maskormenace | 010 ★ Voice

Alright, my birthday's in a few days! This one's a big one, too—I'm gonna be eighteen! Which means I'm either throwing a party at my place or I'm pulling out all the stops and doing something huge someplace else!

[Sounds exciting, right? But hold onto your hats, there's a catch.]

Problem is...I don't got any ideas!

[There we go, that sounds about right. Josuke, you slacker, you're supposed to plan this shit ahead of time!]

This'll be the second birthday I've celebrated here, but...a lot's different from when I first arrived.

[The faces, it's the faces that are mostly different. A lot of people that Josuke knows have come and gone, and that makes this birthday one that will be largely different from the last. Which is kind of the reason he wants it to be special in the first place, something he can do while surrounded by all the friends he's made here, the family he's got left, and maybe even some new folks, too. The other part of course having everything to do with the fact he'll finally be a legal adult and that's pretty fucking awesome! Who doesn't wanna do something exciting for that?]

So I got to thinking, maybe while I'm asking around to see if people are even gonna be free, you guys could tell me a little about what you like to do for birthdays? And let me know if you wanna come along and all, too.

More the merrier!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Alright, but you asked.

[Not that Josuke really minds. Talking about home is something he enjoys and doesn't have opportunity enough to do.]

I guess Morioh was pretty normal before the summer of '99. Sometimes weird things would happen, but mostly it was pretty quiet. Which is important 'cause most of its landmarks and stuff cropped up that summer.

[Some as a result of Josuke and his friends protecting the town, and others simply because of the golden rule about Stand users being drawn to each other.]

Anyway, there's Anjuro Rock where couples like to meet up. Not sure why, to be honest. Thing's got a pretty creepy mug. [Because that mug belonged to a pretty creepy dude before he got his ass royally kicked by Josuke.] And there's Boing-Boing Cape, this cliff side near some summer homes on the edge of town. Water's pretty wild there, and there's a lot of sharp rocks, but I guess the town fishermen think some girl who was trying to kill herself bounced back up or something? Totally not how it happened, but it makes for a cool story.

There's also ghost alley, Twin Forest tunnel, an old telephone tower some guy was living in for a while, and Tonio's restaurant which is one of my favorite places to go besides the Pachinko parlor! And I guess there's some mangaka who lives in town, too. His house is like...a popular place for people to pass by sometimes or something dumb like that. Again, not sure why! Guy's an asshole.

[ Shade actually leaned forward -- interested in this. His smile said it all, the way he looked like he liked talking to Josuke about his home, the way he enjoyed hearing about it. ]

Ghost alley? [ He asked, and smiled. ] What's that like?

Your home sounds fascinating, regardless. You give her too little credit! Artists, gambling, good food? She sounds like she could be Opal, with a history like this! [ He loves landmarks, ok... ]

[It's a little embarrassing how much Josuke's enjoying being able to talk about home, especially because the more interested Shade appears, the more excited he becomes.]

Um...the alley's kind of a weird place in town. Never really walked it myself, but a friend of mine has and he told me all about it. A ghost girl named Reimi...she was there for a while with her dog, Arnold. Don't like ghosts much myself, but she was really nice!

[Josuke smiles a little.]

It's actually a bit of a dangerous place, though...but that's because it's like some kind of purgatory. Normal people don't even know it's there and walk right on by.

You really think she sounds a bit like Opal?

[...good job, Shade, you got Josuke referring to his hometown like a woman, now.]

Ghosts there too?

She's sounding more and more like my Opal.

You know, my home is a city with our own share of ghosts -- we released them from a haunted set of posters, and they've been unleashed on the entire city of Opal! Like our own little purgatory.

[ He sounds fond, now. Talking about his home, but also just from listening. He likes talking about people's homes. He likes talking to people about their homes, and their passions. ]

Anyone know why she haunted the area?

Yeah, ah...she discovered that the guy who killed her hadn't stopped with her. I guess she couldn't rest until she knew he couldn't hurt anyone like that again.

[Kira...even though he's not here anymore, Josuke doesn't divulge the killer's name. He'd made a promise to himself not to provoke the man, to give him a chance in this place, and he wasn't going to destroy that simply because Kira vanished for a time.]

But Opal had a whole set of ghosts?

[The concept is as awe-inspiring to Josuke as it is distressing. He's only ever met one ghost he wasn't afraid of. All the rest remain markedly chilling!]

Who's we? Why were the ghosts in the poster? Was releasing them an accident or did you mean to do it? And what did you do about it afterwards?

[...of course, for someone spooked by ghosts, he sure does ask a lot of questions about them.]

She did!

[ He held a hand to his limps, as he thought about how to describe it. Without...outing his friend Dorian Gray -- who was actually a friend here, instead of a man sworn to a demon like he was in his world. ]

A demon had an avatar, and was trapping them away. Myself, a policeman, and my friend Starman all went into the demon's realm.

[ It was the first time, in a long time, that he'd felt like he was a hero. ]

It wasn't right, for them to be trapped for an eternity, so we bargained for them to be released. And a bargain it was! The demon decided I looked better in white. [ Said with all the disgust that a man who mostly wore black could muster.

What a goth. ]

What kind of deal is that?

[Josuke appreciates black as much as anyone, but for fashion to be some kind of bargaining chip...well, he feels like he's missed something.]

The demon was just willing to let 'em all go if you got decked out in white threads?

Hardly. He did that because he wanted to insult me!

[ He paused, and shook his head. ]

We bargained through selflessness. The demon decided that since his avatar was...gone, he may as well cut his losses.

I'm certain he'll be back.

Well, even if he comes back, he'll have you to contend with, right? Opal's lucky to have you.

[ A scoff. ]

You make me sound like some sort of hero! [ A hand to his chest. ]

At best, I'm a mildly concerned citizen.

There's nothing wrong with heroes, but I'm not the one applying labels between us! I just think it's cool you love your city as much as I love Morioh.

Ah. Yes. Of course.

[ It's -- It's not like he's her hero or anything, baka!! ]

My mistake. I'd just hate for anyone to get the wrong idea bout me and Opal, you know.

Riiight, I gotcha.

010 ★ Voice

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