what route do you take? land or sea?

[lacalamite]

Raphaël Cadieux

Outdome team primary scout and sniper

I have two rules, they are very important.

Don't Be a Dick.

Don't Godmod.

I am very tired.

[trashdogpenultimate]

i am NOT a bite risk. do not listen to them

[calcium-supplement]

im a bite guarantee

[lacalamite]

. . .

Raph would enjoy be ambivalent about the chair. watching can be just as entertaining without the mess.

[galasgamingcorner]

Clair Obscur Scenery | Lumiére

[lacalamite]

a quick and poorly written ramble about Raphaël Cadieux

Raphaëls parents were outrunners for the outdome, a team of two that would scout out interesting things for the other, larger teams to recover.

he's around 5 when they simply don't come back from a routine outing.

he's orphaned early, taken in by another outrunner that does his absolute best to encourage Raphaël to apprentice to something else. he's quiet, a quick study, burned through books like they would cease to be if he stopped reading... unfortunately, he's also horribly stubborn, so no, he apprenticed with the outdome teams and steadily fell into a similar role as his parents. but he wasn't exactly scouting for new things to bring back he was looking for them, all the shit he found was just an extra bonus.

and he does. he does find them.

when he's around 19, he finds them, and that also happens to be the closest he ever came to dying, because the nevron that killed them is still there. a lone, mostly dead noir, and he's a 19 year old full of rage so he does try to kill it because its barely moving and he has no idea how powerful those things actually are.

it can't move, it's missing a hand, but it blinds him all the same, the rest of the party at the ship already fearing the absolute worst, that he's gone and gotten (presumably) killed just like his parents, especially those that are still around from when they went missing. but then they see him dragging himself along the shoreline, shoes gone, bleeding, eyes closed tight, and using his feet to keep him on track, one in the water, the other feeling ahead to make sure he's not walking into the sea or something worse

yet no matter how hard they tried to figure out what happens, he doesn't tell them where it is or what it is, because he's hellbent on taking it out himself.

he's stubborn enough that this happens two more times over the next year. he recovers with the help of pictos healing, goes back out with new weaponry and pictos. damages the noir but has to retreat because no matter how far off he seems to shoot from that fuckers light still seems to reach him.

when he manages to finally take it out the victory feels hollow. this thing killed his parents, it killed others before them. not expeditioners just outrunners, untrained people doing their best to bring back what lumiere needed to survive

he sits himself down right next to the bodies of it and his parents, fires off a flare and waits for the rest of the team to come to his location to collect what he'd found. while he remains an outrunner his frustration at the losses and damage caused by nevrons grows, it doesn't take long for him to sign up for the expedition.

[lacalamite]

if you want a feral expeditioner that bites anything that moves close to his face and is too stubborn for his own good, raph is your man. all for the low low price of free, just like this post for more info.

[littlehoundthings]

"Three days of a seven day recovery period," Ashe pointed out with a deep sigh. "Thank you for respectin' me enough te last three days, I suppose? Should I have a bed or a casket ready for you when you get back?"

[lacalamite]

" Seven days is excessive. Can you give me a reason I should let this team go without me when we both know that every warm body makes a difference on these excursions. " He stops walking then, hand lifting to pull his glasses free so he can wipe them down with his shirt.

" Two reasons. "

[littlehoundthings]

Almost as if that's happening right now. "Glad you can speed run our conversation. Maybe I'm just hopeful that one day people listen to their damn medic."

[lacalamite]

" I'm upright, my vision is -- " Well. He stops himself there, teeth grinding as he slows his march towards Lumieres edge. " -- singular. And I did listen to you, for three days. That might be a 33 record. "

[lacalamite]

🔪🔪🔪 it doesn't come to him, not at first . drifting in &. out of consciousness as he does, he is only afforded the bleak darkness of the void behind his eyelids . it's not a safe place, the cyan branches above once meant to be a haven for the expedition— their rally point . &. yet ... one can only stave off exhaustion so much ... it's finally, after hours of bleary eye blinks that scout's mind cannot keep itself awake, &. sleep claims him, greets him with a cruel dream .

❝ ... hey, raph ? ❞ that's his voice, isn't it ? hearty, hale, ( alive ), just the slightest twinge of something that draws tonality towards something mischievous . he's got something in his hands, when you look at him— what are those ..? rings ? two on one finger seems illogical when the rest of his are bare, yet he seems to read your mind as he twists one of the two off, idly tracing the curve of it . ❝ need your opinion on somethin' ... ❞ &. impatient man that he is, doesn't even wait for your response before he continues . ❝ what'dya suppose ... raphaël arsenault ? léo cadieux ? which one's nicer on the tongue ..? ❞

you know you speak, you feel the words in your throat, but you hear nothing . just as soon as it comes, the dream ends, as a reverie might: the light fading back into that familiar darkness before reality claims you once more . he's here with you still ... hanging there at your side . &. the ring on his finger is there too— only the one .

[grcdientshift]

Gustave can't help but laugh in mock offense. "What have I done this time, Raph?"

[lacalamite]

" Not this time. I'm still frustrated from last time. And don't pout at me, I'm immune. " Even as he makes this claim to immunity, Raph knows that it's not quite true. The other expeditioner had a very powerful and impressive pout, but frequent exposure had lessened it's potency.

[littlehoundthings]

"Well that's rude. What if I had somethin' important to say?" He doesn't, but shhhh.

[lacalamite]

" You'll say 'don't'. I'll say 'I'm gonna'. And then you'll huff and follow me all of the way to the pier. " A simple statement. Almost as if it's happened before.

[lacalamite]

" Yes. I'm ignoring you. "

[aclashofcaps]

[thunderousmemes]

𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇 — 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

(quiet storms, heavy hearts, and reaching out even when the hands shake)

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇

“I didn’t want to be alone today… can I stay here awhile?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong, I just feel heavy.”

“Please don’t ask if I’m okay. I won’t be able to lie convincingly.”

“Everything feels too loud. Can we just sit in silence?”

“I’m trying, I really am… but today is hard.”

“Can you just hold me? I don’t need answers, just… quiet.”

𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐄

“I don’t need fixing. Just don’t leave.”

“Tell me something good. Anything. Just distract me.”

“I don’t want advice… I just want you to listen.”

“Please don’t treat me like I’m fragile.”

“I know you’re worried. I just don’t know how to explain what’s happening.”

“Can you walk with me? I don’t trust myself to be alone right now.”

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐄𝐍𝐃

“I haven’t slept. Every time I close my eyes, it gets worse.”

“It’s 3AM and I’m still awake… talk to me?”

“I hate nights like this. Everything hurts more.”

“I didn’t mean to call this late, I just… needed a voice I trust.”

“Can we stay up together? Just until my mind settles.”

“I keep overthinking. Say something—anything—before I spiral.”

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 & 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄

“I can’t breathe. Stay with me—please.”

“Don’t touch me yet. Just talk to me until it passes.”

“I didn’t know who else to call. I’m scared.”

“Sit with me on the floor… it helps.”

“Can you count with me? I just need to focus on something real.”

“Hold my hand. Tell me I’m still here.”

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

“I think something’s wrong with me.”

“I don’t want to burden you, but I can’t keep pretending.”

“I’ve been hiding this for a long time.”

“I’m not okay, but I want to be. I just don’t know how.”

“I need help… but I don’t know where to start.”

“You said you’d stay. Did you mean it?”

𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄, 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 & 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘

“Today was better. Not perfect, just… better.”

“Thank you. For not giving up on me.”

“I’m trying new things. I just wanted you to know.”

“I think I laughed today. Really laughed.”

“You make it easier. I don’t understand how, but you do.”

“Stay close. I’m learning how to breathe again.”

[littlehoundthings]

@lacalamite: "Due to personal reasons, I will be going completely off the fucking rails."

"Please don't," Ashe begged tiredly as he rubbed his face in distress. Why was every expeditioner he knew absolutely bat shit insane at the worst of times-- and why did that usually work to make sure they came out to the other side.

"At least you warned me this time so I'm ready t'patch you up when shit hits the fan."

[lacalamite]

" I survived a Noir before, I can survive going off the rails. " Though, even as he says this Raph can hear Leo's voice in the back of his head making some snide comment about how he'd never been on the rails in the first place. It's an accurate enough comment that Raph is glancing over his shoulder to make sure his partner isn't actually there shaking his head in the same disappointment.

No. Leo was off doing something else today. Good.

" Besides, a lot has to go wrong before I take any damage. "

[lacalamite]

it's not sunday anymore but it's very important to note that if you put anything in front of raphaels face he will bite it. it's instinct, he's bitten the curator before he can't be stopped.

[lacalamite]

does raph survive the beach? yes!

and no.

he survives by being the last off the ship, by being thrown out to sea in the ensuing calamity, and washing ashore later. he does not however survive losing leo, and stays behind to 'cover the teams retreat' to the floating waters, with the promise to follow and help with path-finding,