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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
It seems as if I'd be better off not divulging information to you.
[A careful glance is cast back toward the child, affirming that he's tucked well behind Luca's frame. He might not actually be cowering, but there's little else Luca can do but interpret it as such.]
Stay back. And stay away. I will not warn you twice.
no subject
[He's looking now at the vineyard, the house itself, still wondering what the real answer is... but he won't press. There's no point; the answer doesn't matter. It was merely an unimportant question to drown out the silence. The fires surrounding them don't crackle, nor do they truly burn anything, merely a setpiece for such a lovely garden.
Passenger traces a fingertip along a vine.]
The one you protect, the boy behind you, is me as much as I am "me". Do you mistrust him, too?
no subject
The boy that Passenger happens to mention. Oops.]
He's given me no reason to. [But then again, neither has Passenger, when he thinks about it. He has the word of a child, but who can say what's real and what's illusion.]
Did you truly do harm to the ones he speaks of?
no subject
Not intentionally.
[He still faces toward the plants, now dipping his fingers underneath the waxy leaves, holding them up, observing them in the orange glow of the harmless fires. The plants seem healthy, at least to his eyes, at least right now.]
I gave the innocents time to escape. [But not all of them did — a thought that Little Elliot echoes aloud. Passenger continues:] The Lord Ameer that had my professor killed was afforded no such mercy. These fires are of Ibut, in Sargon; they were not meant for you and your vineyard.
no subject
[That careful eye for the vines finally gets to him. He eases just a step closer, glance cast over his shoulder to make sure the child isn't too unnerved by his departure. He was determined to protect the boy, after all.]
Then what is your interest with my vineyard? [He nods to that outstretched hand.] If there is something you're looking for, I would have you take it quick and leave.
no subject
[He does not explain what this is. Passenger's brain is too scrambled to think about it longer, clearly. What he'd rather do is stray further into the vineyard, but he's well aware that might draw more of Luca's ire.
His head cocks.]
When is the last time this vineyard was tended to?
no subject
[Sorry, kiddo. If anyone's going to empathize with the revenge story, it's the guy currently on the quest for revenge. A quest that has kept him away from home long enough for him to be unable to answer Passenger's question, for that matter. He shouldn't flinch back at something so innocuous, yet he does.
It takes him awhile to answer. He has to swallow hard.]
I could not say. I haven't been home in many years.
no subject
Speaking of the child, he steps forward, now running out more fully into the garden before he stops.]
Look, Mister. The fires aren't harming the plants, see? Do you want to explore since you haven't been back?
no subject
In any case, since Passenger at least seems to be unopposed to harming Luca, he feels mostly comfortable in turning to face the boy. And though he hesitates, he eventually offers a rather quick nod at his offer.]
Did you wish to see it first hand? I spent plenty of time here when I was your age. I could show you the... [His brow furrows. He really isn't the best with kids.] Best spots to play?
no subject
We didn't have time to play growing up. We were studying.
[Whoops!]
Don't you have something special to you here that you want to see? Maybe something you haven't seen in a long while?
no subject
I studied plenty as a child. But that didn't mean I didn't deserve the time to play. It is about balance.
[Warily, Luca glances toward the building at the edge of this vision. The fire had obscured it for the most part, but he can still imagine his father there.]
No, there is nothing else beyond this. It's been years since I returned here. Even being here is... pleasant.
no subject
[...hm.]
I wonder if we can put out the fires. Do you have a well? Or a hose?
[He and his split-off psyche are of one mind on this. Passenger and Elliot both look at Luca with that same question in their eyes. Is there water? Can they put it out? Or at least, water the vineyard if nothing else?]
no subject
Our system largely ran off of irrigation but... [He taps his foot a few times.]
Inside. There is piping - [What kind of backwater fantasy did you think this was.] - and plenty of pots to fill
[It means approaching the distant man and woman on the porch but... putting the fires out would put his mind at ease, at least.]
no subject
Anyway. Luca should probably follow them, mostly because this is his memory that the birds have just wandered into and began pilfering water from, sorry—]
no subject
He freezes there for a moment, feeling their appraisal and waiting for judgement. When their arms open in greeting, Luca can only swallow and cast his gaze aside. He shoulders past their spectral figures, entering the building behind man and child.]
Mind yourself. Don't - break anything.
[He tries not to look around, visibly uncomfortable as they gather the water. His foot taps a rough rhythm against the wood beneath him.] And hurry. Before they try to welcome you for dinner.