monthly mingle: FEAST OF THE DYING

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: feast of the dying + agricultural emergency
when: the month of october
where: anywhere around the city
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

monthly mingle: october

During the month of October, a particular natural phenomenon on the moon weakens the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead, allowing for the crossover of those dead into the world of the living, with ghosts from the pasts of both the residents and the Quarantine itself to take corporeal form. This has given rise to an array of celebrations and traditions surrounding the transition from life to death, encouraging residents not to fear death, but to embrace it.

Things aren't all spooky celebrations this month, though. There's also a serious emergency happening in the agricultural district, where a herd of vengeful and intelligent hog-like creatures has decided to mount an attack on the city, with a large measure of success. Between September 20th and September 25th, they rammed the fences near the agriculture district where most of the farms providing livestock and produce for the city are located, succeeding in breaking through the fence on the 25th. Drastic action needs to be taken in order to protect the city's ability to feed itself throughout the upcoming months.

feast of the dying: a celebration of the transition between life and death

In the days leading up to October 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: the Feast of the Dying. There is an old, widely-known, and widely-believed superstition or proverb in Riverview Quarantine: 'The greater your fear of death, the easier it is for death to find you.' This is a cornerstone belief of a lot of the residents of the Quarantine, most of whom have survived intensely difficult and violent pasts on their own worlds and who are still willing and eager to throw themselves into exploring and settling new worlds, starting their lives fresh. To honor this spirit, the Feast of the Dying is a celebration of the transition between life and death, an opportunity to face death both figuratively and literally, and come out on top.

The festivities during this time feature tests of courage in highly haunted places, escape rooms both virtual and physical with varying levels of danger, and the week-long Feast of the Dying itself, between October 1st and 8th this year.

i. feast of the dying traditions

Much like any culture, there are a few traditions and events that happen every year in the Quarantine, to celebrate the Feast of the Dying. In-depth information on these traditions and events can be found on last year's Feast of the Dying post, and include:

● Ghosts From the Past: Characters will see ghosts of the deceased in various places around the Quarantine, with some areas, where the boundaries between the living and dead are weakest, being heavily infested with these ghosts, while other areas are nearly ghost-free. These ghosts can be from characters' canons (with limitations - see last year's post for OOC guidelines) or from the Quarantine itself.
● Escape Rooms: Horror-themed escape rooms pop up all over the city, augmented with tech or magic to make them seem more menacing. The difficulty levels and scares range from easy to incredibly difficult, and they feature themes from Zombie Attack to Prison to Torture Traps to Mad Science Experiments, and just about anything else you can think of.
● Tests of Courage: In various places around the city, there are establishments where the boundaries between the living and dead are so fragile as to be barely there - hospitals that treated the ill during the Pandemic, insane asylums or prisons where inmates were mistreated, homes where terrible murders happened, places exposed to dark magic, and other similar places. During October, these places are shut down except to those who wish to stay the night as a test of courage. Characters who stay the night will encounter hordes of ghosts and experience extremely realistic hallucinations that may result in injury (which is up to player discretion) in the name of proving their courage.
● Doom Dates: This year, with the amusement park open for business, there is an event called Doom Date, a spooky themed night at the fair featuring haunted houses, costumed actors, and free rides with the price of admission. More information on this prompt can be found on the September Test Drive Meme.
● Feast of the Dying: A week-long masquerade-style party that is open from sundown October 1st until sunrise on October 9th. Sort of like a formal ball inside an incredibly realistic haunted house, the Feast of the Dying is the tradition that the holiday is named after, and features dancing, party events, plenty of food and drink for everyone, and private rooms for resting or engaging in...private activities with close friends.

ii. creepy chaos

This year, there's something a little different going around the Quarantine. The influx of refugees, the Frysh, that recently arrived, have brought a few new spooky traditions with them - while their celebration of horror usually happens in the dead of winter, they've shared the custom for the Feast of the Dying. And what is that custom? Dressing up as monsters, ghosts, demons, and other terrifying creatures! Considering how many other worlds and universes have similar traditions, it's caught on quickly, with costumes incredibly varied in subject matter and level of intricacy, from standard run-of-the-mill costumes pieces purchased from the local costume shop to intricately detailed costumes featuring holographic accents - and, of course, the 'sexy' version of everything. The culmination of the Frysh tradition is the tenth day of the month, where everyone dresses as something or someone scary, and brings treats (handmade or purchased) to give to family, lovers, friends, coworkers, classmates, or anyone else. It fits with the Feast of the Dying theme quite smoothly, reminding residents that joy and togetherness can come even from frightening situations.

All well and good, but someone has other ideas - enter Phineas, a rather notorious mage who's just recently gotten out of a year-long stint in prison. Elderly, a bit of a codger, more than a bit eccentric, and extremely powerful, Phineas has decided to put his own spin on this particular spooky tradition by casting a powerful citywide spell. On October 10, anyone who puts on a costume to participate in this particular celebration will find themselves turning into their costume for the evening. Dressed up as a werewolf? Prepare to howl at the moon! Dressed as a vampire? Be prepared to get a serious taste for blood. The possibilities are endless...

OOC Note: Please remember that Riverview does not allow non-consensual sex, and that game mechanics are not put in place to encourage sexual assault, or to 'trick' characters into having sex that they would not normally have. If your character's costume is the 'sexy' version of anything, feel free to play with aphrodisiac effects or lowered inhibitions, but keep this rule in mind.

emergency in the agricultural district!

iii. hog wild

Residents of the city may or may not remember a particular patch of fertile ground that was scouted over a year ago, and the highly-intelligent and territorial alien hogs that were protecting it because the soil's fertility stems from it being a alien hog graveyard. After that revelation, the city had abandoned the project for the foreseeable future, as digging up an intelligent species' graveyard is more than a little beyond the pale.

That would've been all well and good, had the alien hogs stayed in their territory. However, after being disrupted by two teams over the course of a few months, the hogs (who have an excellent memory for this kind of thing) have started to get a little restless. It's not enough to be left alone - they want revenge. And with the summer winding down into harvest season, they've figured out how to get that revenge. As September winds down and October starts to dawn, the powerful and intimidating hogs have started on stage one of enacting that revenge - they've been making concentrated runs at the fences closest to their territory, hitting it in the same spot over and over again, herd mentality at its strongest, trying to make a dent. And they're succeeding.

The big problem here is that, on the inside of that fence, is the bulk of the Quarantine's agriculture sector. Fields full of livestock and crops that are meant to make up the majority of the winter's food supply are in danger of being wiped out if that fence falls, and if that happens, it's going to be a cold, hungry winter, no matter how many supplies the Capital World manages to send up to the moon.

Since September 20th, residents have been being called into service whenever they were willing to, at first to try to repair the damage to the wall and keep the hogs from bursting through, and after September 25th, to help stem the damage being done by the rampaging hogs. As September ends and October begins, the fight is still underway, and residents haven't managed to do much to stop the creatures encroaching on the agricultural district, so more help is always welcome.

A full write-up of this situation can be found on September's Test Drive Meme.

iv. drift compatible

As October continues on, the situation with the invasion of hogs and all the other creatures that are coming through the massive breach in the outer wall of the Inhabited City is starting to get really dire. As a last-ditch effort, the government is pulling what remains of their fleet of three-story-tall mech suits out of storage. Longer-term residents may remember these mechs from last January, when a herd of behemoth monsters was attacking the city. Since then, the five remaining mechs were taken over by a private tech company, improved upon to some extent, and then sold back to the government, where they were reverse engineered into something new and a little different, and more were manufactured.

As of now, the government is holding on to a fleet of around 40 smaller, more maneuverable mechs that are still quite powerful, but most importantly which still need to be piloted by two people. Considering the emergency the city is facing, the government has released the fleet of mechs to the Perimeter Guard, and is calling for anyone with piloting experience, or even people willing to take a quick course in it, to help man the fleet and head out into the battle, backing up fighters on the ground to try to push back the tide of creatures flooding into the vulnerable and very important agricultural district.

Mechs are piloted by two people working together - while it's not exactly drift compatibility, the two characters need to act together, with one directing where the mech goes and keeping an eye on the terrain, and the other one manning the guns and keeping an eye on the mech's defenses and energy and ammunition levels. This takes a lot of concentration and cooperation, and this day is bound to forge a lot of new friendships....and probably a few mortal enemies. On top of the difficulty of working with someone who may be a total stranger, don't forget this new fleet of mechs are in beta-testing and are only being used as a last resort, which means they have a bad tendency to break down in unexpected ways.

Each mech is fitted with one large canon-style gun that can be semi-automatic or automatic with a limited amount of ammunition, one plasma sword, and a force shield that can take four serious hits before it is depleted. They have a finite amount of energy storage and are able to be in continuous use for 3 hours maximum before shutting down. Out of the fleet of 40 mechs, the mod expects only about 5 to still be functional at the end of the month, so feel free to destroy or seriously damage them in threads.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Feast of the Dying, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view; images may contain disturbing themes


Credit: image i: Logan Preshaw; image ii: Alejandro D'Marco; image iii: Jeff Jumper; image iv: Johannes Mücke; image v: Davey Baker; image vi: David Edwards

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COMMUNAL HOUSING APARTMENT MINGLES

[riverviewmod]

Feel free to post up a top-level for residents of any floor in the apartment building to mingle and meet each other.

Simon Reese | The Black Tapes Podcast

[interconnectedness]

( A. Ghosts from the Past )

Simon is really not very fond of the fact that this festival seems to be conjuring ghosts. He'd come across the ghosts of his parents on his way to work and it'd stopped him short. He crossed his arms and stood in place staring at them.

They didn't say anything and Simon didn't say anything but they didn't go away either and it had frozen Simon in place. There's something akin to a panicked feeling in his chest though outwardly his expression is still rather controlled.

( B. Wildcard )

[ I'll match tenses and styles! Feel free to hit me with your best shot or hit me up via PM or on plurk at poetanarchy if you want to plot something or want a specific starter. ]

Peter Parker | MCU | OTA

[madeupnames]

I. Ghosts from the Past. | SIDE A (Spider-Man)

[Peter is both terrified and eager at the thought of ghosts. On the upside, he wants to see certain people — on the downside, he doesn't want to see them like that, at all. On the upside, he wants to meet ghosts from the Quarantine. On the downside, he's pretty sure he's gonna cry if he hangs out with the dead and knows there's nothing he can do to help them.

Dressed as Spider-Man and coming back from another too-long day trying to keep crazy alien hogs at bay, he runs into some of those rampant ghost children Alex had told him about not too long ago (about the same thing, the same month, it's like clockwork). The squad of girls run amuck and scream and laugh, flickering in and out of existence, pale as paper. It sort of steals the breath out of him—

But hey, Spider-Man helps the dead, too. When he can. He buys a bunch of cheap but effective toys, so, um. If you run into balls that are magically floating or frisbees thrown or jumprope being used... That'd be the ghosts enjoying all the toys Pete left in their little haunting ground.

Also, don't mind that Spider-Manis currently playing jumprope with said ghost girls.]

I. Ghosts from the Past. | SIDE B (Peter Parker)

[Peter finally finds himself faced by a woman and man — in the middle of him going to school, of all times. Well dressed and homely, it's a woman with soft eyes and a man who Peter seems to take after quite a lot. Mary and Richard Parker. He stands there with his hands curled around his backpack straps, his chin stiffened and a sort of earnest relief in his eyes.]

... Hi, mom and dad.

[He could barely remember their faces, outside of photos. It's weird. They're not like Ben's ghost, from before. They're warm and seem — not in pain. As he walks to school, they trail after him, and he — doesn't even hesitate to start talking about talking.

Just in case it's really them. And just in case they wanna know how life's been.]

... And I've been doing pretty good in school. I'm in sophomore year right now, it's kind of — messy, since I turned sixteen here but I was just turning fifteen back home? Anyway, I've been working mainly with robotics and organic chemistry, since I think that's where my brain ends up most of the time anyway. I got to work with Tony Stark — you know, he's a superhero now, not a weapons dude? So don't think it's anything shady...

[Rambling Pete, that's his name today.]

III. Hog Wild. (Spider-Man)

[... In other news, Spider-Man is webbing up mean alien hogs.

He flies overhead and hollers:]

Five pigs in a blanket, ready for order 132!

[Oh my god that was lame. But he's here to make sure nobody gets murdered by giant boars, okay?]

IV. Drift Compatible. (Spider-Man)

Whoa, holy shit!

[Peter's here at the Perimeter Guard, actually running all around the mechas in question and rattling off a bunch of different things regarding the specs on this bad boy. He's into robotics, after all — so this is pretty much the coolest thing ever, even after all the shit he's seen. Iron Man suits are crazy awesome, this is crazy awesome, and he totally wants to try to pilot one of these things. Don't mind the arachnid kid crawling all over one of the mini-mechs.]

Can I try it? Oh boy, Jyushi's gonna get a kick out of Spider-Man in a cool mecha.

It'll be like I'm on Japanese television. What did they call them again? Power Ranglers? Heck yeah.

[Peter Parker you are as strong as those mech, you'd be no good inside one.]

Angel Evangelista | Pose

[redpumps]

( A. Doom Dates )

Angel has never had the opportunity to go to something quite like this. She was dressed casually in black shorts and longsleeved orange shirt and ridiculously bright orange boots as she wandered around after gaining entrance. She's not sure exactly what she wants to do, walking around and curiously looking at all the sights. She's still new and hasn't really made a lot of friends yet but at any opportunity, she'll wave and smile at people and try to start a conversation with a pleasant hello if anyone gives her the opportunity. She's not particularly shy or introverted.

At various activities, she'll catch someone who's also by themselves. "Would you like to try this with me?"

( B. Feast of the Dying )

[ The haunted house themed sort of ball is right up Angel's alley. Unfortunately, her clothing design is not nearly on par with Bianca's when she's on her own but she still made her own dress, a black number like this. The party isn't exactly what's she's used to but she's good enough at figuring out how to fit in places.

While you might find her nibbling at something or other or drinking heartily, she's much more likely to be found dancing.

If anyone looks too much like a stick in the mud or that they're shy or uncertain, they'll find themselves with a smiling Angel in their personal space. ]

Dance with me! [ It's not really said like a question, honestly. ]

( C. Wildcard )

[ I'll match tenses and styles! Feel free to hit me with your best shot or hit me up via PM or on plurk at poetanarchy if you want to plot something or want a specific starter. ]

Stan Uris ( It 2017 )

[stantheman]

( A. Feast of the Dying )

Overall, Stan is not a fan of anything this month. He'd run into a few clowns and very nearly had considered not leaving his room for the foreseeable future but, of course, neither Richard or Alex would have heard of that and Beverly's here now so he should be a good friend and make sure to be around for everything. After all, this is all even newer for her.

But, he really is quite anxious with the spooky setting that reminds him a little too much off the Neibolt house but he knew it was definitely less dangerous but he's rather easily startled here. When he's not with Bev or someone else he knows, he's in one of the more secluded areas with a drink and actually reading a book until he's interrupted.

No one can say he hadn't come, though.

( B. Closed to Laura )

[Stan spends a lot of the time at the library. Maybe a little less with Beverly here now but still more than the average kid. He’s not forgotten his offer to help Laura catch up and learn more things. He’s found some of the Pegasus lore finally and he had read through it a few times before asking Laura if she wanted to come check them out with him.

He also had an intention to get to know more of what she would like learning about. She’d helped him find some birds he hadn’t seen before in the zoo a while ago and so he could try and return the favor as best he could.

So, Laura can find him in one of the quiet corners of the library, his nose stuck in a book as he waited for her to arrive. ]

( C. Wildcard )

[ I'll match tenses and styles! Feel free to hit me with your best shot or hit me up via PM or on plurk at poetanarchy if you want to plot something or want a specific starter. ]

Harry Goodsir | The Terror

[bestsir]

i. feast of the dying
(Warnings for spoilers for The Terror, also gore and you know, everything about the show.)

Harry respects the festival tradition and is also deeply ambivalent about it. He avoids the celebrations, the escape rooms, the tests of courage, preferring instead to stay focused on his studies and his work. Of course, the hospital morgue is probably one of the worst places to be, and the first time he encounters a ghost there, he actually faints. Luckily none of the morgue ghosts are particularly malevolent—they are lonely, bored, lost, and the worst they seem inclined to do is try to talk to him, and some of them have a lot to say. Harry inadvertently ends up learning a fair amount about the city as a result.

His own ghosts, on the other hand, are another matter altogether. They ambush him on the walk up to his house, as he walks through the town, or when he makes the mistake of going out alone at night.

There's Morfin, his head half gone just as it was when he and Elizabeth encountered his shade in the abandoned compound. Irving in tatters. David, gaunt, bloody-mouthed, eyes still wide in terror at something only he can see. Silna's father, silent and reproachful. These are bad enough, and it gets worse as days pass. Fitzjames appears, blood seeping down his forehead from his hairline and soaking through his clothes. The burned and trampled figures of the men who died at the Carnivale. By the time the ghosts stop appearing, Harry is quietly, stoically, but unmistakably a frazzled mess.

At least he never encounters the shades of Silna or Crozier. Or, especially, Hickey.

ii. creepy chaos

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Harry is in no mood to dress up for the Frysh costume celebration. But if any of his friends do and find themselves afflicted, well ... he will do what he can to help them.

iii. hog wild

Harry started out trying to study the hogs once he heard about them, which means that he finds himself more than once on the front lines of their incursions. He may be found trying to fend them off and also lending a hand wherever he can to clean up after their depredations.

wildcard

Harry has a house now, and people are welcome to visit him. There they will also encounter his growing menagerie of critters—look out for the pair of fire-breathing foxes. He is not as social this month due to the unpleasantness with the ghosts, but he still may be found out and about in the city's shops, restaurants, and coffeeshops.

Relm Hawke; OTA (please read CWs at the bottom)

[indigobird]

1) Ghosts of the Past**

a. It started with Bethany's laughter. Relm heard it from behind her one day while at home. At first, when she saw nothing, she wrote it off as a trick from her mind. But then, as she would walk about the city doing whatever, she'd catch fleeting images from the corner of her eye: a flash of her red scarf, a toss of her hair...

Finally, after almost an entire day of slowly being convinced she was losing her mind, Relm comes face to face with her. Her sister, forever 18 and young, smiles as she walks up next to her. The ghost says nothing, just stands and watches Relm.

"Beth? Are you...? You came here, too?"

The ghost just smiles wider. Almost too wide. It's unsettling; Hawke frowns. "Why aren't you saying anything? Beth-"

There's a sigh, and the ghost disappears.

Hawke just stands there, eyes a little wide for a moment as what just happened sinks in.

b. But Bethany's not the only one who comes back to visit Relm this month. Really, in hindsight Relm should have expected this would happen.

As she passes by a park late one night, she hears someone wailing. The sound scrapes down her back like nails on a chalkboard. Despite her gut telling her to turn and run, whoever is crying sounds distressed. Relm ventures closer to the source of the sound until she comes upon someone bent over and crying. The park bench blocks a lot of her view, but Hawke still draws nearer. "Hello?"

By the time she realizes who it is, it's too late. Leandra turns around, eyes not her own staring at Hawke as she begins to get up. Relm gasps, stumbling back. "No-"

Leandra shambles forward. Her appearance flickers, and for a moment, she looks normal before flickering back. "My little girl..."

"Stop-"

And she's back to normal again, her brow furrowed and tone chiding, "Relm. Tone, please." Just as quickly as she changed, she's back to the shambling corpse, voice distant. "You've made me so proud..."

Relm screams before flinging streaks of lightning at the ghost. When the dust settles, Leandra is gone... for now. Hawke bends over, hands braced on her knees as her fingers dig in. "Fuck..."

c. Hawke's taken to sitting by the river and letting the sound of the running water drown out everything. The ghosts don't seem to come as often here, at least for her, and if nothing else, she can jump into the river and peace out pretty quickly. Okay, it's a little drastic, but she's getting rather tired of this...

Then someone sits next to her. And considering she heard no footsteps, she's fairly sure it's another ghost. Relm clenches her jaw, looking over to see who it is.

Her father smiles at her, sitting on the riverbank just like she is: knees up and elbows resting on them. His dark hair is lined with strands of gray. It's not all Relm inherited from him: her eyes, her smile, her magic... all from him.

A lump forms in her throat. While she loved Bethany and her mother, and mourns them, Malcolm is the one she misses the most. He'd been her rock, and the only person in her family who really understood her. Strange to remember, then, that it's been over thirteen years since she last saw him.

"...you're not going to do anything creepy like Mother and Bethany, are you?"

There's a hint of a laugh as Malcolm shakes his head, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks." Relm leans her head against his hand. It's cold; so different from the warmth she remembers always radiating off of him. But she doesn't care. It's better than nothing. And even though he'll disappear soon enough, she'll cling to this for as long as she can. "...I miss you."

2) Feast of the Dying

Luckily, Relm isn't being haunted 24/7. When her ghosts give her room to breathe, Hawke's finding herself getting caught up in all this masquerade business. She hated the parties in Kirkwall, and the masks remind her a lot of Orlais. But there's no one she has to schmooze with, and no fat, pompous nobles to drone on at her about the declining value of Antivan flour mills. Also, no poorly veiled hints at marriage arrangements. And the masks are just for the night. All these things are agreeable enough that she decides to give the masquerade a try.

Though her casual wear hardly screams fashionable, Relm does, surprisingly, have some taste in formalwear. Her dress and her mask match, at the very least. She's even wearing jewelry! Shock and awe! Granted, just a simple bracelet and necklace, but still.

Wine in hand, Hawke looks around, taking in the scenery and the people. Despite what should be a plain room, it looks so much like a creepy castle somewhere. Lightning flashes from the windows occasionally, even though the weather is calm outside. She grins a little. "This is some impressive enchanting."

3) Wildcard

Feel free to start your own prompt! Hawke'll be down to do just about anything, except probably the tests of courage. She ain't fucking with the ghosts.

**warning for rather disturbing, graphic imagery here in regards to Leandra and possibly Bethany. For those not familiar with Hawke's canon, Leandra died after getting kidnapped and being subjected to a Frankenstein-ian project. Bethany died by being crushed by an ogre, so body horror and blood warnings apply

i

[citharede]

[ Athena is on her way to Harry's house, carrying a pail of fish heads and gore to feed to some of Harry's cuter menagerie members. She's okay with dead fish! Even if they smell. It's dead animals that she has trouble with.

She's also been largely unfazed by the presence of ghosts. These guys are nothing after the phantoms in the woods--they're lost, or lonely, or confused. She's talked to more than a few of them. Some of them have fascinating stories, and sometimes all they need is to tell them.

It makes her feel kind of good, helping them move on.

So there's a spring in her step as she comes up to Harry's door, one which vanishes as soon as she sees him. ]

Dude, who shit in your cornflakes? [ ER. ] I mean are you okay?

Dorian Pavus | Dragon Age

[tevinteraltus]

i. feast of the dead

a. tests of courage
When one is haunted by the spirit of one's dead father, who has been insisting every time he decides to manifest himself that Dorian has been doing nothing but biding his time, wasting away in this place instead of enacting any real change, that he was doing nothing but squandering the position he'd left to his son, that he hadn't lost his tendencies towards decadence and excess, and that it would spell the end of anything he'd hoped to accomplish. That he was a disappointment as he had always been...and so on, one such as Dorian decides he needs to prove himself.

A necromancer by warrant of it being the most difficult specialization, what better place to prove his worth than one of the most haunted locations in the Quarantine? If no one approaches this particular insane asylum, rumored to drive all who attempt to spend the night within mad, he's just going to do this alone. After the few months Dorian's had, caution seems to be the least of his worries. He does have a notebook with him that he seems to be reading, a confident smile on his face.

"Spirits reputed to drive any trespassers mad, you say? I don't fear these spirits."

b. the feast
After a fruitful shopping excursion, Dorian will be attending this year's Feast of the Dying dressed to the nines, with a splendid mask to compliment the ensemble. Does he lament not having someone to attend the ball with? Perhaps, but that's all the more reason to shine so brightly. Give them the old razzle dazzle, as the saying goes, and Dorian is old hat at precisely that thing. He can be found on the dance floor, always open for a partner, at one of the many refreshments tables helping himself to yet another glass of wine, or anywhere in between, should someone wish to take his arm, or simply catch him as he makes his way around. He seems to be in high spirits, of course, laughing or joking, smiling his charming smile. Whatever could be the matter, really?

v. wildcard
(If there's something in particular you'd like to thread, or something unrelated to the above, hmu here! Or you can shoot me a like at vikael or on discord at prettyvikael#0221)

[bestsir]

[ Phoebe the lizard these days is tame enough that Harry sometimes lets her have the run of the house during the day, and on seeing Athena, she leaps off the sunny windowsill where she's been napping and zooms straight for the pail. She looks sleek and well-fed, her scales shiny with health.

Harry, on the other hand, definitely has the look of a man who hasn't been sleeping well, and he doesn't even react to Athena's initial greeting with more than a surprised blink. ]

Athena, hello. [ He rubs his eyes tiredly. ] I am—

—No, I am not okay. But come in, please. Would you like some tea?

b.

[tevinteraltus]

[Dorian would never miss a chance to attend a ball, and this time is no exception. Dorian is dressed in a rather striking suit, and seems no stranger to parties of any sort. This one seems almost novel, though, and he helps himself to a glass of wine from a nearby table which just so happens to be near Angel. Of course, and he takes a healthy pull from that glass when the demand is made.]

It would be my honor.

Jyushimatsu Matsuno | Osomatsu-san | OTA

[yakyuuman]

i; ghosts from the past

[ Come the sunset, when he's about to finish his swings and head back home for dinner, Jyushimatsu suddenly notices the air changing around him. He stops, baseball bat hung in the air while he looks around. He somehow feels off, like the world changed its axis under his feet and yet no tremor goccurs underneath, and all he hears is the sound of rustling leaves as the breeze of autumn chills his sweaty face. The park is empty of people now, a fact he didn't pay attention to until this stronger sensation struck him out of nowhere.

He's alone, and yet he can distinctly feel a pair of eyes on him. Whoever is spying on him must be a ninja, because everything stays still even as he opens his ears to listen in, hoping the alleged stalker makes a false move. Few minutes pass, and... nothing. Jyushimatsu stiffens, tension pulling at his muscles. He still smiles, but it's formed from habit and no trace of glee.

Then he hears it - the sound of hands clapping, over and over. Someone is applauding him? An old man's laughter resounds in his ears and it's immediately familiar, low, deep, warm, like a father, a certain creator...

He finally catches the source in the corner of his eyes, and he turns with a mix of shock and sadness. The man is smiling in his usual attire and knowing verve, applauding and laughing nonstop. ]

Akatsuka sensei...?

[ Breath caught in his throat, Jyushimatsu steps closer to his creator, tries to reach out, but the man disappears as his hand seems to pass through for a second, and shivers run down his spine. That's a ghost... a ghost?! Really now?! Gasping, he drops the bat and starts flailing around with both hands, desperately clinging onto the hope that the spirit of his creator reappears and talks to him. ]

Akatsuka sensei! Wait! Come back, Akatsuka sensei!!!

[ Anyone passing by the park can witness the sight of a super agitated Jyushimatsu thrashing around and screaming AKATSUKA SENSEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIII to the wind. Feel free to try calming him down or make fun of him. ]

ii; escape room

[ He likes horror theme parks, the ones he went to when he was a kid were a blast. Nowadays it hardly scares him anymore, but for the sake of killing boredom he's going to drag someone into the escape room and see what they can do with their combined smarts. Fun times are ahead of him!

As he drags the unfortunate sap by the arm, he cheerfully regards them with a big, way too big smile. ]

Hey hey, don't be shy, I'm sure we'll survive this and then brag about it later!

iii; tests of courage

[ For this one, Jyushimatsu didn't find a ready volunteer that'd keep him company, so he eventually walked into the abandoned building alone.

Well, that wasn't the best idea ever, and he realizes it as soon as he hears intelligible whispering, cold breathing over his neck, and the distinct feeling that ghosts are trying to touch him. It's uncomfortable, and for every ghastly touch he's going to swat his arm towards where he thinks the ghost is fluttering from, yelling at them to CUT IT OUT or else. Not that he can do a lot, unless there are objects laying around that could chase the fuckers away.

He'll choose to sit in the middle of the dark room, flashlight in hand, illuminating his own face and twisting it in a most ridiculous expression, hoping it'll scare the ghosts off. Any brave soul also wandering the place may look at that and think they're seeing an ugly ghost grinning wide and scary at them, showing all his vaguely sharp teeth? Please don't kill him. ]

iv; feast of the dying

[ Party! Despite the gloomy theme and place, he'll appear dressing nicely although his mask leaves a lot to be desired in terms of detail. He doesn't think he needs to be particularly elegant when his main purpose is to hoard the food area. He thinks he deserves to stuff himself after all the scare and emotional rollercoaster of the past spooky days!

Cheeks filled up to the brim with food, he'll regard any person he sees with a muffled HELLO and a nod, spitting bits of food as he does so. Always so gross, dude. ]

v; creepy chaos

[ Normally he could have gone with the werewolf option, or zombie. Heck, even vampire sounds really neat if he used keptchup to make people assume he's drinking real blood.

But here's the twist: he's a witch. Even he is not sure the mental gymnastics he went through to convince himself that being a witch was the best decision to take for this year's Halloween... or similar festivity in Riverview. But here he is, dressing as a cute (?) witch and carrying an old broom... which for some reason can legit fly and carry him around?

Honestly... he's not bothered at all. In fact, he's going to enjoy flying around as the whole rest of the city goes crazy.

Next moment you'll see him fly up to you, looking pretty excited and sparkly all over. ]

Need a ride? There's a bit of space for two here! No worries, Jyushirin promises everything's safe!

[ No, it's not. ]

vi; wildcard

[ Hit me up on gaiamemories if you wanna plot things! ]

b

[indigobird]

Look who else is helping themselves to more wine. Why, it's Hawke, surprise surprise. And oh, Dorian, while you're pouring yourself a glass, Hawke will hold out hers to be poured next. Fair's fair, right? Since he didn't bring her a glass the other night and she had to drink out of the bottle like some Fereldan heathen. She smiles blithely as she waits.

"You know," she remarks, "I wasn't sold on that mask of yours. But I find it's growing on me. It certainly suits you, at any rate."

I (side A)

[yakyuuman]

[ Jyushimatsu quickly got used to seeing ghosts blinkin and out of his sights, having noted that they're overall harmless if you're not absolutely terrified of them. He even spotted Akatsuka sensei and failed to communicate with him, but it was an experience that emotionally knocked him out for a while.

Now feeling better, he's wandering around and watching the spookyness affecting the whole city... until his eyes catch the sight of a familiar spandex guy jumping? Over a rope? Swung by something invisible?

... Alright, he must step in.

Hopefully the rope is long enough, because he will join the jumping out of nowhere and keep up with the pace without any issues. ]

Sup, Suppaidaman! Taking a break from justice?

ii

[otherflash]

[ The unfortunate sap in this equation happens to be Wally West. Really, all he wanted to do was say hi to Jyushimatsu after running into him while he was aimlessly wandering around the area, maybe even engage in a few minutes of small talk since they haven't seen one another in a while. But it seems the other man apparently has something different in mind.

Not that Wally looks too bothered about being dragged in the direction of one of the escape rooms that are currently set up. Doing one with Dick last year had been pretty fun, after all. He will, however, playfully roll his eyes at his friend's words that accompany the dragging. ]

Uh-huh. [ He'll be sure to tell all his friends about their victory. ] And I suppose you're going to make me do this the honest way, too.

[ Dick had made it very clear that using his speedster magic was against the spirit of the experience. He disagreed but whatever. ]

[citharede]

[ Athena grins as Phoebe lands on the edge of the bucket and goes to down on its contents, stroking the lizard's neck gently as she looks back up at Harry and comes inside. ]

Yeah, sure, thanks. [ It doesn't take a lot to guess what might be upsetting him. ] Ghost stuff?

Teddy Altman | Marvel 616 | open & closed prompts

[analienprince]

i. ghosts from the past

[If he's honest, the prospect of ghosts after the last time he went out exploring isn't really all that inviting, but-- then he saw his mom. Not a twisted, wrong version of her. Not one that was burnt or decaying. It was just his mom, smiling at him in that warm way that she always did... and he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel his eyes sting just a little bit at the site.]

Mom... I've missed you so much. I have so much I'd like to tell you about.

[But part of him knows he won't be able to, no matter how much. He can't stop himself from reaching out though, trying to touch her... and it looks almost like she's going to reach back, but she fades away before he can really get there.

He stares for a moment, wide-eyed and maybe a little teary, but-- he cracks a smile despite himself.]

ii. escape room ; tommy shepherd

Okay, so-- we're in agreement on the no speeding too far ahead thing, right?

[Because it's an escape room -- and isn't one of the fun things supposed to be looking for clues and stuff together?]

Because it's not going to be all that exciting if you're solving everything by yourself, Tommy.

iii. test of courage ; billy kaplan

With everything we've seen, I'm pretty sure this hotel is gonna be a piece of cake, right?

[It is a really creepy hotel, but... ah, well. What' a few ghosts? He's dealt with those too. He shifts the backpack on his shoulder and gives a thoughtful hum as they enter through the lobby. It's old and it's dusty... huge and eerily empty. It's like the start of a creepy horror movie.

And Teddy wants to hope that's really all there's going to be for the most part -- an unsettling atmosphere. But he's not naive enough to really believe it.]

... Although I'm not going to make any promises if we see the creepy Shining twins. Or an old lady in a bathtub. I do have some very firm lines, Kaplan.

iv. doom dates
[Okay, so he's not exactly interested in date dates with anyone besides two very special people, but-- the idea of haunted houses, free rides, and just generally goofing off at the amusement park? That's right up his alley and he'll be checking out as much of it as he can, with whoever he can drag with him or meet up with. Haunted houses, rides, games, and absolutely anything else that seems to catch his attention.]

v. feast of the dying

[Formal balls aren't usually his thing... or ever really his thing? But Teddy gets dressed up in a very smart tux and a cool mask and heads inside. He can be seen at the tables for food and drink, asking people to dance, or just generally mingling. To his surprise, he's enjoying himself quite a bit, even if everything's a little more formal than he's used to.]

iii

[analienprince]

[You'd think Teddy wouldn't be too eager to go back in a place like this, but-- welp. Here he was. Maybe not in any way that Jyushi has seen him before -- he's big and green, a little more scaly than he generally looks.

But he recognizes Jyushi soon enough... well, 'soon'. Walking into a random room and seeing something illuminated has him gasping and jumping at first, but it clicks into place before Teddy either starts swinging or turns to leave.]

Jyushi? What are you even doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack...

[If he could have a heart attack...]

iii.

[wiccant]

I don't know, T.

( there's no pack on his back, but he does have a messenger bag slung over a shoulder. it's a lot lighter, but look: teddy's got super strength, he could carry a car if he wanted. it's not bad to take advantage of his boyfriend's super strength. )

We've seen some stuff, but generally not in abandoned hotels. ( no, billy isn't prepared to deal with ghosties. yes, he will do it anyway. ) It's a good thing we're both powerhouses, isn't it?

Lola Pacini (Degrassi) | OTA

[threatenwithcuteness]

Feast of the Dying

Lola loves parties, with food, and dancing. She loves to dance, she loves to eat, she loves to try new things. She also loves, since being in the quarantine, masqurades. The advantage she has is her hair, her hair that changes color to her whims and desires. Which means that each day of the Feast she shows up in a different dress, with a different color scheme, and a different mask. The only running theme is that all of her outfits are, of course, cute.

And with the Frysh tech, she can do even more. Not really enough to prevent anyone that knows her from seeing who she is, but enough to make it a really impressive trick. She rented a hologlove to hide her left arm, so both her zombie dress (skeleton arm) and steampunk dress (robot arm) make use of. Her other dresses aren't as themed but are cute and fun and let her dance.

Which is what matters, oh, and she's probably asking you to dance.

Right now.

Creepy Chaos - October Tenth

Lola's very annoyed she can't change her hair color right now. Not that she hates the snow white hair with little pink highlights, but it wasn't her hair. She'd put on a wig to go with her costume for the evening. The hair was longer and braided and looked super elegant. But it was a wig.

Was a wig. It was her hair now. And the wings from her costume were bigger and felt really sensitive. She hated magic and it was stupid, and she hated how it could just change everything about her.

And she really missed being taller. You would think not even five feet isn't very tall, but as she would be envious of a Barbie doll's height right now. That was her day.

Still, she could fly. That bit she was enjoying. It was almost like her faerie body knew how to fly and she just had to want to. It wasn't any real work. But it still meant she needed to find spots to land that were, more or less, at eye level with people.

...and not fly over people's heads. That'd be awkward. Her panties didn't really match the dress and nobody needed to see them.

Wildcard

[bestsir]

[ He just nods.

The front door of Harry's house opens into a narrow hallway; to the right is the room he's outfitted as an office and laboratory; straight ahead the kitchen is visible, and to the left is a single large room that has been furnished with living room furniture in the front and a small dining table and chairs in the back. The furniture is all good quality, if plain. Harry waves toward the sofa. ]

Please, make yourself comfortable.

[ He goes to the kitchen to put the kettle on and comes back shortly after, rubbing a hand through his hair and rendering the curls even more disorderly than usual. ]

You have not been much afflicted, I hope.

[yakyuuman]

[ Sure it'd been a while since they last talked, and a lot happened in-between the weeks, but Jyushimatsu's features and big smile barely changed since then, it's like they'd just parted ways yesterday. He honestly missed the dude, and dragging him to this horror attraction is pretty much his idea of catching up with an old friend.

He snickers, tugging Wally's arm some more. ]

Yup! There would be no point doing a speedrun of the place! No fun at all, right?

[yakyuuman]

[ ... Haha, it's Teddy! The big and green Teddy he (kind) of saw after the kidnapping plot. Fortunately he recognized the voice and prevented himself from screeching because, well, that looked like a huge monster coming at him.

Jyushimatsu laughs, trying to sound eerie while at it, and he stretches his smile to scary wide proportions as he stands up and walks closer to his buddy. ]

That's the point, isn't it? Scaring to the point of causing heart attacks!

[ He then relents a little. ]

Glad that didn't happen to you, tho!

Alex Reagan | The Black Tapes Podcast | OTA

[11calls]

Feast of the Dying Ball: OTA

Despite Alex Reagan's penchant for wearing normally sensible and comfortable clothing, she dearly loves to dress up. Dressing up is one of the reasons that she loves the Balls in Riverview so much honestly. And of course, that's the reason that Alex has dressed herself to the nines for this one, possibly even over doing it. The Backless black gown is almost absurdly over the top, and required a pair of heels that were a bit more than Alex felt comfortable in, but when there's that much tulle around your feet, you really didn't have a choice. Her mask is a bit of a private joke, after Richard and Simon both compared her to a cat, but it seemed too perfect to pass up in all honesty.

Of course a ball in a well designed and elaborate haunted house is somewhat less than ideal, just given her life, but Alex is bound and determined to have fun at this party. So, she's entirely all smiles, even in the face of things that normally wouldn't be so fun for her, and a flute of champagne is clasped loosely in her hand unless she's eating something or dancing. Alex is definitely up for dancing, if she's asked.

Ghosts: OTA, TW: Gore.

Alex was aware that it was October. She was more than a little bit aware of what that meant when being in the Quarantine, as much as she hated it. But despite hating it, staying locked in her house wasn't practical or feasible, especially when she was quite fond of the life that she had. Besides, if she even made the attempt Alex knew herself: she'd go completely stir-crazy and insane. If she ever doubted it, the only thing that she needed to do was to look back at the week that she'd spent on bedrest for her damned ribs. And there was the worrisome thought that who even knew if the houses themselves were safe from the city's 'visitors.'

So, she was out walking her large gray pitbull when it happened. There was a soft sound behind her, and Alex tried very hard to ignore it. But it was impossible to ignore when something called out her name. More than something, someone and a someone whose voice was very familiar at that. It was a voice that she'd heard in her nightmares, though not with the same regularity as she heard the woman's voice who she'd thought that she'd see.

Keith Dabic, the former guitarist for Hastur Rising, Seattle's famous metal band was speaking to her softly, in his melodic voice. "Alex," he drew her name out, and she just turned around blinking at the former member of the band who was currently wearing the black monk's robes of The Order of the Cenophus. Color washed out of her skin, when he spoke again, "you told people that the unsound wasn't real, Alex. That the Mysterium wasn't real..." The man's pale skin on his face just disappeared for a moment, leaving the visra below it exposed, reminding Alex of the way that someone had sewn the skin to their own face before throwing Keith Dabic out of a window or something. "How could you do that, Alex? How?"

[I'll match style and tense! Other ideas? I'm all open for them. Drop one here or hit me up at aproclivity]

i.

[11calls]

Alex had been poking around in one of the bookstores (which is honestly one of the things that she really likes doing, if she's not all that open about it) and a book caught her eye because it looked like it was sort of handwritten. Handwritten things for Alex were always a bit like finding a secret, though when she started to flip through it, it had become completely apparent who had written it, and there was no way that she was going to keep reading. Harry had told her enough that he deserved to have his journal private.

So after purchasing it, Alex started to make her way towards his house. Due to the fact that it's October, and she knows what it means in Riverview, Alex has kept her head down when she's walking as much as possible. Given that she's finally sleeping, she doesn't want to be reminded of her own old ghosts. But when she saw him in front of her, she just cried out happily, "Harry, you won't believe what I've..." But her words trailed off as she realized that there was a ghost in front of him.