Application for Aoi/The Laughing Man (Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex)

[catcherandrye]

The door to the Sorting Room creaked open, and a dark haired young adolescent peaked around the corner. He paused, blinked, waited a while, then stepped in and closed the door behind him

Comments

[kingbandit]

This was one of the more interesting people that Jing had seen. The stillness, the pauses, everything, seemed rather unnatural. Even Vermouth had seemed more alive and she was only a doll. "Have you heard of Reviva?" he asked, curious, though this boy didn't look old enough to have been there and he didn't recall seeing anyone there other than the old King and his creations.

[catcherandrye]

He thought back, and came to the conclusion that he had not. "No," he said simply, blinking and returning to stillness. "Should I have?" he asks after a long pause. There is a hint of curiosity in his tone.

[kingbandit]

Jing shrugged. "Most people haven't heard of the things and places I know, so I guess not." He paused a moment. "It's a place where the water of eternal life existed. I was declared king there by the old king." A wry smile twisted his lips. "I prefer to shine for a moment, though."

[catcherandrye]

It sounded like a place of faerie tales. Aoi smiled. "I wish I did know of it." He sounded a little forlorn. "Mundane reality is forced on young ones far too quickly."

He considered mentioning the next part for a while, dropping his gaze from Jing's neck to his chest. "I have had my time in the spotlight," he scowled, "it was perverted by copycats who made the message of my actions obsolete."

[kingbandit]

"What is real?" Jing asked, tilting his head to the side. "What are dreams? What makes them different from each other?" From his pocket, he drew what looked like a glowing marble.

"I know of a whole city of those who try to be like me. They are amusing. But, why should actions have a meaning?" He smiled a little. "Does it make them more real?"

[catcherandrye]

"I like the way you think," he said. "Very philosophical. Perhaps I'll give you a good answer," he paused, "given time."

"However, the actions must have meaning, to prove others wrong, to bring injustice to light." His eyes hardened a little. This was something he felt strongly about.

[kingbandit]

Jing laughed. "What is right and what is just is not always the same thing. Laws are made by those who wish to keep things in their favour. Which do you support? What meaning do you want your actions to have?"

[catcherandrye]

"I agree that laws are made by those who wish to have things their way. All too well. Phonies who pretend to be just, to do right by the greater majority, often only have their own interests at heart, they piss me off." Indeed, to the point he'd kidnapped the head of Serano Genomics and tried to force him to confess his wrongdoings in person on live television at gun-point.

"You know what I'd do. I mean, if I had my goddamn choice? I'd just be a catcher in the rye and all. I want to protect the people who're in danger. I want to tell truth where there is lies. This is what is right. In my eyes, at least."

[kingbandit]

"In the rye?" Jing asked. He frowned and tilted his head a little, bringing a hand up to his chin. "I don't understand. Why in the rye?" He could understand the rest and figured that maybe this boy was something like Campari, that he'd lost something important and hadn't been shown how he still had it.

[catcherandrye]

"Salinger's character Holden thought once to be the catcher in the rye. Playing ball at the edge of the cliff-edge, his job was to catch the children before they got too close to the edge and fell off." He identified so very much with Holden, pity he was a fictional character.

((ooc))

[ugly_old_hat]

((Hi! We will have to ask you to change this tag, we're afraid. Please see the rule on fourth-wall breakage.

Holden Caulfield was once apped at Hogwarts Hocus. He's a playable character. Even if he hadn't been apped here before, though, discussing Catcher in the Rye would be fourth-wall breaky. Book clubs and other such references can make use of fictional books, but not of fiction from which characters here are taken or could be taken. ))

Re: ((ooc))

[catcherandrye]

(Woops, sorry. The problem is that Aoi has a bit of an obsession with the book. Is it okay for him to quote it, but not mention where it's actually from? I'll mirror this in narration as well.)

Re: ((ooc))

[ugly_old_hat]

(( Yep, it's fine for him to quote if he really needs to. It'd be better to avoid it entirely if at all possible, but the main thing is that he shouldn't discuss its fictionality with other people. To think about it, in his narration, is fine. ))

Re: ((ooc))

[catcherandrye]

(Okay, thank you.)

"When playing ball at the edge of the cliff-edge, one person is elected to catch the children before they got too close to the edge and fall off." He thought it was a perfect metaphor for protecting children from the dangers of adulthood, and the nastiness of the world in general.

He shrugged. "And rye is nice. I don't know why it's rye specifically."

[kingbandit]

((Good thing I'm home and reading all this...))

Jing considered a moment. "But, sometimes, the best things are found over the cliff. If done right, with the proper equipment, it's possible to soar from cliffs." He put his hands, with the glimmering marble, back in his pockets. "There's no point to being at the edge of the cliff if you don't have a choice."

[catcherandrye]

He shook his head. "I only want to protect the children. I think it would be nice. But yes, sometimes you have to jump off that cliff."