reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-07-08 11:02 pm

magic, madness, heaven, sin

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. ]

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.

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!

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.

CODING
imaglyphwitch: (serious business)

Good god Ochako, you went for Luz's whole throat!

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-07-21 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
Luz was doing her best to try and calm Ochako and not take the words she was saying to heart. She KNOWS Ochako, went shopping with her and bought outfits with her. She wasn't in her right mind now, so Luz was just going to have to brave this and try to talk her friend down.

Of course that was easier said than done, and THAT? That thing that Ochako said? Throws Luz off so hard and actually hurts her a lot. You could even see that in Luz's eyes before the punch connects, and hard it does, because Luz feels hit connect with her cheek, and the bruise that's going to come.

Luz staggers back, and while she's in physical and emotional pain, she's also taking that moment to drop a glyph below Ochako without her noticing. That was the good thing about paper: it was very easy not to notice.

"Ochako," Luz said this quietly, her face stinging with pain. "Stand down. I mean it."
floatsaway: (82.)

She did and i felt awful typing it. ;__;

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-07-25 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
She is not in her right mind at all, and it's actually showing physically as well. Her eyes look wild and almost cat-like with how her pupils widen and dilate into small slits when she's angry, and her incisors are becoming more defined, sharp, and jagged. All the signs of Corruption, but there's something else. Something just purely wicked about her, too. Most definitely not normal - she's meaner, more ruthless, and has a capacity to actually hurt, whether that be physically or emotionally.

Thankfully, the hit does distract Ochako enough not to notice the glyph under her feet, and she stalks ever closer, popping her knuckles as she does. Luz is especially lucky...she's not in costume, because that would have made things more difficult with all of Ochako's gear, but it seems she's opting to use hand to hand...for now. As she comes closer, back slightly hunched and looking borderline manic as she growls, Ochako rolls back her lips over those sharpening teeth and hisses back.

"Try and make me."
imaglyphwitch: (defeat)

Aw, poor girl

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-07-25 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Luz's eye was stinging, but that didn't dull her resolve. There was no time for Luz to be nice about this: Ochako was out for blood. In a way this was like the tournament all over again, testing out what she could do with what was around her, using the open environment to her advantage. In this case though, Ochako wasn't granting her the blessing of time. She was moving fast, and she was coming in close.

Luckily, Luz had been counting on that. She held out her hand and Owlbert was there a moment, flapping before solidifying into the staff and fall into Luz's outstretched hand. Without hesitating Luz activated the glyph and the plant glyph burst from the paper and wrapped itself around Ochako good and tight. Luz couldn't risk Ochako rising it from the ground so it kept her specifically pinned down so she couldn't move an inch.

It was something Luz hated to do, especially with someone she'd come to care about, but she had no choice, and leaned against a tree trunk, a hand to her eye still.
floatsaway: (113.)

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-07-29 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Well that certainly will do the trick. Ochako shouts, trying to beat back the plants or get away, but it's too little too late - she's entangled in the vines that Luz summoned and isn't able to really move too much. And, unlike Bakugou or Todoroki...she doesn't have a quirk that could just burn or blast away these damned plants. All she can do is rely on her brute strength to pull and thrash, almost like an animal, snarling and baring sharpened teeth and fangs at Luz.

"YOU WITCH!!! NO WONDER YOU WERE SENT TO HELL! IT'S WHERE A MONSTER LIKE YOU BELONGS!!" Ugh...fuck...if she had her costume, she could maybe cut these damn things with her wires, or burn them enough with the thrusters in her boots, but she's out of luck. But she doesn't stop fighting, she won't ever stop fighting.

That, at least, remains the same of Uraraka Ochako.
imaglyphwitch: (grag)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-07-29 03:53 pm (UTC)(link)
It was a dirty move, Luz knew that, but Ochako wasn't in her right mind. Additionally, and Luz wasn't proud of this, the hit to the face and words had stung. Without thinking about it, Luz felt retaliation in her feelings, and that was not something she liked to think about. Once it was done though, Luz felt less overwhelmed, and she could think properly.

This wasn't Ochako right now. This was this MONTH talking, taking friends and turning them against each other. Luna. Willow. Even Vira to an extent once. Luz had to remember this. Being hurt by her friends was what this place could manage, but it wasn't their real feelings.

"No witch was sent to hell. There's no place like that, and not for witches, certainly."

Luz said this quietly, and with slow purpose. She'd heard things like that in some religious circles, and in history, and knew in her heart that sometimes evil could take the form of "good" actions.

"Please don't me freeze you in place, Ochako-san. I don't want to do that."

She put a hand to her eye and winced, knowing that was going to leave a mark. How the HECK was she going to explain that to Lexi?!
floatsaway: (107.)

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-08-01 02:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Ochako doesn't respond, only growls and snarls and struggles like an animal in a snare. She claws and bites at the vines holding her with her new longer nails and fangs, managing to get a few of the vines snapped, but not nearly enough. The pace she's going will never free her, and yet Ochako still fights on, spitting a mouthful of plant matter at Luz's feet in sheer defiance. She hates how she can't do anything, and if only she had her costume...it'd be easier to break free. She was stupid and didn't put it on, which is a lesson learned. Once she's free, she's going to snatch her costume and chase after this witch and--

"Whatever you do doesn't matter..." she hisses through her teeth, claws retracting and extending as a deep, guttural snarl vibrates in Ochako's chest. "I'll find you. One way or another."

She knows where the girl lives, after all. She can't drop Luz's own house on her like the Wicked Witch of the West - it's too heavy - but Ochako can still cause some real bad property damage if she wanted to.
imaglyphwitch: (wanna be startin somethin)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-01 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
There were a lot of things Ochako could say that would hurt Luz but saying this was like a splash of cold water on the girl. It was a subtle reminder that anyone at any time could attack them, if this place afforded the opportunity. When she turned to Ochacko now, her voice was quiet but also a little more serious.

"You're not yourself, so I won't hold this against you. But I'd be careful over exactly how you threaten someone in this place. What you said could mean attacking me in my house, where other people live. And if you hurt anyone in my house, I wouldn't hold back."

It was a quiet, solemn vow, and Luz remembered thinking this way once before: when she'd endured the cannibal cave men. She'd gotten free, but she knew they'd do this to other people. Luz couldn't let that happen.

Now that she recalled exactly how she felt that day, she understood now. It wasn't about revenge, like she'd been so scared of before. It was knowing people could get hurt, and Luz being unable to stop herself trying to prevent it.

It was probably best Luz couldn't hear what Ochako was thinking either: after losing Varian and Fern two months ago, the idea of anyone damaging the house would be enough to REALLY enrage the girl.
floatsaway: (65)

man, i take psychic damage each time I'm mean to luz. ;A;

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-08-07 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
There's a tense silence between the two, broken only by the way Ochako still tries to escape her bonds. She hates being beaten so easily like this, because it would have been so avoidable had she only been faster, more focused, or had her gear and costume available. It makes her grit her teeth, clench her jaw, and twist as hard as she can. There's raw, red marks where the vines have rubbed and cut into her skin with her struggling, but she doesn't care, only slumping once she accepts that she's not going anywhere like this. Or maybe just to catch her breath and start again...who knows? Ochako's never been one to give up until the very end.

Head bowed, Ochako stays silent well after Luz has spoken, breathing hard and shaking. It almost sounds like she might even be crying a little bit, with how she gasps and pants, how her voice croaks and breaks when she responds back.

"You have...no idea," she exhales, then inhales deeply again. "No idea...what it's like." Squeezing her eyes shut, Ochako's fingers curl into tight fists and she forces her voice to remain calm and steady, but it's easy to tell she's still burning with rage under it all.

"No one asks if you're really together with your partner, do they? No one turns their heads to stare in confusion when you walk down the street, right? No one questions it. No one asks you why? You have NO IDEA!!" Claws start to grow and extend on Ochako's fingers, like a cat's and her teeth get longer and sharper, a low growl in her throat. "EVERYONE JUDGES HIM THE MOMENT THEY SEE HIM, AND JUDGES ME FOR BEING TOGETHER!! 'Oh, that poor girl...' this, and 'they can't possibly last' that - I'm sick out the accusations!! I'm sick of everyone butting into my lovelife!!"

Her head snaps up, and there are red trails of blood streaming from Ochako's large, yellow-white eyes, and she straight up hisses at Luz, looking less human and more and more monstrous. "YOU WANTED TO JUST LORD THAT OVER ME, DIDN'T YOU?! HOW PERFECT AND HAPPY YOU BOTH ARE, RIGHT?! I HATE YOU BOTH!! I HOPE ONE OF YOU CHOKES!" And now, with renewed strength, and a fury behind it, Ochako fights anew, but the Corruption is setting in much faster, and those vines are straining, parts snapping and tearing as her claws rake through them. Luz better take those precious minutes to get away, or she'll be hunted down.
imaglyphwitch: (choked up)

Aww. And poor Luz is so battered this month lol

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-07 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
The funny thing was that even though Luz had Ochako bound like this, she was the one getting battered by Ochako's words. She hated the idea that people might actually BE judging her friend and Baku the way she said. Luz had to remind herself that this was paranoia speaking, that in fact people likely hardly knew the two were dating (Luz certainly hadn't known until now. Still, it did bother her to have to restrain Ochako like this, when only a month ago they were shopping together, and even more to hear the things her friend said to her.

"I didn't know that, Ochako-san. If some people did think that, it would be pretty awful. But I also know that you should give yourselves a chance. You and Bakugou are going to be your own couple, your own way. You don't have to answer to me or anyone. After all, the really crazy part is how your own relationship grows."

She thought of Lexi, and saw that Ochako was breaking free, swallowing and putting her hand in her pocket for another glyph.

"We're not perfect either though. Both of us think the other is too good for that person, and we both have our own baggage. We're working through it, and it's just different from you and Bakugou, not perfect or normal. Just us."
floatsaway: (Default)

God, they all need a week's long cuddlepile.

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-08-11 03:07 pm (UTC)(link)


That's the worst part of this - most people do, and it's not exactly anything Ochako or Bakugou can change, because they--he shouldn't really have to. Ochako has seen his good side shine through like the brightest sunbeam, it's what drew her to him in the first place! She just hates that people see him one way and don't try to get to know him, to see past his prickly exterior and put in the effort to see what she sees. She hates that. And that minor irritation warped into a dark entity that now clung to Ochako and made her resent everyone around her. Made lies and untruths form in her head to feed that darkness.

She's quiet, unable to answer past a growl mixed with a tiny sob. "You don't...know anything..." Luz doesn't know what happened between Ochako and her boyfriend. She doesn't know that Ochako ran away when Katsuki began to show signs of his own sort of Trench-induced craziness. She doesn't know Ochako, to save herself and him, had to betray his truth in the most underhanded and shameful way. She doesn't know the fear or rejection Ochako now has, the terror of thinking everyone was right.

How could she possibly know what that dark, nasty little creature whispering in her ear is saying? All the lies it spins like a vast and inescapable web.

"Leave me alone," she doesn't want to hear anymore. Doesn't want to see her anymore. Ever.
imaglyphwitch: (happy tears)

Luz is really, really trying to defuse, but she's also genuinely curious!

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-11 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Luz looked at her friend, and for that moment, something in Luz cried out. She could see there was so much going on in her friends' mind, all that Trench stuff causing her to lash out and say things she would never say, all the while something worse was in their head. Lingering doubts, painful things that stayed, that made Ochako this way.

She sat on the ground hard, lowering her head. Tears sprang in her eyes, so she wiped them, and gave a small laugh.

"I didn't know you'd end up with Bakougou, you know. I had hope, and it got bigger when I saw him post about throwing you a party! So you wound up together, and you didn't even tell me! How did it happen?"
floatsaway: (169.)

oh no, Luz, bby...

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-08-13 01:58 pm (UTC)(link)
There definitely are things she hides beneath the surface - Ochako is...sadly very, very good at that. She's mastered compartmentalizing her troubles and her worries, shelving them away until her mental 'attic' gets too cluttered and it all sort of boils over at once. It's just with the month being as it is, everything was dumped out without her consent, then set aflame to burn the whole house down.

There's a low, rumbling growl that vibrates in Ochako's chest, she told Luz to leave, told her to go away, and yet she's still here and asking all sort of questions. Why does she want to know? More information to use against her?! More gossip to spread terrible rumors and lies about her to people?! Yeah, right...Ochako's teeth bare once more, lips pulled back over the rows of pointed fangs, claws extending again. She looks like a cat in a trap, hunched and pulled up, corners and ready to strike. Her strength is starting to return, but she doesn't lash out, yet. Not yet...she needs to bide her time and try once her tank is full. Then she can maybe escape.

"Get his name out of your dirty mouth," she snarls. "I'm not telling you anything!! I already told you to leave me alone, so go away!"
imaglyphwitch: (can't quite place it)

Luz, master of believing in people (and bad decisions)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-13 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Should she just leave now?

Luz was tired. She was tired and in pain, and honestly? If she DID hang around it would only be a matter of time until Ochako did break out, and she would certainly come after her then, probably even try to hurt her.

Of course, considering how this situation was, what if she came to the house? What if she hurt Ahiru or Luca or Zib? Then she'd be angry, and they'd fight and it would only get worse, wouldn't it? But if Ochako attacked HER, here, then she wouldn't go to the house, and at least then she'd get some of this out of her system.

"Fine. I won't talk about him anymore. But I am telling you, I would never say bad things about the two of you. You're my friend. If you need me to prove that to you..."

Luz sighed, and loosened the bindings until they fell, and now Ochako was free to go. If she was going to get that aggression out, she wasn't going to try and make it worse.
floatsaway: (16)

She is too good for this world. Also lmk if this works to tie into our other thread.

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-08-15 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Luz should have fled when she had the chance, or knocked Ochako out - that would have been the better option completely. She most certainly made the threat of going after her, finding her where she lay at night, but the effort put into that would probably be too great, and Ochako still has yet to fully submit to both the Corruption now taking root in her heart, as well as the Evil that's only feeding it further. She can still think mostly for herself, respond sounding, and doesn't look like she's a thread's snap from becoming a Beast. If she were, she'd be far more dangerous to encounter face to face, but she'd probably give up or get distracted easily if Luz ran away.

Loosened from the bonds now, she tumbles to the ground and scrambles up to her feet, hunched low and extending long, sharp claws. With a low growl, pupils again like small, black pinpricks against the glossy white of her eyes, Ochako dares Luz to move even an inch toward her, lest she pounce and strike again. She's not looking to chat anymore, or even argue, and especially not look at reason...she just wants to fight.
imaglyphwitch: (choked up)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-15 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Luz, however, does not want to fight. She's defended herself against her friends this month and has gotten hurt for it. If all that happened from this was another pointless fight, Luz didn't know if she had it in her to have one and feel...what? Glad she defended herself? Frustrated it had to come to this?

It all seemed so pointless. All this aggression and pain and frustration because Trench decided to have a month where Reckoning needed to have her say.

Luz, however, wasn't keen on giving into the feelings, of letting this month have its way on her. If Ochako hurt her now, she'd pick up the pieces, assure her friend that she knew the real her. This girl, snarling and spitting and eager to give in because the month refused to have it otherwise? She wouldn't get a fight from her.
floatsaway: (212.)

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-08-19 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Luz is too good a friend, really, and Ochako is succumbing to the real horrors of Trench and its patron deities. She's going to feel miserable about all she's done once it's over, but right now...all she feels is anger, resentment, and bitterness. That pulsating fury and need to hurt, to find justice in being what she perceives as betrayed by one of her closest friends...it's jumbling her senses, her moral compass is spinning wildly out of control with no real direction.

The look in the girl's eye, sad and almost pitying seems to rub Ochako the wrong way, too, and it's another log placed on her burning fire. She takes a step forward, threatening, the color in her eyes shifting from those warm, cocoa-like hues to but a black speck on glazed white and mixed red. She's losing herself, and fast.

"Don't...look down on me!!" Those eyes, that expression, the frown...it pisses her off. Ochako lunges again, or pounces, like a wild animal. A cat with its teeth and claws bared. "I HATE YOU!!"
imaglyphwitch: (i'm having a miserable time thank you)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-20 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
"I know."

Luz was quiet, her eyes downcast. She wanted to move, to block, to do something, but she was just so tired. This month was all about causing people pain and showing the worst of each other, and she'd already had enough from Willow this month and Luna last month.

"I can't say anything to make you feel better?"
floatsaway: (16)

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-08-21 02:18 pm (UTC)(link)
There's a dark glaze to Ochako's eyes, like she's not fully there, or a veil has been pulled over her face or something. It's clear she's not entirely in control, though the way her face scrunches up, her fingers and arms shake and twitch, it's clear there's some form or struggle going on in her head. It would very, very easy to just touch Luz now, to activate Zero Gravity on her and either drop her to her death, or float her high enough a flying, predatory Beast nabs her...or she suffocates on the thin air. She's not even really fighting back, either, and that...

That may be what saves her. Ochako's teeth grind together, and a bead of sweat trails down her rosy cheek as her growls and grunts seem more and more strained, like she's fighting something back. The claws retract, but her pupils are still dilated like a cat's and Ochako just hisses, moving away again. It's a mercy, or maybe Ochako finally took some of her control back, but she spits over her shoulder.

"Not seeing your ugly face would make me feel best." And if Luz won't leave, Ochako will. She sneers at the girl one final time, particularly wobbly on her feet because her head is pounding with the effort it took to hold back for even that tiny minute, and begins to sway and stagger away.
imaglyphwitch: (CRASH)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-22 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Luz thought this might be the best way to go about things, though she was also prepared to have to take whatever punishment Ochako was going to dish out. It was a bad feeling, seeing her friend struggling so hard not to go off and simply kill her, but it also gave her a cold, empty feeling knowing that something like this could happen at any time.

For now though, it seemed like it wouldn't. Ochako would probably have kept her advancement on Luz if Luz was willing to jump to the bait, but Luz simply didn't have the heart to do it. She was sick of her friends trying to hurt her, and really sick of this place coming up with ways to make them feel pain.

The insult Luz could take. She took a breath, slowly counting down from fifty, and got up and started to talk back toward her house. She didn't even know if she had the strength to cry about this: she just felt drained.