Ryslig | Inbox

[telewarped]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, HIRUNDOCANTUS. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** HirundoCantus has joined 018.07.154.55 <HirundoCantus> protip: if you're thinking of sending me something stupid <HirundoCantus> don't.

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MERR CRISIS

[endlesspastability]

[A small pile of packages will be left at the WEWYhaus door. There seems to be a bit of something there for everyone, but there’s a stocking labeled “SHOKA”.

Inside is some candy, stickers, a free burger coupon for Sonic’s favorite diner in Bavan, and a few small toys (including a sticky hand from the arcade!!). A handwritten note on festive paper is also included.

“HI SHOKA

Happy Nattenwhatever and Chrismas and all that stuff. Since you just got here I got you a coupon for the most bangin’ burger in Bavan. Enjoy it before you can’t anymore :( Sorry you have to be here but I hope we can be friends!!! you seem cool.

SONIC”]

Backdated to December 24th

[heyhohey]

[Shoka will find a small box waiting for her, meticulously wrapped and tied off with a big red bow. It smells vaguely of peppermint, and even prior to opening it, it isn't hard to work out who it might be from.

Inside is a handkerchief, neatly hand-embroidered with a big violet SS and a pattern of little black pawprints around the top edge. Beneath it, there are some homemade chocolate chip cookies, and a note written in a bit of a shaky hand:]

Thank you for your help at the "Festival." I know I am a bit of a nuisance and I appreciate your help.

Take care,
Alfred

[leggierissimo]

[Rather anonymously, in the early afternoon of March 30th, a package is delivered to the front door of the Shibuya house. It's made of soft cardboard, like a garment box, and wrapped in brown paper and twine. There is no sender, no return address, only their address and Shoka's name. Old school hand-delivery - it wasn't mailed. Upon opening the brown paper wrapping, a generically-printed business card sits on top of a white box, reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Perhaps she should open the white box?]

[telewarped]

[When Shoka finds the box, she is returning from her shift at Kit-TEA-Kat, and her first thought is that it has to be some kind of trick—just the latest episode of the usual Ryslig horror show. Maybe it's rigged to explode, or she'll open it and find herself set upon by a plague of locusts. She briefly considers throwing it out before the proverbial shoe can drop—but, inevitably, her curiosity gets the better of her. Besides, it isn't as if she's never received a genuinely nice gift on her doorstep before, even here. Never mind that today, as far as she knows, isn't a holiday.

She's still half-expecting the locust treatment when she brings the package inside and removes the paper wrapping. Instead, there’s just a plain white box, topped with an even plainer birthday card.

In the UG, there'd been no reason to keep track, but after wracking her brain for a few moments, she manages to remember. It is her actual birthday today, isn't it? Her first since coming back to the RG; her first actual one in years.

That seems to confirm her suspicion that the box is part of some Ryslig-related nonsense. Who else would even know, if not the Fog, or Mana, or whatever other force was out there watching and managing the freakshow? Even she hadn't remembered.

By the time that all occurs to her, however, she already has the thing open, her hands finding velvet-soft fabric. As she draws out her apparently insect-free gift, she is struck by a regrettable realization: it's super cute. Cursed object or not, she loves it, and it feels amazing.

Minutes later, when she's trying it on, she comes to another realization. She certainly hadn't told anyone, so who else would know?

You live with the Composer, stupid.]

<Composing> Late morning, 4/4

[leggierissimo]

Good morning, Shoka. Just thought I'd update you myself, since Beat is a bit busy at the moment. I'm currently in the clinic at [address here] and likely won't be home for a few days. Our attempt to vacuum the fog got a bit messy.

<HirundoCantus>

[telewarped]

[This really isn't the kind of news she wanted to start her day with, but at least he's still present enough to manage typing. The address is all she needs to start getting ready to leave.]

why am i not surprised

what's the damage?

After the event starts

[soundsurfing]

[One day Shokitty will find a pin hooked to a letter, left in her bedroom. It'll be hard to miss, because Beat's carefully poised it to fall on her the moment she begins to move.]

"Yo! Hold onto this an thinka me if you need help or anything, this should summon me up. Abuse it an lose it"

[telewarped]

[The very first thing Shoka does, when the letter falls on her, dislodging the pin and sending it rolling noisily across the floor, is to give it chase. Her annoyance at the practical joke immediately forgotten, she pounces without thinking, slapping one paw-hand down on the pin to keep it from rolling any further. Only then does she regain the self-control necessary to actually register what she's looking at and read the letter.

Though it isn't a brand she recognizes, the sight of the pin still gives her a bit of a start and a definite feeling of déjà vu. According to the letter, it's a summoning pin... For none other than one Worms-for-Brains. That explains the cutesy squirrel design, she supposes.

Abuse it an lose it, the letter reads. She won't be making any promises.]

<Composing> backdated to 7/14, as soon as he's aware of his surroundings

[leggierissimo]

Where are you?

<HirundoCantus>

[telewarped]

[It's a while before Shoka thinks to try using her laptop. With how surreal her current surroundings are, she'd automatically assumed it wouldn't work.]

sorry, i just saw this! it's been a weird day

no idea tbh :\

looks like some kind of experimental theatre convention?

[She already figures he'll know what she means. He has his own stage here, after all. She's seen it—and his Act 1.]

post-fog

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Nanami's never actually... been to the Cube before. It's a difficult landmark to miss, in her various wanderings around the city. But she's always been too busy to visit, and never had a solid reason to.

Shoka's invitation gives her an excuse, though. And now that she's trying to relax, or burn off some extra energy - now that she's revived, now that the fog is gone and she can fit inside buildings again - she takes the kelpie up on her invitation.

It's a cloudy afternoon when Nanami finally arrives at the Cube, slowly crawling in through the entry hall and looking around for Shoka. ]

Hello? [ This place seems empty... ]

[telewarped]

[The interior of the Cube is about as imposing and jarringly modern as its exterior, dark and angular with neon lights glowing just beyond her range of sight.]

Chiaki, hey! [Nanami doesn't have to wait long for Shoka to come to meet her, making a beeline from one of the two hallways that branch off from the main chamber. The Kelpie seems to be in high spirits, grinning broadly.] Glad you made it!

[She was... only just a bit worried that Nanami wouldn't, but it looks like she's gotten the hang of her Nymph form by now. Way to use those roots, Chiaki!]

Managed to save one of the rooms for us, so you better be ready to try some FanGO.

9/30

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Early on the morning of September 30th, a little pink-wrapped package shows up at the TWEWY house's doorstep. There's a note attached, written in colorful pens. ]

Hi Shoka!!

Beat told me I missed your birthday, so... happy half-birthday! I hope you have a nice day!

- Nanami

[ The package contains a small batch of chocolate-chip-espresso cookies, each in the shape of a cat's head, with chocolate chips making the cat's face. ]

[telewarped]

[Even the way Nanami writes is so much—but at least this means Shoka doesn't have to worry about there being anything suspicious in this package (and at least she's using Shoka's first name now, too). Half-birthdays are definitely not a thing, but it's still a welcome surprise to complete her Friday, and strangely, genuinely touching. Even now, the reminder that she can have birthdays again fills her with wonder.

Inside the package she finds... cat cookies, seemingly homemade and almost too cute to eat. Almost.

Later, Nanami will find a string of messages left for her on the network.]

< HirundoCantus >
omg you are so extra

you really didn't have to do this...but thanks for the cookies. they're REALLY good

did you make them yourself? :o

<KrisKringle>

[getmeoutofthedraft]

Ho ho ho! Your Secret Santa giftee is LUP TAACO, who is (correctly) called "HotterTwin" on the network.

Buy or make Lup a gift by December 26, or Santa will come down your chimney and box your ears.

If you need more information, contact me C/O Hawkeye Pierce at Crowe Clinic, and I'll delegate him to tell you to do your own research.

<HirundoCantus>

[telewarped]

ew i do NOT need to know who santa has the hots for thanks

what would mrs kringle say? smh

Happy Nattensfest!

[findingtruth]

[On the morning of December 25th, a small package will be left outside Shoka's door with a festive card attached.]

Hi Shoka,
Have a wonderful Christmas/Nattensfest and an excellent new year. I hope you like your Secret Santa gift.
- Nancy

[When Shoka unwraps her gift, she will find a box of gourmet chocolates and a bottle of black, glittery claw polish.]

Dec 24th [action-ish]

[unlivinglegend]

[So there's a small box set out for Shoka in the morning, with a note from Neku]

Merry Nattenfest. I know it's a bit bright for your style but it matches the one I got for Nanami~

[There's a bracelet made of horn beads inside! The colors of the beads match Neku's gargoyle horns.]

Nattensfest

[waitingforplayer2]

[ A cat plushie that Shoka's been trying to get in the Insert Coin's crane game is the first gift that Shoka will receive for Nattensfest. She'll also find that the crane game has been newly stocked with a new assortment of plushies and prizes for her to try for.

Nanami also gifts Shoka with a console that looks very similar to her own Game Girl Advance. It's black, to match Shoka's hoodie, and definitely looks rough around the edges, like it's handmade - and indeed, Nanami got her friend the Ultimate Mechanic to help reverse-engineer her own, to make new ones. A little note with the console reads "co-op mode enabled! <3" The console will work both with Shoka's Gameboy games and Nanami's GGA cartridges.

Finally, Shoka will receive a small bracelet with a little pink heart clasp, adjustable so she can wear it in any form. ]

[12/30, un: restinglichface]

[restinglichface]

i need u to know that i love gaylord with all of my heart

<HirundoCantus>

[telewarped]

LMAO

you better!!

perhaps your love will finally cure him of his doggy depression

<galagamer>

[waitingforplayer2]

love you shoka-chan <3

[ This appears in Shoka's inbox at some point during the kerfuffle on Kaito's post. Somebody got her wolf roomie to type this one out. ]

<HirundoCantus>

[telewarped]

[Heh heh, people on the network are so stupid and messy, she loves it here... Oh, what's this message say—?

... Oh!

Though it isn't her first time hearing that from Nanami, the reminder still surprises and flusters her. There is no reply for a stretch of time, during which she is busy short-circuiting (Nanami's too cute. It's not too early to say it back, is it? Nanami already said it, but she's never said it back so directly, has she? Who even cares? Man, maybe she really could use advice from that cosmic creep...), then eventually:]

ilu2

<3

you hungry? i'll bring you lunch

post-shadening

[waitingforplayer2]

[ When Shoka awakes in her room in the arcade - however unceremoniously - it's much the same as every other time she's been there. A warm and quiet room, the sound of technology humming just outside... safety for a loyal fourth follower.

The only thing that's noticeably different about it, from the last time she's been here, is a lava lamp sitting near the bed - with a suspiciously familiar glowing spaceship hairpin suspended in a goopy pink liquid. ]

[telewarped]

[In contrast to the events that led her here, Shoka's awakening is gentle and gradual. It's the muffled sounds from the arcade that rouse her, easily picked up on by her (now solid and purely Kelpie) ears; slowly, she opens her eyes and glances at what little she can see from where she lies prone on the mattress. As she tries—and fails—to remember what she was just doing, her gaze drags itself over a nightstand, a radio, then the lava lamp.

She blinks, blearily. The first two are familiar; dimly, she remembers that this is her room, in the arcade. But the lava lamp... It's new. And how weird, that almost looks like...

A series of memories fall back on her all at once, gripping her with sudden terror. She lurches upright.]

Chiakhh—

[Something catches in her throat and a phantom taste reaches her tongue: salt and copper. She finds herself coughing then, leaving her for a moment too dizzy to reach for the lamp as she intended to.]

3/30

[leggierissimo]

[At some point during the day, when Shoka has been out of the house, a brown box has been left on her bed. It's very clearly a shoe box, but it's unmarked and the only thing on it is a black ribbon keeping the box tied closed. There is a tag tied to the ribbon, and it reads:]

Happy Birthday! - 桐生 義弥

[Inside the box is a pair of shoes, custom made for the hooves of a Kelpie. In fact, part of them looks a little familiar, like a raincoat a certain someone else used to be able to wear before his wings came in...]

March 30

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Nanami can't fit through their little tunnel in her nymph form. One of the many many things she dislikes about being a tree.

But that means that on the morning of March 30th, instead of taking the tunnel, Nanami actually goes to Shoka's door like a normal person, and gently raps on the door. ]

[telewarped]

[It's definitely bizarre, needing to open the door for Nanami, but Shoka won't draw any attention to that, answering only with a gentle smile and a casual:]

Hey. Morning.

[Then she's moving aside, welcoming Nanami in.]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

[soundsurfing]

[He's a little late but shut up he has the memory of a damn sieve...

When she opens the little gift left on her bed side table, she'll find a gala hairpin. It looks a lot like Nanami's, but in colors more to match Shoka, and ... are those the jewels Beat and Josh might have stolen at one point in time during their little pookacapades?

Indeed they are.

There's also a few pins left behind, made with the button maker Reira gifted him. The art is obviously Beat's style, and depict Chiaki. In case Shoka wants to wear her girlfriend on her sleeve.]

continuing from April 2023 changelog

[waitingforplayer2]

continued from here

[ The tendril is enough to encourage Nanami. Her paws resting on Shoka's shoulders, she leans in to thoroughly lick and nibble at Shoka's pointy ear. Shoka tastes... a little sweet, a little spicy. She's definitely warm, the heat cozy against Nanami's fur. The werewolf grins, a wide fanged grin. ]

I'm not teasing you. [ The low voice seemed to do something to Shoka, so for now Nanami keeps it. But she also does tip Shoka backwards onto the bed, looking down at her the way Shoka did a few days before, with a wolfish grin. ]

This is teasing you. [ And another long lick up Shoka's neck; this time finished with a gentle smooch to Shoka's lips. Her claws gently caress the new scales as they grow, coaxing the transformation on. ]

[telewarped]

[Another moan escapes her as she starts to squirm—tellingly, not away from Nanami's muzzle. Then she's on her back, Nanami poised hunter-like over her, and her breath catches in her throat. A sweet, dizzying burn follows where those claws scrape and that tongue laves over her skin, leaving swathes of fresh scales creeping in its wake, over her arms and under the loose collar of her blouse—and it feels less like the Fog is changing her, and more like Nanami is, taking and reshaping her into something new.

The heat coils low in her belly. She arches her back before she can think to rein herself in, pressing her body up closer to Nanami's in wordless assent. More, please, anything you want. All yours.

Her voice, when she finds it, emerges as a pleading whine.]

Chiaki...

[When Nanami's snout nears her lips, she captures her in a clumsy but fierce kiss, her own claws lifting to comb through Nanami's hair. Right after her tongue changed, Shoka had discovered (to her disgust at first, then to her amusement) that she could manipulate both sides of its forked end independently—and now, those two ends slide hungrily over and around Nanami's full tongue. It's sloppy, almost all tongue, but in her defense, the canine muzzle is new, and she isn't thinking much.]

[telewarped]

[Being a shapeshifter, it turns out, makes Nanami into both the best big and little spoon, depending on how they're feeling on a given night. It's a little like cuddling with a weighted blanket most of the time—if the weighted blanket couldn't be trusted to remain one consistent texture for very long.

Tonight, Nanami is playing the big spoon, their form draped lazily around Shoka as they both wind down from a long and less-than-perfect day. Shoka is completely relaxed, nearly dozing in a catlike curl, but she's still awake enough to notice that Nanami, already close at her back, is somehow getting even closer, their semi-liquified form slowly seeping through the material of Shoka's clothes. She feels slime on her bare skin then, fingers of it brushing against her waist before spreading over her chest.

A shaky exhale escapes her.]

Chiaki...?

[Are they doing that on purpose?]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ It's been kind of a mixed day - some good things, some bad things. There's new friends on the peninsula. But Nanami's also still worried about Trish. And the guide's published and they're nervous about feedback from that - plus things have started getting busy at the morgue again - and -

The point is that there's a lot on Nanami's mind. Cuddling with Shoka, they can forget about all of that for a little while. Shoka's home. Shoka's safe and secure.

It doesn't notice at first that it's seeping even closer to Shoka. It's just an instinctual movement, holding onto what feels right. It's only when Shoka speaks up that Nanami realizes they're holding bare skin, wrapping around to cradle Shoka's front. ]

Ahh-- [ Oh. Well, they didn't mean to, but... it is nice. ] Sorry-- is it... okay?

<galagamer>

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Whenever Shoka returns, there will be messages waiting on her laptop. ]

i'm back

i hope you get back okay. i hope you get home soon. i miss you

tell me as soon as you're home. i'm waiting with beat in dyster

[telewarped]

[Escape finds her so suddenly that she doesn't recognize it at first. One moment, she's wandering the halls with Joshua coiled up in her hood, wondering how many more times they'll have to hunt before the place decides it's done with them, thinking that maybe it would be easier to find a quiet corner somewhere and just lie down for a while—and the next she's falling, right through the floor, then open air, before she arrives crumpled in a heap on the floor of the living room.

Joshua must have been dropped elsewhere, because she finds him suddenly missing, and the apparent emptiness of the house makes her think that she's just found herself in a new, extra twisted wing of the creature that swallowed them. When she manages to pull herself upright and stagger to the kitchen, however, she finds that the water from the sink runs cold and clean.

It takes her some time to get her bearings and convince herself that she can finally relax a little. In a daze, she has to marvel first at the water, then at the sunlight filtering through the windows from outside, before she thinks to check her laptop. The message she finds there from Nanami brings back a rush of memory (the phantom scent of blood and bile, the image of the melted pulp that was Nanami, the taste of metal and acid sizzling on her tongue) that makes her heart wrench and her stomach twist itself into knots. But it also means that it really is over, probably.

Maybe it should get easier, the more times it happens. It won't. If anything, it seems to only get harder every time.

Finally, a reply:]

im back

i think

<silverfeather> about a day and a half after the event ends

[familyproblem]

Shoka are you awake or available? This is extremely urgent. I can't find Rindo.

<HirundoCantus>

[telewarped]

[She's awake, but how available she is is still up for debate. She'd make a dry joke about that if that last sentence didn't immediately make her stomach drop. The reply is almost immediate.]

im here

i thought

[She thought Rindo was with him. Hoped Rindo was with him, after the latest horror show. All this time, she's been thinking Rindo just needed space again and bracing herself for a repeat of the conversation they'd had at the end of June...]

when did you last see him??

early September; cw mutilation, nightmares

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Nanami sleeps.

They didn't mean to. Their sleep these days is erratic, and so is Shoka's. But they have to at least try, because they're so exhausted. They're so tired and sometimes they just don't feel like being awake.

In Shoka's arms they cuddle - the small spoon this time - and their game console lies still in their hand. Soft tinny music plays, idly on loop, as the little avatar remains paused in the middle of the dungeon. Nanami can't hear it, though; or maybe it filters into their dreams. ]

======

[ In the dungeon, Nanami is pulled apart.

She whimpers and cries out soundlessly with pain as the assailant cleanly cuts through their shoulder - their very human shoulder, pulling it out of the joint. Nanami screams aloud, but no noise comes out. ]

Shhh... shhh... [ The person mutilating them soothes gently, resting their hand on the stump where their shoulder ends. Nanami recognizes that voice, and they look up slowly - they're staring themself in the face, human and smiling serenely. ]

It's all right. It's going to be all right.

No it's not!

[ It hurts to turn their head, to see their rescuer, but Nanami slowly turns to look. Someone snatches the arm away from Nanami's other self, and Nanami whimpers again, feeling pain even though it's disconnected.

Two Nanamis are fighting. ]

Stop doing this! How dare you! How dare you!

Give that back! I know what I'm doing!

Stop it! Stop it you monster!

You can have that one. It's okay. Here, I'll just take another one.

[ Another soundless scream, from the Nanami prone on the ground, as their other self cuts through their other arm. ]

======

[ Nanami sleeps, but it isn't soundly. They whimper and squirm fitfully, as if they want to yell out but are too tired to.

And something unusual is happening.

Some of their slime is drifting apart from the rest of it, creating a separate blob. Where their arm might be. And then their other arm separates too, becoming a shapeless blob.

Nanami curls in on themself, smaller now into Shoka's grasp, as bits of themself keep falling off, drifting away as if Nanami has no control over it. ]

[telewarped]

[Shoka's sleep, when she can find it, has been even lighter lately than it usually is, the vigilant rest of a prey animal anticipating predators. When she hears Nanami whimpering, she's awake in an instant, in time to see shapes moving in the dark.]

Chiaki...? [She tries to rouse them as gently as possible, sliding a hand along their arm—only for her fingers to find a gap where the arm was before.] Hey... You're changing in your sleep again.

post-lich TF, cw: lich-typical gore

[waitingforplayer2]

[ The front door creaks open, and Nanami stumbles in. Their smell precedes them - fresh blood mingled with death and rot. But right now, they just want to get out of the rain.

They're holding something close to their chest. It threatens to sink back into their open chest wound, where ribs are poking out - but truth be told, right now they're not really sure what to do. They feel gross...

Rather than venture further into the house, they sit down in the front hall, massaging their leg. It shouldn't be hurting, right? The transformation should be done... and there's a tickle in their throat, too - a throat that isn't really there anymore. ]

[telewarped]

[With the recent unrest in Bavan keeping her on high alert, Shoka is anxiously awaiting Nanami's return—so when she hears the door creak open, she's on her feet and in the hallway in an instant.

At first, she thinks that the smell is just Beat bringing home a kill, but it's rank, too rotten for even Beat to stomach. Then the front door comes into view, and she sees...]

Chiaki?

[Chiaki, based on the clothes and the familiar scent hiding beneath the rot. They're sat on the floor, and there are parts of them that are exposed that shouldn't be, and it's then that Shoka realizes that it's them that stinks like death.]

Chiaki! [Panic sets in quick, before she can really think. She rushes for them, stammering out barely coherent concerns. They're hurt, they're dead, and their bones are just out—] Wh—what the hell, what's...

backdated to lich month c:

[telewarped]

[Shoka is still lazing around in bed—and Nanami is in the other room, getting ready—when she notices it. She's reaching for the nightstand, groping for her phone so she can play a few casual rounds of Tin Pin, when she feels it brush briefly against her leg under the blanket.]

Hey, Chiaki? You didn't forget anything back here, did you?

[waitingforplayer2]

[ It feels like some kind of miracle to Nanami that Shoka's been okay with them sleeping in the same bed, while Nanami's a lich. Maybe it shouldn't be? They're certainly relieved, at least.

Anyway, Nanami's in their own room, picking out clothes and packing their bag, when Shoka calls out. Nanami looks questioningly in the direction of the closet wall, and then peers into their bag. ]

I don't... think so? [ Computer, console - even their first aid kit and a change of clothes. ] My Game Girl's in here...!