(may catch-all) when devilman no uta comes on

[apocalypticist]

WHO: Ryo Asuka + various
WHERE: Around
WHEN: May
WHAT: Quests, logs, etc, as to avoid spamming the comm.
WARNINGS: Geese murderizing, monster fighting, Ryo enjoying bloodshed a little too much probably

Specific prompts in the comments! If you want to quest with Ryo or thread with him, hmu at archeops for plotting or PM me!

Comments

[apocalypticist]

Precisely. There's no challenge.

[ he looks at the board for a long moment, thinking and mulling over his next move. so far, dextera's moves have matched what the ai would do, but this is only the opening stage of the game. it's only a matter of time before his human opponent deviates from the patterns and computer algorithms ryo is familiar with.

dextera's pawn gets captured when ryo moves his queen from d1 to d4. also i'm awful at chess so maybe we should aggressively handwave the moves from now on. ]

[passio]

[ and deviate he does, eventually.

dextera knows he’s at a distinct disadvantage, playing black and playing a sicilian, so he does what he can to avoid ryo getting control of the board. it’s fun playing against someone like this—it’s fun, he thinks with some mild surprise, playing with ryo.

he doesn’t feel nervous or intimidated or servile when he’s sitting on the other side of the board. about halfway through the game, they’re still evenly matched, and dextera catches ryo’s attention with a content look on his face.

he gestures first to ryo, then signs. ]

Skilled.

[apocalypticist]

[ once the deviation begins, things get more difficult for ryo. it's actually a little exciting, facing an opponent whose moves don't follow the default set of patterns, but outplaying the human is harder than outsmarting the gullible ai. ]

Thank you. [ ... ] You're good at this.

[ he manages to stay about evenly matched a little longer, but as they approach the endgame stage he's no longer able to keep up with dextera, making a miscalculation that puts him in a very precarious situation. ]

[passio]

[ dextera pounces on it.

at the beginning of the game, he might not have been able to will himself as a person to be so bold in a match with ryo, but by the time that they reach the endgame, dextera finds himself becoming a little more relentless. chess does this kind of thing to him—makes him more confident, since it's low-stakes and his skill level is plenty high. ]

...

[ he does glance up to ryo after that move, though, wondering if ryo can see the mistake he made. ]

[apocalypticist]

You shouldn't have done that.

[ there's a hint of a smile tugging at his lips as he moves one of the pieces to take advantage of the opening dextera so kindly left him. ]

[passio]

[ this is fun. they’re having fun, and dextera thinks he can see a smile pulling at ryo’s mouth—something genuine, which is truly incredible.

dextera smiles too, trying to hide it by ducking his head. even though he just set up a problem for himself, he’s still sure he can get out of it. he never imagined an afternoon with ryo would look like this, though, the two of them playing a game of chess and actually enjoying themselves.

he hopes ryo is enjoying himself, anyway. ]

Heh.

[ a quiet laugh, for no other reason than he feels like it. that little opening set him back a few moves, but ultimately, he’s able to place ryo’s king in check—one more move should do it. ]