Lt. Col. John Sheppard [Stargate: Atlantis] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ferriswheelsandfootball) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
apocalypsehowcomm2023-02-18 01:33 pm
ferriswheelsandfootball) wrote in apocalypsehowcomm2023-02-18 01:33 pm
Don't know that I will but until I can find me (Open Catch-All for Feb)
Who: John Sheppard and You!
When: February
Where: Here and there
Summary: Some TDM prompts and monthly catch-all
Warnings: blood, knives, cutting, spiders again probably, auditory hallucinations, decay, rot, filth, mold, blood sacrifice, violence, possible self-harm and harm to animals, obsession, possession, codependency, altered mental states; stalking; unwanted romantic advances; toxic romantic relationships, possible discussion of cosmic horror; induced madness; fugue state; body horror; PTSD; disassociation; paranoia, supernatural compulsion
A. TDM Prompt: Arrhythmia - OTA
cw: blood; knives; cutting; spiders again probably; auditory hallucinations; decay; rot; filth; mold; blood sacrifice; violence; possible self-harm and harm to animals
It is the beating of his hideous heart!
[John's always enjoyed the Tell-Tale Heart. He much less enjoys it happening to himself in real-life, and turning his room into an unlivable, rotten mess. Admittedly, the aesthetic works with the creepy heartbeat, but he also likes his bed not being sunken and moldy, nor his things covered in dust, nor his foot slipping through crumbling floorboards, webs everywhere...
He's also had enough of spiders in his pants for a lifetime.
Waking up in actual rags was his breaking point. After managing to find intact clothing, he stumbles outside with a knife and casually asks the next person he runs across in the hallway of the apartments.]
I need your blood.
[He holds up a knife.
It's probably fine, coming from him especially.]
B. TDM Prompt: Love Potion Number 9 - Closed to Rodney McKay
cw: obsession; possession; codependency; altered mental states; stalking; unwanted romantic advances; toxic romantic relationships
[It's probably unfortunate that he brought the box of chocolates of with him while going to see Rodney, with a bright red RC car and its controller under his other arm. He doesn't think anything of it, really, though later on he will make a note to be more careful about free food around here. Again.
It's also probably unfortunate that he was already in love with the man before this happened, and his cat-like Hunt instincts already prompting him to be quite attached to him.
He knocks on Rodney's door, bored and having a bit of a sweet tooth, so he opens the chocolates (not that he was gonna give them away to him or anything) and pops one in his mouth. Then another. Then another.
Eh. He's had better chocolates.]
Rodney? You better be in there...
C. Open Prompts for around ADI - OTA
[John is still working on recovering from everything that happened in Dogtown and can be seen around ADI either working with Security, or Investigations.
Sometimes he can be found at the Gym, sparring with two Bantos Rods or at least the nearest equivalent he can find. He's never really been good with them but it reminds him of Teyla, who he dearly misses, and on the off-chance they make it back, he'd also like to win at least one match against her or Ronon.
He knows that's pretty much impossible, but at least he'd like to give it a good shot.
He can also be found at the Canteen sometimes, having a bite to eat (probably a turkey sandwich) or setting up a game of chess, or working on a Sudoku puzzle. If you're nearby and he has no takers on his chess game, he might try to coerce you into playing. Or just grab some checkers instead. Sometimes he'll have his back against the wall and his feet up on another chair playing with a Nintendo DS he found at a secondhand game shop.]
D. Wildcard - Anything goes!
When: February
Where: Here and there
Summary: Some TDM prompts and monthly catch-all
Warnings: blood, knives, cutting, spiders again probably, auditory hallucinations, decay, rot, filth, mold, blood sacrifice, violence, possible self-harm and harm to animals, obsession, possession, codependency, altered mental states; stalking; unwanted romantic advances; toxic romantic relationships, possible discussion of cosmic horror; induced madness; fugue state; body horror; PTSD; disassociation; paranoia, supernatural compulsion
A. TDM Prompt: Arrhythmia - OTA
cw: blood; knives; cutting; spiders again probably; auditory hallucinations; decay; rot; filth; mold; blood sacrifice; violence; possible self-harm and harm to animals
It is the beating of his hideous heart!
[John's always enjoyed the Tell-Tale Heart. He much less enjoys it happening to himself in real-life, and turning his room into an unlivable, rotten mess. Admittedly, the aesthetic works with the creepy heartbeat, but he also likes his bed not being sunken and moldy, nor his things covered in dust, nor his foot slipping through crumbling floorboards, webs everywhere...
He's also had enough of spiders in his pants for a lifetime.
Waking up in actual rags was his breaking point. After managing to find intact clothing, he stumbles outside with a knife and casually asks the next person he runs across in the hallway of the apartments.]
I need your blood.
[He holds up a knife.
It's probably fine, coming from him especially.]
B. TDM Prompt: Love Potion Number 9 - Closed to Rodney McKay
cw: obsession; possession; codependency; altered mental states; stalking; unwanted romantic advances; toxic romantic relationships
[It's probably unfortunate that he brought the box of chocolates of with him while going to see Rodney, with a bright red RC car and its controller under his other arm. He doesn't think anything of it, really, though later on he will make a note to be more careful about free food around here. Again.
It's also probably unfortunate that he was already in love with the man before this happened, and his cat-like Hunt instincts already prompting him to be quite attached to him.
He knocks on Rodney's door, bored and having a bit of a sweet tooth, so he opens the chocolates (not that he was gonna give them away to him or anything) and pops one in his mouth. Then another. Then another.
Eh. He's had better chocolates.]
Rodney? You better be in there...
C. Open Prompts for around ADI - OTA
[John is still working on recovering from everything that happened in Dogtown and can be seen around ADI either working with Security, or Investigations.
Sometimes he can be found at the Gym, sparring with two Bantos Rods or at least the nearest equivalent he can find. He's never really been good with them but it reminds him of Teyla, who he dearly misses, and on the off-chance they make it back, he'd also like to win at least one match against her or Ronon.
He knows that's pretty much impossible, but at least he'd like to give it a good shot.
He can also be found at the Canteen sometimes, having a bite to eat (probably a turkey sandwich) or setting up a game of chess, or working on a Sudoku puzzle. If you're nearby and he has no takers on his chess game, he might try to coerce you into playing. Or just grab some checkers instead. Sometimes he'll have his back against the wall and his feet up on another chair playing with a Nintendo DS he found at a secondhand game shop.]
D. Wildcard - Anything goes!
no subject
No, really, why is he out here? Why does this keep happening, why does he let himself get dragged into these situations? ... Fine, maybe because he keeps getting dragged into these situations back home and he's used to traumatic, dangerous jobs but honestly, this is getting ridiculous.
Then again, magic bus sounds a lot better to investigate than Dogtown. And maybe distracting John from Dogtown is all he can do for now.
Except then he sees Gus and all of that goes out the window.]
That's our-- that is not a bus!
[You know what, he's taking it back. Everything. This mission is canceled. They're out of here. He's about to grab John and pull him along, except then John raises his weapon at him and Rodney freezes.]
What-- what are you doing?!
no subject
[Try as he might, he can’t stop himself, can’t control himself, and for a moment he’s so terrified that he might actually shoot Rodney that he doesn’t know what to do, what to think, how to breathe—the green of his eyes flicker a bright yellow and his pupils shrink and narrow to slits as he feels the call of the Hunt, the beast in him responding to danger.
Honestly, maybe it would be a good idea to give into it if only it would save Rodney—
—he growls and it’s nothing like the softer purrs and snarls and hisses of before—those almost sounded human.
This is the kind of growl that lives in nightmares, under beds and behind closets, in the primordial memory of the earliest humans in a world with deadly, monstrous predators.]
It’s not me—run! I’m not doing it!
Get out of here!
no subject
[His voice is pitching up, turning frantic, when he's hit by too many things that are just plain awful - John's monstrous everything, the gun, the bus that is not a bus and the fact that his body doesn't obey him anymore.
It's literally a nightmare. A collage of several nightmares smashed together for maximum horrific effect.]
Snap out of it! Eat something! Eat the bus! I thought you're this all powerful Avatar now!
no subject
[He tries to twist away, tries to do anything but he's helpless against it. There's a snarl this time, and a flash of a sharp canine in the night.
Wait--]
Eat the--eat the bus!?
That bus is a spider--I don't want to eat the bus! Also, even if I could? I don't want to! It's huge and spidery!
[Also, he agrees--what's the point of being an Avatar if he couldn't get out of situations like this!? And then suddenly, a few seconds later, in the midst of his growling and struggling--the grip is gone and he gasps, like a giant hand has suddenly released him.
He drops the gun immediately, letting it hang off his tec vest.]
no subject
[Does that make sense? No. Is he just screaming what goes through his head because he is freaking out about the gun? Absolutely. His eyes are impossibly wide, transfixed on the muzzle and he suddenly feels a sharp phantom pain in his side and lying on the cold wet ground in the woods, knowing he was bleeding out...
And then the gun drops and so does Rodney, leaning against the bus stop's pole, his face white as chalk.]
You almost shot me!
no subject
[The look on Rodney's face cuts him to his core, and he's genuinely horrified at all of this--himself, what he was just made to do, how badly it's scared Rodney--]
It wasn't--it wasn't me, Rodney! Something made me do it, when I tried to aim for the bus I--
[Wait, the bus!]
It was the damn bus!
[Also he probably should have grabbed Rodney and run instead of standing here and talking because his muscles are locking up again, and his feet are starting...to...move...towards Gus.]
...Rodney!?
no subject
[Rodney tries to reach out and yank him back but his arms stop halfway up and fall down again, uselessly.]
Wh--
[And then, to his horror, he takes a step forward. And another.
Towards the bus that isn't a bus but a walking nightmare.]
Wait, what am I doing!? Do something!
no subject
[Suddenly he wonders if trying to shoot this thing was a great idea after all. He'd almost shot Rodney and now he was getting dragged inside anyway. He tries to put his hands against the...ugh, doorway but it's no use.
His feet are going on their own accord, stomping their way up and onto the bus.]
I can't--I can't stop it, can you move at all--
[...he's on the bus. A spider. That's also a bus.]
Was this cause of the bridge? I'm sorry about your home, I really am, but we were trying to stop a zombie from coming after us...
no subject
[And then he's on the bus. A spider. That's also a bus.]
Don't tell them about the bridge!?
[He'd gesture at John if he could, what if they didn't know about the bridge, there is no reason to bring up the bridge!]
This is not happening. Tell me this is not happening! Oh my God, it's happening!
no subject
[That’s actually a really good point so maybe they shouldn’t bring up the bridge.
Except this is also really happening and he’s finding himself walking towards what looks like…
…some kind of egg sack?!]
This isn’t happening. We’re asleep.
no subject
[His voice hitches, his eyes wide as he stares at the worst public transportation in the history of everything.]
Yes! Yes, we are. This is a dream, this is just like... this is like the ocean and the whale and something is messing with our heads because this isn't happening, we are not on a spider bus, like how ridiculous is that concept even--
[He can't stop talking. If he stops talking he will scream. Or cry. Probably both. And not stop. Not ever stop.]
no subject
[John feels like he might just scream along side him if he doesn't stop talking, either. His body is moving on its own, and try as he might--with super-Avatar strength, even, it does nothing. His claws should be out and shredding everything around them but nothing happens, he simply walks right into one of the...ugh, egg sacs and gets in.
Tiny spiders start to swarm over him, weaving webbing back and forth.
He's screaming on the inside now.]
Ridiculous, like, it seems like a level you have to clear on a video game? Not even a final boss, y'know? We probably fell asleep watching some dumb horror movie, or maybe Lord of the Rings, the part with Shelob--
no subject
[And then the spiders start to swarm him and Rodney's mind blanks with horror.]
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no--
no subject
[He's not going to elaborate how he knows so much about them.]
Rodney--Rodney, just--just keep talking, all right? We gotta figure a way outta here. We can't move, but we can think and talk.
[Give him a problem to fix. That's all he can do because if he doesn't, they're both going to lose their minds to fear. The spiders are swarming around him, all over him, his arms and legs bound tightly as the cocoon begins to form around him--the beast within him is severely unhappy and another growl escapes him. Really, this isn't fair, he's an Avatar, he should at least have some kind of immunity against this kind of stuff-]
no subject
[But at least he stops screaming to form actual words, if only to get in some angry remarks.]
You want me to keep talking? How much does this suck, let me count the ways! One: A lot! I am never going anywhere with you again! Let's check out the magic bus, Rodney. It's gonna be great, Rodney. It's probably just a bunch of weird superstition and nursery rhymes, Rodney! Well, the itsy bitsy spider went up my legs and I don't see any rain!!
no subject
I'm not going to disagree with you there! This does suck! This sucks a lot!
And that's a lie because the next time I grab a pizza I'm pretty sure you're gonna be right there next to me!
[He tries struggling again but it's no use. There's webbing all over him now, and he's reminded of Wraith cocoons, and thinking how lucky he was to never be in one. Great.
Some threads start to form over his forehead and the spiders tickle his skin...are they gonna fully encase them!?
No, don't think about that now--he'll deal with the PTSD later--]
How on earth was I supposed to predict that this could happen!?
no subject
[He's just saying!
And that's even more encasing and his voice turns shrill, his breath coming in rapid, panicked huffs.]
I don't know! You could have asked your buddy the Hunt to maybe give us a little heads up here!? Aren't you like his special pet now! Like, how did you sign up with the most useless Entity that allows one of its hunters to become the prey!
no subject
[That's...probably fair.
More webs cross his face and a slight gurgling noise escapes him. It's fine, he's not gonna yell.
Maybe he's gonna yell a little.]
Wow, I'm not his special little pet!
[...is he, though?]
Look, you don't think I'm trying to Hulk out here? Nothing's happening! I can't do a damn thing!
no subject
[And then he can barely see anymore because more and more webbing is covering his vision and his voice trails off into a whimper.]
No, no, no, no no--
no subject
[You’d think the Hunt would get mad if it’s Avatar got got by another Entity, but apparently, they don’t care. Boo.]
Rodney?!
Rodney, just—I’m here, I’m still here okay, just listen to my voice—
[The sound in Rodney’s voice cuts like a knife and he tries, desperately, to struggle, another growl escaping him, but it’s useless.
He’s useless.
What’s the point of all this power if you can’t use it?!
The spider webbing has covered most of him by now, he can’t exactly crane his head to inspect it but he can see that he’s thoroughly being cocooned. More webs filter across his face, over his eyes—wait, they’re not gonna completely cover their faces are they?! How are they gonna breathe!]
Hey! Bus! Gus! You really don’t wanna do this to us, you’ll be—y-you’ll be sorry—