reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] countryclub2023-01-25 12:08 am
Entry tags:

JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME!

JANUARY 2023 TDM
Another month, another test drive meme! Our test drive memes are open to anyone interested - regardless of whether or not you join our game!

All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.

Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.

Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.

If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: Bloody Candles]
[Image Two: Anatomically Correct Chocolate Hearts in a Coffin]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Woman in restaurant, dressed in pink, surrounded by mannequins.]
[Image Two: Creepy looking mannequin staring]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Hands touching and holding at sunset]
[Image Two: Girl Screaming with her Mouth Fused Shut.]

A TYPICAL ARRIVAL WITH A SWEET TWIST
WHEN: Last Week of January through all February

WHERE: The Shores, Boardwalk and throughout Trench

CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild Body horror for arrival, additional warnings for Blood Bonds and the Chocolatier:
* Blood Bonds: Blood ceremony, bodily ceremony, telepathic/empathetic connections, possible forced/coerced relationships.
* Choclatier: Themes of temptation (non-sexual and/or sexual), addiction, blood sacrifice, severely warped personality/reality including temporary amnesia, inability to use body, paranoia, vomiting organs, homicidal feelings, mild body horror.



For those who are arriving, they are fortunate. The worst of the ice and chill of the Season of Bone is fading. Any ice flows are breaking up and it is safe for little squidlings to come to shore, wakers present to help them with cups of hot cocoa and heavy robes to ward off of the cold. Nothing, however, removes the almost bleak and dreary state of the world. All of the beach seems washed with a sort of white that remindes the mind of bleached bone. Transformation from squid to the sleeper's natural form is slower, because of the cold, but does not pose any real difficulty.

Warm Food is prepared in the form of stews, complemented by bread that tastes heavily of mushroom. Unlike prior years, no roses are given to the new sleepers, though there are roses found throughout the city of trench. All of them, however, are black as midnight and there is an ominous sense to them should a sleeper think to reach out and pluck the blooms. Should someone do so, they will feel an increased paranoia about their relationships for the next few days and the natives of Trench will give them a wide berth, refusing to sell them anything at the shops and shooing them away, though there is no outward sign of anything being amiss. Whispers in town hint that the Doorway is in a poor mood this year.

Nevertheless, the patron pthumerian of the month can be seen around Trench. Bonding Rituals remain very popular this month and many seek to curry her presence during their rites. She shows no outward sign of discomfort or disapproval, yet there seems to be more blood than usual on her ivory blade as she stands in silent vigil wherever a ritual is performed.

Anyone who yearns for a bit of sweetness that they might associate with the waning chill of winter will find themselves meeting a sudden and disturbing fellow (CW: Some Blood/Disturbing Content in some chocolates. Please check warnings in prompt). The chocolatier, who was seen in past years, still wanders about and appears to any who yearn for a happier time in the otherwise gloom of the month. His offer is simple. A little bit of blood, for a little bit of sweet. What is the harm in it? Why his sweets even have mystical properties to make life interesting!

FAQ:
* The Chocolatier option remains identical to what happened in 2023, and is available throughout the last week of January and into February. The chocolates offered have not changed this year.
* Blood Bonds are available all year round, and the method of getting one is easily learned from any local in Trench, or from a Sleeper. While they can be performed every year, they are more powerful if performed in this month (Player discretion) and the Doorway is more likely to be present to bless them personally.

WAIT FOR ME
WHEN: Anytime in February

WHERE: Anywhere in Trench

CONTENT WARNINGS: Body Horror, Loneliness, Depression elements, Being Trapped in One's Own Body, Psychological Horror



Sleepers have been working to put an end to the strange plague afflicting pthumerians. Still, while there has been success, something seems off this month nevertheless. Even if she is not ill, the Doorway appears to be in a foul mood and it is felt by many. There is a moody, brooding sense that permeates the whole of the city, as if something were supposed to happen that did not. It's the awful sense that one gets when they expect to meet up with someone for something important and, without warning, that person does not show and there's no explanation. That light gnawing at the pit of the stomach when worry or irritation sets in grows steadily worse. Is this about someone specific, or a general malaise? It's hard to tell what sets it off. For some, it comes waiting by the coast in the hopes a loved one arrives this month. For others, maybe someone was just busy and ended up late for lunch. It might not even have a visible cause.

Whatever happens, the dreadful reality settles in almost immediately. As they wait, the person begins to feel their body stiffen. It does not feel like the lockjoint disease, but rather a sudden and whole-body hardening of the person. Within seconds, they feel their body solidifying into a state almost like a mannequin. Unable to move, they can feel a dread cold leeching into their heart as they are forced to watch, to wait for whoever was supposed to be there. Why aren't they here? The longer that they are there, the colder that they feel, and if they are in a secluded place it could feel quite perilous. However, no monsters can seem to harm the person, their body nigh indestructible. The frigid state, however, denies them the ability to sleep or even blink, forced to watch the world as a prisoner in their own mind.

Palebloods are somewhat fortunate in this state. All palebloods trapped this way find themselves able to telepathically communicate with loved ones or people close, regardless of distance. Their voices, however, are always in a state like the wail of a ghost regardless of their mental state. For anyone else, they can manage to mentally connect through the network to plead for help using an omni on their person, though only in Text form until they are released. So, at least they are not trapped without escape, unless by chance they forgot their omni, but you wouldn't be so foolish as to leave home without your phone would you?

HOW TO CURE THE CONDITION:
Several options exist. Anyone with a "Blade of Mercy" (a gift given last February) could use it to sever whatever connection caused the person to feel like they are waiting, though that might very well sever the emotional connection entirely! The very person that they are waiting for could arrive, in which case a kiss (on the cheek, on the lips, gallantly on one knee to the back of the hand. Whatever works for you!) or an apology for tardiness should suffice to warm the heart. If there is no source, or if that person cannot arrive (or chooses not to), any friend or even new acquaintance can try to help the person not feel quite as alone in their waiting through some reasonable means. Any cure-all for corruption will also help with this condition.

The locales do not have any idea officially how to cure the condition, but they may suggest some of the above simply because it seems helpful at the time. At the worst, the condition does eventually fade with time.

FAQ:
* This can happen in a public location, or entirely remote, wherever you wish.
* The above "Cures" are not exhaustive. Any reasonable act that establishes or re-establishes empathy for the person trapped will cure them.
* Paleblood Telepathy is not limited by distance. However, non-palebloods must have their omni on their person in order to mentally link to it.
* This condition does not lead to death, but if allowed to persist is a reasonable source of higher corruption.
* If untreated, it will usually clear up in a couple days, or at most a week. If a player wishes to use this as a form of hiatus in February, they may, in which case it can last all month.

YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY
WHEN: The First Week of February

WHERE: Anywhere in Trench

CONTENT WARNINGS: Choking, Asphyxiation, Body Horror, Dependency, Possible Death



Self-reliance is a powerful tool in the city of Trench. You have to be able to take care of yourself, lest the dangerous elements on the fringe of the city overtake you and claim you in the night. Right?

The Doorway could not disagree more. To her, people depend upon each other. Corruption is only cleansed through the presence of others and conversation, connection. Cures and potions are, in her thought, unreliable. Even going to the Blood Ministers is more of a last-ditch effort when all else fails as she sees it. Sometimes? People need a little gentle reminder, a push to get them to rely upon each other more. Unfortunately, what a Pthumerian considers a gentle push to be tends not to be so gentle.

It happens at random, though it seems to happen most of all when it involves people who might not want to be close. You come into contact with a person, and just as you start to speak, you feel your throat throttle. It is like there is an invisible noose around your neck. No visible rope exists, but the air is cut off. You double over, gasping for air that will not come. Even if you don't or can't breathe you find yourself choking like a flopping goldfish out of water! As you reach out for help, you can see to your horror that the person you are trying to meet is choking too! What do you do? There is only one cure to this situation. You have to get to the other person quickly. There's still time. Maybe you can find some sort of solution if you get there. Deep down, you know you just need to be closer.

The moment that the two choking sleepers make contact, they will be able to breathe. The relief of oxygen entering the lungs comes instantly, though there is a problem. Any time you break contact, you begin to choke again. So long as you are able to stay in contact, you're safe but any attempt to break that contact is potentially life threatening. There is no solution other than to hold onto each other, hold hands, whatever it takes to maintain contact. For how long you ask? Oh, for at least an hour. But it's not like anyone's actually going to give you a timer on this. Will you just put up with it, or will you keep experimenting only to be choked repeatedly.

FAQ:
* Anyone can be affected by this, no matter physiology. It defies magical powers, biology and even blood powers.
* The effects last no more than 6 hours at the absolute max and most of the time it will end within 1 hour.
* Effects will cease when the two participants go to sleep (No accidental chokings). As a result, the effect will always start at least an hour before you might normally go to sleep.
* Yes, you can choke to death if you want.
* There is no knowledge of the effect amongst the locals and no warning about it, so there is no real warning on how to "cure" this other than the compulsion to get close to the other choking person and trial and error. Or Patience!
* No, the Doorway isn't sorry.

CODING
faceblocks: (talk)

2

[personal profile] faceblocks 2023-01-26 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[vi's not patrolling the beach as often as she had before, but it's more mornings than not - even if she still looks for the wrong people, or ...people she'd rather not find. it's a push-pull of misery that's mitigated by the general sense of helping sleepers adjust, and also the perk of free food.

there are the net menders, not so much mending nets in this weather, but she shares some glances with them here and there, and maybe a bowl of stew in complicated silence.

she's on her second bowl herself when she notices the bread swoop, out of reflex she grabs it back. and then offers this as she considers the newcomer:]


Hey. You can get another bread, you know. You don't gotta take mine.
hauntedsavior: (⚡ caverns shake like thunderstorms)

200.50

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2023-01-26 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[it's a shed that would be familiar to anna if she were aware of it. it's a shed that would be immediately recognizable to anyone who knows her. ask her of shared souls and she'll have no idea what you're talking about. ask her about A2 and she'll assume you mean the steak sauce. but right now, nobody is asking anything except for help. her throat tightens, and she sees these computer glitches in her vision, and her breath escapes her—and she hears a voice.]

[she shuts her eyes to try to block the images being projected, but it doesn't work, does it? it never could; she wouldn't get that lucky. she screws her eyes open, then, and walks forward as she struggles for breath. she sees—it has to be the person whose voice she heard. she looks familiar. she looks too familiar in a way that makes anna's heart ache with the longing of seeing someone who doesn't recognize you across the bar.]

[she reaches out her hand to the other woman's shoulder and hopes that her long blonde hair isn't curtaining her eyes so much that her concern can't be seen. once her pale-skinned hand makes contact, she gasps in, her eyes going wide. she isn't concerned with her own health; she doesn't wait until her lungs are filled before asking something in her mother tongue.]


Kannst du mich hören? [and again, in english.] Can you hear me? Do you need help?
toteninsel: (the shadows lengthen in carcosa)

spoilers continue throughout

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-01-26 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Of course Elster is here, in this beautiful dream. It wouldn't be a good dream without her. Ariane turns her head, and her spine does not hurt, and she lifts her hand, and her wrist does not hurt. It is floating on a cloud; it is liberation.

It is not real, the mocking voice in her head tells herself, but that does not bother Ariane. Not now. She is well past the luxury of real and has been for thousands of cycles.

Ariane lays a trembling hand upon Elster's leg, and when she looks up at her lover, her red eyes are shining wet. ]


Elster.

[ The most beautiful name in the world. Then, like nothing has changed, except everything has changed: ]

I missed you.
toteninsel: (lost carcosa)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-01-26 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This one is a bird, and not a human. This one is a stranger. He is not Ariane's bird; he is not Elster. Ariane cannot tell if he hates her. All she knows is fear. Fear, and a memory of pain so vivid it may as well be happening to her now.

You, he says, like he knows who she is. Or what she is. That's something that, after enough cycles, Ariane doesn't even know anymore.

She cannot move, cannot breathe, cannot speak. But there is a scream in Reyson's mind, and it coalesces into something like words. ]


I SAW THE GREAT RED EYE ABOVE ME
AND IT TOOK ME INTO ITS FOLD
AND IT MADE ME ITS FLESH
AND NOW I AM LARGER THAN I EVER DESERVED
lstr: (04)

[personal profile] lstr 2023-01-26 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
We were just together, as I remember it. [ and what's left of those iterations will remain together, indefinitely. but, as it clicks what ariane means ]

... I missed you too. It was... [ it was hell. it was something she would do a thousand more times if need be. it nearly broke her to keep the promise, even as she died and burned and shattered and fragmented again and again and ā̴̡̛̝̺̜̠͚̯̜̬̝̫̂̉̾̐̎́̓̀̂̈́͌̈̌g̶̡̧̘͕̯̠͕̰͛̀̊̒a̷̡̘͉͉̟͙͇̱̪͇̩͛̉̐͘i̵̢̬͕͐̈́n̵̨̯̠͔͖͖̟͚͎̱͋̽ just so that she could

ariane's real. her hand is warm against the smooth black material of her thigh, pulsing with the semblance of life. elster can't cry, but her face... tightens, almost, breath catching.

it's just the two of them. she can crack, ever so slightly.
] I'm sorry, Ariane. For everything.

[ for not... figuring out a way to save them from what happened. for not finding a new world. for failing to keep her promise at the start.

she reaches out, taking ariane's hand in her own. right now, it feels like all she can do.
]
bashlyk: (determined kinda angry)

Vasily Pavlichenko | Golden Kamuy | Vileblood

[personal profile] bashlyk 2023-01-26 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
i. the chocolatier

[It's not really what anyone promised him after death. His own hometown priest had made the afterlife seem like a far more serene experience, but then again, how could he really have known? In any case, Vasily was nothing if not adaptable, and he'd suffered through the majority of the welcoming committee with his own sort of taciturnity - not that he really had any choice, with the injury that had shattered his jaw. At least he had been able to find his old hat and hood in the arrival bag to cover his face.

Later on, walking around the shore, he encounters the Chocolatier.

The creature exudes a certain warmth, a great sense of calm towards his surroundings. Why not give him a bit of his blood? Vasily certainly has enough of it to spare, even if it had been spilled fairly recently. So he cuts into his palm, surprised by the lack of feeling and the rotting color of his own blood. He hesitates for second, momentarily woken out of his trance by the stench of flowers and the sudden feeling of danger, before allowing his blood to spill into the chalice.

The creature seems to leave as soon as it came, leaving Vasily a few of it's chocolates. And as patient as Vasily undoubtedly is, the temptation proves far too great and he swallows the chocolate in one bite, briefly removing his facial covering to do so. Everything seems fine for second, and then he's on the ground, retching far more than he ever could have possibly eaten.

Surely he hadn't eaten two sets of lungs in the stew on arrival. And certainly not a beating heart, or a long set of bad smelling intestines. And they couldn't possibly be his own either. Regardless, Vasily is left to feebly poke at the new organs, trying his best not to vomit on the ground again.]


ii. wait for me

[Vasily has just barely gotten the hand of using the Omni (typing still takes him a fair amount of time) but he finds it useful as an alternative to speech. It's nice to have something better to use than sketches, though he didn't quite understand how the network worked, or who all the users actually were, but scrolling through social media has certainly proven itself as a fun waste of time.

One of the posts seems very distressed, and Vasily finds himself searching for the source, far more out of a morbid curiosity than a genuine desire to help. He comes across an oddly realistic mannequin - anywhere else he might have assumed it was just a strange doll, but everything here seems suspicious. He touches it's arm, trying to find any signs of life, before waving the Omni in the mannequin's face in a clear question of is this you?]
sphericaluniverse: (Default)

Marco | Adastra (Visual Novel) | Paleblood

[personal profile] sphericaluniverse 2023-01-27 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
He did not pack for Winter in Space Rome | Arrival

[ He was with him, he was there, listening to his Wolf cry for him to stay, but he wasn’t leaving; staying there safe in his arms before everything went dark. The darkness is all but lifted when he finds himself washed up on frozen sand, the jagged points stinging his skin. He might’ve let himself drift off back into freezing cold , if not for the fact the icy air was biting at his mostly exposed skin.

Marco pushed himself to his feet, bringing his arms up over his naked torso. All he had on him were his robes that hung to his sides; the icy waters having no effect on how much blood still stained them. He stood up stumbling across the uneven, frozen sand. Amicus had once told him that when all living things died they would join the Amalgamation, be at peace and be with the Parents, though none of this exactly screamed 'being at peace'.

He wondered if he was having some kind of nightmarish dream. It's until he see's small dots on the horizon ahead of him. Marco squinted unsure of who or what he was seeing but impulse gave as he called out; ]


Hey! Hello! Who's over there?! Or is this another fever dream!?


Wait for me cw; for decaptiation
[ He felt this before, at least Marco thinks he did. Back when he got so sick and nearly died, how his body felt like a prison to maddening hallucinations of bodies being dragged back of chariots, being burnt to nothing by colliding into a star; this time is different though. It's not so much as a fever dream as it is a cold nothingness paralyzing him and stealing the life from his body.

So alone. He hadn't felt this alone in so long. This felt even worse than the first few weeks in Adastra because at least then he had a few people he could talk to and he had Amicus, to share his fears and loneliness with.

But, here there's nothing. Just a vacantness to everything and he's sitting with his knees to his chest, unable to move or speak. His thoughs just going out into what he assumed a wide nothingness of just;]


Help me.
I don't want to be here alone again.

...I didn't want to leave you alone, Amicus. [ The last words if anyone is able to catch those are definitely more directed but as to whom?

Well...you'd have to try and pull him out of this dark sea. ]

Edited 2023-01-27 00:11 (UTC)
onekindsoul: (pic#15025900)

Wait for me

[personal profile] onekindsoul 2023-01-27 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Ruby Rose happened to catch his last words as she was passing by. At first she thought he might be just speaking idly and she wasn't looking to interrupt. But- Then she turns and notices after a long beat that he hasn't moved an inch.

There's a pause as she considers what to do and then moves to sit down beside him.]


...Are you new here?

[There's a pause and after she doesn't get an answer.]

I know it can be hard when you wash up here. But you aren't alone- Or just haven't made the connections that you could.

And any friends that you left behind. They'll be there when you get back.
ex_sink985: (when these bones shift)

[personal profile] ex_sink985 2023-01-27 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
Such politeness. Xuan's head snaps around like a predator, considering the little man assailing him with such solicitous words. He wipes the back off his hand across his mouth, spit pink with blood.

His voice is acid rough: "I'm fine." The shining meat of the organ sits in a rude heap on the street, putting the lie to this dismissal. And then his diaphragm flutters and his lipochrome eyes widen, a pale hand springing to his mouth. Again? Again.

He turns away, at least, so that Jin Guangyao will not be assaulted by the sight of another organ slithering up his oesophagus, choking into his mouth and filling it with the taste of blood and bile before he can hack it out into another wet splat on the street. He blinks down at it with autonomically wet eyes, disgusted not at the gore but his own body's lack of self control.

After a moment, he straightens. Turns slowly back to Jin Guangyao, his face like still water. Thumbs the blood at his mouth again. There's an expectancy to him: all right, his body labguage seems to say, I am unwell. What do you plan to do about it?
toteninsel: (Default)

signalis spoilers

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-01-27 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ Someone touches her in gentleness. They do not make it stop. Whoever it is, who speaks so much like Elster but is not Elster at all, asks Ariane a question. Ariane tries to move her tongue and cannot, tries to move her lips and cannot. There is a pit before her, and it is endless. There is a red eye in the sky. The mechanical sound of a lid, closing.

Can she hear? Static-filled, as if over a poorly-tuned radio, Anna will be able to faintly hear a song.

Does she need help? The wind howls, and it says, ja. ]
toteninsel: (die thou unsung)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-01-27 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ariane remembers it too. Her body remembers even better that her mind. There is a memory in every cut piece of skin, in the redness rimming her eyes, in the thin wisps of her hair.

The last thing Ariane saw before she died was her beloved. In the end, she was not alone. She remembers that, too. ]


You kept the promise. Thank you.

[ Those two words aren't enough. They're pathetically not enough. Ariane might have spent countless cycles in hell, but so did Elster, and Ariane only had to die once. And yet here Elster is, apologizing to her. It's not fair. After everything, it's not fair.

Ariane takes Elster's hand and squeezes as tight as she's able, which isn't very tight at all. She takes a deep breath, prays her body still remembers how, and stands, relying on Elster to steady her as she goes, even still. Even after everything. Even in this dream. ]


No. No, it wasn't your fault. I would know. I've had plenty of time to think.

[ She had too much time. There was never enough time. ]
heronpunch: (grace)

[personal profile] heronpunch 2023-01-27 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
[She was in a body-- a normal sized and shaped body. If there were subtle details that differed, they weren't anything Reyson could judge. It was only recently that he had dared to stand on the same ground as Beorcs and fight shoulder to shoulder with them.

The voice felt like thunder in his bones-- and this time he did crumple. Swaying while he struggled to find his center in this chaotic new realm, with air that felt thick with blood, Reyson managed to keep enough semblance of what he knew to drop down by her side.]


What manner of curse has happened here...?

[He said thickly, reaching out to hold her hand. The lines and shapes were all recognizable, but the immediately obvious problem was undeniable: This girl was a doll. And yet, she was not.]

It must be the influences of the local gods, [He mused, recalling what he had heard of the Pthumerians and t heir whimsies.] How far do they drag us? Are they aware of it?
slightlytaller: (f/z sigh)

Arrival

[personal profile] slightlytaller 2023-01-27 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
Trust me: I'm not a dream.

[If he was, he was fairly certain that he would be having a better one-- and not be stuck once more in the body he had when he was a teenager after being a plaything for the Pthumerians twice in a month. Waver Velvet, also known as Lord El Melloi II as well as (sometimes) Mackenzie, looked askance at the stranger and blandly held out one of the blankets that he carried with him. The white cloak he wore signified his role as a Waker, and he was duty bound to help.

Even if he was in less than proper form.]


Let's get you changed before you freeze. I think I can get those stains out of your tunic if they haven't been heated up. Peroxide isn't the only thing that works.
poorlittlesange: (eyelash game upgraded)

[personal profile] poorlittlesange 2023-01-27 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
The force of Xuan's stare pins Jin Guangyao in place as effectively as a snare, and for a fraught moment all he is capable of is staring straight back at him, as if to look away for a moment would provoke an attack. (The bottom nearly drops out from beneath his own heart in his ribcage, his pulse hammering in his throat and sending the sound of blood rushing at his ears, this man is dangerous--)

Then Xuan doubles over again, hand flying to his mouth in a futile effort to stave off the inevitable, and the spell is broken. Jin Guangyao finds himself taking an involuntary step forward against all good sense, though he does not reach out to initiate any sort of physical contact. His self-preservation instinct remains firmly intact.

"Gongzi," he tries again, "please permit this one to accompany you to the Lumenarium. It is a hospital. Perhaps there, the healers will be able to help you." He lowers his gaze towards whatever organ has most recently been deposited upon the ground; thankfully, his constitution is made of stronger stuff courtesy of the years spent in proximity to Xue Yang's particular recreational activities. Should... should they pick those up, should they bring them along to the hospital?
lstr: (09)

[personal profile] lstr 2023-01-27 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ ariane's thanks only receive a slow, slightly pained-looking nod in return.

elster goes along with the motions easily enough, looping her arm behind ariane's back. ich habe dich, she murmurs, that half-melodic voice for her lover's ears alone in the moment. she walks, slowly and carefully with ariane in tow, glancing to her to gauge her status. she doesn't respond to the comment about how it isn't her fault. it was, surely. she was responsible for the ship and for ariane's safety, and her results there were a categorical failure.

but there was never enough time to do all that needed to be done.
]

Still. I never meant to just leave you like that. [ i didn't think we were both out of time. her fingers curl around ariane's bicep, bringing her a touch closer. ] Should we ask them where to go? [ she indicates the locals who they had both roundly ignored. ]
wapples: by <user name=nirnroot site="plurk"> (06)

[personal profile] wapples 2023-01-27 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Whoa!

[It's said half-startled, half in awe as the statue speaks.

The statue speaks.

Or, sort of speaks, at least. Billie is fairly sure that was supposed to be an attempt at speech. Except statues don't speak, so maybe this actually is a Sleeper. It would make more sense too, he supposes, given the mug of hot chocolate in his hands.]


How come you're stuck? You don't look frozen - I don't see any ice or anything on you. Besides, it's not that cold.

[The tiny boy circles around the man, looking him up and down, trying to work out a solution.]

I guess someone already tried getting you a drink to warm up, and that didn't work. Maybe some blankets or something. Or - or a fire! I could make a fire!
hauntedsavior: (⚡ take the wind and the snow)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2023-01-27 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
[anna closes her eyes. as long as she's touching this person, this person who lives in the fringes of her memory in ways that cannot be put into words, she can breathe. so for now, she is rooted in place. (there may be more to it than that; she'll do this one step at a time.)]

[she can hear the music, but only barely recognizes it—one of the classical composers that her parents had tried to impress on her. she takes her other hand and touches this woman's upper arm. there's no way to know what could make this stop. she thinks the words hilf uns as a plea rather than a command and she doesn't know what makes her do it. her voice is soft, and she continues speaking in that gentle, flowing german of someone who's spoken it most of her life.]


Can you show me more about what's wrong?
toteninsel: (the cloud waves break)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-01-27 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ariane follows in step with Elster, leaning on her side as she goes. The sand is rich and soft and totally alien between her toes, and if Ariane thinks too much about it, she'll get overwhelmed and will have to stop.

Elster doesn't respond right away, but that's all right. She doesn't need to. Ariane knows she takes her time to think, and Elster's presence and gentle reassurances are more than enough. More than what Ariane thought she'd get, after enough time in cryo. She just wanted everything to stop. She never expected a new beginning. ]


I know. [ Of course Elster didn't mean to leave her. She came back.

Quieter, mournfully: ]
I should have taken care of you, too. Slept with you, or -- or something.

[ She's getting a touch desperate here. Ariane doesn't want to ruin Elster's dream, though, so she redirects. ]

Sure. That's a good idea. [ Ariane waves in the direction of the nearest local. ] Excuse me. Can we ask you something?
toteninsel: (die thou unsung)

signalis spoilers continue

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-01-27 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ The German washes over Ariane like a tide, a balm. In and out. It could be Elster's voice, although Ariane is present to know that it isn't. Still, there's a similar kindness to it. A message of help, of solving the problem and making things right.

It's not a promise. But it's all Ariane has right now, and mentally, she clings to it like a raft out at sea. And slowly -- almost imperceptibly -- Ariane blinks. It's not much, but it's the beginning of a thaw.

The hope that brings allows Ariane to steady herself a little, enough to answer the question. The picture in Anna's mind changes. There is no sound here except the creak and wheeze of a dying machine. There is no light except a soft, faint red. There is a pod, and it is shaped like a coffin, and in it lies a girl.

In that same German: trapped. ]
toteninsel: (as tears unshed)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-01-27 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ The stranger takes Ariane's motionless hand, but Ariane cannot return the gesture. Her hand lies stiff and motionless in his palm. She stares straight ahead at him, red-eyed, unmoving and unblinking.

She has never heard the word Pthumerian before, but she is well-acquainted with the notion of a god. ]


THE GREAT THING CRIES OUT IN PAIN
AND ALL WHO HEAR IT TREMBLE


[ Then, quieter, in the howling of the wind: help. ]
chenqing_player: (Teasing smile)

3. Your choice! Open to any option

[personal profile] chenqing_player 2023-01-27 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Wei Wuxian learned very early in his time in Deerington just what food could do. So he has been incredibly leery of all things edible both there and in this world. Since he has seen every season at least once, he already knows the horrors that can happen when someone indulges in the chocolates. Perhaps that is why he has started to stay close to the eateries of this area as soon as the time rolls around when once more. Unfortunately he isn't quite quick enough to get to this individual before they ingest the chocolate in hand.

He sighs, feeling a bit guilty that he had let his guard down for just a moment. It is difficult to keep track of everyone in a busy part of the town. But now he has to at least be able to offer some sort of service now that he has been witness to the ingestion of the chocolate.

Offering a smile to try and at least appear less threatening (just in case the chocolate decides to be the kind of incite fear...one can never be too careful.) "Don't be too alarmed but sometimes the food of this place can have a nasty after taste." After effect...however one chooses to word it. It shouldn't be long before they find out exactly what that effect will be.
hauntedsavior: (⚡ our shields were all but shattered)

cw ruminations on death

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2023-01-27 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
[there is fear in anna's heart as it beats close to this trapped woman. she breathes in sharply; she thinks of opa. the machines that had kept him alive until they didn't, and the pain that they had told her he wasn't in. it's been long enough for her to learn to doubt that.]

[she thinks, es tut mir leid. she thinks, ich wird dich befreien. she knows she can't promise it, or that she doesn't know how, but she thinks it anyway.]

[breathing in slowly through her nose, she takes in the scent of seawater and the chill in the winter air. the hand from this woman's shoulder goes behind her neck like anna is supporting her head, and anna brings herself closer. there's a simple word, only three letters in english, for what anna is trying to do, but she can't make herself say it even in her mother tongue. what she asks instead sends a shiver down her spine. she wants to be wrong.]


Willst du sterben?
ex_sink985: (there is always something moving)

[personal profile] ex_sink985 2023-01-27 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
Xuan looks at her with a flat, stoic expression, unrepentant to be caught. "You weren't finished. My apologies."

It's not wholly sincere but it's intended more as a conversation ender. He would now walk away, except... he's sort of fascinated by this pale skin and pink hair. A lot of the people around here look foreign - Xuan has never really seen anyone not of Chinese heritage. So perhaps it's that spark of interest that prompts him to honestly add more.

"They said I'd had enough." After he ate so much stew and bread he'd been essentially banned for the day so that other people could have some. But taking leftovers should be fine, right?
ex_sink985: (you tie up your safety nets)

then hello new best friend!

[personal profile] ex_sink985 2023-01-27 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
Xuan has a moment after hearing this where he's just enjoying the sweet taste of the white chocolate. He doesn't normally like sweet things, but something about the melting texture was just perfect. Even the warning doesn't ruin it — no sudden bitterness comes, just a lingering caramel.

Normally what would come next would be a scoff at this stranger's warning, but instead when Xuan looks over it's with a smile that would chill the blood of any who knew him as Black Water Submerging Boats, or even in his disguise as the rigid Earth Master. It's a warm smile, or as warmed as this cold-blooded fish-loving water ghost can get it. Not a smirk or bittersweet rue, a genuine and friendly smile, inclusive, eyes sparkling like he might share a secret.

"Thank you for letting me know, Xiansheng" he says immediately, politer than he would normally be and much more friendly. "But it was pretty tasty. Want one? I have plenty."
faceblocks: (talk)

[personal profile] faceblocks 2023-01-27 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
[it's that unrepentant look that sends her, and she lets out a huff of a laugh at 'my apologies' because come on. could there be more dissonance between a look and the words that followed it? probably, but this is up there.]

No apology needed, I know you're not sorry. It's the face. You should work on that if you wanna sucker people into giving you more food. [she shrugs. doesn't bother her. on any other day she might've let him take the bread. honestly: she's just in the mood to give someone a hard time. (affectionate)]

It's your lucky day, though, 'cause I'm gonna help with that. You plant your ass on that seat, and I'll bring back two bowls of stew and two more breads. Any other requests while my sucker heart's bleeding everywhere?

[she's soft for people who've known hunger, okay? that's her own demon and it's something she's dealt with around her sister's shimmered up metabolism now, too. plus, he's new. it costs her nothing to get more food: they know she helps people out, and if they give her any shit she'll pay, whether it be in bloodstones or food. she can afford to be generous now (still weird) but it feels great.]

Page 3 of 31