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deercountry2021-10-08 06:14 pm
reddosmod) wrote in deercountry2021-10-08 06:14 pm
Entry tags:
- *event,
- abby anderson: c,
- anakin skywalker: michele,
- ange ushiromiya: jelle,
- anna amarande: celene,
- ariadne: wizera,
- catra: pink,
- childe: bean,
- diluc ragnvindr: samuel,
- faolan: teresa,
- fern: pan,
- flynn fairwind: teresa,
- goro akechi: kei,
- izuku "deku" midoriya: tea,
- kaeya alberich: daisy,
- katherine pierce: jade,
- kd6-3.7: moz,
- lance: charley,
- luke skywalker: skyla,
- lumine: trix,
- luna lovegood: cheryl,
- luz noceda: pedro,
- manabu yuuki: elle,
- mebh og mactire: oggy,
- nehan: ray,
- orpheus: qv,
- peter graham: jhey,
- ryan akagi: billie sue,
- savage opress: vette,
- soldier blue: elle,
- stiles stilinski: charley,
- the medicine seller: greenrivers,
- tsume: shade,
- usagi tsukino: jax,
- varian: tf,
- wanda maximoff: jade,
- wei wuxian: tohma,
- willow rosenberg: lucy,
- winter schnee: mesi,
- wu: mads,
- yuri lowell: mads
Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom
OCTOBER 2021 EVENT
IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]
WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE
LONELINESS KILLS: THE CURSE OF CLOVERFIELD
LEGENDS OF TRENCH
CODINGPrompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]
WHEN: During the daytime every day of October
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A
The Black Parade has begun in Trench. You will begin to see residents painting skulls and monsters onto their faces, even the ones who abide by practical lifestyles. By the first week of October, you won't see a single resident of Trench without facepaint or a mask of some kind obscuring their face.
"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."
Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.
Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!
Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.
It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.
QUICK FACTS
1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.
2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!
"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."
Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.
Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!
Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.
It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.
QUICK FACTS
1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.
2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!
WHEN: October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.
It is said that the Blood Moon reminds Cloverfield of those he has lost over the decades. They say that the howling wind is actually the sound of Cloverfield's cries and there seems to be some truth to that. He can be seen wandering the Farther Shores and watching the moon. If you seek out Cloverfield and offer him comfort and companionship, he will bless you with a worn picture of a loved one or someone you miss desperately or even just a place you miss...Even if it's impossible for such a picture to exist.
Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.
Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.
Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!
Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.
QUICK FACTS
1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.
2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.
3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.
4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.
5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.
Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.
Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.
Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!
Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.
QUICK FACTS
1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.
2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.
3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.
4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.
5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.
WHEN: All October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.
Unfortunately, not everyone can gain control of their loneliness. As blood is spilled throughout Trench over loneliness, this blood pollution festers and begins to claim poor souls. Corruption leads way to beasthood and people lost to this find themselves transforming into familiar, legendary ghost stories of old-world lore. These Legendary Ghosts come out primarily at night. As the Black Parade established, anyone who keeps their faces disguised with make-up or masks will be completely safe from the Legendary Ghosts. Though if you go after a Legendary Ghost in a costume, you'll only be safe until you attack them. It's not a bad move for a sneak attack though!
...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...
Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.
You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.
QUICK FACTS
1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."
2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.
While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.
3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.
...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...
Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.
You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.
QUICK FACTS
1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."
2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.
While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.
3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.
no subject
He heaves a sigh and pushes himself upright, and adjusts his guitar accordingly. He's been playing unplugged, since that's usually how he tests out chords - an old habit from having to practice in places where siblings would bang on his walls if he didn't, or risk lectures from Min-Gi's family. It makes the song sound softer than it would otherwise.]
So...you're a squid now
And you're wondering just what you did now
What the hell did you do now?
If I had to take a swing...maybe another wormhole thing?
But at least...
At least you're a squid with me.
[Ryan frowns a little. He clearly doesn't like how those pieces connect together, and he comes to a halt.]
...This sucks. [Then, heavily, as though it's some big confession.] None of my solo stuff's actually any good, Wu.
no subject
[ Wu claps him on the arm, squeezing a little with a smile. ]
It sucks because you're not selling it! You know how to do this, I saw you. And I think it's great!
So you're a squid now! Totally relatable!
[ He sings it in his nasally but at least on-key voice, leaning into Ryan's side as he studiously ignores the corpse on Ryan's other side. ]
And, yeah, maybe you're solo, but some of the best artists are solo! We can't all be BTS, Ryan, sometimes we're Beyoncé.
no subject
Yeah, well. ...I'm not Beyoncé. And just because I know how to do this doesn't mean I'm good at it. Even if I sold it, I'd still be selling garbage.
[He sighs and looks up to the ceiling, so he doesn't have to look at Wu while he admits this.]
Look...I should have told you this before, but. My solo career was a disaster. Like, objectively a disaster! [He laughs, but it's hollow and empty with the slightest hysterical edge. Some of his energy returns to him, but only to gesture around and twiddle his fingers sarcastically. It all sort of bubbles out of him at once.] I-I was playing background music at shitty house parties and at bingo halls in nursing homes because I couldn't get any other gigs! No one wants a solo guitarist with no backup! My big ~breakout single~ was about my dad's van and I couldn't even keep that around! I gave it to some girl who kicked me to the curb, and I had to hitchhike all the way back to Powell Lake!
[The loneliness is closer now. Close enough for it to reach out and touch Ryan, if it wanted to. It holds a hand out, but doesn't quite breach the gap yet.
It's here, and it knows this awful feeling. It knows it intimately, in a way that no one else can.]
...I'm not any good at this without Min. I--
[Ryan curls in on himself around his guitar, and looks down at his feet.]
--I'd get it, y'know. If you needed someone else to headline.
[He wants to, he does. But he feels like he lied to Wu and made it sound like he had this big successful career when none of it happened on his own. Anything good he did musically, he did with Min-Gi.]
no subject
Ryan! Ryan, no, of course I don't want that!
[ He gasps, breaking his staring contest with those awful, empty eyes, to turn to Ryan, gripping down his shoulders to make Ryan look at him ]
You're the headliner because you're great! And you're great because you have fun with it. That's what really matters! Do you know how many technically perfect musicians I've seen who are a huge snoozefest? So many!
[ Is that helping? He doesn't know. But he does know that he hates seeing Ryan like this. Ryan, who's always so full of joy and smiles and ideas. Who's always looking for the next thing, who never gives up.
Who lives in an awful apartment and doesn't seem to take care of himself.
The pieces are slowly clicking together in his head. ]
You are something, with Min, without him, because you're you and you're amazing. I promise you, Ryan! I have great taste. Look at me!
[ Perfect hair, impeccable suit, beautiful theater. At least this, he's confident in. ]
I'm not letting you quit on me, okay? How about, how about--
[ He searches for something, anything, that he can do, and gasps before pulling back ]
Sing it with me! Sing it with me, Ryan.
So...you're a squid now
And you're wondering just what you did now--
no subject
Ryan is easily tugged, but he looks shocked when Wu forces him to looks his way. It's as if no one's ever said anything nice to him before. Or at least, kind words were the last thing he was expecting to hear right about now. He lied about how experienced he was at this! How can Wu possibly still have any faith in him?
But Wu goes on about how special and amazing he supposedly is and he doesn't feel it, but he does feel tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes. He doesn't want to cry in front of Wu though, so he screws his eyes shut tight - which naturally happens just in time for Wu to say "Look at me!" and that gets a startled little laugh out of him.
And...he does look. At his perfect hair and his perfect suit, in this perfect theater. He doesn't want to quit, and it feels fairly obvious that it was never what he wanted really. There's a lot he could say-- like how he doesn't want to screw this up for Wu, not after all the work they've put in. Or how Wu doesn't have to act like Ryan's better than he actually is.
But then Wu's singing his song, and begging him to sing along. He rubs at his eyes under his glasses and tries to swallow the lump wanting to cry has left in his throat. The next line gets sort of mumbled and garbled, but he sniffs to try and clear his sinuses and that helps a little bit.]
T...Take a swing. Is this another wormhole thing?
But at least you're a squid with me...
[That line still doesn't really work, but...he goes over it in the moment, takes it again and tentatively tries something else.]
I-It's okay, 'cause you're a squid with me...
[Better! At least, aside from his voice wavering because he's a bit of a mess right now.]
no subject
[ Wu smiles softly through the words, still holding on tight. He's glad that Ryan is singing, even if the tears in his eyes make Wu have to sniffle a little. He cries too easily, he knows that, and Ryan is hurting, and that in and of itself makes him tear up. ]
You, you should teach me the next part. We'll do it together. Okay?
no subject
I don't know if I like it or not, but it's like...
[He turns his hand a couple of times and snaps his fingers, trying to indicate it's a little faster, even if he doesn't quite have the energy it needs at the moment.]
You feel like you’re a spectacle,
Because you’re used to having tentacles
Your blood is weird, your clothes are gone
What the hell is going on?
[He hums the tune from the line he impulsively reworked a moment ago - "It's okay, 'cause you're a squid with me."]
no subject
[ Wu sings along with his humming, smiling brighter now. His hand lands on Ryan's back gently, to show him that he's there, and to show him that he cares, genuinely, deeply, cares for him, and that feeling comes through the touch ]
Ryan, I love it! I mean, that's exactly how I felt when I showed up. We're all in this together, right? You're the voice of the people!
no subject
He lets out a quiet laugh at being called the voice of the people though. That seems like a bit much right now - especially considering the song's origins.]
I don't know about that. I'm not that great at lyrics, but...
[He sighs, though it's a little more fond this time.]
...it's all the stuff I'd say to Min, if he turns up. The squid thing would super freak him out.
[It's still a lonely thought, but at least he sounds a little more like himself talking about it.]
no subject
I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit, Ryan. You're amazing! You wrote this whole song, and you know so many others, and you have stage presence and you have drive. Everything else? It's luck! Right? And, yes, luck is an awful way to do things, but maybe we can change that, here, at the Raccoon Room. Everyone gets a shot at performing. Especially you.
So... what do you say? [ He smiles, nudging Ryan again, trying to goad him into smiling ] Are you going to make this squid-y song my headliner? Because, you know, debuting a great track is an amazing way to get people to come to the Raccoon Room!
no subject
Wu's also right about luck. Hard work is a lot of the job, but so is making the right connections and being in the right place at the right time, and the longer he was on the road the more his ability to make his own luck waned.
The touch helps though, and the Loneliness lurking nearby starts to fade. It doesn't leave Ryan completely, but it's less physically present and foreboding than it was. Ryan does smile and he returns the gesture.]
Well, I definitely got lucky meeting you.
[Not just for the music opportunity, but for the friendship with someone who really gets him. His fondness is so strong that Wu will be able to feel it as soon as he nudges him.]
...Yeah. Yeah, I am. It still needs a little work, but it'll be ready for opening night. If you like it now, then the final version's going to really wow you.
[A bold statement for someone who hasn't finished it yet, but it feels a lot more natural coming from Ryan that the melancholy uncertainty.]
no subject
I got lucky too. Who knew I'd run into my headliner on a boardwalk wearing nothing but a robe!
[ Which was, of course, before he even had the idea for the Raccoon Room, but semantics. ]
I can't wait. I really, really love it, Ryan. I think you're doing a great job, and you don't have to worry about it so much. As long as you're having fun, the whole audience is going to have a blast. You're such a good performer, I have no doubt that you could turn an awful song into a-- there's a word for it, it's a, a banger!
no subject
But not Wu. Wu really does believe in him, enough so that he can feel it. His smile grows into something more sincere, and more grateful.
He wasn't kidding. He really did get lucky.]
A banger?
[Ryan's never heard that one, but he looks excited to have a fun new word to constantly say. It just sounds good, like something you could headbang to. It's instantly understandable and perfect.
Wu's right, of course. This isn't like him (or, at least it isn't like him to let others see him overthink it this much). But, it feels good to hear someone else say it. To hear someone else say it and know that it's not just a platitude, that he really believes it.]
...Thanks, man. You totally won't regret it. It's going to be awesome.
[It feels easier to say now, because he knows Wu thinks it's true.]