If you get a feeling next time you see me, do me a favor and let me know - SEMI-CLOSED

[chickenchoicejudy]

Who: Ryan Akagi [chickenchoicejudy] and Close CR, with open prompts to be added when the event goes live.
What: Ryan is having a pretty hard time with the paleblood effects this month. Body of the post is a general summary of where he's at, and starters will be in comments.
When: All of March
Where: Various locations - likely haunts are Cellar Door, Crenshaw (specifically Mouse House or Min-Gi's place), and the boardwalk. Event locations to be added later!

Content Warnings: Severe hallucinations, severe face blindness, corruption, unintentional self harm (scratching).



It started mild enough - with mushrooms of all things. Nothing to actually worry anyone about.

At first he hadn't even realized they weren't real. There's plant life growing in abundance all over Trench and it made perfect sense for mushrooms to be one of those things. It wouldn't have even been the first time mysterious mushrooms popped up out of nowhere. Ryan leaves them be and barely thinks about it.

Then they start growing out of people. That's when it becomes apparent that...no one else can see them. He's moved to gently tug them off of people only to realize he can't grip them. His hand slips through and they vanish.

And that's...concerning. But it could be worse?

And about a week into the month, it absolutely gets worse. He starts having trouble recognizing people. People he's known for ages now catch him in the street and he can't make his brain put together the shapes of their faces into something he recognizes. Mushrooms obscure other features that might make identifying them easier - hair, clothing, frequently worn accessories. Any time he starts to focus on something, mushrooms start to sprout and block his view.

He makes excuses. He spends more time on the network because he craves interaction but it's less stressful that way. He texts people more frequently, even when he would normally see them in person. Even if they're literally nearby he might text them, just to make sure. Just to watch a faceless someone react when their Omni dings.

Sometimes he catches himself in the mirror and doesn't recognize who looks back at him, which is a problem he's never had before. He doesn't want to talk about it, because it feels absolutely insane to try and explain it to anyone, but also because he's lost any and all ability to recognize people by that point. Who would he even tell? But, it's also become impossible to hide. Not when there's no recognition in his eyes when someone says hello to him. Not when he texts someone several times to ask where they are, including when he's standing right next to them.

He's in a sea of strangers, and it's disorienting. It's even a little scary, particularly in public. He's losing his grip and it's slipping further and further from him, but maybe if he like, tried harder? This is a stupid problem he's having. A stupid dumb problem that he should be able to just...get over and walk off.

The mushrooms even grow on him sometimes. At his worst, small fluorescent green ones will sprout out of his right palm in the shape of a 202 and he'll scratch at it desperately, leaving harsh red marks behind. Even places will start to look unfamiliar, as the confusion only gets worse and worse as the month goes on.

[ooc: Top Levels coming soon, open top levels coming when the event goes live. Hit me up at goodhotcocoa if you want something in particular!]

Comments

MIN-GI

[chickenchoicejudy]

Blood Effects (Early march)

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Trench is covered in plant life this month. It's beautiful and a welcome change after all of the snow, but it's unfortunately also currently blocking the door to Min's basement-slash-recording-studio-slash-cuddle-bunker, which is not ideal.

Ryan's come over to help, but the whole thing is a tangled mess of vines and dogbane and Peruvian lilies and forget-me-nots. There's no way through the door without cutting at least some of them down. Min's gone off to look for something to cut through it all with, but Ryan is still by the door. It's a shame they have to cut it honestly - it's kind of pretty?

But there's something catching Ryan's eye in the mess, something he didn't see before. Little brilliant blue mushrooms that don't really fit with anything else, but they just...look like they would be really satisfying to touch?

So when Min returns, he will see Ryan oddly focused...on touching an empty patch on the door, for some reason.]

[dialscientist]

[Weird.

Everything is weird right now, let's be real. It has been since... well. Since forever. The month turns and everything is different. A carnival appears on the boardwalk (their date was good, though), the weather turns to something crisp and fresh, and overnight, plant life springs up from every nook and cranny.

Not that Min-Gi really minds, but it's getting, um, invasive. These latest vines blocking off the recording studio / snuggle den is just plain rude. The house has some stuff, but not that much yet, and it takes him a while to find something slightly better than a butter knife.

Hey, do you think this will work?

[Coming back with a trowel that's seen some better days. Annd- huh.

He squints.]

What are you picking at?

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Ryan's still pretty absorbed in examining the door and the mushrooms. They're kind of wild little things - every time he tries to touch them, they bend out of the way a little bit. He'd question it more but...well, he's seen weirder things. Both in Trench and on the train.

Unfortunately, he's so deep in what he's doing that he doesn't process that someone's behind him until they're right there, and Ryan just about jumps out of his skin when he sees someone holding up a metal tool out of the corner of his eye.

But oh. It's...Min? Obviously Min. Min was looking for something to cut away the vines and he's back.]

Dude! You scared the shit out of me!

[He laughs it off though, and gestures to the door.]

I was just checking out these neat little mushrooms? They have a weird texture, like gummy candy.

[Except...there's nothing there. There is literally nothing there.]

[dialscientist]

[Ryan jumps and Min-Gi jumps but the moment passes immediately and without realization on Min's part why Ryan would jump in the first place. Maybe his footwork was a little light?

The mushrooms Ryan is talking about are, indeed, not there. At all.

He takes a small breath and crouches down on the left, brow furrowing.]

I don't see them.

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Ryan...tilts his head at Min a bit.]

What? They're like, right here. The little electric blue things? See? You can't miss them.

[Except apparently he can, so Ryan reaches out to where they are and tries to grab one, only for it to idly shift away from his fingers.]

They keep moving away. I think they might be like, sentient or something? None of the other plants are though...

[It's definitely weird. Almost as weird as the fact that Ryan is literally reaching out to touch absolutely nothing. His fingers hesitate in the air, as if trying to focus and grab something squirmy, but there isn't anything to grab in that spot.]

[dialscientist]

[Min-Gi looks at Ryan, then the space he's trying to grab, then back.

What the hell even-

Okay, he'll try it, reaching out a little to blindly grope for whatever invisible mushrooms there might be lurking in the the nether-space of brain fuck in this city.

Nope. Nadda.]

There's nothing there, man..

KEITH

[chickenchoicejudy]

At some point after getting rescued from Blue's

[chickenchoicejudy]

[As far as Ryan knows, he's alone in Mouse House. With the way this month is going though, that means almost nothing now.

The hallucinations have only gotten worse and worse. It's more than just mushrooms now, the mushrooms are growing out of people and he can't seem to focus on anyone's faces. There's just blanks in his head where people should be, and it makes everyone he sees completely unrecognizable. Sometimes context clues help enough for him to puzzle it out, but it's exhausting - especially since he hasn't been able to hide it from anyone. He keeps getting caught looking at things that aren't there, but there's plant life growing all over the city. How is he supposed to know which ones other people can see?

Ryan's sitting on the couch, plucking idly at the strings of his guitar and trying (really trying) to ignore the fluorescent green mushrooms wiggling on the back of his hands. He looks up though, when he sees a figure moving into the kitchen.

Shiro? Shiro always comes to mind first, but no. They're not tall enough. The others he doesn't have as clear-cut ways to pick them out of a crowd. He wishes he'd seen them come out from wherever they did, so maybe he could make a guess that way.

The guitar playing slowly comes to a halt as Ryan squints at this person, trying and failing to assign any kind of identity to them. Who is that? Is it someone who lives here? Should he be like, concerned? He isn't being subtle at all as he tries to work out this extremely difficult social math in his head.

Who is that?!]

[tempredmental]

[It had taken a bit for Keith to recover after being rescued from Blue's psychic captivity. He was still exhausted and sore, recovering from having been forced to fight against the people who'd come to get him out. He couldn't really remember everything clearly, either, which seemed to be a recurring theme for him lately, and it was annoying. He yawned, gingerly making his way into the kitchen for a snack. He rubbed hif face, staring into the cabinets to see if there was something he wanted.

At first, he didn't feel the staring because his senses were a little muffled from the fatigue, and he was used to hearing Ryan plucking away at that guitar, so the sound didn't really register at first. But, eventually, the lack of sound for an extended period did catch his attention, and he turned to see what was going on.

He blinked a few times, meeting Ryan's gaze. They stared at each other for a few minutes as Keith tried to figure out why Ryan was staring at him. He'd noticed a weird thing with his coldblood powers since the month had changed over, and had been growing random plant life in places, so, after a moment, he turned to look around the kitchen to see if he'd suddenly added to the spring foliage again.

Nope... not that he could tell...

He looked back at Ryan.]

Is something wrong?

[chickenchoicejudy]

[When Keith speaks, Ryan startles. It's almost like he forgot people can actually see him when he stares at them. ...oops?]

O-Oh. Uh. Noooo...?

[Surely that answer inspires confidence, right?

Ryan moves to rub the back of his neck, but he stops halfway - he can still feel the mushrooms there, even if no one else can see them, and it's a sensory nightmare. So, he just awkwardly sets his hands back on his guitar. An uncomfortable beat passes, until Ryan just can't take it anymore.]

...Remind me who you are again?

[tempredmental]

[Keith raised an eyebrow. Ryan was being the absolute picture of certainty right now.]

Okay...

[Silence. Awk-... waaaard.

But then Ryan broke it.]

Uh... Keith. Shiro's friend from home?

Are you okay?

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Keith. That's right. Shit. Of course it's Keith, Keith lives here just like he does.

He snaps his fingers into finger guns, but it doesn't have the right amount of confidence behind it. He's just trying to cover for how awkward he's making everything and he's not doing a great job of it at all.]

Right. Right, Keith. Sorry, dude. I'm alright, it's just. Y'know...weird month, I guess.

[Understatement of the century right there.]

SHIRO

[chickenchoicejudy]

SHIRO

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Ryan's been banned from performing.

Well, banned isn't really the right word. He's been deemed "too sick" to perform, but it feels like the same thing to him. Since then he's spent a lot of time both at Min's house and Mouse House, but he's been reluctant to actually venture out.

What this means is that there's been a lot of music in Mouse House when Ryan's there. Most of it is just idle practicing and testing new chords, but sometimes a song will happen. Today's is brought to you by a dark sense of humor and the fact that he can't stop thinking about everything currently wrong with his life. There's also a bandage wrapping his right hand, which one would think would be a cue to give the guitar a rest for a few days, but doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

He doesn't look up when someone enters the room. Is there even a point to that anymore? He just keeps playing and softly sings the chorus - though it doesn't sound like his heart's really in it.]

Whooooo are you?
Who, who, who, who?

[shiro2hero]

Ryan?

[Shiro's voice is quiet. Concerned. He's in the hallway, more or less, but the door was cracked open, and he thought he'd check. Something is off. Really, really off. He's got a mug of tea in hand, but whether or not this is actually going to help anything - he doesn't know.]

Hey, it's Shiro. [Yeah no shit. Consider this a Shiro Reacts To Semi-Closed-Doors thing.] You feeling okay?

I can go get some honey for the tea if you are. It helps.

[chickenchoicejudy]

[It might be obvious under normal circumstances, but Ryan so appreciates that Shiro announces who he is at the door. His hallucinations have only gotten worse as the month goes on, and knowing for sure that it's Shiro there and not an unknowable cluster of inky caps is an immense relief.

Still, it feels like everyone who's seen him this month already knows the answer to that question. No, he's not feeling okay. He just sort of shrugs though, and sets his guitar aside. Idly, he thumbs at the bandage on his hand.]

...You don't need to get honey. It's alright. I'll take it as-is.

[Normally he wouldn't mind some honey, but his sense of object permanence hasn't been the greatest lately. If Shiro's checking on him, he'd rather Shiro just stay.

With that in mind, he scoots up a little on the bed so there's room for Shiro to come over and sit. There aren't really a ton of other seating options, but the company would probably be nice.]

[shiro2hero]

[He's eying that bandage. Maybe he should have put the honey in anyway. Just a little. Just in case. He'll wait, though. Because Ryan didn't say he wanted it, and medicating people without their knowledge is kind of - well. That's low, to say the least.]

Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.

[So, in he comes. And gingerly perches on the edge of the bed. It feels good to sit down, he won't lie. Standing is exhausting. Being awake is exhausting. Everything is wearing him to the bone, but he just... keeps going. He has to.]

Looks like no one is feeling great this month. [He shifts a bit, balancing the mug of tea in his right hand. Nearest Ryan. He has a slight idea of what's going on, but nothing concrete. People are seeing things this month, aren't they?] Here - hold onto it for a bit while it cools off some.

It's hot. So be careful.

[Purposefully hotter than necessary - tactile sensation. Grounding. Focusing. Just don't ask how he knows that.]

[chickenchoicejudy]

[It doesn't help that Ryan spent the first couple of weeks pretending everything was fine. As long as he just ignored the mushrooms, he could just assume they weren't real and live life as normal.

But they've gotten worse and worse. They're interfering with his life. He can't see Shiro's face two feet away from him and he's pointedly avoiding looking at him straight on.

Touch is always a comfort for Ryan, so he doesn't hesitate to take the mug. Interestingly, he takes with his bandaged hand first, with no regard for how hot it is against it. It's warm in his hands and he lets out a soft sigh. It...feels kind of nice actually. It's still too hot to drink, but it feels good in his hands.]

...Yeah. Yeah, it's been. A lot?

[He decides it's easier to ask about Shiro than to bring up his own stuff unprompted though.]

How are you holding up?

[Even with the only slight grip Ryan has on reality at the moment, he's still noticed Shiro seems pretty worn-out and sore lately.]

MAKO

[chickenchoicejudy]

Earlier in the month - before the performance cancelations

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Chicken Choice Judy rehearsals have been kind of rocky recently. It might not be noticeable to anyone who isn't a musician themselves, but something has been wrong. Both Min-Gi and Ryan have been distracted lately, for various reasons.

So this time, Ryan swings by the Raccoon Room early. Maybe if he gets in some solo practice first, his head will be screwed on right by the time Min shows up. He's sitting down on the stage strumming away at something with relatively complicated chords, challenging himself while he doesn't have someone peeking at him to wonder if he's okay or not, when someone enters the theater.

Ryan slows his playing to a halt, and tilts his head a little as though he's trying to see better. There's a mushroom face - that's just inevitable at this point - but the slicked back hair? He's pretty sure he knows who that is. He can't even be that annoyed. Maybe Min had the same idea he did?]

Dude, I thought you weren't gonna be here until later?

[Something like that. Ryan doesn't really remember what the holdup was.]

[arclightning]

[ Mako blinks. A tiny vine curls its way up from a flower arrangement on a nearby table, blooms into a flower while he frowns at Ryan, trying to figure out what he's talking about. Did they talk about meeting up today? No, that was a few days ago, and that was Wu, for their brunch thing—their thoughts are usually pretty separate but it's hard to pull apart the tangle sometimes, and Wu apparently thinks a lot about what to wear for brunch before actually going to brunch. Mako had maybe gotten a little swept up.

But no, they hadn't planned anything, and Mako is definitely here at his usual time—10 am, far earlier than Wu would dream of stepping foot into work—to clean up the bar from the night before and get things settled. He and Ryan and Min have fallen into a bit of a routine, sure—he's usually down here when they're practicing, and they have an easy sort of camaraderie now—but he's pretty sure Ryan wasn't expecting him.

Actually.... ]

Figured you wouldn't be in until later. Everything alright?

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Typically Ryan strolls into the Raccoon Room in the late afternoon, after he's slept and had some coffee. Sometimes Min is there first, sometimes they show up together, but either way 10AM is a little early for Min to be there.

Or maybe Ryan's wrong! Because obviously Min is here right now. Who else would it be?]

Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Just thought I'd get a little extra solo time in before our rehearsal, that's all.

[Because obviously if he doesn't address that it's the middle of the "night" for him, the nocturnal equivalent of turning up to rehearse at midnight, then no one else will either.

(He's probably not that lucky though - Min would totally notice and rag on him.)]

[arclightning]

[ A little extra solo time, sure, but this is... a lot of extra solo time, isn't it? Mako's concern is mounting, prickling along under his skin. Ryan doesn't seem sick, or particularly corrupt. He looks fine, actually. Mako slips behind the bar to start his daily inventory, watching Ryan closely the whole time. ]

Figured you'd be in bed. You still feeling that shaky on your last song?

[chickenchoicejudy]

[It is indeed a lot of extra solo time. Sleep is overrated; he's fine.

But...he looks at Min curiously. Why is he going behind the bar? What is he doing back there? He tilts his head a little, trying to puzzle it out. Something's weird here, but he can't put his finger on it.]

Eh, we'll figure it out. It's totally gonna come together, you'll see. We've got something good here! We just have to like, mold it into the right thing.

[They had been talking a lot about it and nothing seemed to really be working right. If they can't get it right before the show they might have to put it on the backburner until the next one, but Ryan's determined to have something go right after this extremely weird mushroom-covered week.]