Hijinks Mingle

[potentite]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Anywhere around the hub!
When: Days 103-105
Open/Closed: Open mingle!
Notes: See this post for details on the moon prompt and this one for the telepathy/dream/spirit prompts!



[A | Flower Gleam and Glow]
[The nearby moon is still passing close to the hub island, meaning the effects are still in play. Perhaps now is the time to stop and smell the large lit up sparkling moonflowers that have bloomed? Or be annoyed by the mosquito-like insects that came with them.

Alternatively, the deer seem to draw some sort of energy from the moon's light. Given their size, at least their sudden aggression and proximity to the base camp isn't the worst thing in the world but a kick would still break a rib or other bone so be careful! Possibly help each other deal with these cute but troublesome fauna.]



[B | Eavesdropping]
[For some reason, the telepathy will suddenly get rather wonky. Characters won't know why it's happening, though of course no doubt there will be ponderings, but it means characters won't be in control of their ability to broadcast — or more specifically, not broadcast — their thoughts. Time to find out secrets of an embarrassing nature. Or maybe something sadder is going on in your character's head.

If this wasn't bad enough, the area around the signet might experience burning or tingling. Just try to keep a lid on your brain for the day and distract yourself from any annoying pain.]



[C | Talking In Your Sleep]
[Or maybe your character just doesn't have the most interesting thoughts. Maybe they're busy thinking about pie instead of their upsetting childhood. That's fair. Pie is great.

But surely sometimes it haunts their dreams. With the telepathy running amuck, it's no wonder dreams and nightmares are leaking through, too. Of course, it doesn't have to be an accident. Feel free to grab a friend and share a fanciful dreamscape together on purpose! But for those nuts that are tougher to crack, accidents can and will happen.]



[D | Who You Gonna Call]
[Last but not least, as Friday rolls around, there seems to be something odd going on with the island. If your character is inclined towards the spiritual or supernatural, they'll no doubt notice the strange heavy thickness hanging around. There are whispers in the air and all of new energy just feels solemn. Might be good to give people a heads up and keep an eye on it.]

Comments

[sealeted]

Yes. There's that, at least.

[rebells]

[There's . . . so much in that . . . give him a moment.]

Not surprising, if you met them in that context . . . external influences? [He tilts his head.] Like gods?

[spaceforged]

[The panel glows and flashes, but it spreads out a little thinner. The glow fades. Jay's fountain appears, the edges of the view framed in black. Shiro leans forward to study it.]

Is that the Legacy? That architecture does look like the Castle.

[It's still weird that the panel is responding to thought but if that's what it's doing. They could learn a bit more about each other and their worlds.]

Does all of it look that green?

[antemeridian]

I see. [ the image is a little disconcerting, if only because it's not her thought rather than anything about the flicker itself. but it's a face she knows, an answering flicker of recognition bouncing back through telepathy. ]

So. Why have you come to me now? Was it only to ask me that, or did you have more in mind?

[neatlytuned]

You had beef in your sweets before...?

[Okay maybe it's less this guy can't cook but more he has really weird tastes. Nazuna's not sure that's better.]

What goes with desserts really depends on what you're trying to make but usually you'd want something... sweet. Like fruits or whipped cream or ice cream. Stuff like that.

[splinten]

That's technically us. [The Gods thing, you know.] It can be complicated to explain, and I don't know how much you really want to get into the dynamics of alternate universes and simply different ones. To go from an example I've already partially explained, the Condesce was an external influence. An Earth without her wouldn't have turned out the same way, and we know that because we were able to see that version of Earth.

From what I understand, the same thing happened with the troll species. You can tell that something interfered by looking at trolls who didn't experience this interference and comparing them to the ones that did. Based on the haphazard and long-winded explanations of a dead troll, I believe that the influence was at the behest of a demonic entity known as Lord English that seeks to destroy every universe he enters.

[The order of meteor appearance also mattered but he's trying not to kill Jay with Homestuck here.]

[needmetoo]

[What else is there to do when she hits the dead end but turn around? Even if they weren't too steep, she can't climb that well, and she has no way of flying.

And as her only option, it's not a great one. Cornered, weaponless, facing down monsters the likes of which she'd never seen. At the very least she was no stranger to fighting. As one of the predators charges forward, she dodges to the side, rolling to keep up her momentum. It works for that one, but then she has to stumble backwards to avoid the next strike.

There's too many. She won't be able to keep up forever.]

[splinten]

[There's a pause. His free hand goes for the hair ruffle.]

You know, you're definitely a fast learner.

[splinten]

Association could have a warping effect. It can be hard to work out the exact rules of a dream area until we've really dived into it, but the significance of thought tends to be common.

[reckoner]

No.

[ Cracked out, a rending like the crash of thunder pursuing a light split sky. His voice ripples like that, ruptures like that, his fingers in the grass, in the dirt, and clawing with a seismic jerk, as if shocked. Heart rumbling in ears, like that.

The boy that becomes the man who kills him blurs, in and out of focus, and if he could wonder at it, he would need assume dilation rather than a wet film.

A violent thing, to lash out even verbally at the boy so small and curled, so retreated, with that so known expression made less familiar by what he cannot possibly feel, and if he does feel it, would and could have felt that, at what point had Gaelio become hated?

At what point had he become meaningless? All that gazing, had he succumbed to the restoring reflex of a blink, and missed the moment McGillis turned away? Closer, and closer after all, to having been able to hold and deliver his heart. ]

You're wrong. Don't say it, if you can't remember, if you don't know. He can't -- you can't -- I --

[ Gaelio swallows, teeth aching with how they grind for gum in his mouth, forcing his face away as he blinks, and blinks, and blinks, refusing the why of the need for it. He does need it. Do not think of illusions, of showing the child. Every muscle taut and tight, every cell in conflict, and he urges his vision clear, the savaged pulp of his heart out of his throat.

Then, only then, can he understand the next answer.

Hadn't he?

Memory, uncertain and doubted and distorted and too bright, too dull. Had McGillis noticed the frown of his prolonged stare, had he tugged up his collar, had the question shivered and stalled on his tongue? He had climbed onto his father's knee, had pestered, had accepted. ]

I didn't ask you.

[ Said to the grass, tone still gnarled and erratic, now precarious, as doubting as the frames skipping through his head, doubting, why always doubting, why still doubting? ]

[imsorey]

[lowering his hands a little, inching them down slowly until there's just a few token fingertips still touching the roof]

...I don't want to ask you to do my job for me. It's not liked you asked for this.

[imsorey]

...Are you afraid something's going to happen if someone does know you?

[rebells]

[Flatly, with not a little bit of bitterness:]

It would seriously hamper with my plans surrounding this coven, for one.

[imsorey]

[it swings open just enough for him to see behind it--it swings a little more than that, actually; it's surprisingly easy to pull the one side away from the wall. behind it, there's a hole in the wall there leading into a room filled with those silvery, heatless flames. there's so much of it, so bright, that it takes his eyes a second to adjust.

on the floor are the ashen remains of yet more books that have been burned down to nothing. the room appears to be sagging in on itself; a third of the room has already half-collapsed, and a support beam in the middle of the room is the only thing that's preventing the rest of it from falling. the beam is...hunched...over? the longer you look at it, the less it looks like a beam and the more it looks like a shadowy person trying to hold up the whole room. it also seems to be the source of the heavy breathing you're hearing.]

[imsorey]

[his mouth twitches with a little wry smile; it's a more practical response than he was expecting]

I bet you it won't. Try opening up to people a little, you'll see.

[imsorey]

[glancing over at Jude with a wry little smile on his lips and one expectant eyebrow quirked]

I'm saying it because I think you'd be able to overcome any trials thrown your way too! Give yourself a little more credit. You've got enough determination to manage it.

[rebells]

[He looks up sharply, his eyes sparkling with something like anger.]

The last thing I did before coming here was betray those so-called friends to a sadistic lunatic who wants to sell one of them to the highest bidder. Does that make you feel closer to me? Am I opening up correctly?

[soulcomet]

[hey hey hey, that's her 'do — no, wait, she's just beaming, not even minding the way her hair is now sticking up very slightly.]

Having good examples to follow helped a lot. I — [she's interrupted by a sizable glob of whatever has been snaking across the ceiling suddenly drops, splattering all over the book on Houston that she'd been holding onto. she's surprised enough to drop it, and the book bounces once on the edge of its spine before landing in another sizable puddle.]

[but landing isn't really the right word. the book simply falls right through the floor, as if it had been dropped through a hole, and sinks on down to the infinite stars and pinkish glow below.]

[so that's where that's going. admittedly, though she is uniquely qualified to handle dreams, she's never had to deal with her own at the same time.]

[decipheringeye]

I guess I just... ah.

[ What was that just now? ]

...This might seem like a weird question to suddenly ask, but do you know Miss Madoka?

[imsorey]

[he can't quite hide his surprise when he jerks his head back to look at Jay, hesitating as he tries to reconcile that Jay with the Jay he knows.]

That's not what people usually lead with, but that's my fault for being pushy. I have to admit that doesn't sound like you. Or, what I've come to know about you. Why did you do it?

[guerrilla]

Yeah, looks like she's fine.

[He's just as relieved as Hakuno is. Technically Beech isn't part of the coven, per se, but it'd be rough on her if she got dragged into the nightmares of people like Robin and Hakuno.]

...Are you gonna be okay, Master?

[He asks even though he knows she will be. No one he's met is more resilient than she is, after all.]

[splinten]

[So. One option: a thing that's definitely alive.

The other option: a thing that is probably big and angry.



Yeah he's going roaring-ways. He'll try Northwestish.]

[sealeted]

...

[She spends a moment fussing with the blanket, making sure Beech is all snug and cozy, and just so coincidentally does not look him in the eye for a moment.

She does, however, meet his gaze when she answers.]

Yes. It’s just a bunch of bad memories right now, not an ultimatum creeping closer by the day. That’s already worlds better. It’s just taking a little while to fully register with parts of me, that’s all.

[rebells]

Does it matter?

[Bitterly. So bitterly. He doesn't really want to talk about his reasons.]

Maybe I thought it would gain me some benefit. Or maybe I just thought it would be funny.

[guerrilla]

Great. If that's true it's gonna make even thinking a pain in the ass.

[It seems as plausible as everything else that's happened since he got here.]

Guess that means I'm trespassing. Sorry about that.

[Not that he did it intentionally, but it would be nice to stay off the bad side of the law, even if the law is kids calling themselves detectives.]