EVENT 033

[sticksandbonesmods]

CRUSADER PROBE MISSION

Sometimes when you look outside, you think the Iris must be closer. That, or a month of isolation in the inn and not seeing the light of day has convinced you that the awful red moon has crept toward the realm you’re currently stuck in. Night after night feels largely the same; you go to bed to the awful shrieks of the Fake People, wretched hands tap against your window, and fleshy masses climb the walls. When you wake up, you hopefully remember to eat, and hopefully don’t fight with your neighbours you’ve been locked indoors with over the state of the kitchen, or the medical supplies scattered across the floor because someone tripped their way into the mobile clinic. Those of you who venture outside hopefully come back unharmed, maybe to the tune of worried friends and partners shouting that you should take a break. Surely the Goddesses must be working on a solution skywards, surely you need to wait, surely there’s some piece of the puzzle you’re missing, surely the magic will come back. Surely, surely…

Sleep, wake up, survive. Sleep, wake up, survive. Sleep… wake up.

There are twenty-five new moons in the sky.

Around the Grove’s sky in an uneven ring, your moon — the one from your home — joins the moons of your peers, bleeding, wounded, its craters unnatural and new. Sinew and tendon connect and pull like a sore being spread open by prodding fingertips. The twin moons of Elrios embrace Earthbread’s in a mass of unnatural tendrils. Valisthea’s moon is cleft in two, one half being pulled toward the east by a mass of goo attached to No Man’s, the other mid-collision with Earth’s. The debris that sprays out from it is a disgusting mix of blood and rock, frozen mid-splatter under the Iris’ gravity.

You swear when you look at the horizon that there are more Woodcrawlers than there were before, despite everyone’s best efforts. The wards on the inn hold, suppressed magic bubbling beneath the surface like a volcano waiting to erupt — one you can feel shuddering under your footsteps — and as the inn endures hit after hit from enraged creatures trying to get to you, you can’t help but wonder…

How much longer do you have left, realistically?

SLEEP IMAGE VISUALIZER

cw: promoting suicide

Out in the depths of the woods, the False God — the Forest, the Black Sun, the Creature — wakes from his slumber, to Zonari’s frantic shoulder-shakes and skyward pointing. The moons continue to corrupt, to bleed, to be consumed; the Heavens stay silent, and magic barely comes to the fingertips of those more powerful than you all. When the Forest glances at his fingertips, he can feel it suppressed under the surface, inaccessible even to Him. A Woodcrawler skitters toward his bedchambers from a shattered window and gets swatted like a gnat out of fury.

The Black Sun wants this hideous red moon to get out of his skies.

He does not approach the Grove. Rather, with the few dregs of magic that remain in a Fallen God and the blessings of his daughter at his side, he reaches into your minds — sleeping or waking.

“It’s been a while. If I wasn’t asleep, I would have cast that thing out of the sky before it got here for daring to mess with what is mine. It stole most of my magic, and I need it back — but I’ll get rid of it if you help me get my magic back. Consider it a gift.”

Whether sleeping or awake, you feel it — the burn of something on your wrist, like a tattoo needle being pressed down too hard for comfort. Some are marked with a black sun whose body is in the shape of a crescent; the other half are marked with one in the shape of a gibbous. When you try to cover the mark, or brush your hand over it to soothe the sudden sharp ache, it glows through your clothing and fingertips, unable to be hidden.

“Find someone with your opposite mark. Kill them, or give up and kill yourself.” The words hang heavy, but He does not pause to let you process it. “Don’t worry — you’ll only have things to gain from this. You already know how to give me the magic I need to get rid of that thing. Mizuki has told you time and time again, has he not? I promise there will be no consequences. I promise those who die immortality until the red moon is defeated, and if you lost something before… Zonari will give it back. And killers, well… you get the satisfaction, guilt-free. I know your fingertips must ache to pull the trigger, Wolfwood.

Chop chop.”

[CLICK FOR TEAM ASSIGNMENTS]

CRESCENT SUN	GIBBOUS SUN
Till	Viktor
Jayce	Ezell
Flamebringer	Faust
Mephisto	Mizuki
Elder Faerie	Pavlova
Pure Vanilla	White Lily
Shadow Milk	Silent Salt
Akaza	Genya
Senjuro	Kyojuro
Shinobu	Muichiro
Ain	Elsword
Aira	Vildred
Ras	Stan
Joshua	Ryan
Dipper	Zoey
Min-Gi	Astrid
Mystery	Luca
Lyle	Urbain
Kiera	Wolfwood
Corbeau	Cy
River	Lodi

GAMES FOR KIDS

Whether the Grove descends into immediate chaos depends on you. Do you immediately turn on your neighbour and try to kill them? Do you sacrifice yourself on the pyre? Do you grab your loved ones and hole up with the door barricaded? Ignore it? Hope someone else dies so you don’t have to?

Ydalir and Heimr, cross with this entire charade and unmarked, breathe out sighs that carry thousands of years of fatigue. The Guardians look no less thrilled about the situation, but their concerns lie around re-killing all of the Woodcrawlers and Fake People they spent so much time smashing weeks ago. The river, covered in Nethersea Brand, protects Sinann and the Seaborn — and only just, as the Woodcrawlers repeatedly try to stomp through it, only to get paralysed on top of it.

Zonari does not enter the inn, despite Heimr trying to extend the olive branch and say she may as well come inside. Instead, she sticks closer to the barn as she typically does if she visits, only venturing out into the cold to retrieve the dead after they resurrect twenty-four hours later and lead them back to the Grove. “What did you want back?” She asks those who have visited the Garden and lost something — a memory, a limb, an eye, an ability. “I have just enough magic to give it to you. Don’t go losing it again, or this was all a waste, wasn’t it?”

It is the Forest, though, that grants your immortality for dying. He has just enough magic to spare a little to throw your way. If you lose a limb under this blessing, it’ll reattach. Fatal wounds heal almost instantly, though they’ll still hurt for a brief few seconds. A papercut barely tickles you. The Woodcrawlers cannot crawl down your throat, Deep Root Disease does not settle under your skin, and the Nature’s Mockery can do little to impede your steps.

The nights tick on. Days become weeks. The marks on the wrists of the dead-and-resurrected fade. The chaos begins to lessen, little by little.

Then begins an all-out war.

THE DEEP BLUE

The Iris is not one to go down without a fight. It and the Black Sun are in a deadlock, pushing back against the other in an unending game of chess. When one is in check, the other retaliates. The fused moons suspended in the sky act as vessels to beam more and more threats down into the Grove — fifty, one hundred, one thousand. The inn weathers the storm only as long as Heimr and Ydalir continually cast what little magic they can access from the corners of the lobby; chalk-stained fingertips repeatedly draw and re-draw magic circles and arcane wards. If you can’t help outside with the sudden swarm of creatures attacking the inn’s walls and drive them back, they’ll instead ask you to help draw further wards, knowing that this is the best anyone could do in this situation.

The Guardians take on newfound rage outside. Moder’s earthquakes shake the threats off their feet every time she rears back. What doesn’t get stepped on and whipped aside by Sehul gets devoured by Callan’s ceaseless hunger. Back-to-back, Zahliya and Zonari stand valiant in front of the inn to cut down anything that gets too close, Nightfall clutched in her hand as a show of tentative trust from the shorter Gargoyle.

The Seaborn, adults and babies alike, rise from the river en masse and form together into something larger, tentacles and tiny hands holding tight to create an enormous, knightlike being donning shell armour and a blade made from sharpened bones. The Behemoth, too, joins the final stand with teeth and claws gnashing. Within the mountain peaks far away, if you listen closely, you swear you can hear the solemn prayers of the Lord of the Mountains. And far in the distance, rising beyond the cliffside covering the sea, the Cosmic Serpent rises from slumber, the stars making up its form twinkling dimly against the night sky as water cascades off its form. Its jaw unhinges, the light of thousands of swallowed stars gathering in its open mouth.

For a moment, the world seems to stop. You take a single breath and hold it as the chaos surrounds you, and suddenly the sky sunders with the burning light of dawn.

“ENOUGH!” Beiwe’s cry of fury mixes with the Fallen Sun’s own in tandem, and at the same moment her blade of dawn bears down upon the Iris, a blade of black from him joins parallel to hers. The Cosmic Serpent’s beam smashes into the Grove, vaporizing the monsters — and almost vaporizing you, if you’re helping the war efforts outside — at the same time the twin blades cleave the Iris in twain.

A still breath ripples through the trees. The rift in the sky torn open by brother and sister wobbles and ripples, but doesn’t close. The mutated moons are gradually bathed in Ourania’s healing light, the Seaborn return to the river, and the drained Fallen God’s breathing becomes a laboured, exhausted laugh. As the twin Gargoyles bicker and break the silence — Zonari thought it was a good idea to give her brother a noogie, okay? — a sense of calm finally comes over the Grove.

The next few days will be spent cleaning up the ashes of corpses, repairing broken infrastructure, and watching the skies gradually return to normal… yet the rift still hangs overhead, and the tickle of magic doesn’t return to your fingertips.

It still lies in wait.

Spark Notes (Click to Expand)

summary

CRUSADER PROBE MISSION: The moons are more mutated, with some of them smashed up or in pieces. Instead of rotating through the moons from various worlds of player characters, all moons from all player worlds show up in some state of decay.
SLEEP IMAGE VISUALIZER: Suri contacts everyone, places marks upon their wrists, and tells you all to kill each other to power him up so that he can get rid of the Iris. Everyone is assigned one of two teams... good luck!
GAMES FOR KIDS: Welcome to the Hunger Suri Games! Those who die and come back after 24 hours will become immortal for the month. If they died and previously lost something in the Garden, Zonari will grant it back to them with no questions asked. The chaos outside moderately lessens as more and more people become immortal, but the Iris makes a final stand.
THE DEEP BLUE: The inn's wards start to waver, resulting in Ydalir and Heimr asking for help maintaining them from those of you that can draw magic circles before they break again. Those of you who can fight should go outside and fight, they say. The Iris beams down thousands of threats through each wounded moon, and the Guardians, Cosmic Serpent, Seaborn, and the twin suns themselves attend the war. After the Iris' defeat, the sky is sundered and a rift hangs overhead, and yet magic still doesn't return.

out of character

Y'all, it's already February. Anyway, this is the second and final part of our GHE inspired event! Thank you for indulging in it with me, I've enjoyed running it. March and April will be our typical calm-after-the-storm months to make up for the murders I've inflicted on you all. Fun facts: Had I not gotten enough murder sign-ups I wasn't sure how I was going to end this log h-haha, so thank you guys for being SUCH enthusiastic little blorbo killers.

updates

Any potential updates, such as characters damaging something important or whatever else, will be put here.

submissions

❖ Questions
❖ February Plotting
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations

code

Comments

QUESTIONS

[sticksandbonesmods]

Characters that app in during this event will automatically be added to the dropdown teams above per mod discretion; please do NOT ask for us to add you to a specific team on this toplevel!

INVESTIGATIONS

[sticksandbonesmods]

If you want to talk to Zonari or Suri instead of purely investigating, please do so on NPC Contact.

Please use the following form for investigations:

Character(s):
Location:
Action: What are they looking for? What are they doing?

<b>Character(s):</b> <b>Location:</b> <b>Action:</b>

Hello I would like to cash in One Ominous Vision —

[ninelines]

Character(s): Lodi!
Location: Either at the inn or at Kyojuro's house. He's sheltering, but that doesn't mean he can't throw his proverbial hat in the ring looking for answers.
Action: After having already received a prior ominous vision, he is looking for another one. Maybe it will be helpful! Probably not! Worth a shot! Dialing on the proverbial rotary phone in hopes of receiving something of substance.

[mooninthewater]

Character(s): Mizuki
Location: Wherever Suri is hanging out-
Action: Less of an investigation but he's gonna talk to Suri while he's here. End of the month, just after the Iris is gone. Is he leaving immediately? What's he doing? Is he tired after All Of That? He's got a jellyfish trying to wave and get his attention, voice in tact and everything now!!

"Are you alright, Mister the Forest???"

white lily cookie ⚜️ cookie run kingdom ⚜️ gibbous sun

[lilyberation]

i. crusader probe mission

( a flower needs sunlight, most of the time. good, nutrient soil, clean water and sunlight. these needs can often translate to flower cookies, as well. sunlight grants them energy, and spring and summer leave them peppy and in good spirits while winter especially leaves them drained.

and white lily cookie is a flower who has not seen the sun properly in about a month, now.

she's exhausted. even when she sleeps it feels like she gets no rest, and she already sleeps a lot in winter, and every day feels worse and worse- she wouldn't be surprised if the flower in her hair is wilting, alongside her staff. even trying to get around the inn feels like a struggle. her steps are slow, skin pale, and eyes heavy- sitting in front of the fireplace doesn't help, but she tries regardless with tea and heavy meals because she needs to stay focused. but... )

... 'm sorry, did you say something? I'm having a hard time focusing...

ii. games for kids

( so, the thing is...

is that white lily cookie is not truly worried about herself. not really. she's already had her price paid, after all. so while others are staying cautious, white lily is in the kitchen making meals to deliver, quiet as she focuses.

it's just that, when something falls over behind her, she responds. when she knocks on the door and someone speaks- she responds. )

You don't have to come out! I just wanted to bring you something to eat. I can leave it by the door.

iii. the deep blue

( white lily cannot fight without her magic. this is an unfortunate truth. but she can, even if her hands burn and tighten and seize, draw. the inn must remain a safe haven, a beacon of hope and security for those who fight- so while the battle rages on, lily races throughout the inn, chalk in hand and symbols burned into her mind. )

Do you need anything? I have more chalk-

( even when her hands tremble and shake, she draws, and draws again to keep lines in the proper form- she has to keep going, because this is all she can do right now. )

Just... a bit more...

iv. wildcard!

( reach out for any plotting or ideas you have! )

ii.

[outofsynth]

[Food is a necessity. Which is the only reason Min-Gi finds himself holed up alone inside a room that isn't his own. Any knock or attempt to open the door is met by a singular rebuff, and in most cases ignoring whoever's outside until they leave.

White Lily gives him pause though. In part because he likes her, and doesn't want to leave her out there where it's dangerous when he's almost certain she would never do anything to hurt him. In part because it's strange that she seems to respond to his voice.

Is it a trick, or was the timing a coincidence? How did she even work out he was in here? He'd been careful, but maybe she'd still seen him come in.

It doesn't sit well with him, but if it really is her he can't just leave her out there. Reluctantly, he moves aside the furniture he'd been using as a barricade and opens the door just enough to peer suspiciously through the gap.]

III

[jesterlies]

[It is all both of them can really do, but it is something they can do well.]

Good timing!

[He will take a few pieces of chalk from here and get right back to refreshing this particular circle.]

They're coming apart faster now. It's going to take this crumbling Immortality boon just for us to keep them up.

ii

[foreversembrace]

[Till isn't expecting to hear a knock at his door. Honestly, HE responds just as sharply to her knocking as she does to the sound of him getting up from where he was sitting. It's for obvious reasons of course, but...when he recognizes Lily's voice, he pushes the door open a sliver before she can leave.]

Wait-! ...wait. It's...it's okay.

[It's just me, he almost says, but he doesn't want to assume. He doesn't press too far, just looking carefully out the door at her.]

You...you didn't have to make me anything.

Urbain | Pokemon Z-A | Gibbous Sun

[justacityboy]

will y'all tell me if you're cool with z-a spoilers and up to what point/ingame royale rank if you play, thanks

i. closed to corbeau

[Urbain isn't used to Suri's bullshit yet. When he wakes up from the dream, he thinks to himself: ooh yeah real edgy okay sure telling people to kill themselves is so cool, you've done it, you've become every internet user in the last twenty years congratsssss. It's when he sits up out of the bed that he's still sharing with Corbeau that he realises this might be real — the weirdly-shaped sun on his wrist seems to indicate that much.

Instantly, his stomach drops, and he looks down at the man sleeping on the other half of the bed and frowns. One glance at his wrist reveals that they're on opposite teams, and Urbain knows better than to think he's entirely safe. After all, they don't really know each other, and if killing is the way to solve this problem... he doesn't know, maybe there's some reality out there where Corbeau shoots him dead? Maybe it would be a mercy of a kind, to become temporarily immortal, but Urbain thinks to himself that he'd rather not die at all. How long can "temporary immortality" last anyway? It could be all of an hour! It could take the Forest a whole five minutes to defeat the Iris if enough people slaughter each other!

With his hands shaking, Urbain quickly scrambles out of bed and goes to find gauze to cover the new "tattoo" with, a clatter in the bathroom signalling that he dropped the first aid kit. Whoops.]

ii. sneakin for snacksins

[It's midnight, and Urbain needs to be as quiet as possible when he makes a run out of his and Corbeau's room for food. It's not that they're running out, but he's also scared that they will, not knowing how many more weeks they're going to be locked inside. He figures if he's quiet enough in the dark, that he can grab whatever is needed in terms of cans or crackers and haul ass back upstairs before anyone notices him.

Floette floats after him, guarding the rear. While she can't do anything now, she does make an angry chittering threat when you round the corner, putting herself between you and Urbain as if all 8 inches of her will do anything, should you choose violence. But she sure as fuck is gonna try—]

Uh, hey, [he whispers,] I'm just getting food, so can we both be cool?

iii. wildcard

[baby boy is not for killing but you may do anything else!!]

The prompt for me :)

[loansharpedo]

[In fairness to Urbain, it's not like Corbeau is well versed in this brand of bullshittery either. To be clear, that doesn't mean he finds it any LESS insane of a leap, because wow imagine being here for barely a couple months and you're suddenly being told kill yourself or someone else if you wanna live, bye!! Maybe it's because he's used to hearing pretty dark things in his usual day-to-day dealings that he doesn't end up waking up when Urbain does.

He does stir when Urbain drops shit in the bathroom, though. He he didn't want to get caught immediately, he maybe should have tried harder to avoid dropping shit.

Corbeau pushes himself upright, sitting forward as he pulls his fingers through his hair to straighten his part. He can only just see Urbain's shadow flitting across the wall from where he didn't fully close the door.]

Urbain? Are you up?

[He says this as he's checking the mark on his skin, frowning.]

Flamebringer | Arknights | Crescent Sun

[thebladebringstheflame]

i. closed to wolfwood

[Suri says "kill" and Flamebringer honestly says "oh word?" in response. This is so stupid. He promised Ezell he would not, and to be fair, he's not interested in mindless killing without a purpose.

...buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut also what iffffff he got it out of his system, the fuckass moon went away, and he got to kill Wolfwood (this is his fetish i guess) and Wolfwood killed him for free? And they were immortal??? And then could move on??

Ezell is going to kill him but what if, like, his death... served a purpose... (He's going to be in so much trouble and he knows there's no justification for it but unfortunately Flamebringer is a bad person, so. Crosses will be beared and he will have to be soggy.)]

Hey. So, I was thinking. [he sure was] We're on opposite teams, we literally can't lose, and we never get to go all out. So what if... we fucking kill each other just this once? It's the only time we're going to get to.

[...]

We can have sex after we're back. [FLAMEBRINGER—]

ii. post iris gone, we have to fix the greenhouse

[Victory was achieved and Flamebringer has gardening shears.

He has kept up with both greenhouses during the events of the buggening, don't get him wrong, but it was much harder to keep the buildings intact when the stupid fucking Woodcrawlers kept breaking in and throwing off the temperature gradients. A lot of the plants have died to the winter or being tipped over as a result, and that's only pissed him off more than anything... but they're dead now, it's good, and he's patched up the buildings with Heimr's help.

And now that that's done... Flamebringer has begun the process of emergency plant rescue for the ones that can be saved. Where he used to completely snip the dead flowers, leaves, and branches off and say "it makes the main body stronger" as some sort of philosophical own, and toss plants with only one healthy branch because he figured they wouldn't grow at all... now he's trying to revive the whole thing without any sacrifices.

Those who know his weird plant philosophies and how he uses them as a front for life and death may find it interesting. Those who don't will see this and go "that man is caring for his plants". In either case, that isn't what he chooses to talk about when you come into the greenhouse. You will get one of two statements, depending on how well he knows you. Either:]

Do me a favour while my hands are full — the storage in the back has some supplies. I need the plant lights, wire, and wooden stakes first and foremost.

[OR, if you've spoken frequently enough by this point:]

My wife is mad at me still.

[ :(

also his wife is a man—]

wildcard

[IMMORTAL PPL ROOF JUMPIES WILL BE SAVED FOR A LOG SORRY GIVE ME A WEEK]

The prompt for me

[lupusxylem]

[It's not like Wolfwood isn't in the exact same boat, here. He KNOWS that getting himself into shit is a terrible idea, and Ain is going to beat his ass. Deservedly so, mind you, but still. Vash and Livio will haunt him from their damn graves, but who is he if not 1) a hypocrite and 2) also a bad person?

Flamebringer approaches him when they're mercifully alone, and though Wolfwood raises a brow at the suggestion, the darkness of his eyes is easily read. He's thinking the exact same thing.]

Our asses. We have our asses to lose.

[...]

But I get what you're sayin'. Not just the opportunity to do shit we always wanted but never could- [NOBODY ever said you couldn't kill each other, you'd technically still come back, also what's wrong with you-]- but the possibility it'd mean somethin'.

[Because he...is not confident that the Woodcrawlers and the Fake People and the Flesh Masses are just going to magically disappear, at this point.]

Nicholas D. Wolfwood | Trigun Stampede | Gibbous Sun

[lupusxylem]

[OOC: Just in case, I have NOT seen any of Season 2 Stargaze, so I'm avoiding that in here obviously! Not that Wolfwood would know any of that but just in case. I plan on binging when the whole thing is released <3]

A) Crusader Probe Mission | The Inn | Open

[By now, trapped in the Inn as they all are, not a single one of them has missed the presence of the multiple moons now hanging in the sky, and it makes his stomach churn to imagine what that could mean. Seeing the moons of No Man's is a grim reminder, and Wolfwood- for the first time in a while- feels a fresh, aching stab of grief. He doesn't leave the Inn even though he doesn't fear the creatures outside, though he doesn't make himself easy to find for the early hours of the morning. He spends them in his old room, finishing off the last few drops of Bride as he sits on his old bed, staring out the gaps of a barricaded window as he pets Angelina laying across his legs. Maybe you find him up here. He didn't bother fully closing the door, so.

He does come downstairs eventually, to make coffee of all things. If he was going to do that he could have just put the booze IN the coffee but whatever, he doesn't give a shit anymore. He's rummaging around in the kitchen as Angelina circles at his heels, though she'll eventually wander into the living space nearby to stick her nose into your hands. Hi :)

Wolfwood glances over his shoulder to make sure she isn't sticking her face in someone's mug, sighing.]

I'd offer t'make you some, but my coffee tastes like road tar. So.

B) Sleep Image Visualizer | Netbook | OPEN

[Wolfwood and the Forest are not exactly on. Good terms. At all. It's no surprise that he hears his fucking voice calling him out by name, speaking to him directly in a way that points a clear finger: if anybody would do it, HE would. Don't trust the assassin with a gun. He's killed hundreds. He doesn't care who he kills.

He'd kill just to save himself. Right?

He smokes an extra cigarette after his little speech ends, and then pulls his notebook from his inner blazer pocket.]

hey so if you're a kid don't look
[crudely drawn picture of two middle fingers here]

thats for you forest
cant even specify how many people youd expect us to kill
you think im gonna believe youd do shit if just one or two died?
dumbass.

C) Games for Kids | The Grove (Outside, after WW Resurrects) | OPEN

[Wolfwood knows damn well that he's going to be in hot water. He knows. Flamebringer knows, too. But there were no rules specifying who you had to kill, for what reason, how, or why, beyond the "teams" the Forest had created.

And as it turned out, he and Flamebringer happened to be on opposite teams. Both willing to do what most people wouldn't. Couldn't. That's a sacrifice he knows they were both ready to make, even if it did mean cowing to the Forest's demands. The alternative is this going on for longer...God knows how much longer they could even hold out against the Woodcrawlers.

He'd do anything to spare them all that kind of death.

Zonari asks him what he wants, and he tells her plain and simply "I don't deserve it, even if you can give it".

And then he decides he'll take advantage of his immortality to mow down as many of those Woodcrawler motherfuckers as he can. It's only fair.]

D) Wildcard

[Wolfwood has already died so idk if a second death grants him anything but if you wanna do something other than the prompts here lmk!]

B

[kingincognito]

You know the children are going to see it regardless.

I asked him for an amount, but of course, he was very cryptic about it. More than we are willing to give, but less than we might think, was the answer I was given. I am still intent on finding some other way.

Pavlova Cookie // Cookie Run Kingdom // Gibbous Sun

[lovelyredthread]

Sleep Image Visualizer ♡1》
[ Pavlova feels like he really should have expected something like this after how bad last month was. As annoying as it is, this does fall under them needing to do something so a god could help them, just like he had predicted. It’s been the pattern of things so far that they generally need a deus ex machina of some kind to fix an issue, and unfortunately this time it was everyone’s least favorite.

But despite the fact the price set was murder… Pavlova isn’t that concerned. This little community doesn’t have a lot of people that would be willing to kill without provocation. The boy is wary, he watches people carefully if they get too close, but he doesn’t hide in his room. They’ll meet the business end of his bow if they try to pick him off.

Until this blows over… he’s just going to keep his routine, often found in his room or in the lobby, huddled by the fireplace. ]

I can’t wait for the sun to come back, it was cold enough already.

Deep Blue ♡2》
[ Things go from zero to one hundred so quickly Pavlova Cookie is left fumbling. He’s not even sure where his abilities would be better utilized given he could reasonably help with fighting or the wards in a pinch. He first takes position at a window to shoot at the swarm from a safe vantage. He’s not immortal like those that died earlier in the month so he has to be careful about how he approaches this. ]

Incoming!

[ Someone near the Inn will hear an arrow woosh past them and then see a woodcrawler utterly decimated about a foot from them. He doesn’t have his magic, but the draw strength on his bow is still absurd. ]

Wildcard ♡3》
[ Literally anything, come at me. ]

1

[kingincognito]

[ It's been a while since Joshua has talked to Pavlova, and not for lack of interest in conversation. The last few months feel like a blur, and it feels like it was only a week or two ago that they talked in the library in that strange desert otherworld.

But now is as good a time as any to remedy that. Particularly because he doesn't want anyone to lose hope. And what better way to boost morale than talking? ]

Indeed. I am much more suited for warmer weather, I think.

[ In each of his hands, he holds a mug. Both are steaming and smell wonderfully of cinnamon. ]

Here. I brought you some warm cider. Perhaps it will help?

Aira Shiratori ♡ Ensemble Stars ♡ Crescent Sun

[love_swan]

Just a little more ♡1》 CW: Suicidal ideation/mentions; Closed to Stan
[ In Aira’s humble opinion, this situation could not get much worse. Mayoi was gone, Mafuyu was gone, and suddenly the whole Grove felt that much less manageable. The air felt that much more oppressive, and the voice of what had to be the god that was holding them hostage coming to them and implying a free for all on killing each other to get out of this? Yeah, that was the last straw. He left the inn directly after, less because he didn’t trust the others so much as he just didn’t want to see what this devolved into, and… well, he couldn’t do this himself. He knows himself too well. He was too much of a coward to take his own life.

He arrives at the Pines’ cabin shortly, his legs trembling from a mixture of fear and exhaustion. He’s unarmed after all. Getting to the cabin around all of the nasty things in the way without being caught was a feat in itself, but one he’s unfortunately not unaccustomed to. He’d said he wouldn’t come out here, but… well this was warranted, he thought. In his panic, he really wasn’t thinking that much about the fact this most certainly wouldn’t go well. He was thinking about the fact this place was about to become a battlefield and if everyone was going to kill each other he’d rather have it both count and be at the hands of someone he trusted not to make it painful.

Hurrying past the warning signs, Aira slid to a stop by the door and knocked- polite even in this situation. That, and he’s not entirely sure where they are, and short of calling for them he’s not sure how else to get their attention. ]

If you step forward ♡2》 CW: Suicidal ideation/mentions; Closed to Dipper
[ Predictably, showing up at his best friend’s door and asking his uncle to kill him had ended poorly. After a good scolding he ended up inside the house and was sat down with a cup of what was presumably coffee. If Dipper hadn’t heard it himself, then he imagines his uncle had probably told him himself by now. Aira was still a little drained from the emotional whiplash he’s been through and the relief that in fact he did not seem to have to die for this stupid plan to work. He’s not sure how to feel. On some level he’d felt like this was– only fair? After he’s cheated death so many times at the expense of others this felt like the way to pay others back with his own. Is he selfish for being relieved? He doesn’t know.

Footsteps on the stairs startle him a little, but he stops himself from jolting too badly- spilling the coffee would be bad. ]

D..Dipper-kun?

If you’re just a little kinder ♡3》 Netbook
Hey everyone- it’s Aira in case you don’t know my handwriting! Sorry I ran off so suddenly. I’m alright, I just went to the Pines’ house! I’ll probably stay here until things calm down some, so I’m sorry for the inconvenience!

This ordinary day ♡4》
[ After he and Stan ended up getting killed anyway and the three of them returned to the Inn, Aira picked up where he left off with assisting the medics. Time passed and things eventually somewhat settled. Until, of course, the Fallen Sun made good on his promise. The Grove erupted into activity, and while Aira had immortality from having died, he was positively useless as a combatant. No, his shaking hands were better utilized helping fortify the wards on the Inn so that things didn’t get even more dire than they already are. ]

Er… Does this look right?

[ Art is the one thing he would say he’s pretty passable at, but he also has next to no knowledge of magic. He’s seen many a demonic rune, however, and he’s terrified he might get one of the wards wrong in his haste. ]

Can become something beautiful ♡5》
[ Wildcard! Come get your lil guy. ]

[charlastan]

[The door doesn't open, but Aira will hear some shuffling and footsteps, and sounds of metal clicking into place - or at least, that's what it will sound like if he's never heard a gun being loaded before.

Stan, on his side, has his ear practically against the door. He'd been making a quick meal and didn't see anyone coming, so he's on high alert at the moment. With all the barriers, it's hard to actually see anyone who comes, but it gives plenty of time to react if they're someone who would try anything dumb with him.]

Who the hell are you and what do you want? C'mon, spit it out before something eats you out there!

[And then he listens, hoping he can confidently tell the difference between someone who's already succumbed and someone who was just stupid enough to walk out here and just...knock? Nicely??]

Luca Aurelius | Original Character | Gibbous Sun

[unheiring]

i. When's the Last Time you Tasted Blood? — Netbook

[Luca spends far longer than he would care to admit, squirreled away in his temporary room as he stares at his wrist. The fact that the invasion had carried on far longer than most hiccups in the Grove tended to was already a problem. Being cooped up with clashing personalities was worse.

And now the bastard went and threw a match into a powder keg.

It's with that thought that Luca stumbles over to his netbook and quickly scrawls something out.]

Drinks are only free to whoever decides not to take up this Beasts Blighted offer.
If I find out any of you played a part in this, I will charge you double.

[That'll show them, right?]

ii. And What Will it Take to Stem the Flood? — Inn Roof

[No it will not. One by one, they succumb to the offer. Maybe it's accidental. Maybe it's a noble decision. Whatever it is, it's a damn headache. Sure, people make it back — sometimes even better than when they left. But through it all, Luca's apprehension grows. More often than not, he seems to step away from the makeshift bar set up in the lobby, instead heading up to the roof. He practices with his sword against a cobbled together dummy made from pillows and pilfered chairs.

It reminds him too much of days that are not far enough in the past. Once, he would have gladly thrown himself on the blade for the sake of shutting the Phoenix up. Now, he has more reason than ever to live. And given all that he has experienced with deities, he doesn't dare trust that the Forest doesn't have something up its sleeve.

So he practices for a fight. He doesn't know if it'll be against one of his compatriots, or if it'll be the Forest itself. But whatever happens, he will be ready for it.]


iii. Wildcard

[Wildcard! Hit me with whatever you want, or drop a DM over on discord! I'm flex!]

ii. Fish incoming!

[sirensinger]

[For most, grappling with the undertaking of being forced to cut through your peers would be deeply distressing. For a newly-introduced, combat-enthused rogue element, who had few tethers to any of the walking, talking mainstays in the Grove? This was an opportunity.

It had not been difficult to track down the primary location that Luca was lingering at. A curiosity that had been burning at him since the day he had awoken with the mark scrawled on the back of his hand has driven him here. Were they on opposing sides? Had someone already stumbled to this place with ill intent fresh on their mind? The mere notion bites at him. A unique possessiveness curls round his throat.

River steps round the outside the building with halberd loosely in hand and waits. Whether he would have to scale the building to reach Luca on the roof would soon become evident, he surmises. While there was a high likelihood that Luca was on high alert due to the state of things, a part of River is banking on him attempting to maintain some semblance of normalcy.]

Lodi | Destiny 2 | Gibbous Sun

[ninelines]

i. Crusader Probe Mission

[It is difficult to discern how long he has been here. The inexorable march of time was famously difficult to gauge with a normalized day-night cycle. Each individual time Lodi had peeked outside in a vague bid to get a better grasp of that cycle, he found himself staring at a steadily growing amalgamation. The sky awash in infernal red.

For a man who was—had been—so closely tethered to the planetary bodies of his Solar System, seeing Earth’s moon fragmented and blooming with sickly, unnatural gore would already be enough to put him ill-at-ease. The way that moon had begun to intertwine and conjoin with, seemingly, the moons of the other inhabitants would already be enough to set his teeth on edge.

In the throes of fitful sleep, he finds himself beset by a vision. From whom is difficult to discern. It flashes through his pitching subconscious so quickly that when he wrestles himself awake, brow streaked with sweat, he can hardly fit the puzzle pieces together. When he shuffles from his temporary lodgings in the inn and makes his way to the more communal areas, the vision crystallizes.

He had seen corpses. Corpses of a number of the inhabitants, broken in a myriad of... horrible ways. Was this a vision of something yet to come? How far in the future? Was he meant to warn these fated victims? Lodi finds himself so utterly engrossed in his fragmented, distressed thoughts that even the slightest acknowledgment makes him jump.]

Oh - sorry, I didn’t see you. Did you say something…?

ii. Sleep Image Visualizer

[That sickening, unpleasant voice sears through his mind like the Nine’s voices never had. The pain in his hand is vivid enough that he goes to clap his opposite hand over it, fearing, ridiculously, that one of those clambering creatures outside had managed to catch him unawares.

When he glances down and sees the incendiary inkwork of a gibbous sun scrawled on the back of his hand… realization sets in. With realization, dread.

Lodi had spent much of his recent life endeavoring to avoid inflicting violent harm upon others. Though he had arrived in the Grove with a weapon, he had yet to have cause to use it. In an ideal world, he would like to maintain that track record. Though… when he next emerges from his lodgings at the inn, he does not venture out without the gun.

He may be incredibly reluctant to hurt another but that did not mean he was going to act the part of a naive fool. If circumstances deemed it necessary, he would defend himself. Ideally, without killing.

For now… he’ll keep to himself. As much as it pains him to do so. He had to ruminate on the second, equally inconclusive vision he had received after wandering a bit further into the woods, after all!]

iii. The Deep Blue

[Regardless of how the situation ultimately shook out, when the Grove erupts in activity Lodi ultimately finds himself back at the inn. If there was one thing he was certain of, ensuring that there was a sanctuary for the inhabitants here was paramount over all else. He would sooner swallow his own misgivings and grudges to enable the continuation of that safety.

Although he is woefully unversed in any kind of magic or esotericism, Lodi knows he can passably replicate the indicated wards. So he applies himself there, darting to and fro with the frenzied energy of a man who needed to know he was actionably contributing to the survival of everyone here.

He eventually sits back on his heels, clapping his chalk-covered palms against the front of his clothes… and grimacing when they streak white down the fabric.]

Oh. Uh. I hope that is not… magic chalk?

iv. Wildcard!

You know the drill! I am up for anything EXCEPT the killing of this guy. Drop YOUR guys here in any capacity.

ii. hello this is your new roommate and his. comatose boyfriend-

[bladeascent]

[Vildred would not have left his room with Ras had he not run out of general supplies. The magic suppression largely has made his partner comatose for most of this month and the last, as Lodi had, erm, clearly seen when they met — and were Vildred not a human guy with human needs, he'd probably just sit vigilant for the next... until this ends.

Alas, Vildred is Just A Dude With A Sword and he needs food. This leads them to run into each other in the inn's hall, but luckily, Lodi had made a peaceful enough impression that Vildred doesn't immediately raise his blade.

There's that, and the fact that he'd rather not fight either. His ribs are cracked and his ankle is broken — splinted, but bones take a long time to heal — so he's at a severe disadvantage. They lock eyes, and Vildred holds his hands up, palms forward, at the shorter man in a "I mean no harm" sort of motion. The similar gibbous sun mark is obvious on his wrist as he does so. Same team, lower threat.]

I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to run to get some food from Heimr.

Genya Shinazugawa | Demon Slayer | Gibbous Sun

[namuthing]

i. Closed to Akaza

[It's no surprise that Genya's thoughts go to one person in particular, when all hell breaks loose. It's a perfect loophole for a bloodthirsty demon, as far as he's concerned. He'd be protecting people by killing them, right? No harm, no foul, just carnage for the sake of carnage.

The thought makes him sick. He won't stand for it.

He's gotten well used to Akaza's behaviors over the last few weeks. The demon stalks around the Grove killing Woodcrawlers wherever he can. There's no chance he won't keep up the pattern, especially with a fresh swarm now crawling around.

Genya just has to wait. If he can catch him by surprise, too busy fending off a crawler, then surely he'll be able to cut his head off, no problem.]

ii. Closed to Muichiro — Cannibalism Allusions

[One way or another, Akaza falls. And one way or another, Genya takes. Any revlusion he feels at the idea goes out the window quickly. He has lost control before, but never like this. He's never had to reconcile with the sheer power of a Upper Rank, at least not on this scale. He has not shied away from taking his fill, and the consequence is great.

Though he does not feel Akaza's power, the hunger grows. And it will not be sated by the flesh of another demon. No, he needs what all monsters of that ilk does — human flesh. Blind to his desire, he hauls off. His senses are dulled by the magic of this place, but it matters not.

He will find someone eventually.]

iii. Outside

[Eventually, the blood lust fades. Regardless of what happened with Muichiro, Genya finds himself sitting near the well, staring at the statues of the Goddesses. He knows there are threats to be worried about but...

No matter how hard he scrubs his skin, the stains won't come out. His skin feels raw, his muscles ache, but he scrubs and scrubs and scrubs. Somewhere out there, someone is screaming a wordless noise. He doesn't know who, only that his throat hurts.

And that he is not alone.]

iv. Wildcard

[You know what to do. Drop something or send me a DM on discord!]

the is for me one <:}

[bluebasketballed]

[with the influx of bastard creatures, of course he's going to venture out and cull the numbers when he can. he happens to be out when the forest speaks to them all, and a number of grove residents admittedly fly through his head as he makes his way back to the inn. he takes temporary shelter here and there, mostly to bully people on the netbook as usual, and happens to end up face to face with genya upon leaving one such building.

head tilted just so, he stares at the young slayer with a calculating gaze for far too long. after an uncomfortable silence, his eyes and fangs glint with mirth.]

Good -- I'm glad you're here! I was a bit worried one of our friends would stumble across the body if I came all the way to the inn.

River | Original Character | Crescent Sun

[sirensinger]

i. Not the most flattering introduction —

[For a battle-hungry creature like River, sating his bloodlust on creatures had hardly proven to be sporting. Even the largest among the Woodcrawlers barely scratched that bone-deep itch. It's why that clarion call for violence among the inhabitants excites him to a degree that most would likely consider uncanny!

Considering he had been gifted this... strange little notebook upon first arriving, and had thusly seen it being utilized for communication across the residents, he figures he might as well utilize it now.]

If you are participating in this little game and would prefer a fair go at it rather than slinking about stabbing each other in the back, simply name a place. I'm not looking to squabble over the morality of it.

[Was he supposed to sign it? Instead, he simply draws a surprisingly cutesy caricature of a fish.]

ii. Games For Kids

[Depending on the success rate of his earlier bid for combat, River fills the gaps in time by skulking through the forest like a finned menace. Now that he had been presented the prime opportunity for violence, the mere idea of being disallowed or denied it in some capacity had him... a bit rustled.

Surely it had nothing to do with his innate bloodlust. Surely that hadn't been stirred into a frenzy by the hypothetical presented by the Forest. What a pain.

He sharpens his halberd against the Woodcrawlers in the interim. They seem to have cropped up in unreasonable abundance, after all, and he is nothing but a willing host for all manner of sparring partners. Though he would largely prefer a humanoid combatant...]

iii. Wildcard

Please stick your fingers through the bars of his enclosure please please please.

i. i'm sorry-

[eidxiety]

🐟🐟🐟

[Ain doesn't want a go at it but he does want to draw fish apparently, sorry—]

Mystery | KPop Demon Hunters | Crescent

[itisa]

[ I - Closed to Shinobu ]

[cw: suicidal ideation]
[If there's one thing Mystery knows - bone deep, soul deep, it's that when a voice ripples through your mind and presses glowing markings into your skin, you listen.

And so, he does. In fact, it nearly has him opening his inn window and throwing himself directly to the woodcrawlers and false people. Surely that'd be quick, efficient... not easy, but dying was never easy no matter how many times it came for him.

But.

He thinks of Zoey. He can't ask that of her. He thinks of Kyojuro... it might be easier to ask it of him, but...

But there's another hunter here. Several, really, but one... She's newer. Easy to find. Most importantly, less likely to have entirely come to terms with the shaky little truce.

Or maybe she had - it wouldn't be the first time he'd made incorrect assumptions. Regardless, he finds himself at the makeshift little clinic in the quiet early hours of the morning.]

Miss... Shinobu, wasn't it? I'd like you to kill me.

[Hell of a first non-group conversation starter there, Mystery!]

[ II - Sleep Image Part Two ]

[When a voice echoes through your mind you listen, yes, but voices that hold power like that... they lie. They manipulate. They wring you out for all they can and then keep wringing until there's nothing left of what once was... you.

So he died. So he returns, markless. So he doesn't trust the promise of immortality, nor the promise of there being no consequences. There are always consequences.

And if there are always consequences, it's stupid to spread the load, right?

So he'll be somewhat brazenly spending time in the common areas, keeping an eye out for your markings, and if you're a gibbous... well.]

I had a crescent.

[Kill or be killed, there's a volunteer right here.]

[ III - Games ]

[Perhaps because he's still relatively new, perhaps because he's been careful to be good, perhaps because of the way events have been structured of some sheer force of luck for once in his stupid life, he hasn't lost anything permanently since his arrival in the grove. His death and ressurection bring no reward.

However.

He's not one to sit on his laurels, not after a month of the screech-screech-screech of woodcrawlers clawing at the windows. So once immortality has been thoroughly proven, he's out of the inn and into the fray.

He's still not used to fighting alone.]

[ IV - Wildcard ]

[You know the drill on this one! <3]

is for MEEEEE

[chonomai]

( ...

...

...

well good morning to him too! good lord-

which is to say, while shinobu hadn't expected a demon to approach her, she especially hadn't expected a demon to just. ask for death.

maybe after akaza, she should have.

there's a moment of shock, clear as day, before she settles again, frowning slightly. )

You intend to test the Forest's word, then?

Ain (Bluhen Route) | Elsword | Crescent Sun

[eidxiety]

i. netbooks/20 questions

[Ain hates this. So instead of playing killies murderies with Suri, he's going to do his usual thing of... being chronically online notebook.]

Let's play 20 questions :O Or however many questions until we get bored, haha. I'll go first.

What is your favourite colour?

[Knowing Ain, this will get fucking weird pretty quickly, so take the normal while you can.]

ii. the horrors can't reach you if you lock the doors

[When Ain isn't being chronically online, he's busy... well, sewing, as usual. It's not like he's good for much else. There's a sign on the door that says "Visitors Allowed; Leave Your Weapons Outside" in curly handwriting, as well as general store hours for the tailor shop that he's set up in his room. You're not coming in if you don't leave your weapons outside (unless you're one of his partners) so good luck!

In any case, Ain has minimal interest in anything Suri has going on despite the fact that everyone else is dropping like flies now. He'll keep tailoring, thanks, talking to you while he works on adding a lace trim to this sleeve.]

Do you think I should charge murderers extra? Like Mr. Bartender is doing with his bar? Like, your bill is 100% more expensive for my services if you killed someone and it wasn't an accident, which you have to prove to me in a court of law?

...

Do you think we can ask Mr. Shopkeeper for a court? Or should we use Goddess Beiwe's church?

iii. wildcard

[woe! ain be upon ye]

[unheiring]

[Said Mr. Bartender is currently making a face at Ain, but holds the silk as dutifully as ever. He has a whole slew of shit to talk to the other man about, but for the time being? He's content to listen to the prattling. It's comforting. After the silence that had crept in the process of his death, he's gone out of his way to seek out noise.]

Absolutely charge them extra. Charge them triple if need be. [As for the other question, Luca only shakes his head in exasperation.] I do not know if Beiwe would enjoy passing judgement on any of us. I think we would be on our own for that.

Till | Alien Stage | Crescent Sun

[foreversembrace]

A) Sleep Image Visualizer | The Inn | OPEN, cw: mild suicidal ideation

[Till hasn't really engaged in the conversation going around about Suri's ultimatum. He hasn't...really wanted to think about it. Doesn't have the stomach for it, right now. Doesn't know what to think. He already died once, in probably the cruelest way he COULD have.

Would it be easier if he spared everyone else the trouble? Or could he even do it? No, he thinks. He's too much of a coward.

Their voices still say as much to him, beyond the window.

But as much as he usually prefers to be alone, right now it makes his skin itch. It's like he can feel those bugs on him if things get too quiet, so he picks up his guitar and heads downstairs, sitting on the floor next to one of the chairs solely so someone else can sit instead.

He occasionally pulls nervously at the strings, each one off-key and wrong no matter how hard he tries to pull a melody together, cursing under his breath when he fumbles.]

Closed to Stan | Near the Pines' Shack

[Till...

Till...come leave with me.

Please...we can finally leave this place.

Can't you hear me...?

Her voice. The voices had usually been the others, intermingling with those he didn't recognize. He wasn't sure why he hadn't heard hers, until now. But it forces him to stop whatever he's doing, looking towards the barricaded windows with his heart racing.

Logically, he knows it can't be real. He knows those things are out there, making it sound like people he knows, even looking like them in some cases...it's how he ended up dying by Ivan's hands, isn't it?

But it was never...]

Mizi...?

[There's a brief moment, a small reprieve when the downstairs of the Inn is empty. No one is there to stop Till from slipping out the front door as the last of his self control gets whittled away by the tinges of the horrors leaving him feeling mad, desperate for relief.

He doesn't know where he's going, but he follows Her voice. It's only by sheer miracle he isn't attacked the second he steps outside.]

[charlastan]

[Honestly, Stan's pretty exhausted. He hasn't gotten a lot of sleep between taking pot shots at stick bug monsters, stupid weird dreams from the local Forest Dickwad, and having to actually tell people that this is a stupid plan.

On top of all that, his new mark fucking itches. It doesn't even have that weird sense of comfort his tattoo in Deerington gave him. This is just a brand, like they're cattle that have been convinced to slaughter each other instead of going to the market, as if that's somehow any better.

Still, someone's gotta keep the house secure. He's been begrudgingly letting Dipper take shifts so he can sleep (not Aira though, he's pretty sure the kid doesn't have it in him after why he turned up at their house) but that doesn't always fix the bone tired that comes from having to be on high alert for...well, weeks now.

He's on the second floor peering out a half-boarded window so he can see out further. It lets him see something coming from the direction of town - a figure trudging through the snow that looks kind of disoriented from what little he can tell. At the very least, it doesn't look like someone ready to be attacked by any of the half-dozen things that could attack.

Stan can't hear him, but unfortunately he does not have a whisper voice and his yell carries--]

HEY, YOU! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU OUT?! YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED, YOU IDIOT!

[He doesn't wait for an answer though. He just grabs his gun, The Red Herring, and heads downstairs two at a time--]

Vildred Dayern | Epic Seven | Gibbous Sun

[bladeascent]

i. staying in (the inn)

[Another day, another "stay inside until outside is calm". Vildred would have preferred to do this back at the dojo, but with the other threats still at large and his bones still being mostly-broken, it's easier to stay at the inn... which he's starting to regret when people start actually killing each other.

Like he's been doing for the last several weeks, he's holed up with his mostly-comatose partner. The problem now is that he knows they're both easy targets; Vildred had essentially announced to everyone before this that he wouldn't be much help with the threats due to his injuries, and that Ras was and still is largely out of the running too. While he doesn't think most people will knock on his door and try anything, the fact is, there's a lot on the table to be lost, and Vildred doesn't play stupid games. He's well aware of the things people will do to ensure their survival.

The door stays locked, and he stays awake for several days to make sure no one breaks in and kills Ras while he isn't looking. By his count, it's been four or five now, and Vildred's willpower to stay awake is rapidly draining. He's near dozing off for what feels like the hundredth time when a noise in the hall startles him back to full wakefulness.

Even if you knocked for a good reason, Vildred still has this aura of distrust about him as he slides the door open barely a crack.]

You're not coming in unless you show me the mark on your wrist and leave your weapons outside.

ii. fixing buildings

[Everything ends in a blaze of glory, swords, and fucking laser beams from that sea serpent creature, and honestly, Vildred is glad for a chance to fucking relax. Or so he tells himself, anyway, because him and his cracky ribs and splinted ankle are off to help people fix up buildings and scenery, and dump monster ashes off... somewhere. He wonders if they should be turned into fertilizer or if that's going to fuck up the plant life, uhhh...

In any case, his part of the repairs will be done by unsubtly Sitting Down The Whole Time.]

Hey, could you push the toolbox a little closer?

[vildred go the fuck to bed challenge]

iii. netbooks, end of event

[In Vildred's usually neat cursive:]

What's the protocol for sky rifts here? It's above the barrier, but what happens if something falls out of it? Does it get stuck on the ceiling?

iv. wildcard

[next month i'm making his life worse, get Nice Vildred while you can—]

wildcard

[divinechains]

[ Ras sees how hard you work, Vildred. He wants you to rest. You deserve to rest. He has tried so very hard to get Vildred to lay down the few times he is awake, but Vildred continues to insist he is fine, and can't sleep knowing Ras barely has any warning before he's out like a light again. It...

It saddens Ras.

It's why, during one of Ras' brief spurts awake, Vildred might find him floating just outside the window to their room, sword raised. He swings it in the air, muttering something in Diche's name before it falls limply to his side as he huffs and shakes in exhaustion that he tries so very hard to stave away. If he could just... just summon one divine judgement from Diche, he knows he could smash the Iris. Just one.

He knows the magic isn't working, and he knows that he's hunted down everything he possibly could to bring it back, to no avail, but what choice is he left with now? The death of others? The pain of Vildred? How worthless.

This is exactly like home.

He tries again, with a heavy heart, bringing his sword up over his head and seemingly struggling to "slice" it through the air. ]

By the power... of Diche, I... judge... [ Huff. Specks of light do fly from the sword. Something is happening. But there's no massive light rift being torn into the sky, like it usually would, and Ras' arms fall again as he tries to regain his strength and wait for the glow in his chest to stop flickering so rapidly... ]

Mizuki | Arknights

[mooninthewater]

I. Satellite

[ Don't swallow rocks, kids.

Which is to say, Mizuki is not doing all that well. He's... physically fine, of course. He's able to keep up with things, he's able to fend off the woodcrawlers, he's able to feed himself and such. But the headaches are miserable. The happenings with the moon are... not good! And Mizuki...

He doesn't really care about himself, at least. He worries for Ourania. He wishes there was something he could do. He cannot provide comfort the way he wants to with his therapy office, but he still sneaks away to occasionally drag in armfuls of stuffed animals to leave in the inn lobby. You may occasionally find a certain white-haired Genesis Elsword buried in stuffed cats in the lobby, even.

It gets worse when Suri announces his... proposition. There's a message left on front desk. ]

If you need someone to talk to, or have concerns, I'm still available. I don't intend to hurt anyone. Just seek me out! - 🪼

II. Orbit

[ Recently deceased? Recently come back? Recently lost someone you care about??? Then, yeah, Mizuki isn't giving you the "come to him" option. He's seeking you out actually. He still hasn't died to regain his voice, yet, so he'll be speaking with his phone, as usual. ]

Can I pick your brain for a little bit? [ At least he's asking this time, instead of bombarding with questions. ]

III. Eclipse

[ Mizuki, finally with his voice back, will basically immediately just start to clean up the Grove of the woodcrawler corpses. He is a little disappointed that he cannot eat them. That would make this process so much easier... If he sees you while he's taking on this endeavor, however... ]

Do you think a big bonfire is reasonable? It might be cathartic for some people to see the things that have been tormenting us go up in flames. I don't do good with fire, personally, though... I wouldn't be able to start it... But it might be fun to get together without the stress again, for once.

IV. Wildcard
PM me if u wanna talk things out <3

II

[jesterlies]

[He's pretty easy to find. He's at the Inn and he's helping keep the wards refreshed. It's one of the few things he can do with his magic shut off.]

[When Mizuki approaches him, he turns to look at him, eyes focused and no longer that foggy look they had when they were still blind.]

Hm? I was not aware we had a session scheduled!

[He grins though, he's in a pretty good mood.]

[ezellotry]

I. I only have one prompt this time I'm sorry-

[ Ezell has no intention to participate in any of this. Ezell has no intention to even entertain the thought. So much, in fact, that the moment Suri makes his announcement, it's met squarely with a middle finger, and a sign taped to his window that is quite literally just a painting of said middle finger, so even the Forest can read it! :) Yay-

He thinks giving the power to Suri, even if he SAYS he's going to use it all, works against their own goals. He can pray for the Goddess. He can pray... that's all he can do. He can pray for the people who choose to help the Forest, despite his vehement feelings. He doesn't try to hide from anyone, but he can only hope that doesn't make him a target. He doubts it. No one is that cruel, right?

You'll find Ezell in front of the fireplace in the Inn, head bowed and hands clasped in prayer so tight that the tips of his fingers have turned white. He is just repeating the same thing again and again and again and again... ]

Vita cum dolore non est peccatum
Caritas vivorum nos connectit

II. Wildcard
Yall know where to find me.

i. here for my wife-

[thebladebringstheflame]

[Flamebringer will wait until there's a lull in Ezell's praying, knowing that he's made his choice and he has to live with it. Still, this doesn't stop him from bringing "sorry I did the thing" bread and jam from the kitchen and setting it on the side table by the couch.]

You should eat something.

Ryan Akagi | Infinity Train | Gibbous Sun

[chickenchoicejudy]

A. GAMES FOR KIDS (Netbook) [cw: shutdown, disordered eating, depression, intrusive thoughts]

[Ever since he and Luca argued on the netbook, Ryan's mostly kept off of it. To some degree that's good - he can't spend who knows how long staring at it and waiting for news to appear about Min-Gi if he isn't looking at it. But not looking at it leaves him even more disconnected than he already was.

He's managed to sneak out a few times since then, for food he doesn't feel like he can eat. The littlest noises have him ducking into empty spaces and hiding until everything goes painfully quiet again.

Because that's all he can do. He can't defend himself. The most he's ever done is hit someone with his guitar, but that was all impulse. He doesn't know how to deal with "okay, everyone kill each other or this doesn't end". He can't help anyone, he doesn't know what to do and he's ridiculously overwhelmed by everything.

(But so is everyone else. He's the only one who can't deal with it. Now everyone knows what kind of person he really is, useless trash no one can actually depend on. Even Min is out there helping, and he can barely move. Pathetic.)

Then again, does he know Min is still out there? Maybe the expedition didn't make it and that's why he's been gone so long. But, weren't people supposed to come back if they died? He's been here a year and he still doesn't know much about how that works and rarely thinks of it unless they're in danger.

(Luca's right though. He's been here long enough to know better.)

The uncertainty is what finally brings him back to the netbook, pushing down the growing feeling that he should have done this sooner as best as he can. And he writes...something that makes absolutely no sense to anyone but Min-Gi, but anyone is welcome to reply--]

i'm gonna dress my cat in a toque

i'm gonna dress my cat in a toque?

B. THE DEEP BLUE (Inside the Inn, Outside the Inn once the war is over)

[Things get easier as soon as he and Min-Gi are reunited. Even when everything starts to shake and they wind up in the midst of everything happening inside, having a task to do that he can actually do makes him stop feeling like such a useless lump. He can draw okay enough, and drawing these big wards lets him move his body and get some of that pent up energy out. He doesn't know anything about magic, but this will feel kind of cool if it works.]

Like this, right?

[He offers a small smile to whoever's next to him, looking at theirs too. They both look pretty good from what he can tell, so he gives them a thumbs up!

Later, when all the fighting is done and the monsters are dead and his stupid itchy mark is gone, Ryan is outside as soon as possible to soak up the fresh air. He takes time to just run around, feel the breeze, and then he happily volunteers for any dumb little odd job anyone needs. He offers to carry things despite looking like a twig, do simple repairs where someone can just point and tell him what to do - anywhere someone needs an extra pair of hands, he's there with a grin!

He wants to help. He wants to show he can help, and that he's not just assuming the worst of literally everyone in the Grove like some garbage asshole. He couldn't keep himself or anyone else safe, but he can help put things back together.]

C. WILDCARD (Whatever, wherever)

[Hit me up if you want something else!]

Wildcard; supply run

[love_swan]

[ Aira is already in the kitchen when Ryan arrives there, funny enough. He may or may not have seen the netbook post earlier in the month where he said he would be with the Pines for the forseeable future, but either way he sure is back now. He's humming softly as he fixes... something on the stove. It smells like he's been in there for a while.

He does look up when he hears the door, though, and smiles at Ryan for a moment before his... state settles in. He looks exhausted in more ways than one. ]

Ryan-san? Are you okay?

Stan Pines | Gravity Falls CRAU | No really, CRAU, he's a squid for like half of this.

[charlastan]

A. GAMES FOR KIDS (All over the inn; squid form)

[So, after all his talk of having the Pines house be a save haven for anyone stuck in the woods, Stanley Pines was killed in a series of truly unfortunate events. After this, and the death of Aira as well, Dipper migrates everyone to the Inn instead.

This pilgrimage isn't three people though, but two people and one stubby squid riding on the back of Dipper's head like a brain-sucker. The Pines haven't been fully human for some time now, and anything that takes a toll on their body (death, paying taxes, etc--) will cause them to revive in their true form while they recover - as little googly-eyed squid creatures no more than 1ft tall or so.

Stan's never died since becoming a sleeper though, and it will take him a few days to put his brain back together enough to change back. His mind was already full of holes, so it tends to take him longer than the rest of the family to change back. Even when they first changed, he was the last one to fully reform.

Unfortunately for the Grove, there are some complications this time. First, per the DEATH RULES, this little squid is temporarily immortal. Second, he's learned how to push himself up onto some of his tentacles and run around, not unlike this. Third, he has just enough self awareness to know that this makes him functionally unstoppable.

Which is to say that for at least a few days after he revives, he can be found running around the inn and getting into all sorts of things. Lock up your valuables, he can and will open doors and stumble-run away with shiny items! Or maybe you wanted a snack and found him in the pantry playing inside a bucket that used to have cheese balls in it (that have been since dumped on the floor and half-eaten.). Or maybe you've found him after he's filled up the sink with water, slowly spinning in circles because he doesn't understand fully where the ocean went. The tap is still running though, you might want to turn that off.

Stan is a menace in every form and cannot be stopped.]

B. THE DEEP BLUE (Inside the Inn; confused human form)

[It's about three days before Stan manages to turn back. Without the boon from Suri, it might have taken even longer. Part of this is because like a toddler with a fever he refused to just take it easy, but some of it is just general confusion on his part about how to even do it. He gets about halfway there one morning though, taking a nose-out approach and finally remembering his eyes are stupid and need glass in front of them. From there it's pretty quick after that, and hopefully Dipper's bullied him into a room because no one needs a naked Grunkle in the middle of the inn.

After that he can be found around the Inn but he will still seem sort of out of it for a couple days. He might still do impulsive gremlin things, but it's a less destructive sort of gremlin energy. He's a little unsteady on his feet as he readjusts to walking like a person again and keeps looking down at his hands like he's trying to figure out why his tentacles are so fucking weird. They don't stick to anything either; he broke like three glasses already trying to figure that out.

He's confused, but uncomfortably pleasant about the whole thing, like he's visiting the home of someone he only sort of knows. Pieces will come back quickly and as they do he'll start trying to snap them back together - he's pretty good at that part, after all this time. At this point you might find him by the fire, going through a handful of old photographs like flashcards.

Naturally, this all happens as the war is escalating, so he winds up indoors when it's all going down. The nice guy with the store (Hamish? Hey...er? ...HEIMR, right.) puts some chalk in his hand and Stan does his best with the sigils. Normally he would put up more of a stink about whether or not this will actually work, but it kind of reminds him of...s͠͏̷̸ơ̢͢͠m̶̢̀҉̸ę͜͜͜͠t̨̕̕h̵̸̨i̢҉҉̶҉n̸̛̕g͞? So he shrugs and helps, only sort of grasping the issue as various different apocalypses swirl around in his head trying to sort themselves out. Isn't it kinda weird to go through more than one of those...?

By the time the rest of the squid soup is drained out of his brain, the fight's over. He offers to help where he can, but he's recovered enough to know that he'll be less help if he throws out his back.

The real tell-tale sign that he's feeling more like himself is that he'll be significantly grumpier about everything that happened and how long it took to de-squid and how he still doesn't have his goddamn fire back. Was February ALWAYS this fucking cold?!

But he's back and he's Stan - bitching and all.]

C. WILDCARD (Wherever, whenever)

[Hit me up if you want something else!]

b

[ghostharasser]

[Well, all of that escalated pretty fast and, Dipper feels SOME kind of way about how he reacted to Stan dying. Like, okay, maybe he shouldn't have been that fast to exact revenge but on the other hand, he's okay with it. He's less okay about accidentally shooting Aira, which is. Hm. HM, we're not thinking about that right now.]

[He's sitting in front of Stan over by the fire. He has his journal out, and he's collected a bunch of photos out of the pages. This is some advance flashcarding! They've already gone over the stuff from home, so now its time to refresh from the last few years.]

Alright, what about this one? Any memory?

[It's an old picture from Deerington. A picture Dipper shot of himself in front of the elementary school. It's being obliterated by a giant worm in the background.]