Mirandae

OBLIVION

@Salsa Verde
A USB stick with a video of Jennifer Elkmann (one of Nat's friends) puking her guts out at a party.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

@Archangel89
You shouldn't stress out about it, either. Let's do this: Aaron is knocked out and in the trauma unit of the Portable Research Station. Robert and Scylla @DeadDrop@Rockette carried his ass there after the fight. Whenever you are ready to post, there can be 1 of 2 scenarios. First, if you post after the team has moved on, my second character (Hana Maeda) will be there when Aaron wakes up. She's IntDiv, as well, so they know each other. Second, if you post soonish while the team is still at the Portable Research Station, then we just carry on as usual.

This way, you don't have to stress out or feel guilty about not posting. Take care of yourself first, come back, and then things carry on with one of these two scenarios.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

This is mutiny. I can't believe you treat me like this, your own mother.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

@Prisk

Glad you're keeping up with the erotic Emilia headers.

@Salsa Verde

Oh for fuck sake. THAT is not 'erotic'.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

@DeadDrop
Yeah, how about that? It wasn't in my plans, but it turned out pretty well! Always nice with positive surprises.

@Aeolian@Archangel89
I hope I haven't been too harsh on things. Are you guys alright?

The Witches Of Shipden Peak

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Location ⋗ Walking around. Interactions ⋗ ??? School of Magic ⋗ Conjuration & Enchantment. Items ⋗ Cell phone.	_______

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"Lovely picture." Hanna said while gushing over it for a moment, trying out some filters, and then posting it to her Instagram. She had since long set her account to private, so not a whole lot of people would see it. Regardless, it was part of who Hanna was, and there was little anyone could do about this particular habit. In those pseudo-creative moments, a cute Asian visage helped themself to some brownies. Hanna guided them to some apple pie with enthusiastic eyes. "You too!" Hanna chimed in response to their courteous wishes. While continuing to fiddle with her phone, going through some messages and notifications, Hanna reminded herself that she should give the parents a call. "Excuse me for a second, guys. I should give my mom a quick call." Hanna said and removed herself from the food tents, walking underneath the open sky again.

"Hello?" The voice of Hanna's mother, Helene, sounded.
"Mom, it's me." Hanna spoke with a clearly changed tone, softer and more personal, perhaps lacking some of that typical enthusiasm that others were used to.
"Oh, sweetie! This makes me so happy that you're calling! How are things in Bennington?"
"It's fine. We're celebrating Ostara at the moment. And, I baked a delicious apple pie that people seem to like, I think."
"That's wonderful! I did my rituals for Spring Equinox this morning. You did yours, I take it?"
"Yes, mom, I did the solos."
"Great. I just want you to do it properly, you know, so you don't forget."
"Why would I forget them, mom? I live in a coven. It's literally impossible to forget any witch stuff here."
"You weren't always like this, dear."
"Like what?"
"We've talked about this countless times. Do we really need to do it again?"
"Eh, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. I won't forget, mom, I promise."
"Good! Do you want to speak to daddy? He's right here."
"I should get back to it. Give him a kiss for me, though."
"I will! Call again soon, sweetie. We love hearing from you, always."
"Will do. Bye, mom."
"Big kisses, bye!"

Hanna took a moment for herself after the call. It did not seem to matter where she went or what she did, that time in High School would always haunt her. To make matters worse, Hanna's mother had the uncanny ability to find a way to bring it up regardless of what they were talking about. At least being in a coven like this was some manner of reset, a new beginning, a blank sheet of paper. Nobody here knew about that time, and Hanna intended to keep it that way. Besides, even if they did know, who would care? Everyone had their skeletons in the closet, just as Hanna did. I should get back. Better shake this off before I do, though. Man, how does this always hit me so hard? Teenagers do stupid shit. Why should it define them for the rest of their lives? It's not fair. But, I know I can change... erhhm, I've already changed. This is bullshit, I'm not like I was in High School anymore, clearly. It's not getting to me... it's not. Hanna's mind struggled.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

I just realized how bad my post is in terms of direction. There's absolutely fuck all to work with for most of the cast here. The direction is that the group is on their way into the city to look for anything related to Ben. When the time is right, soonish, I'll do a 'narrative' post and put everyone where they need to be for the next segment.

Fuck Benji

@DeadDrop

Come on now. I guess you're right, but I'm feeling a bit soft about it all, unfortunately.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

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_{DAY 1 《》 RD-PRS [Research Wing] 《》 After Noon 《》@Salsa Verde@Aeolian}

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There was dead silence on the intercom. Barely two seconds passed before Eunji showed her stylish self to solve the door issue. Whatever she did with those fine particles, some manner of dust, clearly by way of spirits, forced the doors to loosen up from their mechanical locks. By now, the rest of the team was already coming in hot as a runaway freight train, ready to derail and burn the whole town. Robert spearheaded the hostilities with fire from his weapon. Scylla was close on his tail—her movements and dance of death more elegant than a lass performing ballet on the grand stage. With more viciousness, Christina made it known that an Aeon was just that regardless of military or political affiliation. There were no mistakes to be witnessed in that regard. Emilia had a round with the Undead Stigma, as well. She employed a move that was particularly useful when dealing with ordinary humans. Instead of applying force to jump upwards, Emilia directed herself forwards. In that momentum through the air, close to the floor, one of her knees took point and crashed into the chest of one of the remaining zombies. The thing was violently flung backward into the closest wall. A huge dent in its chest could be seen, a blackened liquid having burst through its ears, mouth, and nose. Most people tended to forget that Aeon did not require conventional weapons to do serious damage. Much of their firepower was a formality, perhaps ceremonial. They could punch through quite hard material with their bare fists, which meant that a human body—let alone a rotting corpse—was no match for them. However, bullets were still faster than any given limb. The confrontation was concluded with haste. There was about one of the walking corpses for each member of the modest rescue team, thus an insignificant encounter. As things settled in, the stench became awfully apparent. It seemed as though it came from the dark liquid of the zombies, not the rotten bodies themselves. It was clearly infected with Stigma, but it had never expressed itself like this before—the coloring, the composition being unusually thick, and then the smell of it. Emilia had to cover her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her, by now, dirty UDF shirt. "Damn, what is that?" She complained while leaning forward to take a closer look at the thing she had just dispatched from existence. "Isolde? Eunji? What is this?" Emilia inquired, as her attention returned to those that were still alive and not corpses. Emilia's imagination had a will of its own. Whatever happened in her life, it somehow traced back to Ben for whatever reason. That man had really created an impression on her that was not healthy. Emilia had the wildest idea that these things were somehow connected to him, just as she had suspected at the meeting earlier this morning when the General mentioned the new strain of Stigma. It was not as far-fetched as she would want it to be. A lot of strange, bizarre, and unlikely things happened in the presence of Archons, especially the ones originating from Aeon transformation. The comet had not passed Steelwater yet, so it was not feasible to suggest that as a cause. Incidentally, if they would go outside, the giant celestial body would be covering a great portion of the sky at this very moment. Although, it would still be quite a distance away from the city itself.

Summary

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Emilia crushes a zombie's chest with her knee. As things settle down, the stench of the infected blood of the undead becomes a bit much for her. Emilia asks the Research Division experts about these new Stiggies. She also ponders the possibility of the things being related to Ben.

Quest Steps

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The new Stigma strain and the undead are a result of Benjamin's Archon form, or its presence. This can be expressed by Isolde/Eunji as a theory, if they choose to know about something in the past or refer to some kind of research that they have done.

OBLIVION

@Salsa Verde@nodogs
Can we do flashbacks in this? Various scenes from Ritman-era to develop character relations. That a thing? Just wondering.

OBLIVION

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NATALIE MILLER █ act one: way down we go p. johnson's ▸ Ritman High [Football Field] Interacting with @Benzaiten@udonoodles@Rockette@Aeolian ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

The moment came sooner than she had expected. Nervousness was a bit alien to Natalie, only ever being plagued by it on rare occasions, but it hit like a truck when she saw her. Blood began to circulate throughout Natalie's frame with excitement. Her palms and the usual suspect areas became warm and slightly damp. The flow of air in and out of her lungs shifted rhythm. Natalie had to admit to herself that it was nice to see her again. The girl looked about the same with a few adjustments here and there. Even if Melanie was a pretty face, Natalie had somewhat stopped nitpicking about superfluous things of physical appearance. She had been so unbelievably obsessed and fanatical about it in the past that it had completely fried her brain to the point of having a hard reset. Although she was still rather harsh on herself, at least nasty comments towards others had stopped a few years ago. "Right on time, as always." Natalie said with a genuine but dumb-looking smile on her lips, and not one of those awfully fake ones that she puts on most of the time. "Ah, man." She exhaled with an audible puff and quickly fanned her eyes with her hands to dry them out before embracing Melanie. "I'm getting all soft on you here, fuck." She said with soft tones into the girl's ear as they took to each other. Natalie patted her lower eyelids with her index fingers so as not to get all runny after having let go of the old flame. "I didn't realize I'd get this soggy from this moment." She chuckled, remaining next to Melanie. This reaction was totally out of Natalie's wildest imagination, completely by surprise. The memory of Melanie had clearly burrowed its roots deep into her mind and worked its magic. I hope she doesn't think I've become all weird and shit. I'll just chalk it up to a lot of change and working on myself... wait a second, why the fuck do I care? You care about Mel, don't you? I do, I guess. So, just go with it. Natalie's thoughts wandered. Familiar faces began to reveal themselves one after another. Natalie was a bit struck by Marco's cane, though. Being in the dark about what had happened to him felt somewhat restrictive, or it had a sense of powerlessness to it. Even if Natalie surely was prepared to help him with whatever now, perhaps the answer had not been as straightforward back then, even if she wanted it to. "Marco." Natalie smiled, still standing next to Melanie. "Stil there, ugly as ever." She chuckled at Marco's comment about the magpie monstrosity. The moment led to a rather wild roller coaster ride of being completely blown out of the water and dumbfounded by Samuel's arrival. Natalie's first impression was that this guy was lost or a friend of someone that did not attend Ritman. He was a hell of a looker, too, sporting that dark triad aesthetic to perfection. However, the real shocker came when he revealed who he was. "No. Fucking. Way." Natalie almost exclaimed, mouth wide open and staring at the man. "Chubby Cheeks, that you?" She caught herself right away. "Oh fuck, I didn't mean to say that—I'm so sorry!" Her expression changed to apologetic real fast. It was an honest mistake, bad muscle memory and difficult to get rid of. Two seconds and you've already fucked it all up. Good job, Nat, you fucking raging whore. She scolded herself inside. Luckily, Natalie was somewhat saved by Oleander's entrance. The guy practically had rainbow laser beams shooting out his eyes with sprinkles and glitter exploding everywhere, an intense presence. This was the guy that Natalie could not quite place but assumed she had seen at the school at some point. Natalie offered him a smile and halfway embrace after having greeted Melanie. It was a bit awkward, nobody was going to deny that, but Natalie was determined to get to know him and find out what sort of character he was now and had been in the pecking order. At least there was one other person that could not keep their shit together, tearing up and making a mess of themselves. Natalie was rather excited about this Oleander, though, having met more than a handful of outrageously flamboyant men since Ritman. They were almost always good company. ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔