in this place... Talking about it helps the pain more than doing whatever stupid idea the city's shoved into your head.

[ C CONTENT WARNINGS: Prompt warnings, will mark individual threads as needed. ]

[ Or maybe he manages to catch someone before they've tried to actually walk into the waves. It's not hard for him to spot the ones who have the idea on their mind versus the ones who are there trying to help others as well. He slows his walk as he gets near to them, hesitating each time, because maybe they really just need to be alone.

Although he's fairly sure no one should be alone right now.

It's that thought that always pushes him forward, always makes him clear his throat so as not to startle them too badly just by speaking. ]

Something on your mind?

Fortune's Fool

[ CLOSED TO SAKURA ]

[ Things have felt intense since Sakura helped him with his corruption. It's her own rising levels that have him concerned and he keeps trying to find ways to help, but his pulling back from their physical affections seems to have made her more cautious to let him close these days. It makes him feel like he's truly fucked up, that maybe he's losing her. Maybe she's vented to friends, maybe they've told her what he knows is true: he's no good for her, she's better off with someone else. Maybe she's finally believing it now that they're away from the circumstances of home and she can just see that he's this awful no matter what world he's in.

He forces those thoughts to a halt. Sasuke doesn't love easily, but when he does, like every other Uchiha, he loves deeply. His fears aren't enough to drive him away from trying to show her he still cares even if he'd been afraid of going too far with his corruption holding the reigns. He doesn't know how to make it clear that he loves her, wants her, is completely hers, while also maintaining his traditional attitudes that he's inherited from his family.

It's the middle of the night when the idea hits him. He's curled himself against her side as they slept and so it doesn't take much to reach up and shake her shoulder gently. ]

Sakura? Sakura, wake up.

[creationrebirth]

[ Their brief trip had been both good and bad. They'd gotten a good look at the surrounding area and she'd collected some great specimens, but the levels of corruption had been hard on them. They were strong enough together that she'd been able to bring him off the edge, a far more concerning issue than her own corruption.

In comparison to Sasuke's issues, hers were minor. Of course, that was sort of what led her down her own path to corruption; putting everyone else ahead of herself. Being close to him physically and emotionally had helped her not only feel connected, but also helped soothe her need to care for others. Having him pull away as soon as he got his own corruption under control had left her feeling the opposite.

She'd felt abandoned, pushed away, unneeded, and unwanted. Those feelings had only continued to nag at her as they'd returned.

It helped to feel him curl against her and sleeping soundly, but it left her confused on what he wanted. She'd fallen asleep that night, listening to him breathe and wanting him desperately. She felt consumed by her love for him and aching to be as close to him as humanly possible. As always, until he let her in, she wouldn't push. She especially didn't want to pressure him about sex, but also, as always it made her wonder whether he loved her as much as she loved him.

Somehow she'd fallen asleep, soothed enough by just having him close. It felt like only moments later she's being shaken awake, she rubs her eyes trying to rid them of drowsiness. There is a hint of concern in her voice when she finally fully registers him. ]

What's the matter?

OU!Himiko Toga | BNHA

[bleedformeplz]

i. I Wanna Be BAD | CW: violent, blood, possible murder

[Chaos rang every corner. People screaming their last breath. The sound of blunt weapons cracking brittle rocks. Partial sidewalks paint in red. People breaking into properties and stealing like it's a norm. Did Himiko honestly cared? Not really. People were doing whatever they felt like, which she admires most.

This very moment, Himiko is grinning happily. She inhales one deep breath, breathing in all the chaos and freedom around her, hugging herself as if trying to embrace the chaos. A good exhale escapes as she spread her arms out and wide like a pair of wings. This is the world she dreamed of for so long; she was living in it. No rules or authorities to stop her, this is her utopia. Her grin stretches from ear to ear creepily, fangs baring ready to bite a good meal.]

Thank you, world!

[She yells happily over her head, thanking anyone, even if it's God.

The teen skips in the shadows of the district. There were some blood splats on her uniform, no biggie. Some were dried as others were... fresh. Blood ran down her face, from her forehead and down. Where they hers? It's hard to tell. Her lips and mouth is drenching blood for a while.

When she happened to find someone within the chaos, she waved her arms over her head from a good distance.]

Yooo-hooo! Hi!

[Says one bloody girl. She wipes the blood off her lips with her sleeve.]

You won't believe what happened!

[Take the bait?]

ii. Wild Card!

PM or discord: nightluna#1098

i

[manyone]

[ Things are certainly getting wild out here and Beatrice is... amused? Mostly? It's not her game, not her pieces so there's a limit to just how interesting this can get, but watching the chaos, encouraging it in small ways--well, that's just lovely. She's standing amidst all of it in her frilly dress and carefully arranged hair when a girl approaches her, seemingly out of nowhere. She blinks down at Himiko, then smiles.

This girl seems so familiar, somehow. ]

I won't? Tell me, tell me, tell me! I'd like to know!

Melius Senyan {The Dragonborn} | Skyrim | OTA

[fusrodaaaah]

POTION HUT
[Having trouble with the heat? Wish you were feeling a little cooler? Stop in to the POTION HUT! A sign, scribbled in surprisingly neat cursive, advertises the following:]

- POTIONS OF RESIST HEAT
THREE STRENGTHS: MILD, STANDARD, STRONG
LASTING HOURS
50% OFF

[Should you step inside, you'll find the shop owner working away. Apparently oblivious to the general oppressive heat. He'll look up, briefly, before going right back to work again. Grinding and boiling up potions and powders. But he'll also gesture to the stack of red vials on the counter.]

[... just please pay something. Hidden behind the stack of vials is Melius' omen. She may be housecat sized, but she's a literal dragon. And fully prepared to defend her temporary hoard if need be.]


ON THE SHORE
[Speaking of the heat...]

[Maybe you've been drawn to the beach for the Sea by the events of this month. Maybe you just hope it'll be a little bit cooler down here. Or maybe you just want to get a snack at the boardwalk. Doesn't matter. Either way, you're here. And ...]

[When you're on the sand, or any small rock formation, please watch where you step.]

[Because there's a man-sized Argonian who has shed his shirt, and shoes, and is sprawled out like a giant gecko on the nearest warm surface. A crocodile basking in the sun. That's Melius right now. Eyes shut, blissed out, enjoying the absolutely scorching temperatures.]

[... is that healthy? Should he be doing that?]


VIGILANTE JUSTICE | the GOOD
[Night falls over Trench. It's still hot. There's still crime. It's not a good evening. But it's still dark. Very dark. And in the darkness, something looms atop a roof. It looks like a person in a heavy cloak. If... that cloak had horns poking out of the top.]

[Yeah, he couldn't really do much about that. So he cut slits for his horns. Moving on.]

[His head suddenly snaps to look downward, into the alley he's perched over. Something is scuttling around down there. Maybe it's you. Maybe he's honed in on some bit of Evil you're committing there. Or maybe someone is inflicting some on you. Or heck, maybe you're just passing by while some Trenchies are getting into it.]

[The night crackles, abruptly.]

FO KRAH

[Ice erupts, apparently from the very words. It seems to cascade down from the figure, raining and freezing to what it touches. In the wake of the icy shower, the figure in the cloak leaps down to the ground, as well. And advances toward whoever is in the alley, menacingly.]

I... am... Justice.



[Yeah, no, you're Melius. But apparently the spirit of Good is quite a motivator tonight.]

JUSTICE (cw: possessed lad harassing people, fire)

[possessum]

( While Peter's certainly become a lot more openly irritated and even aggressive than he'd ever be on his own, he still isn't prone to crossing a certain line. Something in him still remains, some aversion to truly hurting people. No, his brand of Evil is mostly getting snappy and occasionally messing with people's property here and there. Mostly, he's keeping holed up inside.

...Unfortunately, Peter also happens to be possessed by a demon that is so incredibly sensitive to energy, and so easily tipped towards hostility if the vibes are bad enough. This month, the vibes couldn't be worse! So it's less Peter and more Paimon who's causing some terror in the night...

He's currently snarling at a couple he has cornered in an alleyway, lips peeled back as he spits snakelike hisses at them, eyes swollen pitch black. They scream in terror, and a sudden burst of flame appears, dangerously close to the pair. The crackling flames catch hold of a pile of wood and immediately set it ablaze, as the couple cry out for help—

—there's a voice from up above. A sudden flash of ice that immediately snuffs out the mini inferno in the alleyway. The demon freezes as the display, eyes locked onto the figure who leaps down; the couple are scrambling away as fast as they can, but Paimon's no longer concerned with them at all. Every ounce of his energy is fixed on the hooded figure looming towards him, and while usually the demon king would be so curiously drawn in by such a powerful display, in his current state he's just livid.

Quick as a spider, he leaps right onto one side of the alleyway and scrambles up it, then bends his spine in and twists his neck backwards enough so that he's staring upside down at the intruder. .....To which he wails like the Damned and conjures more fire, attempting to send it right at Melius. )

@chizuru

[siriusly]

OI-!!

[Manabu has come across a sight he does not like: aggressive, boisterous people looming over and intimidating a smaller, young lady. normally, he approaches these kinds of things with more neutrality and an effort to pacify, but not today. he's had enough today.

whether he's heard or not, the body closest to him is getting a bit of a static jolt as Manabu grabs them by the shoulder and does a shove, glaring at the lot of them. he really...should've assessed things more, given that more than one of them are armed, but TOO LATE.]

Knock it off! Leave her alone! Surely you got better things to do!

[tealeafs]

[ She should probably know better at this point. There's such an odd atmosphere hanging over town, and Chizuru knows that it's not quite a good idea to go out by herself, but.. on the other hand, what else is she supposed to do? It's not like the poor girl can just live off nothing but air for the rest of the month. She has to at least go out and get food so she can eat.

But that's exactly how she ended up in this situation. Even though she did nothing, Chizuru suddenly found herself being quite literally cornered by a group of Trenchies - her back pressed against the wall of an alley as they huddle around her, one of them already having pulled out a knife.

It leaves the girl's eyes wide with fear.. but a moment later they are instead wide with surprise when she suddenly hears some sort of commotion starting that wasn't a part of this only a moment ago. She looks around, trying to see past the people who have surrounded her, all much taller than her, only to notice that one of the people at the very edge of the huddle is being moved all of a sudden.

And then there's a voice. One she doesn't recognize, but clearly the first one that's been on her side in this entire situation. She glances between the man with the knife drawn, and then at all the other knives that are suddenly being drawn when the Trenchies realise there might be a fight starting, turning their heads to look at Manabu.

It makes Chizuru gasp. ]

P-Please, watch out!

[ She has no idea who this stranger is, but the last thing she wants is for them to get hurt on her account. ]

They have knives..!

L Lawliet (Lazarus Sauveterre) | Death Note | OTA

[hearthebell]

((OOC: The following prompts are set in the first half of July, after July 5 and before July 15!))

I. Good and Evil

[It's only a few days into July, and L is over it already.

It's not as though he's a particularly charismatic man at the best of times. It's not as though he has a likable way about him, or a manner that encourages trust, but he doesn't usually get attacked by clients who expressed an interest in hiring him. Not since his nightwalking days, anyway, but so far this week, he's been punched in the face twice, the stomach once, and slapped so hard that his head might have snapped around without his neck's natural limits, just for asking routine questions about the last time missing people were seen, the histories of stolen objects, the presence of love or grudges influencing bias.

In spite of the bruises, he's, strangely, even more determined to help.

That's how the two of you have been thrown into contact on this day in early July. His investigations take him all over the city, so as long as you're somewhere passingly public, he's noticed that you're having trouble with a Trenchie. Maybe they've refused to sell you something; maybe they're accusing you of stealing. Maybe they just don't like the look of you, but he's approaching, quickly, compelled to come to your defense. He addresses the Trenchie with a tone far more solid and commanding than he looks.]

There's no call for that... not unless you want trouble, anyway.

[The Trenchie seems to like their chances against the scrawny scarecrow of a man who is already sporting one black eye. Can he count on backup from his fellow Sleeper, or is he going to end up with another shiner?]

II. Fortune's Fool

["Love" has always been complicated to L. Not because it's beyond him, or even difficult; he's been known to be deeply obsessive and passionate about all sorts of matters, after all. Unfortunately, they are almost always pernicious and damaging influences, maybe sweet at first like the kiss of a toffee on the tongue, but etching tooth enamel over time and planting seeds of decay.

Strong feelings blend together for the man, all inhabiting the same general region. It's harder for him than it is for most people to separate feelings of hatred and love, and so July is already turning into something painful.

If you know him, it's possible he's sought you out to have this conversation. If you're strangers, in the Archives or the Pale Sanctuary or just some random café, he looks so forlorn and miserable that you might have approached him out of concern. Maybe you just happened to have a particularly open or kind expression on your face and he approached you.

Regardless, this guy is lonely, and at the end of some rope that needs a bit of slack before it pulls tight and something else has to give.]

Everyone I've ever met is worse off for having known me... including you, probably. I can't believe this place made me so selfish.

III. Our Own Prisons (cw: hopelessness, suicidal ideation)

[Half of the month hasn't even passed yet, but already being somewhat prone to melancholy, that's all it's taken to push L to the point where, unbathed and unfed and listless, he really prefers being asleep to being awake.

Ironic, that he went from being a hardcore insomniac to being almost impossible to wake up. Whether he's at home in the Rookery in bed, spending the night with Shoyo, or at the Pale Sanctuary, it's likely that he's deeply asleep and dreamwalking as far as possible from his own thoughts and feelings and the notion that no matter where he goes or what he does, it'll be alone.

It's also possible that he's ended up on the beach, curled and sleeping on the sand with no regard for his safety or health, maybe a little too close to the water. You could try to wake him up, of course, but it's also possible that you're encountering him in a different way...]

IV. DREAMWALKING WILDCARD

[It's snowing; it often is, when L wakes to his dreams, but this time it's accompanied by a bitter and paralyzing chill. He knows what will happen if he sits down for too long in these harsh conditions his own mind is generating; it's a dangerous place to be lately, even with his omen Lycka pushing and nudging him along, picking him up gently with her large mouth when he stumbles or falters more gently than so many teeth should allow.

He sets off walking through a silent forest of pine trees, unspooling red twine as he goes so he doesn't get completely lost. Sometimes his own dreams seem to go on forever; other times he stumbles into someone else's without even realizing it.

There's a clearing ahead where the weather seems different. Maybe sunlight pours into a gleaming, dewy glade; maybe there's a house, or a pit, or a torrential downpour or a raging battle. What's in your head?]

iv. dreamwalking

[martyrofduty]

Artificial light illuminates a briefing room. Recycled air hisses through the vents. Cohort officers in brilliant white and crimson uniforms sit straight in their chairs, hanging off every word. They're nearly slipping off the chairs because the words are few and offer little support.

An annotated map is projected next to the podium with military abbreviations and representations. It's a pause in the briefing (or perhaps a moment between sentences?). The Saint of Duty in similar Cohort white and red, with an iridescent cloak shimmering around it looks intensely at each person. They are living breathing people. Their hearts thump steadily in their chests. Blood flows through their veins.

The only hint, to someone of the Cohort, to those who have met the Saint of Duty, that this moment isn't quite the way it happened, yet, are the Saint's eyes—warm brown that matches the taut face they are in. The difficulty the Saint is in is a common one for dreams—behind the podium Duty has no pants.

anakin skywalker | star wars

[facultative]

[closed starters to go here.]

for padmé

[facultative]

[It starts gradually. First his increased presence, then constant fretting about possible dangers, but still little things. When he escalates it next it seems to come out of nowhere.

He's not even there that night when she goes to sleep, but when Padmé next wakes up it won't be in her own bed. It's his. He's been watching her all night from the other side of the room desperately trying to take steady breaths as tries to push out images of every possible way she could come to harm. He had to keep her with him at all costs. Obi-Wan would understand, he couldn't live without her. His master said he only wanted him happy.

His head snaps up the moment he feels her stir.]

Did you have a good sleep?

Nara'a Sunvara | Final Fantasy XIV

[aetherweaver]

i. i'm a good boy (any time in June) (blood, injuries)

Nara'a is busy - he's been breaking up fights and stopping crimes where he's been able to. Sometimes that ends in violence, but he's careful to not spill blood where he can help it. Still, there's more than a few bruises on his face from being hit. He's fine. It's fine.

Wherever there's crime, Nara'a can be found, trying to pull people apart and calm them down. Has he come across you doing the same? Or has he come across something else that he needs to stop?


ii. how to save a life (any time in June) (obsession, possible mention of suicide/drowning)

As soon as he'd realized what was happening, Nara'a set up near the beach. He's got a blanket on the sand with some food set out, along with a bag that has some first aid supplies. He patrols up and down the beach, careful to take breaks... but he's out there for a while. Days, even. Sometimes he doesn't see anyone. Sometimes he sees a few.

If he catches someone wading into the water he'll head out towards them with a smile and a wave. If he catches someone already in the water... well then he'll just dive in to get them. Go ahead and try to take him down with you - you might be surprised how long he can last under the water.

(Longer than whoever he's rescuing, at any rate.)


iii. let him run (late June) (obsession, corruption)

The moon has been unusually bright these days. He's glad for it, because it makes his patrolling on the sand easier. But there's something about it that feels... wrong, not like Menphina's light at all. He tries to not pay it any mind. He has a more important thing to do.

It's difficult to tell - his skin is already pale. But it's gotten even lighter in the last days, clsoer to white than it should be. His teeth are a little sharper too - not that he's smiling all that much. He doesn't have a lot to smile about, having been sleeping out here and spending his days patrolling for crime and scouring the beach to save people.

But he can't stop. He won't stop. Words echo in his mind.

"To ignore the plight of those one might conceivably save is not wisdom - it is indolence." "For those we have lost. For those we can yet save."

3!

[mehanizovati]

With how unpleasant the Trench natives were being Viktor's made a point of keeping away from the crowds of the Willful Machine, or the nightlife of Cellar Door. In truth it's a deeper wound than he would like, being suddenly thrust back into a city that eyed him distastefully, to feel the prickling sense of disdain in passing glance.

Just the month, he hopes, just the will of whatever powers warp the Trench, but no less a sting. Far easier to keep to the shore where few wander, close to one of the trees Ammy left behind. Interesting things wash up here sometimes, including people in need of help this violent month.

It's on that path, can sticking unpleasantly in the sand as he maneuvers, that he finds Nara'a. The ears are a dead give away, even if other aspects seem a touch off. "Ah, out for a walk as well?"

shoyo hinata | haikyuu!! | warmblood

[asas]

ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴠɪʟ — until july 14th; cw includes violence, bullying

[ the heat, the abrupt storms and rain— everything about the weather this month made shoyo feel like he was in his second home all over again. the beach would've been a wonderful place to bring the kids at koz orphanage to, consider it a field trip. if it was safe enough. the weather grows worse into the first week of july, they don't get a break. everyone seems to have beef with shoyo. it sucks!

he's bummed about the constant rain. he can't walk through the street without someone trying to pick on him for no actual reason. even trading for food and working on his nightwalker shifts doesn't go well. characters will find shoyo having plenty of problems with trenchies: he gets his food thrown, either on the ground or on him when shopping for foods to make at home. rice grains, vegetables and fruit are lost, and shoyo is made a mess of it. shoyo arrives for volleyball club almost always with a new split on his lips or swollen eyes. passerbys jeer and forcibly bump into him at the district of cellar door when he's working, bags of balls over his shoulder held together by fishnets being torn by hangs, or a new set of dumbbells being hauled on wheels and knocked sideways— they curse, scorn and shove him about what it is he does.  pleasure person, hustler— which is far from what he does! he offers sports, exercising, a lifting buddy, not . . . those things. a handful of encounters become particularly dangerous when he's ganged up on and shoved into the closes alleyway. maybe you saw one of these— hopefully, you'd want to help. or else he'll come out of there battered, bruised, bleeding deep burgundy and with his eyes stinging red, but his brows slant and his expression steams hot with anger.  ]

ɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ's ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴇᴠɪʟ — after july 16th; cw includes violence, some elements of corruption, toxic positivity

[ shoyo becomes odd during the middle of the month. he's either irritable or too positive, combative or a little . . . pushy! volleyball club is suspended for the rest of july. some guys still want to beat him up? bring it! he's ready to kick some ass, and he wants you to be the judge! what about food being thrown at him instead of handing it to him? he starts a foodfight. maybe he's not the one fighting off some provoking trenchies, but you are. if it's a one-on-one, he's cheering you on. quite. graphically. if you're outnumbered, he jumps in to drop kick some poor dude with the grace of a learning ninja (or maybe not poor, maybe he DESERVES IT).

ᴡɪʟᴅᴄᴀʀᴅ

[ my starters are vague and suck but please allow me to write u a personalized starter if you would like one........ plot w/ me liberos or owlie#3609! ]

@oikawa

[asas]

ᴛʜɪs ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ — until july 15th; cw includes character death

[ shoyo had woken up as his usual hour, on point: 5am. he rested well, slept through the whole night as he usually does. the alarm of his omni rings and he's quick to tap it into silence, raising to sit and slip away from the bed, careful to not wake his partner. shoyo's soft smile wanes when he sees the dribble of blood from lazarus' nose staining the pillow he rests his head upon. huh. was he okay? he didn't want to wake him up at such an hour, but his thumb brush at the stain.

it's dry.

from there, shoyo's alerts flag high. he leans over and places his fingers beneath bangs to brush hair away, palming the frail man's cheek.

he's cold.

yellow warning signs flash bright red, but at the same time, shoyo's heart skips so panicked, he doesn't know what he's feeling. the world stops. impossibility tries to bargain with him: this isn't real.

he's stiff. he's not breathing. he doesn't have a pulse.

(this isn't real—)

he calls for lazarus, shakes him awake. he does nothing but continues to sleep, soundlessly. oh, no. the nos that drip in whispered hushes past his quivering lips is constant and escalating. no, wake up, you're not— no,. lazarus had died in his sleep. he didn't notice. he didn't see. what happened? what was happening?

before shoyo's horror reaches its cusp, he bolts for his house's opposite room, on the side, opens the door, and reaches out for the only immediate help he had. ]

Senpai, Senpai— [ shoyo still regards the fact that his housemate is sleeping and it wasn't his usual time to wake up, but he does try to shake him awake. when oikawa does open his eyes, shoyo's breathing is quickened and his eyes wet, red and wild with panic— ] Wake up, please—

Ochako Uraraka | My Hero Academia | Warmblood

[floatsaway]

[These are going to be split comments between each prompt to avoid burning myself out typing up one massive toplevel. Some will be open and others may be closed as I, or others, get them up.

Please DO NOT respond to this comment.]

Good and Evil - GOOD.

[floatsaway]

[At first, things were pretty normal. Ochako definitely felt the tense and charged air of Trench, but that was always assumed to be the norm. She didn't think much of it until things started to really escalate. Crime was up, people were literally fighting in the streets over the stupidest of arguments, and grocers and shopkeeps would actually try to hit or kick her if they didn't like her trade offer, or attempts at haggling for a lower cost. Usually she could protect herself - Ochako knew self defense, after all - but not striking back and trying to deescalate was another matter. More often than not, she'd have to leave empty handed...and found that foraging was way more effective on some days. Or just straight up wearing her Hero Costume on her outings...which were becoming more and more like actual patrols with how often she had to stop crime of some sort.

Not only that, but the crime was so small - usually just petty theft, an argument, but soon became attempted murder, arson, or a whole slew of other atrocities...because of some upset feelings and rising tempers. Ochako, too, often found herself having to hold back serious blows that could actually critically injure someone if she went all out, which was startling. She knew better than that, and yet...the thoughts were coming more and more often than she'd like. Even those punches she did pull drew blood, too. A split lip, a broken or bloody nose, several black eyes, and...she's pretty sure she might have given someone a concussion by hitting them a little too hard in the head with one of her wrist guards. A-At least she patched them up after??

The most frightening thing was, however...it was getting really, really difficult to hold back as she continued through the week. The tension, and thick air of resentment, anger, and bitterness permeated even into Ochako's home life sometimes. She would find herself snapping at friends, people she knows very well, and one time her boyfriend as well. At the very least, once she realized what she said or did, she'd apologize profusely, but the things in her head sometimes were just...cruel.

Cruel and so not herself.]

Sharon Da Silva | Silent Hill | Coldblood

[fogsong]

▌ ▌ ▌ I. Good & Evil

[ Sharon had resisted the pull to violence and rage for several long, painful days. She sequestered away and tried to ignore the fire blooming in her chest, so familiar it made her sick. She never wanted to be like Alessa again and let her anger consume her the way it had once before, but it grew harder and harder to resist until she snapped.

She had unbound herself from the chains of Sharon Da Silva. She abandoned her goodness and finally felt free.

The rage changed her. Her bleached hair had darkened to coal and the ordinarily bright blue of her eyes was devoured by shadow, iris, and pupil indistinguishable from one another and unnaturally large. Even her skin changed as if life and blood drained from it entirely, not sickly but ashen. None of this bothered her, however. She embraced it. This was her truth. This was who she was and has always been. ]

▌ I.A | so you wanna talk about power? (cw: sexism, violence, murder, burning alive)

[ Sharon spends the first several days simply stalking through the streets of Trench, wandering between the districts with no real rhyme or reason or goal. It's on the streets of Willful Machine that something changes; where she embraces the call for violence. A small group of burly, very drunk men has taken to being a general menace to everyone who walks by them. They hurl insults at men and women alike, spitting at them, and sometimes they deign to catcall while they make obscene gestures. Most people ignore them and try to shuffle past as quickly as they can.

But not Sharon. ]

You always look like you got a stick up your ass, sweetheart? [ One of the men shouts out at her as she strides past and she comes to a very quick halt, whipping her head to face them, a scowl of disgust on her features. ] We can help with that. [ A smaller one says with a leer, nudging one of his buddies as they laugh. ]

You know what? [ She looks them over. Her scowl fades and she lets a smile bloom across her dark lips as a sharp, unsettling laugh escapes her. ] I think you can help me

[ And with just a raise of her hand, the smaller man ignites as if he'd been doused in gasoline and thoughtlessly lit a match. He burns so hot there's no time for him to run or to flail and he simply screams for a panic-stricken moment before he crumbles to the ground as the fire continues to consume.

The friends he's left behind raise weapons and fists as they shout curses and Sharon welcomes it. It's been a while since she's gotten to cause some damage. ]

▌ I.B | let me show you power (cw: potential violence)

[ All it takes is just a single look, just a glance in her direction, to set Sharon off. Her lips pull back into a sneer as she looks her offender up and down, judging them. ]

Do you want to be the next person on my list? [ There's a gun on one hip and a sheathed knife on the other and she's 100% ready to throw down no matter who she's confronting. ]

▌ I.C | i eat boys like you for breakfast (closed to Johnny)

[ The memory of Johnny's rudeness to Rose has been nagging her for days. She goes back through the conversation over and over and over again. How can a man be so dense? How could she have just let it go then? There was no reason to try and be understanding with a person like that. He's not interested in growing or being better than he is, no matter what he's said, and Sharon finally decides to fulfill her initial statement to him: she was going to break his nose.

And maybe an arm, too.

She bangs on his door with the side of her fist. Thump, thump, thump. ]

Hey, Johnny! [ She sing-songs. ] We really need to have a chat!

▌ ▌ ▌ II. Our Own Prisons (CW: suicidal impulses/ideation/attempts)

▌ II. A | under the water we die

[ Sharon has spent the last several days coming to sit out on the beach. Every day, she slips her shoes and socks off and sinks them into the hot sand as she watches the waves crash upon the shores. She stays there for hours in the same spot. As time goes on, she eventually wraps her arms around her legs and rests her head on her knees but she never pulls her hollow gaze from the water.

At least, not until someone walks close by. When that happens, she reaches out to grab them by the ankle, grip weak. It's difficult for her to pull her eyes from the ocean but she manages it, turning them to the intruder. ]

You're not going out there, are you? I don't think you'll come back from that. [ There's a not-so-subtle yearning in her voice even as she says those words. She may desire the waves to pull her out to sea but she'll do what she can to stop others from that fate. Her crimes and her pain deserve an end but she doesn't believe that about others. ]

▌ II.B | under the water there is no one watching

[ It's after days of watching the sea that Sharon finally makes a decision. She pushes herself up off the ground with jaw set tight. It's almost as if she's fighting to urge to walk in. She moves slow towards the water, legs heavy, and by the time she reaches wet sand, she's crying. Her body doesn't shake with sobs. Her tears are as silent as the pain she feels.

It's always been like this and somehow, she thinks this is how it was always meant to be. She was never meant to live as long as she had, not as she is. She should have died years ago. If not as Alessa in the fires that had consumed her flesh and her soul, then as Sharon. Sharon should have died before Rose walked into the hell that was Silent Hill; before Chris had to sacrifice everything he'd known to keep her safe. It would have been so much better for everyone. It would have been so much better for her.

This world and the people she's grown to care for will always be in danger as long as she lives. What if she snaps again? What if this place pushes her to swallow it into hell like she'd done to Silent Hill? What if the Order comes and tries to accomplish their goals even here? The thoughts drive her forward. There's only one option left.

The cool water laps at her feet and she laughs quietly, sadly, to herself and wades in. It feels nice and surely, surely death will feel just as sweet. Deeper and deeper she goes. The water is up to her waist and then her shoulders and soon, her neck. Her feet can barely reach the bottom and the waves pull her under, filling her mouth and stinging her eyes, and she lets them.

She gives in. ]

[ ooc: sharon's plotting comment is here but I'm open to just about anything and if you'd like to plot something out hit me up on discord (lunare#5104) or plurk lobselvith. feel free to adjust any of the prompts to suit your needs as well! ]

[imaglyphwitch]

I.B

Luz had started off the month pretty bad, and it had been encountering a dark version of her friend Willow (from Deerington) to really shake her up. What Luz had NOT been expecting is to see that this dark version stuff would also be something that affected another friend, one that Luz had seen in a flashback before.

"A-alessa?"

Albert Wesker / Resident Evil / Vileblood

[subject_013]

"Let me steal this moment from you now" - Wildcard

((OOC: Yep, jumping on the "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" bandwagon with the lyrics. Got any ideas? Feel free to tap me over on his Plotting Post TL. Starters to come in the replies to this comment, so stay tuned.))

"You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me" - Return from the Sea

[subject_013]

July 7th

D | Vampire Hunter D

[distant_one]

Good and Evil

While D spent less and less time in the city, he was still aware of the rising violence and hostility. The increased rate at which blood was spilled and property destroyed. He didn't succumb to the desire to attack, but D could tell he was on edge and his control was wearing thin.

With the increased rainfall and his inability to sleep at night, D was very weary and irritable during the day even if the only outward sign was a slight droop in his shoulders and slightly slower steps. Fights were so frequent D usually ignored them unless he spotted someone showing signs of a beast transformation or excessive corruption.

So when a fight broke out nearby, he paid little attention to a heated argument heading quickly towards violent. But when the first punch was thrown, the person being attacked jumped back and knocked over a child. It would have ended there but with the way the kid fell he scraped his leg open on a rough stone step.

The sight of that blood and the scent of it, muddled as it was by the rain, was too much. D turned towards the fight, his mouth open in a snarl and his fangs extended, with his eyes giving off a lurid red glow.

Our Own Prisons

Even with everything else going on, D made it a point to visit each of the guardian saplings to gather the twigs and sticks that naturally fell from time to time and be certain they were in good health.

Being near the sea made the crushing sorrow that had piled up over century after century that much heavier. The sadness that always lingered around him and was sometimes visible even past his carefully expressionless face was almost palpable.

He had carried on for too long, was too invested in his own goals, to contemplate any end before that. When D spotted a branch blown into the waves, he didn't hesitate to get his boots wet and step into the shallow surf to go after it.

Our Own Prisons

[unphase]

Tinya had been waiting by the sea ever since Sasuke saved her and talked sense back into her. She knew their friendship was anything but transactional, but she felt that she owed it to others to pay his favor forward.

So when she saw D going into the ocean, she doesn't want to take any chances that he might not be one of the ones seeking to end their grief.

Thankfully, her flight ring works just fine here, so she flew out to his side. "Do you need any help? With the branch, at least?"

Vi | Arcane

[faceblocks]

1a good and evil but it's evil rn
[she had started out well intentioned enough - alleyways, after all, have been a sore spot of late - the heat and other things making people get up to all sorts of no good - flares of temper, too many kerfluffles that are anything but accidental. so. she's taken it upon herself to unofficially patrol the area, only today that's more of a sizing up of the passersby leading to general assumptions about their intent and a sense of no, fuck you before you fuck up someone else that's ...a bit skewed.

considering this alleyway as a convenient cut through? gotta pay for it. have anything particularly interesting-looking on your person? possibly not for long. is it food? yeah, she's definitely taking that. as the day goes on she becomes less discriminatory about her targets. someone please stop her before she ends up taking toys from kids.

end result: sorry alayne that you have to bail her out of trenchie basement jail. at least no one cut off her hands?]

1b good and evil but it's still evil rn
[if she really takes a (dis)liking to you, she might follow you home. only to take note of where you live so she can break in and enter (possibly with help!) later. she's brought spraypaint, and knows a few choice words. so that's fun. she will 100% at some point mistakenly spraypaint mean things about a trenchie named alex on a shop that has nothing to do with said trenchie.]

2 our own prisons
[if she hadn't fallen victim to the reckoning's mark - hadn't bled so many of her feelings raw on the floor of the lab of a stranger, she might have been more impacted by this than she is. she walks the beach, reflecting some, regretting some, but much more even keeled than she's been in a while. she's wearing the garments alayne gave her - a lightweight purple dress tucked up over loose fitting brown trousers, and she's no need in this moment for her cloak as the marking on her face has thankfully faded. her attention's drawn toward anyone standing too still for too long, or getting too close to the water in a way that looks like they might want to take a little swim.]

4. wildcard
[feel free to tag in with a non evil/good scenario. or any other thing! i just wanted to get this up and my thinkmeats were very focused on the evil ideas bc idek i am ridiculous. hmu @ eisdamme or ping me on discord: eisdamme#7495 ]

2 our own prisons

[everyrosehasits]

[Rose had been saved from her own misguided thoughts by another. However, now that she knows to keep an eye out, she's doing so. She doesn't want anyone else to be touched by the despair which made her react...poorly.

so Rose sits on the shore, a beach towel under her and a fresh pair of dark boot-cut jeans and boots along with a green t-shirt. far from the finery she'd grown up with, but she preferred things here, if she was being honest.

when she sees Vi also keeping a vigil, Rose raises a hand in greeting and calls out] Hello! Watching out for others as well?

Equius Zahhak | Homestuck (OTA)

[alternia_strength]

GOOD and EVIL
Equius is a mess this month. He's a veritable psychological wreck, which considering his usual state of mixed, animated chaos in the process of creating anything, was saying something. He was easily visible in his workshop most days, but while this was usually just a cause for avoiding him in general or stopping by only when you needed something from him, currently it was a little hard to ignore him.

He was pale, drawn and looked like he'd lost a lot of blood. There was a robot in production in front of him, and it was smeared at points with duskblood. Several tubes were attached to it, and it looked like he'd probably been giving it infusions of his own blood. The grisly edifice, however, was not actually on. Fortunately for everyone? Equius' creation required something that it desperately lacked. A soul. As it was, it was a lifeless robotic husk without power to speak of.

Which brought him to the final realization. He shouted from within the workshop, pointing at whoever he saw next. "YOU! You will assist me in finishing my magnum opus!"

(OOC: Equius is likely to attack someone as he's figured out what the robot's missing. I will note, however, that I would prefer that Equius NOT succeed, so this is a "Your characters gets away from this safely" scenario. Whether Equius is calmed down, talked down, beaten down or has to be put down I leave open.)

Daniil Dankovsky | Pathologic

[audiat]

[good/evil, open, gun violence cw]

(in which the Bachelor has not yet cut his strings.)

[it's a ridiculous turn of events that leads daniil to point his revolver at a man's skull.

if there is one skill learned in a relentless plague and dismantling of civilized society in the mad desperation that followed it is scavenging. rummaging through bins became second nature when a few bent needles could mean trading for bullets or even, rarely, food. if it's a habit it's one his pride is not too delicate to keep up here, in this dreadful place, where he has yet to settle in one place for too long and feels the unpleasant glare of the natives grate down his back.

he is doing just that, picking a glass bottle out of a bin when he hears a small group snort behind him. 'disgusting' is certainly said, perhaps 'pathetic'. meaningless, and yet, for a brilliant and blinding moment, every care daniil has ever had for people, for life, for the faceless mob and turning the other cheek or merely offering a snide comment in turn- all of it flees his head.

it feels so excellent to turn and pull the gun from his coat. it feels even better when two people flee and the man now staring down the barrel of his gun glares at him in a mixture of fear and impotent rage.

it would be so very easy to pull the trigger.]

Could you repeat that, sir?


[closed for satoko, xenophobia and violence cw]

(in which the Bachelor receives a lesson in denying death from a true expert.)

[the raised voices alert daniil to trouble first. angry mobs aren't exactly new, though here he has even less authority than he did before, no head families to try and sway the fickle whims of ignorant idiots intent on making trouble for everyone. here the best he can do is slip into a nearby alley and observe what seems to be a small but no less angry group of natives.

some have knives, one an axe that looks comically large if not for the less than humorous situation. from the energy he can tell well enough they want blood. a further glance out and he's surprised to see it's apparently the blood of a little girl.

at least the blond hair and stature seem so young from where he's standing. he hesitates as one of the men point at her, calling her a bottomfeeder, or sleeper scum. there's some sort of rant about the trouble that follows sleeper's wakes, about the sea and the storm.

in a moment of irritation daniil steps out of the alley, hand going to the revolver in his coat. he has so few damn bullets but maybe he can scare them off or something, this is ridiculous.

surely this will not escalate, even if the man with the axe is clearly on a hair trigger himself.]

[ooc; wildcard is also on the table! note for the first one if you absolutely do not want him to kill the townsperson let me know, otherwise i will play it by ear!]

LET'S FUCKIN GOOOOOO; i'll loop when it's her tag next!

[loopsbian]

[ the girl appears young enough, that's certainly true. fifteen - maybe sixteen, on a good day. her figure's not quite as petite as it once was, but the telltale signs are all there: cheeks that haven't quite lost their baby fat, a sense of style that looks more fitting for a young teen than a young woman.

and then she speaks, and the illusion might as well have crumbled into dust. ]

Bottomfeeder? My, that's quite the long word for someone with your faculties. Consider me impressed.

[ her voice is sharp and precise, with a lisp from her childhood that's receded some but never quite given up. she speaks far too calmly for a girl facing down a mob; her voice is cold and imperious, her back held straight without any sign of flinching. and perhaps most importantly, she doesn't even make a single attempt to run. ]

Why don't you run along now, hmm? I'm not in the mood to deal with you blood-drunk wastrels tonight.

anakin solo ★ star wars

[hopesparks]

( closed prompts. )

for vyng ▹ our own prisons

[hopesparks]

(cw: suicide ideation, war, death)

[ The ocean is calling to him, but it's not the soft whispers some might hear when it's their time to return to the sea. No, it snaps and hisses accusations at him that plague him until he finally goes to the ocean. It threatens judgement. It promises absolution through suffering.

The people he cares about deserve better than him. Perhaps if he walks into the depths, someone else will wash ashore. Someone worthwhile.

Still, he hasn't walked into the ocean. He wonders if it's because he's a coward. Anakin mentally adds that to his list of sins. ]

stefan salvatore ( the vampire diaries )

[prescind]

001. GOOD AND EVIL

( he's felt like this before and it hasn't even been magically driven. it's just been all him and now, as he feels like he's descending back into that spot, he welcomes it.

he doesn't know who these people are but he tears at their throats and drinks their blood and let's that blood soak into his veins. it makes him feel more powerful and, like it always does, that blood makes him want more and more.

it doesn't matter who the person is that comes into his view and what they've done or haven't done. he feels the urge to go after them which is what he does, keeping space behind someone he might have picked up and followed or maybe he spotted them in the window of a diner.

whatever the reason, he's there and he's hunting. )

02. OUR OWN PRISONS (CW: SUICIDAL IDEATION)

( honestly, stefan probably does need therapy. but he's not going to get it. he's especially not going to get it in this place.

instead, he ignores it, pushes it down, deals with it. and when he ends up on the beach, feet in the sand, he can feel those emotions crushing him to the point where the urge to walk into the ocean and just be rid of it all hits him.

he hasn't made those steps yet but he doesn't know what else to do. everything he's done, all the people he's hurt, it would be better. he knows it would.

but he can't do it. not yet. )

03. WILDCARD

( for anything else that doesn't hit the bill! )

Good and Evil

[survivalthroughhate]

[If there's one thing Maul's learned from living in this town as long as he has, it's that drinking blood never leads to anything good. After dragging Reaper back from the edge when he'd been drinking people dry, alarm bells get set off in his head whenever he sees this happening.

Combine with his desire to do Good right now and he's strung as tightly as a piano wire when he comes across Stefan drinking someone's blood. One hand rests on his lightsaber as he stares at the vampire.]

You get one warning. Stop now. Or I will stop you.

Nico di Angelo | Camp Half-Blood Chronicles

[umbraportation]

Our Own Prisons CW: depression, self-deprecation, mentions of teen death, potential infliction of negative emotions & memories upon others

[ As the month draws to the end, Nico finds himself sinking. Not drowning, but certainly struggling to stay afloat. Voices ringing in his head that say he is never enough, that he couldn't save his sister, or his friend, that he'll break if he attempts a rescue. Not strong enough, never the hero, making people worry.

These voices used to be so much louder, used to be so much more to them. They used to swallow him whole until all he could do was build walls around them in order to function. He thinks now that the goddess of misery would have some work to do on him, when before she found him perfect in his agony.

Nico does go to the sea, finds himself staring out over it. It's not often, as the demigod has gotten over It - over him. But Nico's there, arms dangling at his side as he lets the salty breeze tug at his hair and shirt. He doesn't find himself tempted to walk into the ocean, but relives some of the hardest days of his life. The days he spent aboard the Argonaut II after his trip to Tartarus and imprisonment. ]

OOC: Those who dare to come close during his lowest moments may find themselves hit with Nico's memories and feelings. Let me know if you want that, if not, they can have a regular ol' chat.

@palamedes

[umbraportation]

[ So far, Nico has been content to simply use his legs to get around, it forces him to interact with other people even if it's just a nod of his head. Human contact - most people need it and Nico probably needs it more than most.

Today, he doesn't want those small interactions - or any interactions. Staying in bed and doing nothing sound much better. If it weren't for his Omen, Nico might be going through with it. That yellow bird may be small, but it is mighty. Or its voice is, anyway.

This is what leads Nico into appearing out of a shadowy corner of Palamedes' office without any sort of warning. See, he can do magical appearances out of nowhere, too. There are no words as he finds the nearest seat and plops face-first onto the desk.

Muffled words do happen: ] Don't mind me, I'm not here.

[ Nailed it. ]

Darth Imperius | Paleblood | Star Wars The Old Republic

[drawsghosts]

I.
Normally Talwyn only heeds the call of the Dark Side in certain circumstances. When his loved ones are threatened, when he wants revenge, or if he decides that someone deserves death. And even then, he usually only kills people who deserve it. Otherwise he's the rare Sith who chooses the Light.

Lately, he's feeling much, much darker. His naturally yellow eyes have something dark in them, looking almost sickly yellow. More like the eyes of someone wallowing in the Dark Side, rather than the genetic trait of a pureblood Sith.

Anyone who gets close to him might feel his Sith aura, causing a sense of dread and coldness.

II. Wildcard
[Feel free to write up a new prompt or request one by either PM'ing this journal or on plurk arwingyoshi]

I

[opress]

It was a different aura that he felt off of the Sith, much darker and more dangerous. Before there had been a gruff curiosity of one another, but this month had played havoc on the Dark Side seemed to set them all off.

He was still fuming over his own death, how it had contributed to the torture and loss of his elder brother. His anger was stoked and unlike usual, it hadn't dissipated one bit since he had dragged himself out of the sea again. His fury was written on his face but also his strangle hold on the Dark Side as well, channeling it through and around him.

So when he came upon another Sith who exuded a similar method of the Force, he growled low in his throat. Very different Darth than he recalled.

"Who are you hunting?"