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sticksandbones2024-02-01 10:46 am
sticksandbonesmods) wrote in sticksandbones2024-02-01 10:46 am
Entry tags:
EVENT 009
RULER OF MY HEART
HOW SWEET IT IS
As time ticks on in that strange, wobbly way it does in this place — where the nights feel like they last days, and the days feel like they’re only a few hours long — the fog, ever so gradually, rolls back in, until it’s that oppressive black wall it normally is. It means no more trips into the greater forest for the time being, though the surrounding ring of treeline around the Grove and the burned town to the north remains readily accessible.
The woods, now awake and alert, sends its regards with the occasional roar of a beast in the far distance, and the occasional biblically-accurate deer wandering into the Grove proper to nibble on grasses starting to spring up through the snow. Speaking of things springing up through the snow, there are some new trees near the riverbank, sporting perfectly normal lemons that are growing perfectly normal eyeballs. It’s fine, they’re edible, although they don’t seem to be native. Hmm.
All is peaceful thus far, until you open your dresser drawer. Suddenly, a little creature flies out at you, or cries out angrily because you woke it up. Perhaps, that creature climbs on you instead, shuffling into your pocket to snuggle up. Or, maybe you lay down for a nap, and your pillow feels just a touch lumpier than normal, and when you move your head, something squeals at you. No matter where you find them, even if they’re being a nuisance and eating your shoelaces, these creatures are harmless: they’re merely cold, and you, a Warm Thing, will now be their space heater.
The woods, now awake and alert, sends its regards with the occasional roar of a beast in the far distance, and the occasional biblically-accurate deer wandering into the Grove proper to nibble on grasses starting to spring up through the snow. Speaking of things springing up through the snow, there are some new trees near the riverbank, sporting perfectly normal lemons that are growing perfectly normal eyeballs. It’s fine, they’re edible, although they don’t seem to be native. Hmm.
All is peaceful thus far, until you open your dresser drawer. Suddenly, a little creature flies out at you, or cries out angrily because you woke it up. Perhaps, that creature climbs on you instead, shuffling into your pocket to snuggle up. Or, maybe you lay down for a nap, and your pillow feels just a touch lumpier than normal, and when you move your head, something squeals at you. No matter where you find them, even if they’re being a nuisance and eating your shoelaces, these creatures are harmless: they’re merely cold, and you, a Warm Thing, will now be their space heater.
I REALLY LIKE YOU
One of Ydalir’s secret passions is cooking. You would not know this, because she doesn’t have the ability to eat, but that doesn’t mean she lost the ability to cook. A holiday is coming, you see, and it’s tradition for everyone to partake in cute chocolates and have candlelit dinners! (She will not be providing the dinners, that’s on you.)
What feels like early on in the month, Ydalir will approach everybody with a box of chocolates customized for each person with their favourite flavours. For those of you who don’t eat human food, don’t worry: These are safe for consumption for vampires and robots alike.
Like with most things here, though, things are not as they seem. Eating one of these chocolates suddenly makes you feel very, very cuddly, like suddenly you wouldn’t care who you snuggled up to right now so long as you were comfortable. With the candy in your system, you feel affectionate to anyone who you come across, even if you may not have liked them previously.
As it turns out, mixing magic with cooking makes a potion. Ydalir swears up and down she didn’t mean it, but enjoy your cuddle-chocolates anyway!
What feels like early on in the month, Ydalir will approach everybody with a box of chocolates customized for each person with their favourite flavours. For those of you who don’t eat human food, don’t worry: These are safe for consumption for vampires and robots alike.
Like with most things here, though, things are not as they seem. Eating one of these chocolates suddenly makes you feel very, very cuddly, like suddenly you wouldn’t care who you snuggled up to right now so long as you were comfortable. With the candy in your system, you feel affectionate to anyone who you come across, even if you may not have liked them previously.
As it turns out, mixing magic with cooking makes a potion. Ydalir swears up and down she didn’t mean it, but enjoy your cuddle-chocolates anyway!
LET’S STAY TOGETHER
Sometimes, when you touch another person, your mind goes elsewhere. This isn’t a result of the chocolates, but rather some other force at work. If you see two people asleep somewhere — the ground, the couch, the kitchen counter — it’s best to leave them where they are, unless you want to risk passing out with them and seeing what they see. They’ll wake up in a little while.
What those who get dragged into their own minds see depends on the person, and what lies within their heart. These “heartspaces” are made up of core memories to the participants — important locations, emotional states given form, meaningful items, or anything else, really. When in contact with another person, these heartspaces will combine into one, perfectly interactable and wanderable at your leisure. Touching objects within these spaces will play a core memory before your eyes, or even change the scenery a bit, depending on whose heart it is you’re messing with.
Perhaps now is a good time for bonding and learning about one another, in the comfort and privacy of your own minds. After all, you won’t exit the heartspaces for quite a bit.
What those who get dragged into their own minds see depends on the person, and what lies within their heart. These “heartspaces” are made up of core memories to the participants — important locations, emotional states given form, meaningful items, or anything else, really. When in contact with another person, these heartspaces will combine into one, perfectly interactable and wanderable at your leisure. Touching objects within these spaces will play a core memory before your eyes, or even change the scenery a bit, depending on whose heart it is you’re messing with.
Perhaps now is a good time for bonding and learning about one another, in the comfort and privacy of your own minds. After all, you won’t exit the heartspaces for quite a bit.
PAIN IN MY HEART
…just try not to break anything while you're there.
It might be an accident. Maybe you walk backwards into a table containing a framed photograph, and that photo falls and the glass breaks, the picture inside the frame ruined. Maybe you broke that cheaply-made but still-important toy while fiddling with it. Or, perhaps, it wasn’t an accident at all: You broke that thing on purpose, you punched through that wall, you set that fire.
Whatever broke the thing in question doesn’t matter in the end. What matters is that the memory associated with it begins to fade away like smoke on the wind. Fixing the broken object will bring that memory back, but failing to fix it before you wake up from the dream will have that memory gone forever.
Although, there are some pretty bad memories out there… if the memory broken was terrible, or if the item in question showed someone a dark secret you didn’t want them to know… shouldn’t it stay gone?
It might be an accident. Maybe you walk backwards into a table containing a framed photograph, and that photo falls and the glass breaks, the picture inside the frame ruined. Maybe you broke that cheaply-made but still-important toy while fiddling with it. Or, perhaps, it wasn’t an accident at all: You broke that thing on purpose, you punched through that wall, you set that fire.
Whatever broke the thing in question doesn’t matter in the end. What matters is that the memory associated with it begins to fade away like smoke on the wind. Fixing the broken object will bring that memory back, but failing to fix it before you wake up from the dream will have that memory gone forever.
Although, there are some pretty bad memories out there… if the memory broken was terrible, or if the item in question showed someone a dark secret you didn’t want them to know… shouldn’t it stay gone?
SPARK NOTES
CLICK TO EXPAND!
HOW SWEET IT IS
The fog is back. The creatures are clinging to you because they're cold. The eyeball lemons are, uh... lemon...y. Enjoy your completely normal slice of nature.
I REALLY LIKE YOU
Ydalir has made everybody chocolates! They're delicious and induce feelings of affection and a deep need to cuddle others. Surely this won't go terribly awry. Also, she's very sorry.
LET’S STAY TOGETHER
Sometimes, touching someone else takes you to a combined mental space made up of the important things to you and the person you touched. You can touch things within the space to play memories, or explore the environment together. Outside, you're just asleep on the floor somewhere probably, so hopefully no one trips over you.
PAIN IN MY HEART
Be careful in the heartspaces. Anything you break will take a relevant memory with it. If you can find a way to repair it, the memory will come back. Although, sometimes memories need to stay gone, don't they? Maybe leaving it broken is okay?
OOC
Happy February! The mod team will not apologise for the amount of pink in this event log. If you'd like to plot with people for this event, head over to OOC plotting. We will allow you to make up various plantanimal creatures for this event, they don't have to be like the images linked as examples. Have fun, enjoy creatures, they're here to stay. Reminder this month will have Heimrquest, so if you want to sign up, please do so on the OOC plotting post.
UPDATES
❖ None yet!
SUBMISSIONS
no subject
Wolfwood's hand gets squeezed in his.]
Okay.
["This way". Works for him.]
no subject
He doesn't exactly want to go back to "his", but he's not so much of an asshole that he's going to force Elsword to stay here.]
You know, you might be able to see the orphanage where I grew up, if we can get outta here.
no subject
That sounds nice. Did you like it there? ...was it a good place?
no subject
...it was. I didn't know how good I had it, really.
[He's avoiding looking at Elsword as they walk, and if he were to be asked why, it's because he's trying NOT to fall into those El holes, thanks.]
no subject
Luckily, the further they go, the less those holes seem to be there. The voices still follow, and so do the scratched-up photographs. Elsword is worried that if he touches one of them, they'll really break, instead of playing some memory. Or maybe they won't play a memory at all, considering...]
I'm glad. Family is important, even if it's just your found family. I didn't really...
[He shakes his head.]
A lot of my memories are gone. You already know that. But I know I didn't have anybody growing up. No orphanage or anything like that, either. It was just me for a long time.
no subject
M'sorry kid. I know what that's like. Maybe not...having nobody at all, but havin' to figure out how to live alone.
You're absolutely sure that you didn't...I dunno. Lose a memory from then? That there wasn't anybody at all?
no subject
[His brow scrunches.]
...no. It was just me in this big, empty house for a while. My sister joined the army when I was ten. Our dad did the same when I was seven or eight. Mom was never around. The people of Ruben Village were nice. I mean, I made it to where I am now somehow, so I assume someone must have stopped by at some point. I remember joining Ruben's El Search Party around thirteen, so maybe I wasn't totally alone.
[Family-wise, though? Yeah, he was alone.]
I was sixteen when Elesis and I met again. She's normally around... just not here.
no subject
That village was your Hopeland.
[It sounds stupid coming out of his mouth, but he's already said it, so. No taking it back now!]
You ain't gonna get anywhere wishin' things were different. But that doesn't mean it didn't still suck. Or that...you didn't deserve better.
no subject
Nah, I know that. I've already made choices I can't come back from. I don't regret them.
[Elsword swings their hands as they walk like a little kid on the way to get ice cream. They... definitely aren't doing that. But the sights are getting less "him" and more "Wolfwood" as they go on.]
So, you're gonna show me Hopeland, right?
no subject
He glances down at Elsword as they walk, though, and thinks maybe that Elsword's feelings are more important than his own right now.]
Yeah, if you want. Ain't really that special though. It's just an orphanage.
[An orphanage that is looming closer all the time as Elsword's home gives way to the sandy outdoors of No Man's Land.]
no subject
I don't understand, [Elsword admits,] if it's special to you, why do you say it's not "that special" to me? I want to see it because it's somewhere important to you. That makes it special, doesn't it?
no subject
[Elsword only has room in his brain for caring about people though, which Wolfwood still can't fathom most of the time. But...it does make it easier for him to show something this personal when Elsword is going to be so earnest about it.
So they'll step forward into the heart of the orphanage, suddenly there as if they'd been teleported directly into it. There are children pretty much everywhere of varying ages playing with one another, tossing a ratty old ball around or playing tag. Any number of your usual childish games. Near the building, there's the soft, constant peeping of a bunch of little blue birds, and there's a child already there tossing grain for them from a bucket. Even from a distance, that messy mop of hair is familiar.]
This is it.