knifemonopoly | IC inbox

[If Beat was truthful, he'd admit he's known the sting of defeat. Several times. But he refuses. Those were handed to him under rigged games. This might technically be another rigged game, where the house has the winning hand no matter what.

But Beat will not give into the God's rules. He'll punch at that brick wall until it finally crumbles. Or he finally loses himself and unwillingly gives up.

When he feels the tears in his fur, he sighs and rests a hand against the back of Atem's neck, a soothing comforting touch as he holds the vampire. He tucks his own head in, tightening the hold, also subtly marking Atem with a scent tracker. With it, he'll be able to keep an 'nose' on him for a week. Until he figures out something more permanent.]

One big difference, yo. From now on, we ain't doin' shit on our own, aight? [Do you understand, Atem? No pushing those that would help away. No more going in expecting no one to back you.] This place has it's rules but fuck them. Fuck the Gods an' fuck their rules. Fuck the way they play their games. [His fingers curl and dig a little into Atems back.] I never liked playin' by others rules anyways. Time to write our own.

[He knows Ryou feels guilty. He needs something to deal with that guilt -- guilt that might be Atem's fault for involving him, and might be Ryou's fault, for choosing to pursue this path -- and that something absolutely, positively can't be AM.

Frankly...Atem's less bothered than he might be, that his game was interrupted, changed. A while ago, he might have been, but now...? Now he's more than an instrument of the shadow games. It doesn't set off the old sense of nails on a chalkboard, of wrongness.

But Ryou won't accept that right now.]

And will letting AM hurt you help the other monsters' situation?

[Another possibility occurs to him, and he goes on:]

Did somebody tell you that it would?

[A breath in, and a breath out.

Better. Yes. He feels better.]

You're right...our plans will be better, if we discuss them with someone who won't agree...you're right. I think...we should work together.

[Another breath. His shoulders drop a few inches, curled up less tightly. He's calming down. Cooling off. Wow, he's crying...that doesn't happen often at all...there was the time he was drunk, and talking to Steve. But besides that, he's pretty sure the last time was when he was turned into a ten-year-old King, trying to be strong against the monstrous gods he knew it was up to him to fight, the ones so big they changed the shape of the horizon.]

And if the gods stand in our way...

...I've stared them down before. I'll do it again.

Edited 2022-03-31 03:28 (UTC)

[Ryou lets out a sharp, frustrated exhale.]

Everyone wants us to be punished.

If I'm punished, then maybe they'll stop caring. Maybe I'll stop caring...

[And there it is. Ryou, once again, letting the whole of the monster population get in his head. Admittedly, people telling him he's making excuses and insulting him is...it's a lot.

His next words are quiet.]

I deserve it. It's like someone's screaming at me in my own head...

Edited (actually lemme add one more. tiny thing.) 2022-03-31 00:31 (UTC)

[He won't stop caring.

The peninsula won't stop caring.

If they even find out Ryou went to the prison, which they might not...

Atem shakes his head.]

I don't care what they want.

I only care about you.

They won't stop caring. They didn't stop caring about Daniel, or Javert. You're falling into a trap that's designed to cause you more suffering, and you'll only come out of it with more scars on your heart, more easy to hurt. And I'll be hurt, because you're a part of my heart, and what hurts you hurts me.

[But, if Ryou needs something to get him out of his own head...

Atem takes a deep breath, and lets it out.]

You broke the rules of my game. If it's a penalty you want, I'll give it to you.

[Ryou's almost completely softened and distracted by Atem's words, to the point that his tail glow starts to fade back, and he almost. Almost relaxes, because Atem's speaking logic at him. He knows it's true

(but you still did something wrong)

and he knows that what he's doing is charting a path down an inescapable road of agony. Ryou doesn't want to hate himself.

(you should)

He just does, with particular regard to this. There's something uncomfortable and angry in him, and he's begun to grow very familiar with it and isolate it as something that's joined the low hum of emotions he can't really control, ever since January.

...Those same angry, dark emotions are brought to attention when Atem mentions a penalty. His glowing eyes focus up, not because he wants to suffer that penalty, but because his brain's eating itself alive.

(you deserve it you deserve it you broke it you have to fix it)]

...Tell me what I can do. I want to make it right. I don't want to end up like...like them.

[Congratulations, Atem. You have found the correct dialogue.]

Unfortunately...nothing here will ever be "right." It can't be made that way...we can only protect ourselves, and what matters to us, and leave it to others to protect what matters to them.

But...

[Behind his eyes, his mind is racing, wheels turning.]

...let me see what can be done, to quiet your mind, to balance the scales in your heart.

[Maybe, if he can trick Ryou's mind into thinking it's already been punished, it can work like the Haftesal procedure...give the heart something close enough to what it's craving to let the worst of it pass by.]

If you tell me "enough," I'll stop. Do you understand?

I know. Nothing here is okay. That's why I chose this path.

[Much like before, Ryou's tone is quiet and distant. Part of him...it wants to run away from that, make it dead to him, because doesn't it hurt? Isn't it painful to have to remember this?

No. No, that's not a thought he should be having. Instead, he nods to acknowledge the rest of what Atem says.]

I understand what you're saying.

I'm in your hands.

[He nods.

Where should they do this...? He doesn't want it to be in a place that feels too unsafe, but if it goes wrong, and makes a place that feels safe feel unsafe, that's not good either....]

Where would you like to do this? We can do it here, or...I can make you feel as though you're somewhere else, if "home" isn't right.

[This is the first time he's hinted at what his tier 2 powers can do.]

You choose. And, if going somewhere else isn't right either, I can bring you back.

[Ryou glances around the apartment from his vantage. He looks at the bookshelves, the sofa, the coffin-table. He can't see Tybolt...but knows he's around.

This...is Ryou's home. This is where he feels most comfortable, where he retreats to hide when the world is too much to handle. He doesn't want it to become an ugly place where all he can remember is that he told the person he cherishes most to punish him.

...He can also read between the lines, upset or not. He gets the idea of what Atem's insinuating, and it's not something that was native to his power set as a vampire. It doesn't sound like it.

It sounds...scary. But...]

Somewhere different. This is our home, I don't want to be here for this.

...I trust you, with all my heart.

[Which is, ultimately, a very ~~gay~~ odd thing to say when you're telling the person in question to punish you. But Ryou knows what he's asking.]

[He gives Ryou a brief, soft kiss.

Atem already betrayed that trust once, by leading Ryou down a path that made him want to get himself hurt. He won't do it again.

When he pulls away, the world around Ryou will fall away, as well.

He's manacled to a table, and Atem is sitting on the other side of it. The walls are stone, and if Ryou tries to phase out of the restraints, he'll find it very difficult: all his senses tell him, you're in La Forteresse, in a conference-room.

Atem is sitting across from him, a pen and official-looking form in front of him.]

Your confession, please.

[He picks up the pen, places it to the paper.]

This will be going on your official record, and will affect the extent of your sentencing...so, please be thorough. Tell me everything you've done to harm the other monsters.

[Red eyes flick up, to meet Ryou's.]

Whenever you're ready.

Edited 2022-03-31 16:35 (UTC)

[Ryou feels...unbalanced at first, as if he'd blinked and gone somewhere completely different without realizing. It's disorienting and takes him a minute to get used to.

He glances at his hands, moves them a little. The metal is heavy. He can't leave. His eyes half-close, lips parted as he acclimates to this new reality. Then...Atem speaks, and his gaze is drawn upward.]

A-ah. Uhm.

[Confession?

He looks down at the paper...then back up to Atem. A confession. Right.]

Just the monsters...right?

[One long, clawed finger runs along the table, scratching against the surface. It feels real to him. It feels like this is actually happening.

(it should. you belong here)]

I've caused emotional and mental distress to many monsters with my actions, and closed off several of their options for integrating into densely populated human areas like Bavan. I've disadvantaged other shades with what I've done, because no human will ever delineate one shadow from another.

I've said...a lot of things I didn't mean. To make people hate me. Because I...I don't like myself. I said I wouldn't do that again, I'd respect myself better than that, but...I did it anyway.

And I...acted on my own feelings during an event I had no business interrupting. Your game.

[As he speaks, he mostly stares at his own claw, scratching against the table, but from time to time, he peers up at Atem, gauging his expression. That's where his eyes settle at the end of his tirade. on Atem.]

Oh!! yeah!! definitely!

[Her memory is pretty great, especially for symbols and important things like that. Except when it's funnier to forget, apparently.]

It's funny, I had to use my medium powers in a way like that to get out of trouble once... so I know for sure I can count on a plan like that!

Edited 2022-03-31 21:34 (UTC)

[The pen skitters across the page.

(In reality, Atem's gently directing Ryou to sit down, in one of the living-room chairs.)

The image of Atem murmurs as he takes all this down, disapprovingly.]

Mental and emotional distress -- [to monsters who were warned what the broadcast would involve and watched anyway,] -- sabotage of monsters' integration efforts -- [by participating in an event that would have frightened the humans away from monsters no matter what,] -- especially to shades, who are generally good at integrating with living humans and especially known for their rational level-headed reasoning -- [This is open sarcasm.] -- and...telling lies about yourself. [To protect your friends.]

Finally, losing your composure during another monster's operation. [One that was terrible to watch.] Is that all...?

[His own eyes come up from the paper, meeting Ryou's. They're cool, calculating, weighing.]

[To Ryou's reckoning...it sounds even worse when hearing it parroted back. And he knows, because he's not an idiot, that Atem is being sarcastic with regard to the part about shades.

His claw continues to scratch at the table, harder, making his fingertip ache. His ears lower, and if attention is paid, he averts his eyes. It's always hard to tell, given how they glow.]

...I think that's it.

[Isn't it enough? Wasn't just one or two of those things enough?

Ryou's tail curls around one of his legs, as if to seek some kind of comfort, but if it's him, what comfort is there to give, honestly? He needs to pay it back. That's all...]

All of that's pretty serious! I won't lie, it doesn't look good for you. But...

[He looks at Ryou (sits beside him) across the table (in another chair).]

...you didn't work alone, did you? There were others with you. Others who deserve to be here just as much. You're a criminal, but there was also a mastermind, a thief, a butcher, and the one who made it all public...

[It's meaningless suffering, Atem's found, that's hardest to bear. So, he shifts the focus of the punishment.]

Give me their names, and I'll reduce your sentence. I won't be as hard on you, if I get to penalize them all.

Edited 2022-04-01 00:03 (UTC)

[Impassive as he looks in reality, the Ryou in the hallucination has an immediate reaction to that offer. His shoulders tense, his clawtips all scrape along the surface of the table he's cuffed to as he balls his hands into tight fists, and his tail flashes bright orange.]

No. They don't deserve to be here.

[Ryou sounds very sure of himself there. He won't sell them out. That's why he said all the things he'd said on the network in the first place.]

We aren't going to talk about them. Just me.

[Atem stands, making the chair behind him skid back on the stone floor, making a nails-on-chalkboard scrape. He leans forward, his hands coming to rest on either side of the table, gripping it as his head comes forward. With menace:]

One of them had the idea to put it on television. One of them made the decision to tell humans that nothing can protect them from monsters. One of them cut a human up and called them cattle. And one of them approved the whole thing, and brought the tape to the news station.

They're all as guilty as you, and I want them all.

[He's giving Ryou something to focus on. Something to hold onto. A principle that matters to Ryou, that he can hold onto when this is over: he's not in this alone. He's the kind of monster who stands by his friends. He doesn't have nothing. He has his loyalty, and those monsters are loyal to him, too.]

Give me their names, or you'll get five people's punishments.

[Ryou flinches at the noise, but his gaze turns hard, eyes glowing brighter. Everything about this feels too real.

He remembers the people who told him he was making excuses, who told him that he was protecting his comrades, the ones who publicly renounced his friends, and it makes his lip curl, baring too-white teeth against too-dark skin.]

No.

[That's it. That's all. No. He'd never, ever admit that any of his friends had done this out of malice nor that they deserved punishment. For what, holding a camera? Disarming a lock? Cutting up a corpse?

Claiming power to protect oneself?]

I murdered the humans. I took the power I wanted.

[He leans in closer, matching the intensity in Ryou's voice.]

They all wanted power. And they all took it!

[A hand darts out, snatching Ryou's jaw to bring it closer to Atem's face, the grip hard, unyielding, unkind. Atem growls the words, slow and deliberate.]

You'll tell me what I want to know. You can't take five criminals' worth of punishment without giving in.

[He's talking up suffering that's really not going to be that severe.]

[This time...Ryou doesn't speak. He just stares coldly. It'd probably be more intense if he didn't swallow so hard, if he hadn't winced so hard after being dragged forward roughly by his jaw.

But it's still a challenge, unspoken.

He'll take it. He's placed himself firmly between a massive threat and four friends before, and then he'd given his soul for the victory. This would be nothing.]

....

[He meets Ryou's eyes for a long moment.]

That's too much. You're too proud, Ryou Bakura!

[Then, Ryou's face is shoved away -- not hard enough to send him falling over, but in a way that's dismissive, unimpressed, and might leave him off-balance. He strides around the table, and he unfastens the manacle-chain from the table. The heavy iron cuffs still press chill against Ryou's wrists, far too small to even entertain the hope of getting past his large shade-hands, and as Atem manhandles Ryou roughly, bringing his hands behind his back and fastening the cuffs together, he says:]

I'll break your pride. I'll show you your strength means nothing. It's only a matter of time.

[And he'll be marched, hands behind his back, to a holding cell (to his room) and sat down on a cold, ugly, utilitarian bench (his bed).]

[Ryou lets out a soft grunt as his head is shoved, and before he can center up again, glare at Atem--

--he's being pulled up, his arms are twisting uncomfortably. His tail whips to the side, glowing bright red, if only briefly. He deserves this...but it doesn't mean he has to like it.

Pride, though...is this pride? Is this what pride feels like? He has to think on it, because the words don't intimidate him quite as much as he'd expect. Is it...because he's thinking of his friends? Do they give him pride, he wonders?

When he's sat again, on the uncomfortable bench with his arms bound behind him, Ryou glares downward. This time, he doesn't bother to look up, to give Atem--no, his warden--the satisfaction of seeing his trepidation.]

My strength has meant nothing for a long time...now, for once, it might mean something again.

[Is this real? It's not. But it is. He feels this...in his heart, as an inarguable truth.

(stop fighting and take what you deserve)

His tail tip twitches by his feet, flashing so fast the color is imperceptible.]

[Reira...actually sends this rather soon after the broadcast, or at least the start. Which might explain some things about it.]

Atem? :[ I think you should probably have separated the videotapes...

Most of the people who are going to watch the whole thing and like it don't really need butchering lessons, but the people who DO need won't listen if they watch the full v

they w

ow

Mukuro's really cool so she should get more atte

hang o

ow

ow ow ow

owowowowoowowowowo ex cu s m

[...Hm.

Well, regardless of how FAST Atem replies, there's a message sent a good day or so AFTER, before she's even had time to actually read anything she received.]

Sorry about that :[

Everything got really loud and I was still sort of tired from earlier in the month...um

Anyway!!! Mukuro's lessons were really good so, now you know that I guess.

I hope you don't do a broadcast like this for a bigger thing though, because, people have a really hard time not watching things after you say 'don't watch this', it's like saying 'don't think about elephants' now you're thinking of them :0

I also hope, you're okay? :[ I don't think you're okay but, I hope you are. At least a little more...

um

Giorno doesn't want you guys to come over, and since it's supposed to be a safe spot, I'm going to let him make that rule for now...but!!!

I'm asking Mana for something special!

So that you can Ray can still play >:0

I just have to figure something out so that Aunamee can't go inside..............

please feel better though :[

Edited 2022-04-02 05:17 (UTC)

[A hand darts out again, pulls Ryou forward by the front of his shirt.]

We'll see how long that lasts, on your knees.

[He pulls Ryou down roughly to the floor (in the dream only, there won't be bruises on Ryou's knees tomorrow) and --

(Ryou asked him to do this. It's what he wants, what his heart needs.)

-- gives a controlled, open-palmed (experimental, a test) slap across Ryou's face.]

When you speak, you'll call me "sir," or "warden." Otherwise, you'll earn yourself an extra strike.

[So, if Ryou wants him to go harder...Ryou can be disrespectful. He's setting a rule, opening an avenue of communication: "slow down," or "more," without breaking the illusion.]

Do you understand, prisoner?

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is this healthy? wigglehands. cw for some weird power dynamics

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cw: hallucinations, imprisonment

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<psydekick>

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lies down. this is just v for vendetta but consensual. i'm so sorry

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cw roleplayed torture threat

honestly cw til further notice we know what's coming

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<CCC-REDHORSE> - BEFORE THE NEAPOLITEEN POST

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WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, PLAYER1. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 10.11.0.0.01 * PLAYER1 has joined 10.11.0.0.01 <PLAYER1>** If you're looking for someone you knew as Yugi before June, you've found him! It's Atem, leave a message.