IC Inbox | ryslig

[starmark]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, THIS IS JOTARO. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.20.118.16 *** THIS IS JOTARO has joined 019.20.118.16 <THIS IS JOTARO> okay i'm typing now what <THIS IS JOTARO> delete what i just said <THIS IS JOTARO> delete what i just said <THIS IS JOTARO> delete everything i just said <THIS IS JOTARO> make this an automated messa <AUTOMATED REPLY, DO NOT RETURN> This is Jotaro. Whatever you want, hurry up and tell me already.

Comments

4/30; <sostegno>

[digiorno]

[A transcript of this conversation is attached in full, up to "i look forward to working with you". That is the entirety of the message.]

<april4>

[starmark]

9-117-434-111

i told you i'd remember




are you still trying to do the right thing, by showing me this

5/20 i guess who knows; <asphodel> & action

[digiorno]

[The carved stones are returned to the agreed-upon location around mid-afternoon. They have the names written on them, as requested, as well as a small inscribed sakura blossom on each stone. The attached note reads:]

Please contact me via previous methods if these are not satisfactory. —A

<corgipuppies>

[starmark]

[It's a thoughtful touch, the sakura. With everything that's been happening lately, the fog and the settling in and the attempts at putting the shambles of his life back together one piece at a time, he'd almost — well. No, he hadn't forgotten about the request he'd made, not in the least. But he'd allowed it to get pushed out of his immediate focus, in favor of other and allegedly more pressing things.

(It's hard to say whether they really are more pressing or not. The difference is more that they're other people's things as opposed to his own, which tends to make them seem more important as a matter of course.)

So it's weird and bittersweet and resonant, when he's got them in his hands — just three unassuming stones, easily carried around in a pocket or a bag, with names. Kakyoin Noriaki. Muhammad Abdul. Iggy. And a cherry blossom for each one, fallen warriors who like those blossoms bloomed bright and were gone too soon.

He buys a candle with his pocket change, fat and red and scented like pomegranate and cinnamon, and finds a quiet place to arrange his stones in a standing trio where it's dry and flat and secluded. With his lighter he lights the candle, and waits for the smoke to start to rise.

Asphodel. It's a flower for the dead, isn't it?]

Received. Thank you for doing this.

LIFE IS HARD

[manuscripture]

I am at work but do NOT enable Mitsuhide.

[starmark]

i'm not going to enable anything

you told him to leave me alone?

<purplerain>

[pomaded]

joseph's gone

dio too

[It's an uncharacteristically stark message but he's not sure what else there is to say, really. The shock of waking up alone not once but three times has worn off, but it's the numb, empty feeling that it's left in its wake that's stolen whatever words he wanted to write away. It's selfish, he knows, to feel like this when they've probably escaped this shithole but loneliness seems to outweigh his sense of perspective and morality at the moment.

He's not very good at losing people.]

< nevercrywolf >

[starmark]

...

gone

like from the city or like...from everywhere

< anotherface > | I HOPE THIS IS ALL RIGHT o-o!!

[ufufufufu]

Jotaro.

Did you speak to Katsuie? How does he sound? His words to me became so sad that it tears at the heart. :(

< nevercrywolf > | you're fine! sorry about the lag, i went to bed with a headache last night o/

[starmark]

yeah i talked to him

he seemed ok i guess?

what did he say to you that was so sad

< summersaults > 6/21

[loveisanopendoor]

So I finished up that pouch you wanted :) Just in time, too! I think it came out pretty nice, actually, for someone with sticky fingers like I have. It's got a little drawstring and everything! Also, I hope you don't mind, but I put a little bit of glitter on it, but I think it looks nicer this way!!!!

When do you want me to get it to you, do you think?? My sister wanted to plan this big surprise for me so I'm a little free while she sets it all up.....

< nevercrywolf >

[starmark]

why are you doing nice shit for me on your own birthday

shouldn't it be the other way around??

[ 6/27 ]

[manuscripture]

I need help moving a body.

[starmark]

that's a weird way of spelling "hi jotaro how are you doing today"

<anotherface> | text | i'm sorry

[ufufufufu]

Jotaro. Can you hold off on my beating? I got some injures that I am recovering from. I've learned from the past that if I pile on the injuries that I don't properly appreciate the pain that I am in. Though, it's fun when the residual ones flare up and bleed. But I don't bleed anymore. Isn't that funny? It's really funny to me! Did you know I can probably cut off pieces of myself without much blood! Maybe without any! Should I do that? Should I??? Jotaro!

Oh I forgot why I am sending a message and had to re-read what I wrote. HAHAHAHA. That is like me! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I rambled a lot, didn't I? A LOT! So I'm sorry. I just wanted to say that I'm going to heal up then be happy to receive the beating that we agreed upon. Outside the city!

But before then, did you want to see something neat? It is almost complete. But I would like to show it off some. Maybe. Ah. I'm embarrassed. So embarrassed!! I can't blush even. This is awful, Jotaro. Okay. I wrote a lot. I'm very excited and happy. So happy. I got a picture and I was hurt a lot!! Today was a wonderful day!!

Tell Rohan sorry, too. I promised I wouldn't bother you too much but all this is a little bothersome, hm???????

hahahahahaha holy shit

[starmark]

yeah i heard about what rohan did to you

heard about what you did to him too

what's this neat thing you're talking about?

7 / 26 time for 4am nightblogging

[manuscripture]

I need ideas for naming the castle. You don't just call something like that an 'estate'. It needs to be dynamic.

Also: Are you still upset about the cookies I threw out the window?

amazing

[starmark]

you're seriously going to name the castle

like "windsor castle" or "brandenburg castle" or something

name it after a mashup of our family names like kujobe

kujobae castle there you go



i can't believe you THREW THEM OUT THE WINDOW

LORD...

[manuscripture]

So when was I going to hear about your kid?

HERE WE GO

[starmark]

i take it that means you talked to josuke

ACTION idk dated 8/14. late evening i guess

[manuscripture]

[ Now that Rohan has moved most of his finished junk over to the tailor shop, there has been less clutter around the apartment. More breathing room and less for Jotaro to trip over or put a wing through. That has made everyone's lives easier and isn't a reason for tension or testing Rohan's patience anymore. He still works on things by his window and has been for most of the day. Rather, he's been trying to decide on what to paint and has been stuck flipping through a sketch diary to see if anything stands out.

Elbow settled on the window sill, Snakebutt is gingerly holding the book up on no page in particular while Rohan himself has dipped into his smoothie backlog and tossed it into a wine glass he found in the back of the tailor shop the other day. He isn't watching for anything, but he has forgotten if Jotaro is even home or not. Yes, he's that out of it from all the work he's been doing and the, erm... 'Stressors' he has been preoccupied with but for the most part he is placated.

The 'stressor' is something he has been trying not to think about or draw attention to.

Rohan has the lip of the glass near his own, stopping short to call more or less at the window-- ]

Jotaro, are you home?

[ Maybe he's sleeping. It's been hard not to space out lately. Nighttime is hit or miss. Gargoyles can be anywhere at this hour. Oh well. ]

[starmark]

[He's not in the house, but he is at home — and within earshot, besides. At the moment, he's up on the roof, perched and staring off into the night not unlike Batman and approximately as broody. Hunger is gnawing in his belly these days, growing insistent in a way that he's rarely able to ignore. It's been making him want to be up high more often than not, as the urge to eat has honed his gargoyle's other instincts into razor edges as well.

So it's a little bit of a blessing when Rohan calls his name, because Rohan is easy to focus on. It drags him out of his thoughts, covering over the nag of the hunger with smooth dulcet tones.

He crawls along the roof in an easy prowl, gripping onto the eaves and turning wholly upside-down, lowering himself down far enough to peer into the window from above, his hat staying nestled securely on his head despite the fact that he's completely inverted as he appears in the upper half of the windowpane.]

I'm up here. What's up?

< hiiiiiiiiii >

[ufufufufu]

Your uncle is a nice boy. I am happy that you take after him a little, Jotaro. ;)

And you know I think of you as a friend even if you do not see me as one, right?

[starmark]

[...oh my god? oh my god]

since when have you been talking to josuke?

8/24

[manuscripture]

[ A few days in, and the castle is looking less dead than it has been. Its owner is looking less dead than he has been feeling. Driven to decorate and make it beautiful, Rohan has been hanging his paintings everywhere and creating new things to slap up on to the walls or set on the empty end-tables like vases and candlelit lamps. It's a lot of ground to cover and it isn't much. It does do the job. His room is finished, the dining room is mostly finished, he needs something huge to put at the wall across from the entryway at the front door. It's gotta be BIG and DRAMATIC and will probably end up being a painting of himself.

Jotaro's room is the place he hasn't touched. He respects his privacy enough to not barge into it like he often wants to just to see what he has been keeping in it. It isn't like he has much, right? It's Rohan who keeps all the junk. Important junk.

Anything Jotaro does or owns could use a little life. Rohan brings with him something from the antique store near the tailor shop that he slithers into on his breaks. A garish candlabra pair fitted with fake lampshade-like holders. They're a backward concept but they're stylish. To him. And Jotaro needs stylish to counteract how Edgy he is otherwise. One in each hand, he stops short of the gargoyle's door, unaware if he is awake. It's the late afternoon with the sun starting to set... It's not quite the time for his alarm to go off. ]

Jotaro. Open up.

[ He doesn't NEED an alarm clock. ]

[starmark]

[The fact of the matter is, Jotaro's been sleeping more than usual ever since the night he'd come back to the castle covered in blood with a full stomach and empty eyes. Maybe that's a sign that he's started to give himself a break, somewhat. Maybe he's finally recognized his need to really unwind and let himself take things slowly when he's pushed to his breaking point. So he's been checking out earlier, staying asleep later, and spending more time just sort of lounging around the castle than usual.

So quite understandably, he's still asleep when Rohan arrives at his door, though he's carefully out of range of the sun so he can sleep as a human being instead of as a stone. Which likewise means that when Rohan does get an answer, it's from a largely unexpected source — a short burst of full-bodied barks on the other side of the door that could only be coming from some variety of dog.

...Which means either Jotaro's gargoyle evolution is getting really strange, or there seems to be someone else in there with him.]

dated at the last day or so of the fog

[manuscripture]

[ The Fog God may sound like a raging bitch in the eyes of the general Ryslig populous but now and then She has a way of going about things that are not as terrible. This Fog has not been as awful as it could have been. Rohan hasn't been insatiably hungry and it occurred to him that Jotaro can go out in the daytime due to it. While Rohan has been enjoying going out and drawing the newbies in various states of their transformations, he has no clue what Jotaro has been up to except at night when they rendezvous before bed and the like.

Well, he couldn't forget that they have a... Date. A date he has never been on once in his life. That doesn't need to be explained. It's obvious. Clinging to Jotaro per usual as they make their way through the sky over Bavan and then Vandare in search of the beach cutting somewhere through the Fog below. It's been an interesting ride with Rohan needing to complain about any turbulence or what-ifs regarding air traffic.

It's just what he does. ]

See, a map wouldn't have done jack with zero visibility like this. The water isn't hard to find, is it-- Jotaro, are you listening?

[starmark]

[He spends so many nights living the nocturnal life that sometimes he almost forgets just how refreshing it is to go out during the day.

It's hard to say exactly why that is; it's probably psychological. Certainly his gargoyle eyes see just as well in the darkness as they would in the daylight. It's not as though he needs the Vitamin D or whatever it is that comes of spending time out in the sun anymore. Maybe it's just the change of pace; maybe it's the change of freedom, that it's not actually the daylight he craves so much as it is the part of the day that's usually forbidden to him through circumstances beyond his control.

Regardless, the fog rolls in and it brings with it opportunities he might not have had otherwise, and that's how they end up running off to Vandare together for the as-promised outing to the Vandare beach they'd first washed up on almost exactly five months prior.

It's almost ridiculous how much he's looking forward to it. The prospect of seeing the water is compelling. The prospect of seeing it with Rohan is somehow even better.]

How could I not be listening? You're talking two inches from my ear.

[ZOOM.]

9/22

[manuscripture]

Your uncle is going to be dead by 3am on Wednesday. I figured I would let you know.

[starmark]

...what the hell?

did he get a death threat or something??

< hiiiiiiiiii >

[ufufufufu]

Hello, Jotaro. I hope the night is treating you well. I would not wish to know you have fallen upon hard times as the weather starts to cool. I, personally, cannot feel any difference and wonder if I should lament the absence of feeling cold?

But I digress.

I was wondering if you could write me a writ to ensure people know of my good intentions? I am in need of one? :( Simply saying aloud that I have no desire to murder everyone because all my bloodlust is held by one person ... was not enough to ease their concerns. I wonder if a letter will help? I would ask Kira for he is so diligent and eloquent, but I fear I never know if he is happy or unhappy with me. :(

[starmark]

...a writ so people know of your good intentions

uh

like you want me to vouch for you or something

give you a piece of paper that says you can definitely not be trusted to kill people???

< anotherface >

[ufufufufu]

Did we agree that Rohan is yours, too?

[starmark]

...mine too

you mean like the way we agreed that josuke is mine?

< snakepunhere > 11/3

[manuscripture]

Jotaro--

I had a question about your treasure-hunting thing with Josuke.

[starmark]

yeah?

go ahead, what about it

11/11 garbage boy has Another bad day

[manuscripture]

[ A fistful of coins for Mana proved to be a solid self-reward by the end of the year. First, Rohan had secured his beloved castle and now he wanted to be even more selfish with the 'money' he had earned one way or another. He had told Mana clearly that he wanted to spend a little time as a human again; that he had pined for it for months now through his art and even replicating his favorite outfits from home on his downtime at work. She was happy to grant him his wish for being so patient with her.

She just hadn't told him when it would happen, or how. In his mind, he would lose the tail and the scales and have his body split in half in a reverse of how it ended up this way. Unfusing what had been fused for over six months. It wasn't going to be that easy, he would find:

Rohan's scales had begun to itch as they did every month. It was a little early this time but he chalked it up to the weather which hadn't been agreeing with him either on the turn of the seasons. As his flesh began to grow tighter in anticipation to flake off, it came with a headache... Then a stomachache... Then a jaw ache. On one night just like any other, the naga was busying himself with a project in his room when it happened. The pain in his jaw lit a fire in his face like a paralyzing migraine he felt like he should have been expecting. When his fingers began peeling, it was normal. When his neck and shoulders started to come off in one piece he couldn't buff away, it stopped being normal. The bad moon rising in the next few hours still hung in the sky as the clock moved forward. When his flesh started to slough off, it was not in the pieces he was used to cutting away. Rather, he had become stuck in a hellish sweater of skin and scales he had never dealt with before. It wasn't a complication-- It was a sign he did not know to look for. Moist and with all the wet heat of a steam room, Rohan began clawing away hard at his neck in a means of escape from his body's unpredictable prison. His nails pierced his throat finally and drew downward, peeling away the thick hide like the husk of a vascular as Hell banana.

He did it again. And again, until the act bared his suddenly scale-free shoulders. Bits and pieces of his ears flaked off and fluttered to the floor whilst he was in the throes of quite literally climbing out of his body. The entire process took just over an hour of exhaustion to perform, and by the end of it Rohan was sitting on the floor covered in blood and black viscera as though he had barely escaped the jaws of another monster.

But... He hadn't a scale left on himself. No scales, no patches, no pointed ears, no Snakebutt. No, Rohan was sitting nude in the middle of his bedroom right next to a perfect replica of his snake body that matched him all the way up the throat like a comical suit. His legs hung out in front of him; they were a sight for sore eyes. The fun part came when he needed to wash himself up and get dressed... Which he did with all the grace of a three-legged elephant navigating the upstairs of the castle. Slumping on walls, literally dragging himself to his washroom and back to his bedroom to get dressed in a way he hardly remembered. A trail of blood pressed into the stony walls of the hallways gave a signal saying he had been using them for support. Legs were now useless noodle-things he was having trouble comprehending. When he accomplished his feat though, he tumbled himself-- clad in pants far too big that they needed to be held up with suspenders over a shirt with open-capped sleeves and too many holes in it --right into bed with a groan.

... He would do something about the Snake Man Carcass in the middle of the room later. Now he wanted to take a nap. ]

[starmark]

[It's the clunking around that he notices first, actually. That's the thing about getting used to having a roommate with a forty-foot snake tail on his lower half instead of a pair of feet: there's not really anything to clunk, because what he does is more like sliding or slithering over the terrain. So something is clearly up here, and when Jotaro wakes up from his nap, he's quick to ruffle up his (for once, hatless, because of a rare and divine miracle) hair and wander out to investigate, mentally steeling himself for an ugly surprise of the intruder variety.

What he gets, though, is an ugly surprise of a different variety: blood on the walls, a trail leading upstairs, and — when he darts up to Rohan's room with mounting apprehension once he realizes where the trail is actually leading — Rohan himself, knocked out on the bed with a pair of skinny chicken legs jutting out from his waist and an ass that's practically falling out of the suspender-reinforced pants it's been inserted into.

That's...not his snake roommate.

That's a human roommate.

...

God, he hopes he's had enough to eat recently, because the last thing he wants is to devour his guything in the worst possible way.]

...Rohan?

[Is he sleeping? Yes, Jotaro, you idiot, of course he's sleeping. But at least he's quiet about it, rather than just bellowing his uncertainty somehow.]

< anotherface > | allowed limited access i was wrong

[ufufufufu]

Hello, Jotaro.
I hope all is well.
Limited access to my laptop. No torture? How cold.
I wanted to send something sooner but all I would do is scream and scream.
Communication is best with words, isn't it? Words or blood.
Anyway.
Did you receive the guitar and amp? What a funny box that was.
I hope you will take it as an apology rather than a gift.
I can't come kill you even though I said I would.
But it's all right.
All my bloodlust has been drained out of me.
Until it rises again.
Hahahaha!
Such is the tide, such is the moon.
Ah the moon.
It called to me so pretty.
And now it doesn't call at all.
Well, I hope you are well all the same.

[starmark]

i saw some guy say on the network that he'd apprehended you

are you in a cell right now

how long is "limited access" to this thing?

<purplerain>

[pomaded]

hey you two doing okay man? heard some weird shit's going down so i wanted to check in on you

[starmark]

we're okay, yeah. i think being outside the city limits now helps a lot with keeping us out of the weird shit

what's going on? where are you

DATED 12/5

[manuscripture]

What was the overall appraisal of my being a human again?

Since obviously I'm bad to my snake self again.

I'm just looking for feedback.

[starmark]

you were good-looking then

you're good-looking now

i like what your scales do for you but i like your legs too

<purplerain>

[pomaded]

hey could you learn to play any prince songs

or maybe some savage garden?

[starmark]

you're back to your usual name i see

what makes you think i don't know any prince songs already??

also who is savage garden

DATED 12/24

[manuscripture]

[ Okay so he can't just SEND this like he has to his other list of Present Recipients. When he gets the chance on the night of Christmas Eve--... Or early-early Christmas morning, Rohan scoots his way into Jotaro's room, not knowing if he is outside or not for the night.

When he bumps the door open, he has a fishbowl in his hands with a coldwater candy darter flitting about in it. ]

Jotaro...?

[starmark]

[He is actually home tonight, fortunately, but he's only just gotten back from a quick excursion out within the hour or so — in large part because he'd been struck with an abrupt shock of gift self-consciousness and dashed out at the eleventh hour to try to supplement what he'd gotten Rohan with something else to round things out. Which is also why he's fussing over a box at the point when the door creaks to announce Rohan's arrival, because he wasn't good at gift-wrapping even when he didn't have claws, and now you wouldn't believe how many ribbons he's accidentally severed from carelessness with his nails.

When he hears Rohan coming in, though, he whirls, and the sight of what's in his hands means his own gift-wrapping attempts go immediately forgotten.]

...Hi.

[It's a fishbowl.]

You need a hand with that?

< hello >

[ufufufufu]

Jotaro, how comes the guitar?

[starmark]

...

it's a big hit except for the part where rohan thinks it sounds like hell on earth

you changed your name again?