SHOWTIME ⦁ open w/closed prompts.

[deathrespect]

Who: Samatoki Aohitsugi deathrespect & co.! Open with closed prompts.
What: Event things.
When: 9.8 and on throughout the month.
Where: Prompts will have locations.

Content Warnings: Event-typical warnings. Missing person trauma. Slight self-harm + PTSD flashbacks. Bad management of breakdowns.

001 ⦁ GROWING PAINS | cassandra district | open.

( Not long after the 8th Samatoki can be seen outside of his home in Cassandra, looking over a small slip of paper with burnt edges. It says "have a nice trip!" and is written in blood-ink.

He has his mask fixed on his face as he buries the slip of paper after folding it into a neat square. Once his claw is drawn across his palm, pale blood spilling onto the soil below, a red spider lily blooms and stretches towards the sky.

There's a hidden smile from behind the mask when the flower doesn't change its bright color. NO rotting, no wilting. He knows, then, that the Blood Minister path is the right one for him.

He turns to see someone a little ways off; not removing his mask, he stands. )

What's good, boss?

002 ⦁ POST-GROWING PAINS | cassandra district | closed to orpheus.

( Heading towards Lumenwood is Samatoki; he's been location-scouting lately for an idea he has ... There's a craning of his head and a stop in his tracks when he sees someone with a guitar, heading down the street.

Makes him think of doing music again ... Even if his music was typically heavy beats, rhyme and flow. )

Ah, hey. You good with that thing?

( He calls, pulling his mask down and fixing it to his belt. Not weird at all. )

003 ⦁ RIVER OF REGRET | ???? | closed to atsushi.

( Ah, fuck. )

The fuck is this?!

( The day is idyllic and pretty, sunlight and trees and a peaceful river. The only other one in the boat is Atsushi, that kid he'd talked to the other day ... )

You got any clue?

004 ⦁ POST-RIVER OF REGRET | lumenwood district | open | self harm + PTSD flashbacks warning.

( His claws itch and flex; it feels like there's something under his skin that keeps him moving, laced with pure anger and anguish. He chainsmokes. He walks.

This isn't Hakagemachi, where his walking had more of a purpose, where he knew what to really bury himself in. Right here and now, in Trench, everything feels fucking pointless. He stops along a fence, leaning on it, breath shaky and uncertain but deep all the same.

Visions of his sister, mangled with her middle pecked out by hungry birds ... He clenches his fist and punches through the fence on reflex.

Then he beats his fist against the top of it, splinters of wood embedding themselves in his skin. )

Stop ... Stop ...

( His breathing is labored; the opposite hand is digging furrows down his face. )

Fuck ... Nemu ... Nemu, please ...

( Anyone happening across him now might recognize he's having flashbacks, eyes turned unseeing to the space in front of him ... )

005 ⦁ BLOODSPORT | prufrock district | open.

( Oh, this is certainly a way to let it out.

He's all too quick to put on his mask again, a comfort of sorts, and tear into monster after monster.

After felling his third on his own, he's not had enough. )

Gimme another. Fuck, gimme two. Things are fucking weak!

006 ⦁ WILDCARD.

( want a starter or something else? hit me up @ vandalisto if you would like to plot/discuss! )

Comments

it's all good ^^ !!

[deathrespect]

( Oh. Well. )

Kinda like rhythmic ... talking? A bit more than that, but it's got a flow and rhythm to it depending on the beat. Y'know?

( He shrugs: )

My home world or whatever kinda ... necessitated it. Didn't realize how weird music as survival was for a while.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ It takes a little bit of doing to figure out just what this man means, but as Orpheus considers it he does start to get the gist, or so he thinks, at least. ]

Oh, like singing, but with more of a focus on the rhythm than the melody?

[ His brows furrow in concern a bit at that next comment, though. ]

What do you mean it necessitated it, though?

[ Orpheus being of the opinion that music and the arts in general are much more necessary to survival than people give them credit for usually, but that doesn't sound like the sort of thing he means here. ]

[deathrespect]

Yeah, you got it. Exactly that.

( Ah. How to explain. )

Er, well. I only realized this is kinda weird recently, but back there, you had to rap battle other chumps to get ahead in the world. Prestige, territory. We had special microphones that, y'know, hurt an opponent if you got the flow and the intent to back it up.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus can't help but grimace a little at that - the thought of music being used to hurt people so directly, and of how unkind a world must be to necessitate that on a regular basis. Times weren't exactly easy where Orpheus was from, and there was a lot of fighting and squabbling over resources there too, but not in such an apparently organized way. ]

That sounds like it must be really hard place to come from, if you have to fight for things like that. I'm sorry you had to use your art for that? But I don't think I've heard of anyone using music to fight here, like you said.

[deathrespect]

I mean, wasn't all war. My division was pretty all right sometimes.

( He shrugs. )

Guess I'm jonesing for all of it how it used to be, but especially bumpin' good music with my homies.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Division. Like in the military? [ Orpheus asks, trying to make sure he's understanding things right. He guesses maybe if this was an organized thing, if people were fighting together like soldiers rather than everyone being out for themselves, that might make it a little better? Maybe.

He still doesn't like the idea of fighting with music much, but it's not really his call to make, is it? In any case, it takes him a second to parse the rest of what the man's said, but he thinks he gets it, after a moment. ]

Well, it seems like there's a lot of musicians here, at least? Both from here and like us. I'm sure you could find people to play with if you wanted to look! [ His expression goes a little more solemn, then, and he adds, ] Though I understand if it's about missing people from back home, too.

[deathrespect]

Naw, not strictly military, though my third was former Navy when he joined. It was teams we put together, three or four if you were good. More if you didn't have the flow and just needed to gang up on a dude.

( He goes a little solemn too. )

I think I'll look, yeah. Didn't realize how much I missed it 'til I didn't have a working mic anymore.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus nods in understanding. ]

I haven't heard of anything like the microphones you were describing before? But - in the place I was before coming here, sometimes things from home had a way of showing up unexpectedly. Maybe that'll be true here, too. And either way, I'd be happy to play something for you sometime, if you're ever interested, and to hear what your rap sounds like.

[deathrespect]

Things show up? Really?

( Samatoki lights up visibly. )

Man, if my ... Mic showed up ... Yeah. I'd be into hearing you play, maybe we can jam.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Maybe! I mean... were you in Deerington? A lot of us passed through there before arriving here, and it might not be a good idea to assume that just because certain things tended to happen back then they'll still happen now.

[ He gives the man an apologetic look, before shaking his head and smiling again. ]

But you never know! There's a lot about this place we still don't understand. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find something at least sort of like your mic here.

[deathrespect]

Naw. Heard of Deerington, but I was never there. But shit, I sure as fuck hope so. My mic might really come in handy with Hunter duties.

( And maybe even healing; he thinks of Jakurai, the only man around who could heal with his mic instead of hurt.

... Probably not for him, on second thought. )

[themuseabandonsyou]

Right. The young goddess whose dream we were sharing back then used to give us gifts, sometimes. Occasionally they'd be things from home? I don't know if anything like that could happen here, though, since I guess we're awake now. But this world seems to have a lot of gods, and I've heard some people talking about Blessed Days, where they give people things too, so...

[ He trails off, shrugging. ]

If it's how you best know how to fight, it'd probably be good to have here. I can keep an eye out for anything that looks similar, for you?