December Open Post/Catch All/Overflow

[winebar]

Who: Van Zieks and whoever
What: General catch all for bingos and other effects
When: December
Where: Various
Warnings: TBA

Something has gone terribly wrong? (December 9th)
[You are just minding your own business, walking on the beach, or through the wood, when you hear what is certainly an unfamiliar laugh. If you look around, you'll soon attach it to... van Zieks? No, this can't be him. He's smiling. He's barefoot and covered in dirt. His hair isn't immaculately combed back and he's simply wearing a loose cotton shirt with his tight lawyer pants, though he does have a sword now hanging at his waist, which is new. This cannot be van Zieks. Even the cadence of his voice is lacking his normal ominous grit, but the voice is certainly his otherwise.]

Oh, come here! I have something to show you.
[Seriously who the hell is this and what did he do with the real van Zieks???]

Nevermind, Uncle has the Depression Again (December 10th)
[The following day, van Zieks is back in his austere best, looking more glowery and somber than ever before, like he's making up for the time he lost yesterday. You may find him at his usual haunt in the darkest corner of the winery, OR if you're wandering around in the woods, you might find him surveying the plot of land on his farm, or rather, the chaos that the him of the day before wreaked, which is to say, something was done to the plots, but it's hard to tell if it was anything constructive because they're upturned earth everywhere. Van Zieks is leaning heavily on the shovel he's holding, looking tired.]

Let me know if you have something specific in mind for bingo
[Hit me up on discord or on plurk agentmaine]

Comments

[unsync]

[ So... a personality change? He talks so fancy. ]

Well! I missed it so you're the same Mr. van Zieks to me!

[ Whatever that entails. ]

And nothing wrong with an alter ego! C'mon! Half-Might! Even at half capacity, you're a full time... prosecutor!

[winebar]

What nonsense are you spouting now?

[IS THIS A MHA REFERENCE? RYUKI WHY DO YOU THINK VAN ZIEKS IS GOING TO UNDERSTAND.]

[unsync]

[ They made him a MHA fan in the English version but don't ask me why, the localisation of jokes in AINI is not good. Also not a single person he's said this to has understood him so it is neither targeted nor going to stop him. ]

Have you seen to your task stuff? Like the bingo... I know when I'm feeling down, I like to get things done. Feeling accomplished makes me feel a bit better.

[winebar]

[To be fair, localizing jokes is hard, especially since Japan LOVES puns.]

I have... looked at it, though I've hardly even considered doing them, regardless of the powers of our host.
[Half of them he just really doesn't want to think about it.]

[unsync]

[ They Really don't make sense in AINI. Hire me Chunsoft. ]

Well, my neighbours seem to be benefiting from it big time, and it's something to do.

I hear your can get stuff back, the more you do them, so... what do you say?

[winebar]

I hardly can think of anything I need to get back desperately here. I've already had my sword returned to me.
[And so it does hang at his hip.]

... I also find several of the tasks listed on mine... unsavory to say the least.

[unsync]

[ Wow, fancy. He chooses not to question this. ]

You're telling me. They really didn't hold back on the, er, "theme".

[ So to speak. ]

It can't all be bad though... right?

[winebar]

[What, do modern noblemen not wander about with swords on their hips?]

... I suppose some of them are... doable. Why?

[unsync]

[ As a modern upperclass richboy....................... no. We have guns now. ]

Well, I was thinking we could make both of our lives easier by making it less daunting.

Uh, I won't ask you for anything big! If there's just something really simple, like talking... since I've got a few that's basically just about asking lighthearted questions.

[ And he solidly thinks van Zieks would be really stiff and professional about it, which is actually somehow easier than someone who would lean in on the flirtier angles. ]

[winebar]

[WHICH PEOPLE STILL DON'T ACTIVELY BRANDISH, THOUGH.]

... Very well. If you are asking for assistance, I suppose I can take part.
[I assume they have their bingo board on a sheet or something, my brain is a sieve. He gets his own to share with Ryuki.]

[unsync]

[ Not in AI: "I've Got A Cool Gun" TSF, where they are like GUN at every combat scene. ]

Thanks. I really appreciate it.

[ (Real). Anyway, he compares the two, though not without glancing up at van Zieks and evaluating which of these that Mr. Vampire would actually be willing to put up with. That being said, he sees the NSFW squares and tries not to react too much. Good lord, no wonder Ziekers is upset, this man seems incredibly... well. ]

S-so, we have "20 Questions", "Have You Ever...", and "Truth or Dare". They're all basically asking each other simple questions type of thing, and pretty self-explanatory. What do you think?

[winebar]

[That doesn't count it's like a cool cyber gun.]

Hm. Personally, I find the very clear completion parameters of the first one appealing.

[There's a number in that one. No more than 20 questions.]

[unsync]

[ Fool, we could've ended either of the other two in one round. Find the loophole, Ziekers. Even if OOCly it probably wouldn't count. ]

Alright! I think that's pretty simple. All we do is ask each other stuff, like about favourite drinks, places, animals, and stuff like that.

Would you like to start?

[winebar]

[NO that's exactly his concern!!! How do you know when you've completed the task to the goddess's expectations!!!]

I can. Question one: How old are you?
[He's just going to ask boring shit unless Ryuki starts antagonizing him.]

[unsync]

[ He opens his mouth for a minute and it's like the life just temporarily leaves his expression, eyes going blank.

A helpful reminder nudge from a voice in his head leads him along. ]

Twenty-nine. How about you?

[winebar]

[Van Zieks blinks like that surprises him.]

Thirty-three. Now, do we count your response as a second question or do they have to be twenty unique questions? If the goddess wants us to do these things she should define her terms more clearly.

[Spoken like a true lawyer.]

[unsync]

Oh, uhm.

[ I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW and neither would Ryuki, and since he has no wifi, he can't just Google the rules in his head. Also I may have gotten this EXTREMELY wrong and that 20 Questions is actually 'I'm thinking of a thing and you have twenty questions to guess what', but it's too late.......... we will simply be asking each other about our personal tastes instead. ]

I don't know, actually -- but if we want to ask different things just to cover base, then -- how long have you been a prosecutor?

[winebar]

[Oh I knew that I just thought this would be more fun so I deliberately went along with you and your wrongness.]

Officially speaking, roughly ten years. Though, I stood at the bench as a legal assistant before receiving my official certification.

[Wow what a boring but thorough answer.]
Question number three: Which area of the island were you assigned to?

[unsync]

[ You Bully Me? ]

Wow, that's really impressive...

[ He does not seem to mind the mundaneness whatsoever. ]

I'm down on the rural area. Probably pretty convenient, I wouldn't know how to do anything advanced like the mountains or, er, the beach.

[ The forest might be okay. ]

What's your favourite animal, if you have one?

[winebar]

[I bully you like the football. Van Zieks lets out the softest huff that might be a pleased response to the compliment or a derisive noise at it not being that big a deal!!! Who knows with him.

In any case, it's not something he'd really given much thought. Really, if he'd been asked it a few months prior, he'd have said he doesn't have one. But now, the question brings to mind the trinket Iris had given him for his birthday, the small handmade cat, dressed to look like him.]

... Cats.
[No further explanation given.]

Question number five; What's the furthest you've traveled from where you were born?
[Possibly the most interesting question he's come up with so far.]

[unsync]

[ Cats... he thinks he can imagine it. In his head, a second voice agrees. If Tama had the power, she would put cat ear filters on van Zieks right now in Ryuki's field of vision.

I really just assigned Ryuki a 'never left Tokyo' kind of guy, because I don't have lore about this. ]

Uhm... well, Atami is pretty nice. I don't like planes, though, so not outside of Japan.

Are you a d... are you a morning person?

[ He was going to ask 'day or night' but if the answer isn't night person then it just feels wrong. ]

[winebar]

[Hasn't van Zieks' dignity suffered enough already, Tama? Anyway, van Zieks has war flashbacks to Ryuki trying to explain what a plane is. He still doesn't really fully understand what it is. Some sort of flying transportation that clearly has superseded what they have in his time.

Also shut up Ryuki's internal monologue, don't government assign him vampire.]

I suppose so. I prefer to wake early so that I have plenty of time for morning tea, reading the papers, and going over the files of whatever case I am working on that day.
[HE IS SO BORING, RYUKI I'M BEGGING YOU TO ASK HIM SOMETHING WEIRD.]

Question number seven... [Hm.] Are... names that begin with "Ryu" common in Japan?
[A bit of a diversion but don't observe him.]

[unsync]

[ No. Tama's literal self-chosen projection image is a dominatrix. She will gladly embarrass van Zieks forever, although granted, she does it in Ryuki's vision so he's really the one who's suffering. ]

Uhm... well, Ryuki is actually my surname. My given name is Kuruto [ like, Kuruuto, not Kuruto, the romanisation of this game drives me insane ] but everyone calls me Ryuki so much, and it can be a given name, too. I wouldn't call them super common, but I wouldn't call them rare, either...

[ WE CAN WORK UP TO WEIRD OKAY. ]

Did you become a lord, or is that an inherited title?

[winebar]

[And unlike Date he doesn't deserve to suffer, probably. Ah well.]

... I see. Pray forgive the odd question, it just occurred, as you're the second Ni-[WAIT STOP DON'T BE RACIST ANYMORE.] Japanese person I've met whose name started that way.
[Anyway enough about his boyfriend.]

Both, really. I wasn't born a lord, since my father held the title at the time. [Said with something of a condescending "duh" sort of tone.] After he passed, the title went to my brother. [He stops there, but the next part of the thought is obvious.]

Question number nine; As a detective, which of the people here do you perceive as the largest threat?

[unsync]

[ Help he's learning how to be modern day acceptable... ]

Oh, that's a funny coincidence.

[ And it so happens they're both 'ryu' as in 'dragon' as well, even the same character. And also they both start the game as 23-year olds. And both are black-haired, and insane. It's fine.

He frowns, though, at the notion of 'threat'. If he had met Owen he would have immediately answered that one but I haven't, so. ]

Threat...? Well, no one here seems outright that way so far, but... I guess I'd have to answer the Harvest Goddess, just on the basis of how much absolute power she holds. Even if it's on our side, it can get pretty scary.

[ Just look at Boss and her blackmail power. And also, he figures van Zieks would agree with how much he seems to openly dislike her.

Hmm. ]

What's the most interesting case you've ever resided over as prosecutor?