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

[splinten]

[Your WICKED NEW SHADES fall tragically from your face and into the abyss. Like so much else, they dissolve into glitches, and probably that godawful dust candy that Caliborn eats. I mean, I eat it too, so I can't judge. But I'm judging anyway. They are gone, but you still have DIRK. And he still isn't looking entirely without jpeg loss.]

I know, dude. I'm lucid. Don't worry about me.

[The truth is, Dirk doesn't need the wing pushed away. He can always see it even with his eyes closed.

I failed.
Always.]

[Well. That sure isn't good. And it's getting worse. Perhaps you should try to think of something from your own world? Perhaps there's something that you can transition to out of this that will break him free? It's not like he's in any real danger, of course, he's going to wake up and so will you.

But still. That might not be a bad plan to try.]

[rootandbranch]

Of course I'm going to worry...!

[something from his own world is definitely what he's going for, if only because that's the strongest and most instinctive imagery he can draw on. he's never tried to direct himself from dream to dream or influence the places he's walking in before, but this is clearly an exception to that rule. how to shift this ocean, these stars, into something else...

he reaches for it, clawing for it and twisting. an ocean, a storm, fire in the sky, water that stays wet and froths instead of fragmenting-- that image is part of him somewhere, at some unconscious depth. it has been since he was born.]

[splinten]

[The pixelation begins to fall away, but it still clings to Dirk. Even so, he looks around.] Geir, what the fuck.

[wait]

Is this Ragnarok.

[rootandbranch]

Odin's balls.

[by his squawk, Geir didn't really consciously intend to send them here-- it was just the strongest image he had to draw on.]

Sorry, sorry, sorry--!

[he claws at the water, trying to keep both of them afloat; somewhere far over the water, an enormous, malevolent red eye is watching them, as visible as the sun through the darkness and confusion.]

GO AWAY.

[splinten]

Cool, it's Sauron.

[Dirk is helping here.]

[rootandbranch]

No, it's me! That's worse than whoever that is! Can you fly here?!

[it's pretty obvious why Geir is asking; the water is starting to sting and burn as they try to keep above it. whether Dirk can fly or Geir has to carry him, it's not going to be safe to stay in here much longer, the complete inadvisability of flying in a maelstrom like this notwithstanding.]

[splinten]

Yeah, it's still a dream.

[He will zoom onwards and out as necessary]

[rootandbranch]

Right-- come on!

[Geir explodes out of the water in a frenzy of flapping, though he keeps out of Dirk's way well enough. they're instantly buffeted by scorching winds instead of stinging water, but flight is doable, at least for now.

he hesitates once he's in the air, though; not sure, in his own nightmare, what the best path out of it is, whether that's towards or away from the monster.]

[splinten]

[Dirk follows quick after. It's brutal winds, but he can fly, and if he keeps close to Geir he doesn't take the full brunt. Also, he doesn't get swept away in wild winds.]

Now would be the time to tell me if you think anything in Ragnarok can help you dream your way out of it.

[Something familiar, or something safe.

Vern? Dirk doesn't dare suggest it, not when nightmares are wild like this. It's too dangerous.]

[rootandbranch]

There's nothing here except my stupid family wrecking everything--!!

[Geir has softer memories of family -- Loki laughing after a prank, the smell of Aghi's fur when they curled up in front of the fire -- but he's not sure those will stand up against this raging turmoil. he backwings desperately, avoiding a river of wind that's about to turn into a tornado.]

You think of something too! Back me up!!

[if they both focus on something (family? other positive associations?), perhaps they'll create something new instead of pulling each other into a new nightmare. but whatever mutual dream-landscape they come up with to try to wrench themselves away, it's going to be weird.]

[splinten]

[Family? That's so far from an option it would almost be funny.]

I'm trying, dude.

[He doesn't have much by way of positive associations, but he does have some relatively safe ones. He tries for Derse: its tall purple towers, the long wall that felt ripped right from China, the wandering Carapacians, pretending to be quiet and asleep and safe.]

[rootandbranch]

[Geir doesn't have many strong, positive memories outside of the life with Vern that he's desperately tried to build in the last few months, and those are up and down and carry their own pitfalls. the best he can come up with is one that's neutral(?) or at least less dangerous, and never far from his subconscious: being trapped deep underground.

the dreamscape wrenches again as they both focus. the shrieking winds and malevolent glare of the apocalypse are blocked out as if a wall has come between them and it. the landscape they finally construct is indeed strange, oddly reminiscent of the image of the Quiet Lands that stuck in Geir's mind after Jay showed it to him: a Derse that's clearly underground, with dark soil overhead instead of space, but embedded with many glittering stones or insects that might pass as an imitation of stars for a creature that had never seen the sky. it's hushed here, as in the deep places of the earth, but the vivid violet streets are intact and the towers still stretch up to the ceiling. there's a slow, drumming noise like a heartbeat. the Carapacians flicker in and out like they're not sure they're supposed to be there, and make no noise when they move.

the World-Serpent's eye is still staring at them as a baleful faceted jewel in the ceiling, and the Red Miles bisect the city like a sword slash, but these signs of trouble don't immediately come after them. they're just there. it's... relatively peaceful, for now, anyway.

Geir flops down on the street in an exhausted huddle.]

Oh. Oh. I didn't like that.