[EFFECT ROOM] whoops we left the background music on

[roadroller]

[After hanging around in this room, your character may find that their actions now come with their very own soundtrack! The music is all around and appears to be coming from nowhere. But it is definitely following you, and everyone in your midst can hear it. Also, the song may shift in tone depending on the atmosphere or mood of a situation!

As for how long it lasts - who knows? Maybe it'll be 20 minutes. Maybe it'll be the rest of their miserable life.]


(( in this post, incorporate the OST from your canon into your threads, especially your character's theme music! Though if your character is an OC or from a book or something, feel free to use a fst or create theme music on musicshake. -warning the link is addictive. Or you could just torment your characters with awful pop songs instead. y'know, whatever! ))

Comments

[whiterosefoes]

If it's some futuristic looking kind... but there's nothing cool about regular earplugs either. Either way it's a handicap, don't you think?

[fluffydeathdealer]

You can't usually see earplugs though. Especially if you have a hood on.

But I guess it's a 'hero' thing anyway. I can't really judge it. I've got more of a 'villain' style.

[He demonstrates by flaring out his long coat. He's really just wearing it at the moment to hide the bandage on his arm, but it is comfortable. Even if it doesn't look terribly villain-y over a striped shirt and jeans.]

[whiterosefoes]

...You do?

[Harriet tilts her head skeptically. The jacket maybe, but the rest...]

I assumed Ryou picked out most of that.

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

[POUT.]

You're kidding, right? Ryou's got such awful taste in clothing! He goes around in these really ugly sweaters that wouldn't look good in a million years. Have you ever tried to be intimidating in a pale yellow sweater?

A few months before coming here, I started to change up his wardrobe a bit. It's not really far from his usual style, but it's definitely more comfortable and less... embarrassing. And the coat's pretty cool.

[whiterosefoes]

Mostly I got that from the striped shirt... I mean, it's kind of childish. What villain were you going for, Pugsley Addams?

[fluffydeathdealer]

...who?

[Yo, ancient Egyptian spirit here. He doesn't watch movies so much. Too busy playing games.]

I like this shirt. What's so childish about it?

[whiterosefoes]

Well, Pugsley was a somewhat wicked child. And ... I suppose a lot of other child characters wear them, so that's why.

Oh, I suppose Freddy Krueger wore stripes, but he was also linked to children as a child killer... yea, it's kiddie no matter how you look at it.

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

I still like this shirt.

[Stupid child characters... how dare you try to ruin his awesome shirt?]

Childish or not, this ensemble looks good on me... Wouldn't you say?

[Don't you dare say no.]

[whiterosefoes]

[That question is punctuated with a glare of a thousand daggers. It's like he's a clingy girlfriend or something - oy, they don't have that kind of relationship!! Feeling the pressure, she takes a cautious step back. She has to consider her words very carefully...

> Yes
> No
>Snark]

... You're adorable.

[she's prepared to run if she has to.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Twitch.]

OI! Shut up! The only adorable one of us is Ryou!

[What sort of world is it when an ancient spirit with demonic powers gets called adorable?!]

You're not above being punished, you know!

[whiterosefoes]

[Well since he's not trying to punish her YET, Harriet leans back and crosses her arms.]

It's what I said from the beginning, isn't it? That outfit suits Ryou. So of course it looks good.

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

[That's simultaneously a compliment and an insult, as far as he's concerned.]

Tch... Maybe I should start wearing normal shirts again.

[Even though they were kind of annoying, if they were open enough they were fine. And he doesn't really like being compared too much to his host.]

[whiterosefoes]

[He's quite simply barking up the wrong tree if he doesn't want to be compared to Ryou. She will always see him when she looks at him... and a little of Jack, too. Her eyebrows raise, but she stays in the same pose otherwise.]

No, you should wear what you like. It doesn't matter what I think, does it?

[...If it does... what does that mean?]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...it's not that.

[He tucks his hands into his pockets, looking away irritably.]

Appearances don't mean shit to me. If they did, I'd have gone back to my old body once he turned up here.

[whiterosefoes]

... Then why ask at all?

[This is really awkward. She's starting to feel bad for what she said, even though she thinks she shouldn't.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...I was curious.

[Part of him really hates this body. It's the closest to his own in appearance and feeling, and the one he feels most comfortable with... but it's still not his. It's weak and fragile, and having to share it annoys him. But even his actual body isn't his. It doesn't fit. It's irritating.

But he's not going to admit that.]

Not everything has to have some deeper meaning, you know. Most things come down to the most entertaining option to me.

[whiterosefoes]

I see.

[She'd have to be an idiot not to notice his immediate change in mood, though. So, if he won't tell her, then she'll have to assume... it's because she implied that it better suited Ryou. When he wanted her to praise him - but when it came to looks, how could she? It was unfair to ask that of her.]

Well then. I'm sorry I wasn't very entertaining this time.

[it comes off a bit colder than intended. It sucked. She didn't want to betray Ryou or hurt Bakura. She really hates that they have to share, too.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[...tch. She's in a bad mood now, huh? What's with all of these moody people around? He ignores the fact that he's the moodiest of them all.]

There's more than one way to be entertaining. People are interesting because they're themselves. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have preferences, but I don't expect people to change their natures to suit me, or apologize for them.

[He can always get rid of them if they're too annoying anyway.]

Maybe I'd expect an apology if you punched me in the teeth or something, but not for something like that.

[whiterosefoes]

All right, and I do appreciate it...

[-seriously, imagine how much worse things would be if they were actively trying to make her choose sides instead of it just being her horrible broken conscience at work-]

... but I didn't say it because I had to. I said it because I wish things were different.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He takes a moment to answer, leaning against the wall silently. It's a difficult thing to respond to. Not least of all because of his own lack of caring for his host. That's something that he won't bring up. Harriet's a good kid, after all. There's no sense getting her back up. Especially when he's the one that made her feel awkward to begin with.]

You mean Ryou? If that were possible, I think we'd all be happier.

[Lifting a pale hand, he stares at it thoughtfully. No. Ryou would never be happy until he was gone entirely. Not because of the body issue, but because of Yugi.]

Henry's been researching, trying to find a way to separate us... but I don't have any real hopes for something like that. A seal like this isn't easily broken, you know.

But, Harriet... The more you struggle to escape this place, the closer Ryou comes to never having to see me again.

[whiterosefoes]

Mm. Magic on that level is way over my head, I can't begin to understand it.

[She hasn't even mastered her Rose Cards.]

I'm not going to give up on escaping. But Ryou seems to have, at times... isn't that curious?

[fluffydeathdealer]

Most humans can't. Even in the other world, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with that level of knowledge or ability.

[He leans against the wall, looking at her with a curious expression.]

You've noticed, huh? For someone that's been as solitary as Ryou, being trapped here isn't a hardship. It's easy for him to fall into the trap of forgetting what this place is capable of, since it tends to let people relax between disasters.

But I think it's less of a case of him not wishing to leave, and more of a case of him being unwilling to lose those he's grown attached to. As awkward as he acts, Ryou is the type who only truly feels happy when he's having fun with others. Severing those ties by leaving will be unpleasant for him. He probably hasn't noticed that 'wish' inside of his heart... but it's a wish that's been blossoming since he was a child. The desire to have those he loves stay close forever.

[If Ryou wouldn't be such a bitch about it, he'd make sure he'd never have to lose his friends again... but of course, his prissy little host dislikes the idea of having his friends' souls taken. What a pitiful child...]

[whiterosefoes]

I suppose I can understand that. There are people here that he's truly opened his heart to. Become family with...

[As for herself, she prefers not to think about the goodbyes and guards her feelings a bit more. She's focused on her motivations, but his motivation is the people themselves. That must complicate things quite a bit.

Especially since he couldn't really go with Henry without them learning to split the Bakuras.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

Yeah. When it comes to the people he cares about... it's the one thing that'll get Ryou fired up. He'd rather suffer a thousand deaths than let them be hurt. And the pain of loss is one he knows quite well.

[It's not like he couldn't operate without Ryou, if he could find someone else, but his own selfishness and the coldness he feels towards his host means that isn't an option. Ryou is close to Yugi, the perfectly convenient vantage point to ensure that boy's continued survival... or destruction, if Malik can truly do as he claimed and replace the Pharaoh. Even without that, this body is the most comfortable he's had. He thinks of it as his own, regardless of his original host's desires.

Malik, or Henry... Home, or family. Choices like that were surely painful to his host. Bakura doesn't care, as long as he can get closer to his goal.]

[whiterosefoes]

[She peers up at him a bit suspiciously for that... Harriet can't help but wonder how much of that pain was his fault. When he talks about this stuff, he tends to sound so neutral. Like he's only a bystander, but that's really not the case.

She's not sure what to say. She tries to let it go.]

Henry won't give up. He may not have to say goodbye.

[Though if she were in Henry's shoes, she is sure she'd lose patience with the impossible, peaceful solution.]