[open] 001 | Let's get ready to rumble!

[ryuji]

WHO? Open to all! Nochilles and Mordred signed up but feel free to jump in. PVP encouraged. :)
WHAT? Ryuji is staging a riot in a local bar; Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet is present, struggling to put pen to paper a list of accusations against the monarchy
WHEN? Prior to the speedup of the National Convention, 1792
ANYTHING ELSE? Every good riot has to have two sides! Monarchists vs Revolutionaries. Ryuji's prepped the list of accusations and some inspirational literature via Sargent Gramps

So, you're in favor of the king?

Who doesn't like to play the villain every now and then, right? Ryuji's worked all night on this task, and he's put all his passion into coming up with a short list of motivations to help you get "in character." Distributed prior to the riot and via message, he's put some of this together, mostly around what he's heard by some of the headier, more established patrons of the bar in their heated debates:

>@all #monarchists
>@enterthedragon
-Is a king judgeable to begin with?
-Even if he's guilty af, is it ok that the people looking to bring him to court are doing it out of a hate boner for the dude instead of doing what's right?
-It's illegal to bring a king to trial
-These people are hella religious and think that the right to rule is kinda like god's gift to french people

Let's light a fire under Lindet's ass and get this shit going!

[Ryuji's been reading up some of the works by Marat and Sieyès, provided by the benevolent Totally-Not-A-Greek-God Sargent. Most of it goes way over his head, but he's picked out a few things to point out to share with the rebels, fueling some motivation to help get these guys riled up just as well.]

>@all #revolutionaries
>@enterthedragon
-The dude went and disbanded the government on a whim. He doesn't give a shit what the people actually want and basically said that it was completely in his right to do so.
-He's taxed the hell out of everyone, making it impossible to make ends meet. Look around you, almost everyone is poor as shit and angry about it
-A country is only as good as the hard people who work every day to make it that way. The elitist assholes who are at the top survive by exploiting them, giving them no hope to make their lives better. This dude said it best: "What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been hitherto in the political order? Nothing. What does it desire to be? Something."
-We gotta do something to stand up for ourselves or we're gonna be slaves for the rest of our lives!

A. The pre-work

[Ryuji met with all of you outside the bar the night before. Lindet isn't in attendance tonight, but with some extra intel, he knows that he'll be there the night after. He's explained the plan in full detail. Stage an all out fight at the bar in front of him, be as passionate as you can about it. Achilles has expressed extreme pessimism at Ryuji's efforts, which has only fueled him to become more riled up, and as he explains how this is going to go down, he's moving around energetically and explaining the plan in great detail. He's so deeply into this, that even his enthusiasm might be contagious- and he goes on to describe how it has to begin "with a monarchist pulling the first punch." His eyes light up at the thought of it.

Finally. Some action in this boring ass mission.]

B. FAITO!

[Ryuji's eyes wander around the room. The operatives are in place, and it seems like the plan is about to go off without a hitch. He's dressed in simple clothes, no explicit paraphernalia that would suggest he supports either side, working tables as he was hired to do. He takes some drink orders, wipes down some tables as customers leave. The place is booming tonight, tons of people around, and an impish grin spreads across his face like wildfire.

It's a little while before Lindet arrives, and Ryuji shows him to his seat. He's tried to give the man a theater view for the bar fight that's about to sprawl outwards, and as he serves up a glass of wine, he heads back towards the bar itself. "Accidentally," he bumps into someone, apologizing profusely.

That's the signal.]

Comments

[trample]

[ What's the best way to describe...that? He didn't even know where to begin. ]

I relieved myself of her to the commander and left her to deal with it. After what I believe was some form of torture and interrogation, we were allowed to witness her return to nothingness.

Have you ever pulled the stopper out of a bathtub? The way the water swirls and disappears into the drain? Now imagine there is no hole through which it escapes, and yet it still vanishes from sight. That is what happened to her.

[ Eren neither sighs nor shows any sign of regret. There's nothing to feel. He's simply stating the facts of what had happened as best he can. ]

I believe I still retain some articles of her clothing. It didn't fall victim to her fate. Strange. You would think that if she never existed, no one would have had her clothes in the first place.

[ Is this a joke? That's up for Ryuji to decide. ]

[ryuji]

[His jaw gapes downward- it's probably a really... unattractive sight, but he doesn't care so much about how he looks most of the time, so this really isn't any different. The way Eren describes that is horrible- and it makes Ryuji feel a pit in his stomach forming from the vivid imagery that he likens to the entire situation. Almost too descriptive, dude.]

What the fuck?

[That has to be the weirdest thing he's ever heard of, but, hey. This is pretty much what he signed up for. But.








Eren, why are you keeping girl's clothes.]

I... uh. They can do that? What did they do? Go forward in time and make sure she was never born or some Terminator shit like that?

[trample]

I don't know the details. I'm only relaying what I saw. [ He refrains from giving his own thoughts and theories on the matter. Best not to show any leeway. ] And that was only within the first week of our mission here. There's more where that came from. You might even see it yourself if you stick around.

[ There had to be a point to him saying this, and it took Eren a few moments to fully come to terms with it. It's enough of a pause that both of them have time to consider their new reality, and Eren makes full use of it before firmly continuing. ]

What I'm trying to tell you is this: it's a cruel world out there. Your jaw might drop at something like that... [ Eren's finger pushes Ryuji's chin back into its proper place. ] But it's run of the mill for what we're going to do. Get used to it.

[ryuji]

[Eren... has a point. Ryuji knows that, but the ramifications of it haven't really hit him yet. In his life back home, everything that he and his friends had done was done carefully to change people, not kill them. This was different... Ryuji had signed up for a war, and just as it starts to click in his head, he suddenly feels the weight of that consequence descending on him.

Could he hand someone over to the Commander, knowing full well that their existence was going to be erased, something that he experienced himself? Ryuji's expression turns more sour, more aggressive. It's not that he's mad at Eren, he knows that this is some sort of mentorship forming, that he's trying to bring him up to terms with the reality of the situation, but.

It still sucks. He closes his mouth.]

I know. You don't gotta throw it in my face like that. I ain't some war-hardened super soldier, but I get it. And if it comes down to it, I'm gonna take every step I can to makin' sure that I'm puttin' more good into this world than not.

[trample]

Do you get it? Really? [ Ryuji wasn't even here for Valmy. That wasn't even the tip of the iceberg as far as what most here have seen. Until you've waded through death and become reborn in victory, you can't say you've seen it. No one so green would understand that.

Eren lays off anyway. ]

Well, you've got a good heart. I wouldn't want to see it shattered. [ Eren's doubt extended both ways. To Ryuji, and to himself. ] Just keep that all in mind. You don't have the look of a guy who's as far gone as your average soldier, but when that time comes...I'll come and remind you how you started out.

[ Somewhere, a musical fanfare plays...does the "ware wa nanji" thing happen after the first social link? Whatever the case might be, you've gone and bonded yet again. Go figure.

Eren, for what it's worth, continues after taking a deep breath. He sighs. ]

Well, I think I've gone and run up the time. I'll have to take my leave. Try not to take any hits to the head, Sakamoto. You might end up crazier than all the rest of us.

[ryuji]

[You sense a bond of trust forming between you and Eren.]

Don't worry too much about me, man. My heart's gonna be okay. [He can really only hope for the best here. Not knowing what lays ahead, of course, he doesn't know where COST will take him or when he'll start turning into an "average soldier."

It's kind of sad, really.

That future is going to come rather quickly, isn't it?

He looks at Eren and sees youth, but also sees some of that brokenness. It's... well, it's not fair, right? Life isn't fair.]

Holdin' ya to it, then. Keep me honest here.

[He reaches out and touches his shoulder again, giving him a pat.]

Tch. This skull's thick as they get, dude. Seeya 'round. Don't go doing shit I would do.

[trample]

Not a chance. [ Eren hobbles away. ]