charmwisp

[charmwisp]

Rika's gaze fell upon Mindy's handiwork and she found she'd been too swept up in her own thoughts and ruminations to notice that she might have been interrupting something. “Pretty,” she said, almost without realising the words had even come out of her mouth. “You're good at that. I can't even paint my nails without smudging it on my fingers a bunch of times.” She then shook her head and lightly slapped her cheeks, in an attempt to keep herself on topic. It wasn't normal for her to be this distractible but, whether it was the stress of everything going on or the possibility that she'd been losing sleep to all of her aimless theories, she was at a loss as to the exact reasoning. “Wait, so they phoned your place?” she asked, eyes widening. She leaned back into the chair, fingers picking at the corners of the closed notebook pages. “But I don't know anything. I'm actually...”

She hesitated. Was it worth admitting to Mindy the wild goose chase she'd put herself on? She didn't have them pegged as the judgemental type but this was something Rika had been holding close to her breast. The people of Anchorage seemed either unable or unwilling to see that something was wrong. Even when she'd called the police with the tip about what that ventriloquist dummy had said, they'd barely listened to her and run with the most obvious interpretation of it. The whole town seemed to wear blinkers over their eyes and Rika's refusal to play along only served to draw attention to her status as an outsider. Taking in a quick, shaky snatch breath, she finally said, “I've been a little curious about a lot of the strange events around here.” It was an understatement but it wasn't a lie either. Maybe being mostly honest with Mindy was better than nothing. “So, I've been going through them all and trying to see if there's anything to them.”

Although the notebook in her grasp didn't need to be introduced quite yet, the entry she'd written about the cold calls was little more than a page full of question marks. She had her doubts that the calls were connected to anything else, and even the idea of these things being connected was something she could not confirm, but she couldn't cancel them out as a distraction without more information either. “So, for this, I've been wondering...what if somebody intercepted the calls or something?” she mused, tapping a finger against her chin. “Do you have any idea what they said to your room mate?”

Since the Halloween party and the grand exit of the Raven House's tarot reader, the house of mediums was a bit quiet. Almost too quiet, when Marisol was busy attending to the personal requests of Rika and Mindy. They had been anticipatory of a newbie to replace the cashier that bailed thanks to landing an internship, and safe to say, the fortune teller loathed the caginess of utter quietude. The nervous nellies that oft followed Anchorage's oddities and catastrophes in tow were nowhere to be found — perhaps in part due to the guest list pertaining to longtime residents. Those who were seemingly none the wiser to the mystique that lay beneath the permafrost, and the Miroir was only partially keyed in on. ( Grim Foxes weren't known for being the high profile. They were the deception, the smoke-and-mirrors. The reflection on the other side of the fun house to reach out and put a chokehold in their lookalikes. ) Instead, they had been biding the tumbleweeds in their cubicle with miniature projects.

The sound of someone else's burgeoning presence was amply identifiable as a one Rika Hoshino — keen observance had yet to mollify of the former Grim Fox, despite their duller critical thinking skills. Consequentially, Mindy didn't bother to look away from their all-consuming task of diamond painting, moreso to pass the time than a genuine reflection of their undying flame for art in its most basic form. "Uh-huh," they answered nonchalantly, fixated eyes and furrowed brows geared toward the project in front of them but nevertheless, reserving an ounce of attentiveness for the psychic, "Oh yeah, my roommate gone of those. She was all freaked out that the Bogeyman was gonna come get her." It was an exaggeration; the conflict bloodletting their connection wouldn't dim their sworn protection. For now, there was a tense truce, as Mindy didn't know what steps they wanted to take next. "Why? You think you know who it is? I thought it was just some bored makeup seller when I called the line back and got that cosmetics company."

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & mindy. 」

[charmwisp]

Rika had been scanning the shelves for far too long now, all in the vain hope she mind find something in her native language. So far all she'd come across were VHS tapes of dubbed animations and some Kurosawa movies. She'd just been about to give up altogether and go home when she was approached with a question she didn't quite know how to answer.

Her thoughts immediately went to the work she had done with Sho, back in Tokyo. He'd been a talented private detective, even if he only worked for himself, but he'd settled on wasting those talents on his scams. Rika couldn't remove herself from it all, however, given that she was the face of those scams. Every day, he'd shove a file of notes about their customers under her nose and she'd study them carefully, just like she had done the books she'd read for University. Somehow, it had helped for her to view these people as characters to be interpreted and studied. It almost scared her how good Sho had been at gathering everything; education histories, family deaths, marital affairs, it was all in there. These days, she made do without all that but that period of her life was what had set her up for work at the Raven House, even if she had been surprised how well she got by without any help at all. In a funny way, she supposed she had felt like she'd known those customers before she'd even met them, all without them knowing the first thing about her. But she doubted that had been all that normal.

“I'm afraid I'm the wrong person to ask,” said Rika, pressing a finger to her lips and playing coy as best she could. “I'm a psychic.” If you were to watch her very closely, you might have noticed the slightest twitch of her right eye. She was a decent enough but she often found she lost all her confidence the second she stepped away from the Raven House. “But, I guess if I had to think of it as someone who wasn't gifted...” Rika started, still keeping up the act as her eyes travelled away from this curious stranger and over to the VHS they had dumped on the shelf. Despite herself, Rika shuddered. Slasher movies were not her thing and the more staying in Anchorage felt like living one, the less interested in them she became. “I guess that can happen, but there's probably a limit to how much you can know about them before it starts sounding weird.”

where : slashback video rentals when : march 1st cap : 0/4

BAMBI WAS NOT VERY PLEASED WITH THE ASSIGNMENT she had been handed, mostly because until then she had been spared from any contact of the Cardinal Serpent. But it was simply foolish to think she had fully escaped their clutches, meaning her life in Anchorage was no longer simple or easy. Part of her wanted to run again, but there was more than just the broken engine in her van that now tied her to the snowy town, which only tempted her to follow that urge more. "Lemme lay something out for ya, if you wanna lend your ear for a quick sec." She picked up an 80s horror movie with a dramatic cover of a slasher villain, before lackadaisically placing it back on the wrong shelf as the bouncer hadn't taken consideration from where she picked it up from. "You ever knew someone even though you hadn't met them like, officially before? Like, just because they knew someone else y'know or you've just seen 'em a lot before? That's not weird, right? That's not a stalker thing if you just happen to know who they are. That happens to like, everyone."

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & bambi. 」 #waheeee sorry this got a little LONG pls don't feel pressured to match length! #esp since a lot of the length here is bg info that bambi can't really react to!

[charmwisp]

Rika could barely remember how long she'd been in this line, and she had even less sense of how much of that time she'd spent zoned out, with her mind miles and miles away from the dark frosty streets of Anchorage, but anybody would struggle to find a way to snap her back to reality as quickly as the person behind them had done. She glanced away at first, when the words were still settling and sorting themselves into the right order, running the loops of translation, but then she whipped around to face them properly, eyes just wide enough to betray her surprise. What they'd actually said was less shocking than the fact they'd said it at all; Rika had heard the rumours flying around, about graves torn open and desecrated with the frozen soil shredded into chunks, but she had only come upon those rumours because she'd been looking for them. It was a surprise to hear someone else comment on the weirder aspects of the town without any real prompting. “So, you think it's all true?” said Rika, trying her best not to sound too baffled. She wanted to sound sensible, like she had her head screwed on right. (The less said about a certain Sho Tsukidate, the better but she had always admired his ability to approach any topic, no matter how ridiculous, with a casual confidence.)

“The graverobbing rumours, I mean,” she added, quickly. “But I never considered that would be why that girl's arm...” She trailed off, knuckles pressed against her chin. Rika knew she should have been acting more shocked than she was. The whole thing did turn her stomach, really. It was horrific to even consider. Hours from now, she'd curl up in her cramped Seal Harbor bedroom, with the duvet that was too nice for the rest of the bed, and let out exactly one muffled yelp into her pillow, baffled by the fact she'd ever spoken about this so casually. “No, you're right, it doesn't seem like they're selling anything. If they were, I don't think they'd manage to miss an entire arm,” Rika frowned. And then, she was quiet for a few moments, the air filled only by the sounds of other conversations further down the queue, maybe the quiet rattle of a discarded popcorn bag. “Do you think it's the same people who...y'know, got her in the first place? Because...why would they leave her body behind for anyone to discover if they were just going to steal it back anyway?”

@anchoragestarters / outside maiden alley cinema, beginning of march

The long line trailing outside the ticket booth was growing more tedious by the minute, and they'd been idly pondering if this was how Stella felt on any opening night of their screenplays. Arms crossed over their chest, they watched the late paper boy stuffing the locked display cases with a fresh batch of newspapers. "Have you heard about the uptick in graverobbing lately?" they asked the person in line with them, their fingers toying with a sucker sticking out of their mouth, "Seems like it's happening more and more since they found that girl's arm. I figure someone must've dug her up." What's left of her. Perhaps it was morbid to bring up in line for tickets for Cherry Falls while Stella had gone off to the corner store around the block ( with a high likelihood of smuggling snacks in her purse, and they'd pretend not to notice, ) but it was the elephant in the room. "Friend of a friend had a loved one dug up, too. Unless they're selling them on the black market, I can't imagine it's been a lucrative practice to steal corpses since a couple centuries ago." See, tampering with gravesites was evidently more of a shocker than missing persons. "There's got to be something else to it, right?"

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & ziv. 」 #miss rika's got her mystery glasses on <3

[charmwisp]

𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙺 𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 …

 happy 26th birthday dearest RIKA HOSHINO  ,

come drop your presents & send wishes if you may                               find out more about character birthdays here !

#thank you as always to admins for theseeee!! #i also love these photo choices for rika hehe #anyway i love u birthday girlieeeeeeee #my lil witchipop

[charmwisp]

sakura » 240223 lee hyori's red carpet

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 visuals. 」 #i love her soooo much #i like that this look has a lil bit of a celestial vibe #go miss professional psychic girlieeeeeee

[charmwisp]

Rika wished she could say it wasn't a big problem for her. Maybe, some other day, some other time, she could have shrugged it off and accepted her fate. In fact, she was sure she'd be using these changes as an excuse to explore some other hobbies before long. But, for it to happen now, that much was frustrating. It wasn't as though she'd just started her research either. If that had been the case, it would have been easier for her to give up, taking it as a sign from the universe that she was sticking her nose where it didn't belong, but she already had pages upon pages of notes. “Do you think it's just Anchorage?” she asked. “Or do you think this is happening everywhere? Normally, I'd just go online and see what was happening everywhere but...” She laughed a shallow, awkward laugh. Strange things happen all the time here. At that, Rika snapped her head up, eyes wide. “Right? All the time, right?” she said, a little too eagerly. Her hands worked busily to tidy the hair that had fallen out of place, brushing it back behind one ear. “But everyone always just shrugs it off. I get it, I was the same too. But, more and more, it doesn't feel...right...” There was no obvious way to end that sentence without going off on some bizarre tangent and she decided it was best she didn't do that. There was no helping it; a lifetime of reading mystery novels and then a good chunk of her adult life spent as a friend of a private detective had left with an itch for finding answers.

“Are you saying we're living the part at the beginning of the movie where we just get a glimpse of what the supernatural bad guys are up to?” she asked, laughing. “I always hoped, if I had to be swept up in an action movie, I'd be something more interesting than a background casualty.” Although, thinking back on it, that was precisely how she'd felt at the Halloween party--- completely useless and unable to do anything or help anyone. She remembered trying to call for help, only for her phone to get knocked out of her hand and go skidding across the room. If she'd known how things would end up less than a month later, she wouldn't have gone out and bought a replacement. Without thinking, she found herself copying him, lifting her own head to the skies. Rika didn't mind that this conversation was, by all accounts, pretty odd. If anything, she was grateful to this stranger for offering such an easy distraction. “I hate to say it but a superhero origin story almost makes more sense to me than what's actually happening,” she said, her gaze falling on the wires of an electricity pylon. She imagined what it would be like to get caught on it, getting zapped and fried, and she winced. Why did becoming a superhero always have to look so unpleasant? “I mean, it doesn't make sense. Somehow, I feel like a little interference isn't enough to shut down a whole internet cafe...”

He listened to her, giving a nod as she finished, "Yeah. I agree." Letting out a breath, he lifts his phone up, "It's like all the newest sites are malfunctioning." He honestly couldn't get on anything new, by a lot. Which he found intriguing. But a little more frustrated over the inconvenience because of it. But he didn't let it ruin his day, either. Strange things happened all the time with tech. But hearing that it wasn't just him only made him all the more invested in it. He offered a shrug, "Well yeah. I don't- I mean. I do. But if mine's messed up, and yours is messed up-" Gesturing to himself, then to Rika, before giving a shrug, "How much do you want to think that others have the same problem? So yeah. Not the biggest problem for me. We're not alone." Turning his head, he squints slightly, "Strange things happen all the time here, so, I figure. That's it. Another strange thing."

"You don't?" He questioned. But resigned a bit. Of course. Not many would. He shouldn't be asking that by this point. Aliens, monsters, supernatural that, cryptid this. He was always alone on this island of thought. Bryn blinks, hearing her repeat to him, and then lets out a breath, nodding his head encouragingly. At her suggestion he laughed a little bit, agreeing though, "Yeah. Well, maybe it's just not happened yet." He craned his head slightly, "Maybe that's why. It's so small." Bryn clears his throat, "The big guys haven't arrived yet. Everything has to start somewhere, right?" He grinned as she was at least humoring him a bit. Bryn nods, agreeing with the last thing she said, "It's a pretty questionable superhero movie, then." He scrunched one side of his face up a little bit, staring up at the sky, "Maybe we'll get superheroes if, you know, there's an electrical charge that pops off in the sky. Something like Heroes, even." He mused, just wishful, but knowing that it would probably be much more horrible in the end.

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & bryn. 」

[charmwisp]

How embarrassing to think that Rika had been so invested in her work that she'd barely even recognised Anka! But that embarrassment was really quite short-lived; it was far too loud in here for her to dwell on any single thought for than a moment, whether it was a bout of self-depreciating or the loveliest daydream, and she didn't mind one bit. Although it was a little tiring and she knew her social battery wouldn't recover from this until tomorrow evening at the earliest, she couldn't deny that it was nice to be surrounded by such joy and liveliness. The kids were a lot but their giggles and shouts were quite contagious. Or, maybe, she was only able to think that way because she was stood over at this quiet table by herself, kept away from the eye of the storm. Anka had clearly not been so lucky. "You look like you need a break," Rika laughed, glancing up at them from where she stood hunched over the table. The movement, subtle as it was, caused more hair to slip free from its binding and she was forced to jerk her head in the hopes of flipping it out of her face. “I think it'll be fine if you just sneak one in right now,” she said, “The sugar glass is pretty brittle anyway, it might snap if you hold it down.” However, she didn't want to dismiss their help if they really wanted to offer it. Presumably, Anka didn't volunteer just to sit around. “Actually, I think this can wait,” she said, gently placing the sugar glass aside and brushing her palms off each other, before grabbing a bag of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and placing it down on the table. “I was going to use this as shingling for the roof, what do you think?” It was obvious from her smile that Rika was quiet proud of this idea. “But it seems a little tricky so I think I'll need help. And we can do it sitting down.” Seeing Anka leaning forward in their seat had made Rika suddenly and keenly aware of the way her spine was starting to smart from the way she'd half-folded herself over the table and so she allowed herself to fall back into her folding chair. It wasn't especially comfortable but she couldn't say she minded all too much.

“It's nice,” she said, yanking the bag of cereal open, “Seeing everyone this happy. It's comforting to know that people will always bounce back.” Rika had her doubts that the town would stay this peaceful much longer, given her ever-mounting suspicions, but she didn't dare say so aloud; not only was it inappropriate and needlessly negative, she was also worried someone might decide she was going mad. “You know, I always get funny feelings before something bad happens,” said Rika, sounding a little bashful, as she laid out her ginger snap roofs for decoration. Even after all these years, she hadn't gotten used to saying that out loud. “But I think this has been the first time in a while where I've felt just fine. I'm not worried at all.”

Working with children was not Anka's every-day routine as it was Haerin's, despite being a mother who did wrangle little ones and their school-age son around on the daily. They had always adored children, but culinary and baking was their marked passion when they sought to forge a path for themselves that was not bound by the ubiquitous demands of their family or the sheer need for staying afloat. However, they visited the Hopeful Light as often as they could, thus they had derived that aiding a school bus' worth of children should be a walk in the park, especially because it encompassed their current calling.

Oh, boy, how wrong they were.

Imagine a miniature version of the Wonka Chocolate Factory, boasting a messy disarray of nibbled-on gingerbread, splashes of frosting, and the cherry on top: a dozen or more little ones shouting for help from the teachers, snotting into their cookies, and running amuck. They hoped that the other stations in the shoppes were quieter than this fresh purgatory, scurrying after them to wipe their faces with a wet napkin and fumble to erect the walls back onto houses and pinch the sides together and permit the kids to plant their roofs on top. They were no Picasso — that was their wife's area of expertise. Unfortunately, the houses under their supervision would be winning no awards.

The four-person brigade of their weekend cooking club was milling around the different placements, and Anka was looking for a place to sit now that there had been granted a break from being pulled in several dizzying directions. Plopping down into the seat next to Rika with a huff, lungs deflating, they had forgotten about the grotesque costume party for the first time in weeks — and if they had been lulled into the false sense of security, so too, would the rest of Anchorage, they presumed. Matevos had been laid to rest, and they wanted to believe...

Well, maybe, they didn't know what to believe. Thinking too hard about it espoused a toxiferous headache they couldn't shake. "I can give ya a hand, if ya want," they offered, scooting their chair out of their friend's limelight and outstretching their hands. The body aches commanded they need not get up from their chair, instead inching closer to the table. "I'm not a very good artist, though, don't trust me with any perfeccionado — I can hold it down for ya while you frost it down or something. What'cha need?"

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & anka. 」

[charmwisp]

It had only been a few months since the first anniversary of Rika's moving to Anchorage had passed and she still felt like a relative stranger to the town's vast streets. She'd placed much of the blame for it on herself, often chiding herself for being too introverted or for taking each and every excuse to shy away, but she was finally starting to accept that a series of tragedies and terrible accidents were unavoidable setbacks. Somehow, the Halloween party had been something of a wake-up call; she couldn't keep living in the shadows, she had to find her own place in this town. The cooking club had presented itself as the perfect opportunity, a golden chance she readily accepted with both hands, and it was already bearing fruit. Although Freya was a relatively new face in her life, Rika was happy to see her here and, somehow, that felt like progress.

"Aw, don't say that," said Rika, before she'd even glanced over at Freya's gingerbread house. When she did finally lift her head, her eyes having started to strain from the intensity with which she was glaring down at her sugar glass window, she was faced with an odd-looking little structure. It was imperfect, sure, but it was charming all the same. At the very least, Rika thought so. "I don't think it's beyond saving? It's kind of cute! And, anyway, people here are pretty good at looking past strange things." Even before she'd finished speaking, Rika cringed. She'd known sooner or later, all her concerns about these unsolved mysteries were going to bleed out in to the real world but this didn't feel like the right place. "Um, I mean! The chapel can wait-- I'll help you rescue this!"

As much as living like a maverick over the last few years, constantly on the edge of the law, had been a novel thrill to the former ballerina, moving to Anchorage presented a new opportunity for her and her roommate that she was thrilled to jump at. Though she might not readily admit it, a part of her longed to regain that sense of community, a feeling she'd been missing since graduating from her arts program in college and leaving behind the dance studio she taught at soon after—both a distinct home away from home to her at the time. This was her first holiday season in Anchorage, and although she'd made decent strides making friends here and there, the redhead was still missing that crucial feeling of home (a part of her wondered if she'd ever truly regain it, or if such wishful things were meant for childhood alone). She was still a novice at cooking and baking things with any complexity, studying under Anka's tutelage, but what she lacked in skill, she made up for with patience in spades, which was perfect for the activity of the night.

Freya still didn't know Rika very well, having only recently become acquainted with the other through her fledging cooking endeavors. So when she noticed the laser-focused attention she was giving the creation of her gingerbread chapel, the burlesque performer couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips. It reminded her of the way her sisters would lose themselves in whatever interest had captured their hearts on any given week (Freya never really strayed from dance and literature). "Take as long as you need. But I'm not sure there's much you can do for me. I fear mine is a lost cause," she confessed, her own house little more than a pile of icing and broken shards of gingerbread in the general shape of a house. "Not sure this is the best look for a volunteer... and I'd offer to help you with yours, but I'd worry about ruining your progress," the dancer chuckled lightly, offering Rika a warm smile.

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & freya. 」 #sorry about the wait on this! but this is perfect!! <3 #i am HERE for cooking club friends hehehe

[charmwisp]

Rika had been standing with both hands laid flat at her brow, as though blocking out the cool grey sunlight would help her magically find the answers she'd been looking for, but the café was dingy without the lights on and her fellow would-be customer had no better answers to offer so she accepted defeat with a sigh and drop her hands to her sides. "It's not just slower than usual, nothing would load right," said Rika, a little more bluntly than she'd intended. Although she was mostly pretty good at staying composed, it was proving tricky to keep her growing frustration to herself. Even putting aside her plans for research, the prospect of being totally cut-off from the online world was a daunting one. After all, everyone Rika knew and loved was living on a set of islands three thousand miles away. "You don't think this is a problem? My phone's practically a brick."

She'd caught the hints of hesitation in his voice, the way he'd paused before suggesting it was a power cut. For a moment, she almost wondered if he had similar suspicions about this town but dismissed it as wishful thinking. "Ah, I don't know a lot about that stuff," Rika mused, not entirely convinced by the EMI suggestion but not confident enough to disagree outright. It just felt too simple, too convenient. But that wasn't an opinion she was about to voice. (Was it hypocritical, she wondered, to be disappointed by his hesitation when she was no more willing to share her own theories?) "Neronga..." Rika mused, bewildered for a moment. The name was vaguely familiar; her younger brothers had always been into shows like Ultraman and Kamen Rider and she'd wound up watching them over their shoulders. The mention of kaiju was good enough confirmation that, if she did know the name, it was from the former. "Well, I think we'd have probably seen some evidence of physical destruction if it were something that big," said Rika, playing along. She had two options here: continue to stress herself out over the situation or try to enjoy herself, even if just a little. The choice was obvious. "Y'know, with everything that happens around here, I'm starting to feel like ordinary background civilian in some superhero show. Only there's no superhero."

Walking down a sidewalk he noticed someone standing outside of the Chinchilla Computer Cafe, but decided it wasn't his business and tried to stay focused on getting breakfast. Determined to stay on his course for the moment. Though seeing the woman look a little on edge and talking loudly at the building he guessed it meant the place was closed. Staring up at the building briefly before looking at the other as she talks about the sign, "Well, I didn't see that sign there yesterday. So it must be." Bryn answered while she looked in through the windows. Quickly he sneaks a stealthy sniff from the paper, smelling the recently inked paper before he pulls away again just as she turned back to ask another question, "Well if you call the internet being slower than usual a problem, then yeah? Why, have you? I can't get anything to load on my phone." Squinting toward the building he thought it over, "You think it has to do with-"

No. Nope. He had to stop bringing that kind of stuff up when talking to people. It freaked them out, "-Electricity? Maybe a strong electromagnetic pulse or something? This kinda thing happens sometimes back where I grew up." That was not any better than what he was going to say, was it? Bryn closed his eyes and hoped it wasn't as strange as blaming aliens. He would have liked to put his bet on it being aliens though. Bryn's squinting then as thoughts of how they did it rushed through his mind. Having practically forgotten that he was trying to get some breakfast just moments before. His mind wondering farther and farther from that original goal. "Still kind of weird that the whole cafe would be closed though, right? Maybe they're behind all of this? What if they used too much power? And that awakened a kaiju? " Bryn mused, calmly, almost in an all too sedated and/or serious tone. Tilting his head briefly "Neronga eats electricity." He muttered offhandedly, "Not that I believe in kaiju or anything." He laughed weakly as he assured this, failing in not bringing aliens into this.

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & bryn. 」 #THIS TOOK SO LONG I'M SO SORRY !!

[charmwisp]

WHERE: DIY pop-up shoppe at rabbit creek; gingerbread house building table WHEN: 17th december, daytime WHO: anyone! ( @anchoragestarters ) CAP: FULLY CAPPED AS OF 14th JANUARY

On paper, this had seemed like the perfect opportunity for Rika. She'd been wanting to reach out more, to try and take part in the living breathing community of Anchorage instead of living as a shadow behind the beaded curtains of her room at the Raven House. The popup had a wonderfully festive atmosphere and the air seemed to Rika as though it hung thick with the excitement and curiosity of its guests and volunteers. As expected, the gingerbread station smelled pleasantly of sugar, spice and (of course) everything nice. This volunteering spot required a few things, of course; a hint of craftiness, a dash of creativity, a generous sprinkling of baking talent and a heaped spoonful of patience. These were standards Rika could meet easily enough, even if the patience required just the smallest stretch of extra effort. She'd known from the start that she would be a little out of her depths, lacking much experience with gingerbread houses due to their lack of a cultural presence during the holiday back home, but she'd gotten the hang of things quickly enough.

That wasn't exactly a good thing. Rika was good at getting carried away, at getting far too invested in the house she was putting together, and she may have gotten distracted from her role of guiding others through their own gingerbread creations. It was only her view of her work was darkened by the shadow of another person that she finally broke free from her spiced reverie. "I'll be with you in just a moment," she said by way of apology, whipping her head up with such abrupt speed that several locks of hair broke free from their loose ponytail binding. "I'm just trying to turn this...hmph, sugar glass into a window for my church." She grunted a little as she spoke. It was tricky work. Still, just as Rika said, there sat on the table before her an overly complicated little gingerbread chapel, still half-built. "Did you need any help? After all, that's what I'm here for!" A pause, and she tucked her hair back behind her ear. "Sorry, I guess I haven't made that very obvious so far, have I?"

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 open. 」 #this is super simple & you don't need to match length (i just like setting the scene!) but i'm feeling FESTIVE!! #sorry to dump another rika open on you all so soon after my lottery one #esp when i still owe a bunch of replies from that (i'll get to them v soon!! <3) #but i wanted to do something with the diy popups and figured this was the best way!! <3

[charmwisp]

capture time with kkura 🌸

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 visuals. 」 #she's so cuteee i LOVE her <3

[charmwisp]

It seemed strange, perhaps even wrong, that so soon into her quest to find answers, Rika would be presented with yet another bizarre mystery. After long enough, she resigned herself to the reality that staring through the café's windows wasn't going to will into opening for the day and she took a step back, sighing out a steamy puff of warm breath out into the crisp cold morning air. Even after a year, she still wasn't used to how cold it got here and she regretted leaving the house in such a rush that she hadn't bothered to make sure she'd grabbed the warmest possible jacket. Rika glanced down at the main body of the tote bag hanging from her shoulder and thought of the notebook she'd been using to scribble down all her thoughts and theories about the town. There were loose ends in need of tying and the internet had been the easiest way to find what she needed. So much for that plan!

"I think I'll have to take a trip to the library," she sighed, still thinking aloud. That was something Rika often did in times such as these, as if voicing her thoughts would do the trick of filling for an otherwise absent reassuring figure. The only problem was that hunting for the right books would take forever and there was no way for her to throw any confusing terms into a machine translator. English, after all, was not her first language. Finally, she turned to face her partner in woe. Or, at least, Rika turned face her as much as possible while she had her forehead up against the door. From that reaction, Rika assumed that Plan B wouldn't cut it for this person. There were certain things, after all, you could only get online. "It never feels like anybody around here is doing anything about, well, anything," Rika sighed. They arrested three people on suspicions of murder back in June but, after it became clear they weren't the culprits, the police got no further. It was as though they'd made one mistake and thrown their hands up in the air in defeat. Their reaction to the Halloween incident wasn't looking much better and they'd never found the person responsible for the February blackout. To say Rika was frustrated would be one hell of an understatement. That's why she was so deadset on finding her own answers now. That was why it really sucked that the café was closed!

"But I guess we don't know the cause. What if this isn't just another weird Anchorage thing? What if this is happening everywhere?" Rika mused. Unfortunately for everyone else, being stopped in her tracks like this had left her with a lot of unspent curiosity. "I guess, without the internet, we won't know until the daily papers let us know tomorrow, will we?" A pause. She considering something for a moment. "Is there any way I can help you out with...whatever you needed here?" Rika had her doubts but it felt right to offer.

THE FIRST THING ARISSA ALWAYS DID WHEN she woke up in the morning was check her socials and get online to look after engagement, brand deals, and anything else that could possibly need her attention. It was a bad habit, as a cup of coffee or reading the newspaper probably would have been a healthier morning routine, but she could be quite single-minded when it came to her work. Before her head even raised from the pillow, her eyes were on her phone screen, surprised to see not even a single text before her eyes landed on two words that had her immediately sitting up straight. No service. No matter the lengths she went through to fix this issue there seemed to be no solution. Restarting her phone, walking through different rooms in the luxury apartment, even removing and putting back her SIM card made no difference. Sitting down in her gaming chair in front of her desktop computer only proved to upset her further, resisting the slamming of her hands on the keyboard but managed to stop herself despite her emotions. In a last ditch effort, holding out some hope that the outage was restricted to the Marionette, she finds herself at the computer cafe, a place she never had to succumb to patronizing before. Despite the words of the woman beside her, Arissa still tries to desperately push open the door. "This cannot be happening." She refused to lose everything she had spent so much time building up over something as uncontrollable by her. "I know just last night I was able to get online." Her forehead laid against the glass of the cafe's door, finally in a state of unwilling acceptance. "Yes. Nothing is working. And I need the internet." The word was accentuated desperately, as if she was a starving animal unable to find a crumb of food. "They can't let this go on too long, right? Someone has to be doing....something about this!"

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & arissa. 」 #couldvebccn #recently rika's been in a constant state of like #'i've connected the two dots' 'you didn't connect shit' 'i've CONNECTED them' asdfghjkl #(also do not feel any pressure to match length i just don't know when to shut up lmaoooo)

[charmwisp]

WHERE: just outside the entrance to the chinchilla computer café WHEN: 22nd november, late morning WHO: anyone! ( @anchoragestarters ) CAP: 2/6 (as of 8th Jan)

Rika's ordeal had started in the morning. She'd made herself a quick breakfast – slice of toast with butter and jam, small bowl of miso soup, cup of coffee with far too much sugar and a dash of milk – and propped her laptop up on the front room's coffee table, determined to get through some personal research. She booted it up and, after what seemed a longer wait than normal, she pulled up the internet browser. Nothing. Whether the internet was down or just suffering though excruciatingly slow load times, it was obvious she wouldn't get anything done like this. But the Rika of just a few hours ago, she'd been a naive woman, blaming it on the Seal Harbour apartment complex. It wouldn't be the first time the place had caused problems. With a sigh, she'd pulled on her jacket and sped through the wide streets of Anchorage until she found what she needed. Surely, Rika would find the answers she needed. Somehow.

But, now, as she stood shivering outside the front door of the Chinchilla Computer Café, staring hopelessly at the sign on the door, she was forced to consider there might be more to this than she thought. It didn't seem like she was the only one inconvenienced either, judging from the way the person beside her was hovering outside the door. "It can't be closed!" she said a little too loudly, very almost wailing. If she were a more impulsive person and lacking in manners, Rika might have kicked the door in a fit of pique. Instead, she took a deep breath and calmed herself down, running her fingers through her dishevelled hair and brushing herself down, before turning to address the other person. "Do you know if this sign is new? As in, today new?" she asked. The confusion had her thinking aloud. She tried to peer in through the windows but the lights weren't on and there wasn't much to see. "Wait. Better question. Have you been having technology problems too?"

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 starter. 」 #i wasn't deliberately leaving my piece for this month's lottery until after the event closer but it ended up sparking an idea hehe <3 #anchoragestarters #cap is tentative for now! might increase it if i think it's needed but maybe i'll stick with 4 ASDSDF WE'LL SEE

[charmwisp]

WHERE: the raven house WHEN: midday, sometime early november WHO: mindy jix ( @nvghtcrrors )

For most people in town, the sordid turn that turned a Halloween party into a real life horror movie was probably something best left forgotten. Already, it seemed like everyone who wasn't scared out of their wits was keen to get back on with their lives. But not Rika. She hadn't stopped thinking about that night. It wasn't that she was haunted by it, although she had been terrified, but rather she was fascinated. Entranced, even. She'd arrived in Anchorage seemingly just as these mysterious events had start to spark off but this was the first time she'd seen any of it first-hand and it had left her desperate for answers. That horrid puppet's riddle, as awful as it was, had been turned over and over in her head countless times in the past week or so. This had set her to work trying to take notes on just about everything she could think of, every pattern and clue she could discover. Now, there was a growing collection of scribbles in her notebook.

Today was no different, besides the fact that there was one specific question on her mind. She'd come into work as usual and waited until her lunch break rolled in. After the Summer's surge of customers coming to her door and rambling away at her, like a sinner in a confessional booth, Rika had learned her lesson and put up a sign on the outer door; OUR PSYCHIC'S BANNED TOPICS: HALLOWEEN PARTY. A part of her wondered if that avalanche of questions she could have never hoped to answer was what had kept her from thinking about this mystery any sooner. She slipped out of the door and made her way to Mindy's space, the sound of her boots clipping against the floor likely enough to get the fortune teller's attention.

"Hey, uh, Mindy? You live in the trailer park, right?" she asked, slipping into the seat across from Mindy, the one usually reserved for customers, and setting her notebook down on her lap. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the weird cold calls people got a couple months back, would you?"

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 starter. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & mindy. 」 #I KNOW THE LAST PART MAKES THIS SOUND LIKE IT'S NOT ABT THE PARTY BUT ASDFGH #she's just trying to do her research <33 #also ignore me never giving my starters specific dates

[charmwisp]

"A closet cosplay! said Rika, clasping her hands together. "Don't look so ashamed, that's very resourceful." There was a part of her that regretted not taking the same approach, if only because it would saved her a bit of trouble. After all, she'd had to hunt out all the pieces of her costume by herself, even to the point of customising the tiger print dress. She had counted on it being so hard to find a dress that was yellow instead of the typical oranges and browns associated with the pattern. "Hm, it's been a long time since I've watched the movie but I did always like Kida best," she went on. "Her design's interesting, not very Disney princess-like at all! She stands out!"

Rika, for her part, had read plenty of manga growing up. It had been an easy form of entertainment as a teen though. Back home, there were plenty of serialised magazines to buy and keep up with and the individual volumes never cost very much. For years, her younger brothers would run to the convenience store after school every Monday to put their money together and snag a copy of Weekly Jump for the pleasant sum of ¥200-something (this didn't even amount to two whole US dollars). "It's called Urusei Yatsura! The creator's super famous too, she's done all sorts of stuff," said Rika. "Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, if you know those?" They clearly had different feelings about just how liberating a costume could be. "Really? I feel like it's easier to stay in costume when everyone else is in costume too. Don't you think regular clothes would make you stand out more? And most people are too busy having fun together to stare or anything." She paused, brow furrowed and she scratched at her temple with one finger. "Wait, so you don't mind if people approach you about your costume? I was pretty worried I'd freaked you out just now."

Suraj smiled, once again nervously and a little guiltily. “Oh no uhm… I mostly picked Milo because his outfit is pretty easy to put together. I found these glasses,” they said, pointing at the rounded fake glasses that were too big on their head. “I think my brother once went as Harry Potter… probably. And uhm… Audrey and Kida are my favourite characters,” they admitted. They did, however, not admit to having read a lot of fanfic because they had loved to learn how others further developed them beyond the movie. “Who uhm… who is your favourite from the movie?” they asked. 

“Oh, from Manga! That’s cool, I’ve only read a few, when I could find them in the library, sadly I haven’t heard of this one. What’s the Manga called?” they asked. Having a hobby like reading manga sounded expensive, even if there were websites, but that was often a painstaking search. Especially because they tended to lean towards the less popular ones. They weren’t the type to read Naruto or One Piece, too long, too popular. “Oh ha, yes, honestly… I feel like I would’ve been more chill if I could blend into the crowd, but that’s less possible with a costume on. At least… uhm, when it’s a costume of a character you like, you know you might get attention from people who also like that character or piece of media.”

@charmwisp

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & suraj. 」

[charmwisp]

Despite the convincing act of calm, the string of questions that followed cued Rika into the fact that this person was still panicking deep down. In her line of work, she needed to be good at looking for even the most subtle shift's in a person's body language. But it was just a guess. Maybe Rika had gotten all wrong. Maybe she was even projecting all of her own nerves onto somebody else. She didn't mind that idea, really. Treating the sense of dread taking form in the pit of her gut as something completely separate and disconnected from the rest of her was making it a little easier to see things clearly. "I doubt it has anything to do with the party," said Rika. "At least not this party specifically. There's a lot of people here." Although she was thinking aloud, Rika still trying to keep her voice to a lower volume. She'd be the first to admit she had no clue what was going on but she didn't want anyone to overhear her postulating, just in case it drew negative attention to her. (She'd caught wind of rumours about the note found with that girl's body; This one knew too much.) Still, Rika was just wittering on because it was the only thing she could manage to do. It was all nerves. Keep talking and you don't have to let reality sink in. "As for who, I'm sure the answer to that is in the riddle. And, well..." She hesitated here. "Maybe they don't want us to know. If they did, they wouldn't have gone with a confusing riddle." Sho had always said this town had a reputation for mystery. Rika just had know idea how deep that truth would run. There were things happening here that she had no hope of ever understanding, likely something that ran beyond the vastest stretches of her imagination.

Rika tried to slip away from the crowd, gesturing for the other person to follow along and holding up her phone as an answer to that particular question. A phone screen in a dark room was bright and she was still trying to avoid pulling any eyes her way. The change in pace had confused her a little, the way this person had moved so quickly from asking her to help save everyone to looking for a quick getaway but, if nothing else, Rika agreed that the emergency services was the best option for now. Even so, she sympathised. This stranger was obviously very attached to her child and the bravery of an adrenaline rush often wore off quick. Rika turned the phone and immediately dimmed the brightness but was dismayed to find that she only had a couple bars of signal. "Is there a window around I could rea—"

She was interrupted by a horrible grating sound. The screech of metal against metal. The crunch of plastic falling apart. The huge skeleton in the centre of the room looked as though it were collapsing, as if it had previously been held together by some dark magic and was now left as nothing but a husk. The arm hit the ground with a shuddering thud, a thundering BANG!, shaking the room so hard that Rika lost all grip on her phone. It skidded across the floor, the various charms attached rattling and jingling as it went, and was lost in the new wave of panic. Screams broke out across the room but Rika couldn't see a thing. What had happened over there? Had someone gotten hurt? She wanted to cry, she needed to scream, but her mind wouldn't stop long enough to let any of it happen. They needed to reach the outside world somehow, even if only by voice. She'd read enough locked room murder mysteries to figure that much out. Here, Rika turned to the distressed mother and gasped, "My phone. It's gone. Do you have anything we could use?"

As the stranger continued to speak, their attempts in reeling Rhodes back into reality are futile. Though the mother could sense the genuine concern and compassion in their words, all that mattered was getting out safely and going home to her family. It was stupid of her to take a night off. This outburst was proof of that. The cruel intentions of Anchorage, Alaska never slept and Halloween didn't hold exception.

She agrees only in words, intentions still brimming at the core of her chest. Thankfully she’s a good liar- a filthy habit taught by the Iversons in her blood. "You're right," Rhodes responded, her voice steady and calm, despite the turmoil spiking her nerves. She only hoped that the other’s assessment was weightless; she wanted to believe that this was just a random act of chaos- that things got too far out of hand, and it was a party trick gone wrong. If there was purpose behind it all, a motive eluded her– unless this was tied into Willow, which made the situation all the more sinister. Her stomach begins to twist in knots in fear of what could happen and those thoughts alone sent a fever chill up her spine. “You think they’re targeting something or someone specific. But... who, and for what purpose?" Rhodes' attention flitted across the room, taking in the surroundings with a discerning eye, “And what does any of this have to do with the party?” She wasn't accustomed to immersing herself in mysteries, to being a player in a narrative so steeped in clues and hidden motives. Her heart ached for the simple, comforting embrace of her daughter, Goldie. The desire to be at her side, to shield her from this inexplicable chaos, tugged at Rhodes' every thought. "I don't think I want to stick around for any of this. It's better if we call for help and sit it out, right? Do you have a phone we could use to call emergency services?"

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & rhodes. 」 #murder mention

[charmwisp]

Rika wondered, from their initial reaction, if she'd made a mistake in speaking to them; they seemed awfully nervous and, having been someone who'd been working through own anxieties, she'd hate to think she was pushing someone too far out of their comfort zone. The eagerness that followed when they did speak, however, was enough to put her mind at ease. "So, why'd you choose him to dress up as?" Rika asked, her curiosity genuine. "Is he a character you relate to, maybe? Or is it just that you like the character?" The latter was what had influenced her own costume; she didn't really much in common with the character she'd chosen.

"I'm Lum, the invader girl!" said Rika, striking a pose and then breaking into soft laughter. "She's a character from an old manga. Late 70s, early 80s. She's very famous in Japan but don't worry if you don't know her. You're not the only one!" Rika didn't expect a lot of people to recognise the character, even without factoring in the fact it wasn't a fully accurate outfit for practicality reasons. If nothing else, the party's host had known what she was dressed as and she supposed that was enough. "Whether or not anybody knows who I'm supposed to be, it's still kind of fun to show up looking like a totally new person, right?"

Suraj kept to the very borders of the party, hoping to blend in with the walls. Maybe. People would forget about them, that they were even there, move past them as if they were a statue. That would be easier, because there were a lot of familiar faces and they felt odd and awkward for it. Their arms crossed as they looked out onto the dancefloor. They were never sure where their anxiety came from, why it chose certain moments and not others to appear. They blinked a few times when someone accidentally ran into them, too preoccupied with their own misfortune to notice the way the other came in closer. 

“Oh uhm… it’s…” They looked surprised at the other. “Yes uhm, Milo from Atlantis,” they said, becoming slightly more animated. “Yes! I agree, a very underrated movie,” they exclaimed. A movie they’d seen about a dozen times. “Uhm… who are you dressed up as?” they decided to ask, finding themself unable to recognise the character - which wasn’t anything odd, they had that problem with a lot of costumes. Clearly they were into other types of media.

@charmwisp

#« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 replies. 」 #« 𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮。 » / 「 & suraj. 」