#retracedwill

[schleckermaul]

break has half a mind to tell oz to stop eating his carefully prepared pastries. he realizes fairly quickly that he only cares this time around because he put actual effort into getting a small display ready for the rainsworth mansion's little crafting session. to put it into different words, it's as though the brat was eating all the cake before morning tea had even begun.

   (not that you're usually supposed to have cake at morning tea ... that's never stopped him in the past, though.)

   ' you're like a ravenous beast, ' he quips easily, slapping oz's hand away as he tries to reach for the strawberry parfaits. ' i suppose growing up a noble doesn't exactly teach you patience, but it should have taught you table manners. '

   he's one to talk. swinging himself from the edge of the dining table that has been turned against another table to make for a bigger version, he squeezes oz's cheek once. ' i hope you've been feeding yourself. zhilan usually keeps the fridge stocked ... he should be here any second, so try not to eat it all before we even start. '

@retracedwill > @archaictold / crafting session!

[statiique]

@retracedwill

some circumstances of life might only be reasonably described as so tragic one might have to wonder when would be a reasonable time to start laughing, deluded by false hope of a better time. surely nothing can be so hopelessly without light?

the fate of young noblemen, much too tender to face such hardships of the world. intertwined with each other through circumstances and the past. each equally laughably hopeless.

he never stood a chance.

as a nightray he shouldn't succumb to doubts and fears-- walk with pride, for once shunned, the vultures may latch at any sign of weakness. but how could he? faced with strange surroundings, he would not even imagine belonging in the stories of the abyss. unsure, uncertain, unknowing. something poking at the very edges of his memory, urging to break forth. then falling back into the silence.

one who's existence had already perished. one who should no longer be here.

"..." a shivering sigh leaving from lips parting. so very alone. "speaking of which..." despite having said nothing to relate those words to, the sound of his own voice was the only closure elliot currently had to cling to. "i wonder what happened to them. leo. and the vessalius brat."

[floralalchemy]

@retracedwill

albedo has a particularly bad habit of hiding himself among the shelves of the library deep in the forest, sometimes losing track of the time that has passed him by until someone finds him with his nose burrowed into a book.

though granted he doesn’t take note at first of the young man reaching to grab something from the shelf nor that he’s blocking the way, until several moments later when he sidesteps away with what he’s reading still open in his hand as if he’d hardly stopped reading for even a second.

“apologies, i barely noticed someone had joined me in this little corner.” he says offhandedly, obviously distracted.

[isolaradiale]

hdjskss my bad! reapping oz vessalius from pandora hearts, please! everything can still be found via /app

Welcome back to haunted Isola Radiale, Oz!

You will be housed in TOWNHOUSE 223!

You will retain everything you were given in your previous stay.

NOTE: As you were removed in an AC, you have one week to make two in-character posts else you will be considered inactive once more.

Enjoy your stay!

⋆ Aspidiske

[hanabisays]

she is a loser (affectionate) -oz

what’s the first thing your muse noticed about mine? @retracedwill

"Wow! IF anyone's the loser, it's going to be Oz." She's only kidding. Oz is a great guy! "THE BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGEEEEEEST loser."

[roshield]

flower! :]

actions speak louder than words

flower, sender gives receiver a flower.

He seems to be attracting a crowd today, and they all seem to be wanting to put flowers in his hair. He's not sure what to make of this, either.

The current culprit is a young man, seemingly amused by the flowers in Clive's hair that he puts another one in his hair. A sigh leaves the outlaw, as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not a vase." He finally says, tone gruff as always. "Don't you have something better to do?" It's not that he's mad about all of this, he's just so confused as to why this is happening in the first place.

[redhorseman]

War glanced up at the stranger; or...down rather. "Hrm....like me?" Now that got him to thinking. Death, Strife, and Fury. They had vague physical similarities, but in terms of personality, they were quite the variable sibling bunch. They all brought something to the table, for better or worse.

"I suppose...you could say that at one time, my sister and I held similar temperaments, or lack-there-of." Rage, violence, and anger of course. "Is that what you were referring to?"

Oz, to his credit, does finish the rest of his soup. It definitely wasn't something he'd willingly eat again if he could help it, but he's very certain Alice would have enjoyed it. It was simple enough, at least, that he probably didn't need to ask for a recipe.

"Oh, I see." Oz nods, a polite hum in the back of his throat. "Are your siblings all like you?" He ventures, innocently curious.

[deadmandraw]

anyways hello hello! I'm Kal/Kalayaan, 21 yrs old, he/they. I'm Filipino-American and a vet tech student! i'm new to rping on tumblr but not in general! allen, danny, and oz have been muses of mine since i was a kid, very excited to be writing with everyone here :]

If I'm not on here, you can contact me via discord very easily or through my other blogs ( @ghostbxsted & @retracedwill )

[schleckermaul]

as he tends to, break thinks about the fact that he should have guessed. whether the brat knew about the reputation of this particular branch before travelling here, or he didn't and simply followed his gut ... either way, they ended up in the most typical place they could have.

   it is not the abyss. it's the echo. perhaps that's why oz picked it, the name sparking some sense of nostalgia in him. it's not the abyss, but it looks like it, break knows that much from mad hatter's description, and feels quite similar, disorganized as it is. the gallery has an eery atmosphere at best, only worsened by the new monsters around.

   the first thing he hears is the slice of the scythe.

three of them. f̵o̶u̵r̸.̵ ̴one above. a slow and steady whisper, somewhat adjusted after both mad hatter and break needed some getting used to each other again. oz won't have that problem, considering. though, perhaps, the influx of power feels a bit strange.

   break changes his mind on that when he turns the corner to join the brat in battle, and a single twirl of the scythe destroys three of the black monsters surrounding oz. the fourth, however, R̷E̵M̵A̸I̴N̶S̵.̶

   getting a running start, break keeps rushing ahead without pause, and with a small yell, some of mad hatter's power, and a foot against oz's back, launches himself into the air. his sword swings as he cuts each tentacle, until the chattering stops, and he lands not so gracefully, his right leg giving out under him.

   skidding on his knees a few steps on the cool floor, he looks back unimpressed— and clearly pissed.

   ' why weren't you at the mansion? the city is closed off. there's no need for you to be walking around by your lonesome. '

@retracedwill / uh oh (funny uncle scolding)

[isolaradiale]

elaborated upon oz's healing factor upon request! his app can be found via /app or the sidebar menu!

Welcome to scenic Isola Radiale, Oz!

You will be housed in HOUSE 111.

You will retain your healing factor to heal up to five minor to moderate wounds per day and will receive a wooden scythe.

– mod pleiades.

[schleckermaul]

oz has always been stronger than him. to watch the boy's journey throughout their short time of knowing each other has been nothing less than inspiring. he'd wanted for them to find joy, in the end. and it seems that they did, didn't they? despite having to leave.

break, perhaps you are far weaker than i expected. but, i think you must be far stronger than you think you are.

   thinking about it now, these children have taught and saved him plenty of times. and it's embarrassing, feels raw and naked on his skin, his muscles, his bones. yet the smile on his lips comes easier than it ever has before, no fake cheeriness to it. there is a burden, heavy. the weight of dying when he hadn't wanted to. but there is also a lightness in knowing things had to end, and that there's peace in the way it did, after all they went through.

   to be able to rest. it's something he's never really thought about before, always on the run.

   break sighs. and still, he's learning, isn't he?

   oz asks about zhilan, and it's a welcome interruption. he has enough to grapple with as is, and introducing zhilan to anybody from back home is something that equally hasn't touched his mind. hearing the grin in oz's expression, break snorts, hair falling into his face with a hearty chuckle. how'd he come to live here with him?

   ' he lives here because i invited him. '

   how detailed, break. ' he has his own room, as will you. ' he doesn't have to mention that zhilan shares the master bedroom with him, does he? ' be nice to him. as much as a brat can ... i don't think i would have made it quite this far without him. he has a kind soul, perhaps to his own detriment. and he's certainly not prepared for the likes of you. or myself, for that matter. '

   stirring in his cup, break adjusts the bangs over his left eye.

   ' as you might imagine, i've not told him of my past. i'd appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself. for now. '

There's no smart comment he has, in response to that. Even if it's probably what's expected of him from the hatter; the witty words don't come. Thinking about those lights, about the Core, about the reality of everything that was and will ever be... there's a heavy weight, to those kinds of thoughts.

But he's not... sad. About how things ended; the fact that they had to. He knows what sorrow should feel like. That, he's certain of. It doesn't quite fit. Neither of them should feel sorry for how things ended.

"All tales have to end eventually. I think... the ending we got was the best outcome. That it was the happiest ending we could have, considering... everything." As if finally embarrassed by how sincere he's being, he also averts his gaze, suddenly interested in the wall decor. There are other things he could say, he thinks, maybe. But they're not needed, and despite everything he wouldn't even know where to begin. This should suffice. It's what the hatter needed to hear, at least.

He doesn't feel particularly different speaking about the tale's end, now that he has. Should he? He doesn't know. It happened. It's over.

A shift in tone, airy and light, as he tries to bring back some levity into their conversation. "Without it, the happier endings couldn't exist, if you think about it." He waves a hand in the air, gesturing vaguely. "And with the opportunity to live again and make all sorts of new friends, maybe the ending we're in right now isn't so terribly... mis-fortunate? I mean,"

The nearly audible grin that slips into his voice could put a certain cat to shame.

"You mentioned this Zhilan person. How'd this new friend come to live here with you?"

[retracedwill]

RETRACEDWILL || Oz Vessalius of Pandora Hearts

Affiliated with Isola Radiale, written by Kal.

[ Application ][ Stats ][ Rules ][ Current Threads ]

Chains: Beings born from the Abyss and its twisted, warped power, each possessing a range of otherworldly powers and abilities far beyond that of regular humans. Chains can appear as a variety of different things, such as animals or toys—a select number even having formerly been human—but are noticeably distinct from the mundane in the Abyssal power they radiate. Occasionally some Chains will display an amount of sentience, though this varies between individual Chains. Ultimately, all Chains exist to serve, protect, and please the Intention of the Abyss—the being who supposedly controls the entirety of the Abyss.

The Bloodstained Black Rabbit: aka "B-Rabbit". Oz's true self. Originally assumed the form of a giant anthropomorphic rabbit, but over time Jack Vessalius' body has become his own, and so this transformation no longer occurs. One of the most powerful Chains in existence, Oz is capable of destroying other Chains (including the ones maintaining the border between the material world and the Abyss) and the nearly invulnerable Baskervilles. Over one hundred years prior to the story's beginning, Oz was born when Lacie Baskerville presented the Core of the Abyss with a pair of identical rabbit dolls, one kept by Lacie and the other by the Core. Following Lacie's death, he became the companion of her twin daughters, Alice and the Intention of the Abyss.

The Abyss: A dimension parallel to the material world. It's landscape is comparable to both a broken down toybox and the ruins of world long since abandoned, in the center of a vast pool of darkness. From the depths, Chains and their immense supernatural powers are born. The nature of the Abyss as it is seen for the majority of the story is chaotic and unfathomable. Time is out of order, in which a person entering may find decades have passed by the time they exit, space seems to warp at random, and gravity at times being nonexistent within the dimension. This is not actually the Abyss' natural state, but a result of the Intention's power spinning out of control.

The Core: She is the microcosm of the universe, referred to as "the blueprint of the world." She was created and is controlled by Jury and her kind, who observe the dimensions as "Tales" from start to finish in order to make sure that each comes to a different end so that it can be preserved in the "Library." The very personification of the Abyss itself. Her fear of further isolation following Lacie's execution caused the Core to retreat into the Intention of the Abyss's body, causing the Abyss to grow dark and her power to be significantly diminished. This allowed for the Tragedy of Sablier, an event in which the "Chains" distinguishing the material world and the Abyss were severed. Had the Tragedy successfully dragged the world into the Abyss, the Core would be destroyed and the Tale made to End. This was a great trauma for the Core, causing the Tragedy to be engraved into the Hundred Cycles and made to repeat.

The Will: aka the Intention of the Abyss. Upon Lacie's death, the Core raised the sisters as her own, becoming the surrogate mother to the children. Her body remaining in the Abyss, the Intention of the Abyss took the Core into her body, which caused the light of the Abyss to darken. Aside from the Core and her sister, the Intention was completely alone, and would switch bodies with her sister to appear the material world from time to time.

Jack Vessalius: His obsession with Lacie led to the Tragedy of Sablier, and the birth of Oz's existence as a Chain made to destroy all other Chains. However, the Core of Abyss was too thoroughly disgusted with Jack to permit him a true death and thus salvation in the Hundred Cycles. He was instead cursed to age circuitously, backwards from his age at "death" into an infant, then back again indefinitely. Horrified by his condition, Jack extensively falsified the circumstances of the Tragedy before faking his own death. After approximately one hundred years of this cycle, the last remnants of his soul soon to be burnt out, Jack encountered Xai Vessalius and manipulated him to do his bidding. He utilized Xai's sense of duty to the Vessalius Dukedom to have him swap Jack's body which harbored Oz's soul with his stillborn son. He acted in a deliberately suspicious manner to have Xai discover his true nature and actions before anyone else and thus cast Oz into the Abyss during his Coming-of-Age Ceremony. And he carefully orchestrated Oz meeting Alice to regain his B-Rabbit powers, and Alice pursuing her lost memories to regain the fragments of his soul held within those memories. All of this in service of eventually regaining the power he needed to fulfill his ultimate goal of casting the world into the Abyss. In the end, Oz claimed Jack's body as his own, and joined the Hundred Cycles while the last of Jack's essence crumbled to dust.

The Tragedy of Sablier: An incident that nearly destroyed the world. The old capital of the Dukedoms, Sablier was sucked into the Abyss during Jack's attempt to join the two parallel worlds together, as a result of his obsession with reuniting with Lacie and bringing the world she loved essentially driving him to madness.

[isolaradiale]

y'know what? we ball. this is kal sliding into the inbox again asking to reserve JASON TODD from DC, if i may! primary ooc contact is through my other tumblr blogs (ghostbxsted, retracedwill, deadmandraw, enfantdelumiere)!

Hey there! Unfortunately we require OOC contact to be sent with a new application or reserve, even if you already have a character accepted in the group. This is so that we can make sure we have your current OOC contact on hand in case it has changed.

Feel free to resend your reserve along with that contact either in the message or in a separate ask!

– the island stars

[schleckermaul]

' betrayal from the rabbit that's living in my house? ' low shot from break this time. this is looking like an own goal.

"Absolutely not allowed."

[hanabisays]

She's SO glad that he laughs, because that was beyond embarrassing. Him laughing lessens the embarrassed feeling and she ends up laughing with him. Her stomach hurts, but it HURTS even more when Oz's OWN stomach makes the most monstrous sound it can EVER make. The two of them are pretty small, they're not that different in height and so, this whole situation makes it that much funnier.

"HEHEHEH!" Hanabi gasps, allowing air to fill her lungs. AH, that was such a GREAT laugh.

"I agree! Let's go get something to eat." Smiling, Hanabi then says, "You can just call me Hanabi. I think we've already pass the stranger path. Let's---Let's be friends, okay?"

Oz was having SO much fun. When was the last time he had so much fun, and was able to just... be a kid? Too long, frankly. He doesn't want it to end.

He opens his mouth to speak — and is caught off by the growl of a ferocious beast... Nope, it was just Hanabi's stomach. He can't help the laugh he barks out, nearly doubling over as he clutches his stomach. Seems he can't quite stop laughing, either. Then his own stomach growls. Even louder. Much louder than is reasonable for someone with such a small frame, and that sends him into yet another laughing fit.

"PFFFT— hehahah, my goodness! Having so much fun works up quite an appetite, doesn't it, miss?" He manages between giggles, straightening back up and wiping a tear from his eye. "How about we grab something to eat, before heading back to the apartments? Shouldn't walk back on an empty stomach."

[archaictold]

   ❝ ... Marriage... ❞ He finishes for him, incredulous. The word is weighted, like it's taken a seat in the space between them, much how Zhilan has turned in place and plopped his back against the counter. Marriage, his brain echoes urgently. Marriage, it emphasizes once more. It's so sudden, what does he even do with such a life-changing possibility? The answer? Grab the wicker lid of the bamboo steamer and hide his brightly blushing face in it.    ❝ Ohhh, I'm SUCH a fool! Why didn't it ever occur to me to ask about a meaning or—or what the intention of it was! ❞ Bonk! Bonk, bonk, bonk lightly goes the lid against his forehead.

   ❝ Oz, this is just dreadful! This means I've left his proposal unanswered for months..! ❞ What's worse, he still doesn't know what answer he could possibly have for Xerxes! Alright, think. Start small...    ❝ We'd have to... discuss joint finances, for one thing... ❞ Mumble, mumble, mumble... All he's doing is debating himself.    ❝ My brother would simply never approve, I just told him we were moving in together not even three weeks ago..! ❞ In an abrupt display of embarrassment, the scholar emerges from hiding and flaps the wicker lid around the space in front of him with a whine.    ❝ Mmgh, it's too soon! ❞

   ❝ It's much too soon! For—for marriage, anyway. I'd have to tell him that... ❞ Dumbly, Zhilan stares down at the lid to his bamboo steamer and remembers it's a tool for cooking, not for an outburst.    ❝ And... As it stands, I- I have a meal to make first. ❞ Now if only he can tap back into that rhythm for cooking. Though he's certainly trying, it's definitely absentminded. Quietly, Zhilan cracks another egg into the bowl. ...    ❝ Erm. You don't think it'd let him down, do you? Not to trouble you, it's only that, you know him quite well and all... ❞

...Oh. Oh. Oz wasn't expecting the man to leap to that conclusion. He's fairly certain that's what's happening here, that is, but he's actually not too sure. He's never been to a wedding before and he's not too familiar with what the courtship leading up to it looks like. As much as he likes the idea of romance — he's never actually put much thought into researching it before.

He faintly recalls that it involves giving lots of gifts over a period of time. Maybe blue feathers were included in that ritual in certain parts of the Dukedoms? Who knows! He doesn't.

The slight confusion doesn't show on his face. The kid maintains that same cheery, perhaps overly, and delighted smile on his face. Clasps his hands neatly in front of him, closing his eyes so the sheer amusement he feels won't possibly show.

"...Well," He starts, voice calm and smooth and almost sickeningly sweet. "If you were to do that, I'm pretty sure it'd mean you return his feelings and sentiment. And, you know the saying? First comes love, second comes..." He trails off with a giggle, a hand moving to cover his mouth as he does.