jigokulogs | IC-OP-2 ("Voiceless, Sightless"

Entry tags:

IC-OP-2 ("Voiceless, Sightless" | OPEN)

Who ⬤ "No one." (Ethan in the Aftermath of the Night Parade)
What ⬤ Post-Assassination Graffiti; Images within
When ⬤ One piece goes up immediately after the Night Parade, while the rest are made over the course of a few days.
Where ⬤ Throughout the city, mostly in Sutoku Territory
Content Warnings ⬤ Currently none, will update if needed.

1st SPRAY:

[By the time people have caught their breath from the events of the Night Parade, they were able to notice this one was up. It dons the walls near the waterway access. It's a distance away, because clearly whoever left it didn't want to mix with the Enma guards that were stepping in to ensure that no one went down into the waterways. For "safety." It's close to where Ethan made one of his original marks, but that one has been painted over by now.]

2nd SPRAY:

[Yeah, the Kappa were probably the most suspicious of all this, but the speed at which Enma stepped in and the fact that all Kappa were a target sure left a sour taste in the artist's mouth. Maybe that's why this one ended up on the side of a particularly out of the way smoothie joint? You know, if you were trying to understand the hows and whys of the marks going up.]

3rd SPRAY:

[This one is found dangerously close to Sutoku housing and will likely be the first one to vanish, being painted over and cleaned up. Then again, with the leadership running around trying to solve this thing, maybe it will just be left alone. A simple question for the Lost Souls that are as much the ones under the boot as the Kappa and everyone else.]

4th SPRAY:

[... look, it made more sense in context. In the intricate web of clans interfering with clans, Sutoku needed another figurehead to assert themselves against the Enma's pressure, right? Why not the candle that claims they can't be killed by a gun. This is the one closest to the outside of Sutoku territory while also probably being the stupidest please enjoy it. Please enjoy the weird and random implication that Send Nudes Candle should be president.]

[ooc: Please look to the comment below if your character wants to find/seek out Ethan for his involvement in putting up the graffiti. Otherwise, if you'd like to have your own threads on this post about seeing the marks, cleaning up the marks, trying to catch who left the marks, please feel free! PM or message me at

slothplaying if you'd like to talk it out more!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A. In the Act

[Congratulations, in the act of patrolling, investigating, or just wandering around, you've found one of these pieces just as it's being completed!]

[Which means you can get a good look at who's working on it- or, well, some kind of look. Without the full extent of his power, Ethan is left playing with what he's got. He's turned his skin as pitch-black as he can make it, combined with a spare set of clothes that are completely black and gray as well. His hair, his tail, every last bit of it has been toned down from its usual neon and set to black for the operation.]

[The most distinct thing is probably that his goggles are down, giving him the appearance of large, circular, lit-up "eyes."]

[Of course, it's up to the person that finds him whether he holds his ground or runs now that the piece is complete.]

B. Hiding "Evidence"

[Things have been... understandably tense in the Sutoku housing over the last few days. There was just going to be a sense of unease hanging around until the situation was resolved and that didn't seem like it was happening anytime soon. Still, daily life has to carry on. Like taking out trash! Trash that definitely doesn't have a few empty cans of spray paint buried among other distractions and a smoothie cup from one of the places that got a free mural.]

[Ethan's not an unfamiliar sight around the housing, so he doesn't make any effort to hide him taking his trash down, commenting to people as he goes,]

Yo~ getting enough sleep? [or,] Look at that pile of laundry! Do I even wanna ask what those stains are? [or,] Yo, we should get lunch sometime.

[All totally normal. Never mind that he doesn't have his big, usual, clunky gloves on and is carrying the bags with his scrawny hands. Never mind that his trash back clangs with the distinct sound of aluminum against aluminum. It's fine. Don't worry about it, buddy!]

C. Anything Else

[Maybe your character remembers Ethan's earlier affairs with spray paint and wants to call him out directly, maybe they want to talk about the assassinated elephant in the room, anything goes so let me know!]

[Ethan has just finished the last green swoop of the Kappa's cap in his second spray-paint masterpiece when he hears a footfall behind him. if or when he turns around, there's a figure in the mouth of whatever street or alley he's stolen down to complete his illicit mural. the light seems to linger just a bit too long on the brightness of their white robes, making them stand out against the dark buildings even more.

there's a moment of silence. it's hard to see the other's face, but they seem to be studying the painting over Ethan's head.]

[The paint is still fresh, with certain areas that held the spray for longer starting to drip.]

[There's the immediate freeze. The white clothes catch any light and make it stand stark against himself and his shadows. The attention isn't on him though. That's something. That keeps him from bolting.]

[It doesn't stop him from starting to take a few steps back, though. He faces the person blocking the exit, taking a few careful steps back, boots surprisingly quiet for how clunky they appear to be. He's thinking about where the best place to try and scamper up and out of the alleyway would be.]

[there are several places to do so! he's not trapped, at least. this guy would need to be able to fly or something crazy to catch him if he took off with this much of a head start, and how likely is that? ...right?

Lan Wangji is tracking his movements very carefully indeed. it's hard to see the stranger in front of him, but he's used to tracking the dead through the dark; a few shadows aren't enough to baffle him.

but, looking at the paint, he isn't quite sure yet that this is a chase he wants to take on.]

...

Who is there?

[If he wasn't confident that he could get away, he would have started running already. It doesn't seem like a person furious with his actions or here to enforce a law. Just a person, just like he was just a person, and if the situation soured he could really book it.]

Nobody special.

[With a voice it's a lot easier to pinpoint where the pitch-black lizardman is standing. He puts his hands up in a sort of mockery of surrender like, hey, hey, he's cool, no worries.]

[That said, he doesn't drop his color-changing or give his name.]

Just taking a nice walk and thinking, probably a lot like you're doing, huh?

You engage in vandalism.

[it's stated coldly, but no more coldly than the stranger's previous words. he unsheathes his sword an inch or two, but it doesn't appear to be the precursor to doing something threatening with it -- a still-faint glow emanates from the blade, illuminating the graffiti. it shifts Ethan's disguise into a collection of dim blue shadows instead of just grimy dark. they can both see the dumpster behind the smoothie joint better.

Lan Wangji goes quiet again, taking in the message of the painted words.]

[ It's only natural that Kim's seen the graffiti that's popped up everywhere. Even when he was formally acting as a cop, graffito is never something he bothered himself with, unless he found the message itself to be objectionable - the height of artistic merit of many local hooligans is simply to come up with the most daring racial slurs of their imagination - or unless those responsible were known troublemakers he wanted to menace anyway.

This graffiti is not that. Attempted political statement? Yes. Unwise? Almost certainly. But nothing he takes a moral objection to. Which is why, when he sees Ethan making his way down the stairs with a trash bag filled with aluminum cans, he simply reaches out and grabs the bag from him, holding it out over him with a pointedly raised brow. ]

If you're going to bother to hide your nighttime activities, then you and I are going to need to have a little talk about subtlety.

[It was definitely unwise, now that he had a paycheck and identity. Still, old coping methods had a firm hold on him. He could still vividly remember the days where he vented his dissatisfaction out onto the walls and disappeared without a trace. It hadn't been this hard to resist at Rhodes. Sure, he would still throw up a tag here and there but mostly for the simple joy of it.]

[And that's the sort of feeling he gets when Kim's hefting the bag away from him. He put a few things in as filler, to obscure, but the clanging of the spray paint cans is still obvious as it moves.]

[But it's not the gut-wrenching feeling of being caught or in danger which is why a grin stays on his face.]

They're empty anyways, uncle, I'm just throwing away some trash.

It's trash now.

[ Kim yanks one of the cans out from the trash bag and twirls it in his hand with the sort of expert precision that one would expect from a practiced graffiti artist. Which he's not, of course, but you don't work undercover in juvie for as long as Kim has without picking up a thing or two; he can't do shit all when it comes to the art, but when it comes to performing tricks with a lighter or a spray can, he's an old hand at it. It rattles noisily in his grasp, the remaining aerosol wheezing pathetically as it bounces against his gloved palm. ]

Do you have any idea what will happen to you if they find out? [ He tosses the can back into the trash bag and seals it, hopping down another couple of steps. ] Because I don't, but I have a distinct feeling that it's something you'd be best off not testing.

[It's a little spin, just a little trick, but Ethan's eyes light up a little. He's being chided, yeah, but the spirit of an easily impressed juvie kid is in this man's soul. There's still the feeling from their first meeting that buoys him: that the two of them were always going to have more in common than they would with the higher ups.]

Let's see... I got caught once but that was by one of those bridge youkai. She promised not to rat me out provided I cleaned the whole thing up.

[Which he clearly did. That one was a lot more impulse and he had felt bad. It's hard to say if he'd be as relaxed about the idea of having to clean up any of his last pieces. When you're trying to say something, having to erase it felt a lot more like losing. As he follows Kim on the way to the dumpster, the energy and enthusiasm wanes.]

... I know it's not gonna be smiled on, I know. [there's still a grin on his face but it's clearly less sincere in this moment,] I've just seen this sort of blaming and hunting before. Sucks to see it again. New place, same shit.

It isn't good, no.

[ Kim contemplates Ethan's position as they approach the dumpster. What he knows of Ethan is that he's used to fighting against the status quo, albeit as part of a larger group; without that to shelter him, he's likely going back to what he knows how to do. He stands on the balls of his feet and peers inside, wrinkling his nose at the awful stench. ]

Move some of those bags around, and bury your bags at the bottom. Don't make it too easy on anyone trying to get to the bottom of this. If I was really worried, I'd say to spread them around a few different dumpsters, but it ought to be all right.

[ He also doesn't particularly feel like going on a great dumpster-hopping journey, truth be told. ]

I suppose my question for you is... what do you hope to accomplish with all of this? You won't find many in Sutoku that disagree with your stance.

[Ethan follows suit, also getting up and getting less height on it. He wrinkles his nose in kind, too, but he's listening to what Kim says. There's enough groundwork there that he trusts what Kim says. He doesn't think about the exact position he's coming from- as someone used to hiding things or finding things- but he says it with certainty that Ethan's willing to hear. With a soft "hup" he pulls himself up to balance precariously on the thin, metal edge of the dumpster.]

I'm sure the Kappa runnin' and hiding from Enma feel real good about the fact we agree it sucks.

[He kicks garbage bags aside with his foot, tossing one in here, another there, until he's distributed them fairly well without having to actually get his hands in there.]

... if we can't protect our own, maybe getting other people to think about it will give them a chance. Or maybe that's just something I'm saying to make myself feel better while doing whatever the hell I want.

[He laughs a hollow little laugh. As if he had ever done this sort of thing for the greater purpose of the message. It was always just about venting his frustration. Pretending it was more than that was just that: pretending.]

Maybe you have a point there.

[ Maybe not. Kim's not a Kappa. He doesn't rightly know how he would feel about it, if that were the case -- whether it was some comfort, or simply an empty gesture. ]

I suppose the greater question I have is: why do you think we have no power to protect them? There's a limit to what we can do, yes. The Department of Enma certainly won't answer to us, and our leaders are too busy floundering to put any of the work in. But...

[ Kim shrugs. ]

I've heard some rumblings. About trying to get them to safehouses. I don't recommend sticking your neck out without a back-up plan -- or without back-up, for that matter. But the fact remains, there may be something we can do.

[There was just as much a chance they would view the graffiti as an empty gesture. It protected them about as much as empty promises did.]

[He swings he feet back to the outside of the dumpster, perching there while he listens. Why does he think he doesn't have the power? There was the time he had none at all. There was the time he exerted what he could. There was the time where he could trust his higher-ups to be on the same page. He taps his boot against the metal, bam bam bam.]

Yeah. [It made sense.] Yeah, if it's getting someone somewhere then I'm not bad at that.

[he hops down]

You know, I blabbered on plenty about my kinda work and never asked you a thing about yours. Guess that's part of why they wanted you in here, huh? I get the feeling you don't say much unless you really wanna.

[... but he is saying a lot to Ethan here. There was kindness in there. Kindness wasn't what any of the factions scouted for but he's glad to find some of it around.]

You good at back-up plans, uncle?

I suppose I don't. I don't see the point unless I'm asked.

[ Which Ethan is doing now. There's no bitterness to his words, however; it's just a statement of fact. Kim tends to be inexpressive at the best of times and he rarely, if ever, speaks about himself. He's not a particularly secretive man - save for a select few things, but that's more to protect his tender ego than because anything is actually a big deal - but he realizes he can certainly come across that way. ]

I'm a police officer back home. I've been on the force for two decades now. [ There's a certain wistfulness to the way he says it. To dedicate your entire life to your job and to have it ripped away from you like this isn't something that he particularly relishes. ] So, yes, I am good at back-up plans. My back-up plans have back-up plans. [ He raps his knuckles against the dumpster, filling the dingy alley with the resounding gong of leather on steel. ] Policing graffito isn't part of the equation, however. I'm a homicide detective. That sort of thing's none of my business unless you killed a man with your spray paint.

[ He pauses thoughtfully. ]

Which wouldn't be traditional, but certainly possible.

[Working for almost as long as Ethan's been around- yeah, that's the "uncle" vibe. It's hard to imagine that degree of stability. While he was a bit lonely for Rhodes Island, that was still a place he'd only been kicking around for three years. Being uprooted and replanted over and over again was just what he was used to.]

[Two decades, though, that builds something.]

[He laughs through his teeth at Kim's sense of humor.]

I could probably do it, y'know, if my own tail was on the line. If not, though, way easier to just book it. I promise you, even if you gotta nag me, I'm not gonna make you ever have to go business-mode!

[The reassuring declaration of "I won't kill anyone!"]

Good. Not that I got the impression that you're the sort to murder people for the hell of it, but the reassurance that you don't intend to kill anyone is always nice, [ Kim says dryly. Though really, he doesn't think Ethan would be capable of it. In self-defense is one thing, something Kim believes everyone is capable of deep down, but the sort of maliciousness it takes to truly murder someone isn't something most people are capable of. He should know. Enough cases he's attended to have boiled down to lost tempers and unintentional deaths. ]

Not that I would be able to arrest anyone even if I wanted to. [ And oh, he's wanted to. ] Which means I'm underneath no obligation to hand you into Enma for defacing public property.

[ That being said... ]

Are you going to continue doing it? Or is it out of your system?

Dogs should be able to VOTE

[Ydris is just kind of... looking at the graffiti. That's them, alright. That's their name and... sort of their likeness. They're just sort of staring up at the assertion, not sure what to do that they're being nominated to such a position, especially for such a reason as might as well-

A long pause before they actually voice any comment.]

... is it incriminating for me to be standing so close to this?

[ He‘s got his arms crossed over his chest and is giving his most unimpressed look. ]

This better be a joke.

Told at my expense, you think? I do have leadership experience and I can't be killed with a gun. What's the problem?

[Ydris you know full well the problem, given it's been a month of refusing to go down to the sewers where all the ruckus is, because maybe water]

Ydris.

[ Maybe if he makes the unimpressed face at him long enough he’ll clue in on the issue. It can’t be that hard to piece together, can it? ]

Edited 2022-04-18 01:30 (UTC)

That's the tone I usually give you. So judgey. Relax. [casually calling themself judgey, but where is the lie?]

I only have interest in leading humans. [sure, that's the problem with this]

Right. You don’t need to paint a huge target on yourself. That’s asking for trouble. Just let the youkai hash it out.

[ It’s bad enough they have to work for them to survive. Becoming their next scapegoat isn’t something he wants for his friend. ]

Was this your idea or someone else’s?

The youkai don't seem capable of hashing anything out. Getting more involved than need be sounds pointless, tiresome...

[count Ydris out, their caring about the state of this place hasn't really paid off in any way, just caused more frustration. Eventually, maybe, chewing over the mystery will matter.

That day is not today.]

I had no part, apart from being the subject. I can guess who did this, but I'm not a snitch. [in this instance, at least, they won't say. In another instance, with someone they like less than Ethan, Ydris might snitch later if they feel like it]

As long as you’re not really going to try and be Daitengu I don’t care who did it.

[ He feels assured that if Ydris had done this themselves they’d be bragging about it rather than pretending it was someone else. ]

I’m going to try and work at one of the theaters, by the way, to get more money.

No, I have little interest in such posturing.

[that's mostly what they see the Daitengu as, some pointless figurehead. Maybe their mind will change when... one is around long enough to do something. Which, important actually, given the last is to be put to "rest" soon]

Will that keep you out of trouble? Less raucous than other jobs. If you get money soon, I won't have to buy your funeral attire for when you to attend with me.

[just asserting that is what's happening]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

IC-OP-2 ("Voiceless, Sightless" | OPEN)

no subject

A.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

B!

:3!

:3!!!!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

OTA

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject