July Open Post / Catch-All!

[mooninthewater]

Who: Mizuki! And! Everyone!
What: [vague hand gestures] Lots?! idk prompts are below lmao
When: All of July!
Where: Presumably on the Serena Eterna but who knows maybe he's out in the sea
Warnings: Mizuki's usual warnings probably.

I. Good As New? (Closed to Close CR?)

[ Admittedly, Mizuki has been out of commission these past few days. Any attempts to contact Mizuki via text had either been blatantly ignored, or simply met with a I'm busy right now, sorry! He doesn't like to blow people off, but he truly had not help on top of his game these past couple of days. And by that, he simply means he's felt sick as hell. It's obvious, too, by the way he'll occasionally sniffle that he's just gotten over something. Which is strange, if one ever considers that it's highly unlikely the Captain has made bacteria or viruses in this space, but Mizuki doesn't seem all that concerned about it.

Oh, and there's also the fact that his eyes have a blue ring around them now. Those definitely weren't there before. This is also fine. Do not worry about this.

a. Catch him making the sign-up sheet for laser tag. Ask him where he's been? How he's feeling? Why the fuck he didn't respond to your texts? Whatever.

b. Or, find the jellyfish stretching out his arms and legs at last by enjoying the rain, and twirling himself around to enjoy this change of weather. Maybe it makes sense that his favorite weather is the rain? Maybe he quite enjoys the feeling of the drops on his face, and maybe it's just in his Aegirian nature to love the feeling? Regardless, he seems truly, genuinely happy almost dancing about the light drizzle. Should a formerly sick person be doing this? Eh… ]

II. Picking People's Brains Yet Again (Open)

[ If you happen to just be Existing, then congratulations, you are a prime target for questioning from a very curious sea jelly. He's been cooped up in a room for a while, so of course he's going to want to pick people's brains! Whether or not he's aware of the water mechanic this month doesn't seem to bother him any, because he, in fact, doesn't think there's ever not a time for some personal questions that allows for psychoanalysis. ]

a. Do acts of kindness have a motive?

b. How do you perceive a sense of self? If you were to replace every part of yourself, sans your memories and personality, would you still be the same person?

c. Do you believe that you have a memory so happy that it balances out the bad ones? What do you think it would be?

d. Have you ever heard of the Trolley Problem~?

e. Are "compassion" and "sympathy" synonymous to you?

III. Wildcard!
HMU @ rubiesriot if you want to plot something out! I'll probably end up making more opens to throw on here at some point, since this is my July Catch-All. Mizuki will practically always be under the water curse because, being an Aegir/Jellyfish, he needs to keep constantly hydrated, so fully expect me to randomize whether you get a lying Mizuki or a truthful one with coinflips/whatever's funnier for each thread.

Thread List:

Character | 07/00 | Thread Desc.
Character | 07/00 | Thread Desc.
Character | 07/00 | Thread Desc.
Character | 07/00 | Thread Desc.

Comments

II.b

[myagic]

[Rita's absently sipping an orange soda on the pool deck, staring at the water (while Flynn busied himself with all sorts of things, Yuri could almost always be found in the pool, but now there's just an abandoned floatie drifting there...)]

...Huh? Oh, it's you, jellyfish-guy.

[She blinks in confusion at Mizuki, not just because he's asking something out of the blue and it's taking her a moment to catch up, but also because...]

...What? What does that have to do with anything?

[mooninthewater]

Mmmh... hopefully nothing.

[ Or, really, if his theories are right, would it really be a bad thing? He doesn't know, for sure. That's actually why he's asking these sorts of questions. ]

But these sorts of things are interesting to get different perspectives on regardless, right? It gives you a sense for the sorts of people you're stuck on a horror cruise with.

[myagic]

[Hopefully nothing? That just makes her extra suspicious that something must be up (thought experiments have never really been her thing, okay). Either way, she's giving him an incredulous look.]

...You want to get to know people, and that's the kind of question you ask?! Who the hell starts conversations like that?

[mooninthewater]

Well… me, of course. Besides, it’s a whole other thing thing to ask simple things like, “what are your hobbies?”, “what do you want to do in life?”, and things like that. But asking the stuff that reveals their thought process a bit more intimately can prove to do even more than that. And, you know, discussions like that also helps me learn things.

[ Things like “how to think like a normal person instead of an eldritch being,” for example. ]

[myagic]

[Why can't he just be normal... Rita's reply is totally flat.]

I feel like the only person revealing much here is you, just for asking this stuff...

[mooninthewater]

…You think so? What makes you say that???

[myagic]

Are you serious?! It's because just going up and asking weird stuff like that makes you seem like a creep, you know!

[mooninthewater]

Is it creepy…? It's just… psychological stuff? That's not that weird, right??

[myagic]

It's seriously weird.

[After a beat, still scowling-]

What, haven't you ever been told that before?

[mooninthewater]

Mmh… No, I have, but I don't get it. No one really wants to explain it to me. It makes sense to me, after all?

[myagic]

Because...

[She runs a hand through her hair; she knows it's weird, but explaining exactly how to him is...not that simple.]

It's--just not how most people start conversations, or learn about each other!

[There! Nailed it.]

[mooninthewater]

… Yes, you've conveyed as much, but… how so…?

[ He really, truly wants to know! He's terrible at this, but how's he supposed to learn if everyone's response is just "don't do that"? ]

[myagic]

Egh...

[What do you mean that explanation wasn't good enough when it was genius?? Rita takes a gulp of soda as she tries to think of another approach...]

It's like...if I just came up and dumped a basket of eggs on you for no reason, wouldn't you be weirded out?

[This is like the same thing?? Or at least close enough?]

[mooninthewater]

Well, I would be confused, for sure, but… [ He knits his brows together for a moment to really think about this. He knows that she’s trying to give him a comparison to make it easier for him to understand, but he’s completely failing to make the connection between these two things.

So after a few fruitless seconds, he laughs it off a bit and knocks a fist lightly against his head. ]

Sorry, I’m still not very smart, I don’t understand how my questions are like eggs…? Could you elaborate?

I'm so sorry for him lmao...

[myagic]

See?

[Because that's totally an important first step to getting it, except, hmm... Elaborate, huh? She thinks for a moment, drumming her fingers on the soda cup.]

Well, some of those eggs would smash open right on you, and then you'd be all slimy and gross, right? You'd think it was pretty rude--and most people would!

He's fine. This is fine…

[mooninthewater]

… Do questions often make you feel slimy and gross…? [ Beat. ] You know, that sounds like a form of social anxiety. Do you maybe have something like that?

[ Mizuki, no— ]

[myagic]

What?

[She looks mildly indignant, then confused, then ????]

....Wait, what?! What the hell are you--do I look like a worrywart to you?!

[mooninthewater]

Well, no, but some people can respond to nerves or anxiousness with, um… [ A pause, to figure out how to say "hot-headedness" nicely… ] …aggression? You know, like when sometimes someone gets uncomfortable so they lash out and stuff?

[myagic]

Hey, I'm not lashing out-!

[Ignore the yelling and awkward anger okay?!]

[mooninthewater]

Oh, I didn't mean that in a bad way or anything!! It's just a thing that some people do sometimes. It's a pretty common stress response, you know, so it's nothing to be ashamed about!

[myagic]

Who said I was ashamed of anything?!

[mooninthewater]

Are you not? Sorry, I'm not good at reading people's emotions all that well…! I had just, you know, assumed…

[myagic]

Maybe stop assuming! I've never been ashamed of a single thing in my life!

[And that's totally not an obvious lie or anything!!

...How did they even get here, anyway...]

Hey, that's right--you're supposed to stop asking weird questions at the drop of a hat!

[mooninthewater]

[ Ah. Well. That sure as heck sounds like an order, but he's now wondering why it's come so out of the blue like this… ]

Uh- Of course, if they're making you uncomfortable… I can stop asking questions. I'm sorry.

[myagic]

Hmph... You can ask questions as long as they're not weird.