possessum: (πŸŽπŸ’πŸ’)
α΄˜α΄‡α΄›α΄‡Κ€ Ι’Κ€α΄€Κœα΄€α΄ πŸ‘‘ α΄‹ΙͺΙ΄Ι’ α΄˜α΄€Ιͺᴍᴏɴ ([personal profile] possessum) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-03-06 12:44 am

we coughed up honey into the air

Who: Peter Graham [personal profile] possessum + open! Anyone welcomed!
What: March catch-all ft. a bunch of Jumanji event prompts and some general ones.
When: The month of March.
Where: The jungle, and around Trench.

Content Warnings: This character comes with demonic possession by default ; Corruption / demonic attributes ; Jumanji Jungle Level warnings ; a lot of Panicked Cursing ; others to be noted in threads


EVENT — JUNGLE LEVEL
➀ ENTER THE JUNGLE

What the fuck, man? Oh what the fuuuuck?

( —Whimpers the tall and thin young man beside you, voice rising in pitch as he tries to huddle in on himself, wide-eyed and terrified. Maybe you know Peter already, or maybe you're strangers to each other, but either way it's clear that your new Jungle Adventure Partner is less than enthusiastic about this.

It's also clear that he's going to be absolutely no use. For as your journey continues, Peter not only emits a variety pack of distressed noises on the regular (shouts, yelps, moans, groans, frenzied whispers, and teary mumbling)... he also gets into a lot of trouble because it appears to be that a) he has absolutely no survival skills at all, and b) he is constantly on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Really, it seems inevitable he's just going to die at any given moment. There are general things like Peter getting hopelessly tangled up in vines, tripping and falling over large roots, and zoning out and wandering off out of sight only to start crying out for you in a panic, and once or twice he just straight-up crouches down on the ground with his arms wrapped around his head, as though he can't take anymore, but then there are also the challenges— )


➀ QUICKSAND
( It happens before he can even process it. The game spits its weird riddle, and then the ground itself seems to be folding, melting, inwards. Peter screams (take a shot every time) as he feels himself start to sink. His fingers are clawing desperate at the softened ground around him, and he suddenly understands what's going on. )

It's fucking quicksand! It's fucking!! Quicksand! It's fucking quicksaaaaand! ( He's repeating this over and over and over, panicked, aware that the game has toppled over and is starting to sink too, but Peter's not at all concerned about it, doesn't even try to grab it. Maybe you can — maybe you're not sinking, evaded it by an inch or two, or weren't with him when it started happening, and just ran up now. Or maybe you're in as much trouble as he is..... or maybe not quite as much, given Peter's flailing around has caused him to personally sink even faster, and he's now covered all the way up to his waist. It's only getting worse. )

➀ RUSHING RIVERS
( Peter, who is possessed by an ancient demon king with a lot of equally ancient abilities, can actually breathe underwater now. Peter does not currently know this.

Which is to say, when the waters come, he thinks he's going to die. He's screaming like he's going to die, from where he's clinging onto a huge, tilted tree trunk for dear life. He'd managed to scramble his way up onto it as soon as the flood broke, but now he's trapped out in the middle of the water, screaming.

Maybe you hear him and scream back, or try to make your way closer. Maybe you're caught in the merciless flow of the flood, in danger of being slammed into any number of solid objects; maybe he can actually help get you onto his tree, or maybe you manage to make your way to it yourself. Hopefully it doesn't snap. )


➀ GIANT FROGS (NOTE: ONE ATTEMPTED EATING OPTION & ONE SUCCESSFUL EATING....)
( By the time the frogs appear, Peter's very tired. He's been made to walk for longer than he's ever walked in his entire life, he's sweating through his shirt, his hair is a wreck of curls entangled with little pieces of vines and dirt and probably a spider or two... Every once in awhile he smacks at his head, like he feels something crawling on it.

He's trailing behind whomever he's with, feet practically dragging the ground, when there's abruptly a yelp and if you turn, you'll see him staring in terror and pointing at something off to the side. Two huge black eyes peek out of the brush, where something wet and swollen and big crouches.

Peter's starting to breathe funny, like his lungs are too small: sharp attempts at air intake. He sounds like he's close to hyperventilating.

That's when a thick, ropey tongue suddenly lashes out of the creature's mouth and wraps right around his middle, as firm as a python. Peter...... screams, trying to flail around, slapping at the wormlike thing that's ensnared him, but it's not letting go. Maybe you can help get him out of this before he ends up lunch.

Or maybe, he's in the middle of a rant, because he's had it. )


I've had it! ( he declares suddenly, long arms lifting into the air with exasperation. ) This is stupid. It's so fucking stupid. Why're we even doing this— this little dumb game? This sick shit?! I'm tired, and I'm hot, and we've been walking for hours. I want to go ho—

( It's at that moment that a tongue lashes out, grabs Peter, and pulls him into a nearby frog's mouth before he or anyone can say another word. All six feet of him and his spider-filled hair completely vanishes. He has been swallowed whole.

There's probably a shocked silence for a long moment or two before panicked, muffled screaming can be heard coming from the frog's swollen body, within which Peter Graham is all crammed up. Whether you were with him this whole time or happened to be close by and witness this just now, maybe you can help Peter not get digested. Please help Peter not get digested. )


➀ TROPHY HUNTER
( By the time this challenge takes place, Peter's gotten separated from whomever he's been with this whole time. In fact, this challenge isn't even one he helped to summon; he'd long ago given up on the game and has just been wandering aimlessly, trying to find his people, when he'd encountered the hunter who was summoned from someone else's game.

And now here he is, running up to you, some wild-eyed, dirty young man with hair all over the place who appears from the brush. He seems unhinged. )


He's crazy! He's fucking crazy!

( You might be thinking yes, you are fucking crazy, when there's the loud crack of a gun from the depths of the jungle, and Peter flinches violently, ducking downwards and grabbing for your arm, voice a hushed, strained whisper. )

We have to run! He'll kill us, don't you get it?! He wants to kill us!!

( Maybe you're already well-aware of the trophy hunter and the fact he wants to kill you; maybe you were trying to hide, already. Or maybe this is brand new information to you. Either way, you're going to have to work with Peter to survive this.

.....You might die. )

GENERAL — THE MONTH OF MARCH CW: PHYSICAL DEMONIC ATTRIBUTES, RECREATIONAL DRUG MENTION

NOTE — As a Darkblood, this month Peter has the ability to see energy / auras / life force around living things, so feel free to include what colour your character would emit!
( March is a blossom of strange things growing all over, and new worries bumping up against all the old ones. Peter largely remains a recluse, staying safely tucked away in the townhouse he shares with Luna Lovegood. There are things he has to protect: her, and a fresh new bond, and a young boy named Falco Grice who shows up trembling against the flickering ghosts at the corner of his vision. The boy stays with them for awhile as Corruption grows, spreads. Peter's kept busy in the early days of March, and will rarely be seen. But those who visit the townhouse will be invited in or met out in front of the house.

It's towards the middle of March that his own budding Corruption makes its appearance known again. This time, it's not so much a mental change as a physical one... Peter doesn't become some snarling thing the way he was back in December. He maintains his lucidity, his identity, everything that makes him Peter.

It's just that now he has a pair of large black horns sprouting from his head, as well as a long, thin, scaly black tail.

....It's alarming, to be sure, but at this point, Peter's... tired. Sure, this happened. Why the fuck wouldn't it?

And so, the boy who doesn't act like a demon this time but looks like one just kind of... continues on with his life. He's still mainly to be found at the townhouse, for any visitors, but on occasion he might be spotted around the city. He goes shopping for clothes, perusing various shops: a tall, gloomy-eyed young man with sharp horns and a tail curled shyly against his leg. He's... looking for shirts that button up instead of have to be pulled over the head.... He doesn't know how long he's going to be looking like some sort of Teenage Hellspawn, but until this goes away, he needs some more clothes that he won't destroy.

Or maybe you spot him crouching down near cobblestoned streets, looking about as depressed as anyone can, gazing listlessly across the street, one elbow folded over a knee. He's holding a joint to his mouth but not actually smoking it yet; however, when he notices you nearby, he tilts his head up at you (with some difficulty; the horns are... heavy), and gives a slight nod. )


Want one? Got extra. ( —Then, he'll be fishing through his hoodie pocket, drawing out a little bag of sour gummy candies (drug-free). Where'd he even get those... He has his ways. And apparently, he's willing to share. ) Got these, too.

( Or he can sometimes be found sitting outside under the shade of a tree, long legs curled into a crossed position, a number of books spread around him. It seems like some sort of study session, and closer inspection will show that they probably came from the Arcane Archives: ancient-looking texts bound in thick leather. Peter's thumbing through them, a pair of reading glasses pressed to his face. If you're willing to approach the person with the demon horns and tail, it's actually a pretty serene display. Flowers have popped up from the ground and a few haphazard other things can be found in little patches nearby: apples and bananas and.... a cabbage? Is that a coconut, too?? It's weird. This place is weird.

But maybe not as weird as the sight of Peter Graham actually willingly reading a book.

Or the sight of him... being so seemingly at ease about his demonic parts. He's even using his tail to his advantage, the scaly black thing poking through a book or two, slithering snake-like through the grass to find the pencil he dropped and returning it to his hand as he jots down some notes.

But he often does look up, people-watching, and if you're passing by, his eyes might drift to you — or maybe it's more at you. He sees something; there's some curious attentiveness, and he hesitates only a moment before asking, a little shy— )


Hey, uh, this might sound weird, but do I have like... a colour around me?

( If you're a fellow Darkblood, his own energy is a very dark, smooth green — something of phthalo and hunter and forest — rich and somber and quiet, and maybe a little uncomfortable, like the dark part of the woods. Anything could be looking out.

A second pulse is there up under the first: a second colour, or a cacophony of them. Flashes of gold amongst iridescent shine, alien colours that are difficult to truly pinpoint, flickering from those dark woods. If you look too long, too close, it hurts.

But maybe you can't see it. Peter wonders why he welcomed anyone to in the first place. )

WILDCARD / ETC

ooc ➀ plurk (skeletals) / discord (large bat#2354) / pm / Peter's plot post
As a note, I'm definitely open to the mosquito challenge or the perking up one despite not having prompts for them up. If you'd like to toss one of those at me, feel free!
Also, respond in prose if that's your preference, and I'll gladly follow suit.

survivalthroughhate: ([TCW 30] Glowing eyes)

Trophy Hunter

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-14 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
[Maul's been wandering around the jungle for some time now. He's already stripped off the coat he was wearing and still the oppressive heat is getting to him. He'd consider stripping off his shirt, but considering the amount of creepy crawlies that are likely hanging about this jungle, he doesn't want to end up with a bunch of leeches on him or spiders biting his skin.

He's taking a moment to rest, sitting on a downed log, and wiping some of the sweat off the back of his neck when he hears a loud flailing sound as someone comes crashing through the brush. Maul's immediately back on his feet and he's got his Darksaber already lit, the strange black blade humming when he sees Peter coming through like the hounds of hell are at his heels. It takes but a moment to confirm it is indeed the pothead teenager and not his demonic host at the helm right now. He relaxes just a tiny bit and is indeed thinking Peter is a nut until the boy starts tugging on him and trying to get him to move, babbling on about someone trying to kill them.

He glares at the unwanted contact and pulls his arm away from Peter, giving him a withering stare before he turns back towards the direction where he'd dashed out from. Maul straightens himself up and prepares for battle.]


When will you learn, idiot boy? I'm far more scary than anything you'll ever encounter here in Trench.

[Given how much he resembles Peter's mother at times and Sidious at others, there is indeed a nightmarish quality about Maul that has nothing to do with his demonic looks.]
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 43] Smirk close-up)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-15 06:13 am (UTC)(link)
[As usual, Peter is babbling on with apologies, which really always isn't a bad way to start things off with the Sith Lord given his utter contempt for the very presence of the idiot teenager. He's stripped down to just the essentials in clothes given the heat of this place and wipes the sweat off the back of his neck. He listens as Peter starts talking about some nutcase trying to kill him. Well, Maul can't have that now, can he? Only he is allowed to terrorize Peter and make him think he's going to kill him.

He'll just have to go off and deal with this problem himself. He tells Peter as much.]


I shall go deal with this. Wait here.

[Maul marches off through the jungle with a very clear sense of purpose. For a few minutes, everything is deathly silent. Then there's a few shots from the hunter's gun, a sound that might either be a snarl, cry of pain, or both from Maul, and some ominous loud sounds that terminate in one last shot from the hunter.

Again, the jungle goes still, all the animal life quieted for the moment. Then Maul comes back through the leafy trees. There's a new dent on one of his metal thighs and a wound that is little more than a graze on his right arm.]


He shan't trouble us for quite some time. He's got his own problems to deal with now.
survivalthroughhate: ([Other 21] Smirk)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-17 06:37 am (UTC)(link)
[As Maul comes back to where Peter is waiting, he pauses, kneeling down and tearing off a strip of his pants. It's not like he really needs them in the middle of all the heat and muck here in the jungle. He wads it up and then presses it against the graze on his arm, trying to stop the flow of blood.

At Peter's question, Maul smiles, a very nasty and wicked one that shows off a lot of fang. It's very disconcerting to see him make that expression and would make chills run up the spines of even some of his close friends.]


He wanted to play games with his slugthrower. So I stopped one of the bullets in midair and sent it back into his chest. [Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, as the saying went.] He's not dead but I doubt he'll be getting back up for some time if at all. I'm sure some predators will be attracted to the scent of blood soon enough.
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 1] Talking Close-up)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-18 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maul takes the wad of cloth off his arm and glances down at the Vileblood oozing from the injury. It's slowing but not completely stopped, so he goes back to pressing it down. Then he looks back over at Peter.]

As I have said before, you are under my protection now. And you are no good to me dead.

[He's got pragmatic reasons for doing this. After all, there will be no benefit to having Peter's body die, which will most certainly kill Paimon as well. He turns to look and see where they need to go through the jungle.]

Come. We need to move. [He just sort of automatically assumes Peter will go with him. The boy hasn't exactly shown to have a strong spirit when it comes to facing up against Maul. As they walk through, shoving aside bushes and large-leafed plants, Maul speaks to him.] You are weak because you are afraid. And that fear holds both you and the demon back. You cannot reach your full potential as long as you remained scared. You must learn to harness it rather than let it rule you.
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 26] Serious middle)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-20 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maul is happy to take the lead. If they run into anything that is dangerous, he's the one who is going to have to defend them. As they go along, he can sense the emotions within Peter. Most of the time, he doesn't take notice, for it's the usual mix of fear, anxiety, and nervous energy. But now there is something more, a small bit of .....anger?

Well, that is certainly new. Maul hasn't even been sure Peter was even capable of feeling something that strong but here they are. It's actually heartening news for the Sith Lord. He'd told Paimon he wanted to help the two of them work together with one another. The Dark Side is all about both fear and anger, so Maul has something he can work with now.

They reach a point where the vegetation is so thick that they won't be able to move forward. Maul pulls out his lightsaber, igniting the weapon and slashing away, slicing vines, leaves, and the brush that is blocking their way. The bits and pieces begin to fall to the floor, sizzling where the plasma blade has slashed through them.

He turns to look at Peter, answering his question.]


It also means having the power to protect those you care about and love instead of having to stand by helplessly when they are in danger. It means reaching a place of balance where your two sides are not always warring with each other and undermining what the other one wants, instead working together in harmony. You and Paimon are stuck with one another, probably for the rest of your lives. You can either fight each other forever, which will only weaken you both, or learn to live with one another, playing to the strengths each of you have.
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 31] Snarl close-up)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-26 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Maul whirls on Peter and his anger is fearsome to behold. It shows both clearly on his face and in his voice.]

A kid, you say? When I was younger than you both, my master had me murdering those at his command. Youth excuses nothing because children are cruel, sometimes far more than adults are. She's not completely innocent either. She cursed me because I went inside your mind and released Paimon. Something you both seem to conveniently forget I had no control over at the time since I was brainwashed.

[His anger continues to rise and there's pure fury as Maul begins to rant, small stones and leaves on the forest floor shaking and beginning to rise up.]

Everyone here has a sad story. You all-- [He's referring to the general 'you', not Peter and Luna personally.] -- expect me to stop being defined by my past, to simply 'get over' a lifetime of cruelty and pain that was thrust upon me. I didn't ask to be turned into a monster and anyone who thinks two years of living in a place like this after thirty of what I've already gone through is enough to completely change me is woefully naive. That's rich coming from the people here. As far as I can see, you-- [And this time he is referring to Peter directly.] -- and others like you do nothing but define yourself by your trauma.
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 26] Serious middle)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-26 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Maul expects Peter to do what he always does, to cringe, shy away from Maul's fury, and shut down. The boy has no strength to him, Maul's already seen that time and again.

But this time.....this time there's something else as well in the teenager. He's not running away from his trauma. For the first time Maul can see, he's facing it, and not only that but trying to relate to Maul as well. This is a lot more than most people in Trench do. Maul is used to people writing him off, seeing only the rage and hate on the surface without seeing a very deeply damaged person beneath.

Much as the Sith Lord hates to admit it, there's certain similarities in the way Peter's mother treated him and the way Sidious had treated his young apprentice as well. Where things had differed between them was that Peter's mother had probably loved him to some extent. Few people were raised by true sociopaths like Darth Sidious had turned out to be. So while Maul used his anger to help survive because there was no other way, Peter had gone in the opposite direction, becoming full of fear and doing his best to escape notice.

So while Maul's anger doesn't evaporate, it does calm back down, back from a wildfire sweeping through trees into a campfire. Both will still burn someone but only one will possibly kill a person. His voice loses a little of the rage in it, and while he still looks angry, that more has just to do with the resting expression of his face than anything else.]


The difference is that what shaped me into I am has made me a hard, cruel, and angry person. People want me to change that but they don't realize it is ingrained into me and has been since I was a young child, the same way kindness and goodness are for other people. I have no instincts that tell me to do the right thing because they were never cultivated to be present. I was taught to kill as a first and last solution, to hurt others to get what I wanted. I wasn't allowed to be a person. Only a weapon. Such things taught are not easily forgotten, especially not in a place where memories of the past are used against us by the Pthumerians in their mind games.

[Maul sighs, a heavy sound not full of anger but merely regret and sadness.]

The kindness of a few over the course of two years doesn't yet outweigh a lifetime of abuse done to me.
survivalthroughhate: ([Comics 20] Yellow eyes)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-03-28 06:46 am (UTC)(link)
[This is what Maul needs to hear. He can tell even with his limited abilities to understand emotions that Peter isn't doing it in a servile manner, trying to ingratiate himself with Maul so that the Zabrak Sith Lord won't do anything like try to harm him anymore. No, he's doing this purely because he feels empathy for Darth Maul, and in a deep manner that makes him able to understand Maul. For the first perhaps, the two of them are communicating in a way that doesn't mean Maul intimidating Peter and bullying the scared teen into doing what he wants.

Maul is surprised in the best way possible. He's thought Peter was useless for so long now that to see he has hidden depths is pretty shocking. What he's not yet able to tell the boy is how appreciative he is of what he's doing. To say "What you're feeling is okay." Too often here, Maul has been made to feel ashamed of his baseline personality, to be told that his anger and hate is something that makes him a bad person, that he needs to change and become more like the "good people" around him. That to be different than everyone else is a bad thing. He can listen when it comes from people he respects and has affection for like Usagi and Varian, but when it comes from those he dislikes or outright hates, it just makes him dig his heels in all the harder.

He hates being judged by those people, sanctimonious and acting like he was simply a monster or on the level of being just a vicious feral animal, depersonalized once again in an all too similar fashion to what Darth Sidious had done to him in his childhood. So many here seem to think he can never rise above what he is. Several times, his friends have chastised him on leaning into his reputation as a monster but that is partially a way to keep from being hurt anymore. If all people expect is a monster, it lets him stay in his comfort zone and not have to expand outwards, to grow anymore than he wants to.

Hearing that it's alright to keep his anger makes something that's been tightly coiled up inside of Maul for so long unwind just a little bit, allowing his mind to relax in a way he hasn't really thought possible.]


.........Thank you. [Maul says in a genuine manner. Those are two words very few people here have ever gotten to hear from Maul and now Peter is one of them.] It is.....validating to hear it is alright to keep my anger. So many people here don't understand why I simply can't be like them, to have kindness and empathy and happiness be a baseline for my personality. But that is just not possible for me right now. Maybe not ever.

[But for the first time Maul doesn't sound upset or simply resigned to that fact. Maybe it is alright to keep his anger close to his hearts. He can still change and become a better person without having to change everything that is at his core.]

Most people here do not know this but Sith Lords only have golden eyes when they are angry. My eyes have been gold for so long I no longer even remember what their original color even was.

[All that indicates Maul has been angry for a very long time and always is to some extent, even in moments where he's otherwise content, relaxed, or happy. People before have wondered how he doesn't get exhausted feeling angry all the time. Maul simply doesn't know what it would like to not be angry.]
survivalthroughhate: ([Comics 18] Seeing red again)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2022-05-29 10:47 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a bit amazing to Maul that this is the first time he's ever really talked with Peter. Actually talking, not just Maul running roughshod over the poor boy by bullying him into what he wants to do by intimidation or outright cruelty. They're actually communicating with one another and Maul is beginning to see what Peter is like when he isn't just cowering in fear in front of the Sith Lord.

Maul stays standing when Peter sits, leaning up against a nearby tree. His pose is casual but still has a tense nature to it, rather like a panther that's relaxing. He may look harmless right now but that can change in a single second if he feels threatened. A true predator. He thinks over what Peter says.]


I did not mean to be entirely cruel when I said you need to stop being afraid. Being scared is natural. Everyone is scared at some point in their lives. Even my master is afraid of something and gets scared when he gets close to it. [Death, for Darth Sidious, was something to truly be scared of. Always, when it drew near, he would desperately do whatever it took to stave it off.] But to let that fear rule you......it leads to bad things. You either completely give into it or desperately look for any way to avoid it. Sometimes, the best thing you can do with the things that scare you is to face them head-on. It will not always make you stop being afraid of them but they will stop holding as much power over you.

[Maul's claws trace soft patterns over the bark of the tree he's up against. There's a trace of a smile on his face that's gone again. Peter is right. Being a person is very, very weird.]

It's even stranger when you're a completely different species than most people here. Where I come from, on Dathomir, even before.... [He closes his eyes, tension in his jaw and shoulders.] ....even before I was taken by my master, things are quite different there. The Dark Side permeates the planet. It is not evil. Things in the dark are not always evil and simply living there does not make one so. I think you know that better than most. [Paimon is not an evil being at his core despite being a demon. He is full of light but it is dazzling, harsh light that can harm as much as help most of the time.] But most people who are not born there like the Nightkin my brother and I come from cannot survive for very long before eventually succumbing to madness or becoming power-mad. Still, it is home, and I was born on the Dark Side. Even had I not become a Sith, it was always going to be part of me. Nightbrothers are trained to be warriors, to see no higher honor than defending their fellow brothers and serving the Nightsisters who rule over them. I know for many here it sounds like a strange way of life, perhaps barbaric or unfathomable, but for me that is home.

[There is a wistfulness to Maul's voice, for it is a life he can never return to. The Nightsisters were decimated and as far as he knows there are none left. There are few Nightbrothers as well. He is part of the last of a very long line of his particular lineage of Zabrak subspecies. After his generation, there will be no more.]