junkbin | GRAVEYARD

GRAVEYARD

The other side...?

Have you started feeling at home in Cartesio yet? The town has offered you every hospitality that its citizens could think of. They love every corner of this town and they want you to feel the same. Have you accepted Cartesio into your heart yet?

Then it should be comforting to wake in your hotel room. A ceiling you have gotten used to, the warmth of a blanket surrounding you, your own breathing... and silence. All-encompassing silence.
It perseveres when you leave your room, it perseveres when you leave the hotel... Cartesio is quiet because there is nobody in Cartesio who could be making noise. It's a ghost town.

There is only you now, you think. And then, just as you've given up, a noise comes to your ears. A voice, unmistakably. It's time to follow it.

As of Week 5 you may see random objects and buildings of any size flicker. For milli-seconds they seem to glow on and off, blur around the edges, even distort a little. It only happens for a moment at a time, but it happens fairly often.

Welcome to the Cartesio Graveyard. Your character has woken up in a version of the town that is devoid of citizens, but there do seem to be a few people around. Time to explore the mysteries of the other side. For a more thorough OOC guide, we have compiled an FAQ.

Links

Graveyard FAQ
Living Community

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[There's a very vivid memory that doesn't match up in the slightest with the way he wakes up in his motel room. You can't just wash away that kind of suffering-- the smell of smoke as you're forced to inhale it, the heat, the crushing weight around you as several very rude books poke into you uncomfortably...

Worst day ever.

But now he's. Here.

The other side. He supposed he expected it to be... a bit more different. But then, he may have to do a little more than lay here to figure that all out. So. Though he spends a good twenty minutes here, unless you're running straight to his room this morning, you're more likely to see him leaving the motel and heading outside.

To the park. it just seems natural. Nostalgic, even. And here, he can get a better look at this version of Cartesio.]

[ odasaku doesn’t know what to do at first. he hesitates to greet dazai in his room at first, unsure of what to say or even react. there are so many conflicting feelings in his heart... which one does he listen to?

with the quietness of an assassin, he follows dazai to the park. not that it matters— he’s almost certain that dazai already knows he’s there. but it’s only when they reach the park does oda finally speak up. ]

Hey.

[ it’s in a casual tone; as if nothing had passed between them. ]

[He knew. After all, he'd considered ending this farce the moment Oda tried to use it on him. But instead he waits. He waits for Oda to do it himself.

It's so anti-climactic, but then-- it's so very much like Odasaku.

And for now, he plays along; stretching and groaning casually, and begins talking in the same casual way. Which is terrible considering the subject.]

I've never been so emotionally crushed in all my life. I could have died a dramatically poetic death with my love-- but no. Some completely unattractive gremlin crushed me and burned me alive.

[...said as one complains about the weather.]

Fate is so cruel.

So you’d rather have gotten killed by Cian.

[ because of course they’re going to continue to talk casually about it. oda is still angry about the fact that dabi killed dazai, weighing his options on whether or not he should do something in retribution.

but, for now, he’ll focus on the fact that dazai is here, with him. much too soon. ]

We heard that you tried to saved Wayne.

Ahh-- well I can't deny that such a thing would make my heart race~

[dAZAI...]

But I wouldn't want her to have to live with something like that.

[Not helping the misunderstanding here.]

That's not what I meant though. But then, you wouldn't know-- Well. No need to go into that. But how could you have already forgotten my heartfelt confession? That hurts. I thought my courting was rather romantic.

[Was it though? Saying everything casually, without digging under the surface is better right? Because if he went under it would just be... well there's just. A lot to unearth.]

I didn’t forget.

[ oda speaks up after a few seconds of thick silence, his gaze drifting away from dazai’s. how could he possibly forget? at most, all he did was push them aside a little in order to do what his heart had told him to do when they found cian and millium’s killer... but he could never forget.

although that probably makes things worse. ]

I just thought it wouldn’t apply anymore.

...I see. It would be difficult to preserve such feelings for the person that killed you, I suppose.

[............]

But if you're going to do that then you should manage to properly break up with them.

[....................................]

That’s not what I meant.

[ oda says that right away. even if his expression is deadpan, there’s a hint of annoyance in his voice. ]

I mean that I thought that you wouldn’t want to be with someone like me.

[The fact that it clearly annoyed Oda-- actually makes Dazai smile.]

Well then you have no right to complain.

[If you're going to leave it up to him then you're stuck accepting his choice; good, bad or otherwise.

He slides his arms up around Oda's neck and leans against him, closing his eyes and smiling at the familiar warmth.]

I have no intention of letting you escape me again.

[ oda can’t help but huff in amusement. even though they’re dead, dazai’s body is so warm, just like he last remembers it. he hugs him back, finding comfort in the gesture. ]

You did a good job, Dazai. I’m proud of you.

...I wasn't able to do what you asked of me.

[Yes, that's something he's really stuck on right now. Did he really do a good job? He couldn't help anyone... and now, there was no one to look out for the others.]

[ Cian's not been trying too hard to find Dazai during the morning hours. She's still confused by her own feelings about all that happened, still not sure how to face him... So when she spots him in the park, it is totally accidental.

As it turns out, all her thinking about what to say was pretty useless, because now her body moves on her own. Dazai is getting a hug, albeit a quick one. Cian lets go again very soon. ]

This shouldn't have happened to you.

[Ah. It's so bittersweet to see the people he cares about again. But he'd never turn down a hug from this lovely lady. But what she says... he hums about that and chuckles.]

It's amusing... I spent a long time chasing death... and it's only when I stopped that it finally came to take me. But I think it's better that it's someone like me who's accepted that fate since I was young, than one of the others.

[For something so serious, well-- he's taking it well. Example--]

After all. I got to be reunited with you, didn't I~?

[Dazai STOP.]

[ Cian looks caught off-guard for a moment. Dazai shouldn't be saying something like this to her... not anymore, not ever, not... Well, it's a moot point to argue it. She doesn't have the power to do so either. ]

We missed you, but that doesn't mean... it shouldn't have happened like this.

Though I admit that I thought the same about my death, you know? Better someone who's already so close to death than any of the others. So... I can't really argue with you there.

I was no longer the best suited for that fight. They're going to need to give it their all if they want to get out of this place. I... don't know that I could have given them that, much as I tried.

[He'd made an effort, but it still all felt very hollow. like going through the motions in the absence of something more genuine.

They deserved better than that.]

Still... I can't agree with you on that. You may have struggled between life and death, but I at the very least had wanted to see you have the chance to overcome it.

[ That gets a sad smile from Cian. ]

I felt the same about you, you know? I was relieved you'd lived up until now. And if nothing else, I'd wanted a better death for you. One to your tastes, you know?

[ The idea of suicide is very strongly linked to rebellion and choice in Cian's mind. Though death is the end goal, the method is almost equally as important in her view. ]

It's not as beautiful as it seems, in the moment when you're living in that battle. And when I died, that death did go against everything I'd striven for in the past. It caused trouble for everyone and it was painful and long.

[Yet he doesn't regret it, which is probably the most amusing aspect of it all.]

But... somehow that seems fitting. When I stopped reaching for that death... it seems more natural that the death I would get wouldn't be something I wanted. Because I was attempting to live, even though it was something I didn't know how to do in the slightest at any particular moment.

There's something to be said for that kind of irony.

Living's way too complicated.

[ Cian shakes her head a little. ]

It's doable though. And now that you're here, it isn't even technically living. You can start by just existing and see how it goes.

[ She pauses and then adds on: ] Is there anything you've always wanted to do but didn't find an opportunity for maybe?

[ ... yes, she is absolutely trying to motivate Dazai in a similar way she did with Oda, nobody call her out on this. ]

I don't think I've ever had something like that.

[Something he's wanted to do... there really isn't anything like that. No dreams or aspirations. Nothing like what she's thinking anyway.]

However... I've been starting to think that it might be nice if I could continue to exist alongside the people I care about a bit longer.

[It's not completely hopeless.]

Who knows. Maybe someday I'll find something like that.

[Millium doesn't go and seek out Dazai immediately, mostly because she doesn't know what to say.

She still doesn't when she does eventually find him, but at this point, she's realized she's never going to come up with something that feels right. After all, there's very little that's "right" about any of this.]

...Dazai.

[She pipes up from behind him to get his attention, and once she's got it, she handles this reunion in the only way she knows how: by running straight for Dazai, throwing her arms around his waist and half-tackling him with a hug.]

[Ah. He knows exactly who that voice belongs to. With a smile, he turns and opens his arms to her, bracing himself for the impact and then spinning her with the momentum. It's a unique feeling, having others here looking so impacted by his death.

Dazai gives her a gentle squeeze before patting her on the head.]

Long time no see Milly.

[There's a softness to his voice. Even if he tries to play it off casually-- it's tugging at his heart with several emotions to be able to see her again.]

...thanks for looking after everyone while I was gone.

[...as if he was the one who was missing and not her. But then-- well, he's always been this way.]

[Millium doesn't pull away once that little spin is over, although it does coax a little smile out of her.]

You, too. Not the best way to see you again, but I'm still glad, y'know? We missed you.

["We." She hopes he knows who else she means.]

...Eh? ...um. Ahaha... I dunno how much I deserve thanks for all that...

[tfw you're not on speaking terms with dad's boyfriend right now]

[It's okay, in the end he'd still agree she did better by Oda than Dazai himself did.]

It could have been better, I suppose-- but perhaps this was just how it was meant to be.

[He fluffs her hair and smiles.]

I missed you too.

[...still... he's pretty perceptive when it comes to these things. He knows when something isn't right.]

He hasn't been giving you too much trouble, has he?

Oh, c'mon... that's dark even for you. [She sounds a little more lighthearted with that, though, nuzzling against him.] You at least deserved t'get someone actually hot to take you out, not just hot 'cause fire.

[#priorities]

...haha. I dunno, I think maybe it's the other way 'round. ...I may have yelled at him a lot.

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GRAVEYARD

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cw suicide

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