EVENT: Always Feel Astonished (November 2023)

[citycenter]

ALWAYS FEEL ASTONISHED.

WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I WAS SURE I WAS FROM ANOTHER PLANET. » THE UNIVERSITY — EXPLORING THE DORM District Four is now open, and the City seems to be lending itself to the more creative exploits of those living within its confines. There is a large art space, where residents can experience different types of exhibits in a variety of different mediums. Some of the exhibits are even interactive, as though the City itself seems to be promoting the flow of free thinking, encouraging its residents to think outside of the box and follow their creative whims. Of course, this could all be in thanks to the university—is it possible that the experiences inside the empty classrooms there have furthered not only the pursuit of knowledge, but the pursuit of artistic beauty as well? In the afternoon of November 19, a blustery, cold late-autumn day with the air chilled by recent rain, a notification suddenly arrives on every personal device in the City. Those who have experienced the City's variety of announcements may be wary, but this one seems to be relatively harmless. YOUR ORDER HAS BEEN DELIVERED, the notification says. The delivery address seems to point to a room number in the university dorm, but the return address is a place you do not recognize: a "film & media store" located in District Four. You think hard: do you recall seeing this number? No, it wasn't one of the various rooms open during the haunted house; rather, it seems to correspond with the dorm room key that you received in October. You find yourself curious about the contents of the dorm room. The notification seems to suggest that this is your room, and if you're in possession of the key to the locked door, then surely no one has gotten inside. Maybe it's time to take a trip back to the university—without the spooky scaries this time. When you arrive at the university to investigate, you find your dorm room with ease and slip the key into the lock. Inside, there are no ghosts or goblins, no cobwebbed spiders or bloody limbs dangling: this is a shockingly normal dorm room, outfitted with the furniture that one might find inside a typical American dorm room. Still, it isn't lacking in decoration. In fact, oddly, the room is furnished in a way that suits your tastes… almost perfectly. Perhaps it has the colors you love, or even memorabilia you remember from back home, things you didn't have on your person when arriving in the City. Exploring the room takes a little time. Eventually, you open the desk drawer, push aside several empty notebooks, pens and pencils, tape dispensers, and more, and beneath it all you find a smooth paper flyer. The front of it is decorated with a bright, basic clip art graphic of a large building you don't recognize. It seems to be an advertisement for the opening of a new exhibit at the Science Discovery Center in December. There is also a large bulletin board, hanging above the desk. Oddly, when you get closer to it, there are various photographs, taken in the City and featuring one commonality: you! You are present in nearly all the pictures, and while you may recognize some of the other people as current residents, some of the others you have never seen before in your life. Could you have forgotten? All of the photos seem to be snapshots of fun gatherings, parties, celebrations—how could you forget such a thing? Pinned across the top of the bulletin board is a faded teal pennant which says: CLASS OF CE-##.This number might not mean anything to you, but it may be a good idea to compare with your friends—you may not all have the same number… On November 19 at around 2:00 PM City time, characters will each receive a text message notification indicating that they have received a package at their dorm room. The number of the dorm room corresponds with the number on the key that everyone received during the October event. This can be any number between 1-999. Please feel free to pick any number that you'd like—it's more than possible that there will be multiple rooms with the same number (in different buildings or different wings, for example), but the shape of your character's key will only fit into one specific door lock. Characters who arrive in November are welcome to find a dorm room key mysteriously appearing on their person at some point between arrival and the beginning of the event. The dorm room can be a single, meant to house one individual, or it can be a double if characters would like to share a dorm room (or leave the other half empty for extra space). Each room is furnished like a typical American dorm room, and contains one of each of the following for each individual staying in it: bed, dresser, chair and desk set, and nightstand. The number on the pennant can be any number between 1 and 47. The dorm room is a permanent mechanic, so future new characters will also receive a dorm key and room once they arrive in the City. Players who do not want to interact with the dorm room mechanic are welcome to have their characters move straight to the third section of the event and check out the media store without experiencing the following section. It is also possible for a character to explore their dorm room, leave, and head to the media store without experiencing the following section. Characters are not required to stay in their dorm rooms at all, but are able to move into them permanently if they want to! JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS I FELT SENT HERE FROM ANOTHER WORLD. » THE BOOK — EXPERIENCE A NEW STORY You're curious enough to explore every inch of your dorm room. This might even end up being your new home, after all, if the digs are nice enough! The furniture looks sturdy, and the door locks—what else could you need? Even the mattress seems like it would be comfortable, done up with a large down comforter and sheets that absolutely match your aesthetic. However, there's something odd, nestled in the middle of the bedding: a beautifully ornate book with no title, the pages lined with gold. As soon as you lay eyes on the book, you feel powerfully compelled to open it, no matter how dangerous you feel it could be; your willpower is great, but the will of the City seems to be greater. As soon as you open the book, you feel your body shift—or perhaps it's the world that's shifting, colors and lights blending together around you until they fall into utter darkness. It's almost like your eyes have fallen shut of their own accord; once they open, you find yourself in a place completely different from your cozy little dorm room. You find yourself in a cellar, perhaps, dank and dark and stinking of rotting flesh. Or you find yourself in a meadow, surrounded by beautiful flowers and singing songbirds. You could even find yourself on a ship, the water lapping at the sides of the rickety wooden windows. Wherever it is you've landed now, it feels peculiarly like you've found yourself inside someone else's story, and as such, you're going to have to act fast. It could be that you're alone at first, trepidation filling your chest as you pursue a way forward, but you may also be joined by others, dropping in just as suddenly as you yourself arrived. You may even be the second guest to another person's story, plopped down into it to assist them with whatever task will get you both out of here. There may even be three, four, even more people adapting and learning how to act their part—because you do know your part in this story, don't you? When you look down at yourself, you can see that even your clothes have changed—you are wholly a part of this new world. This realization compels you to start talking, start moving. You know your lines, you find, even without thinking about them. Something tells you that you'll need to fit in to this story in order to escape it—play your part, and you'll be free. You aren't sure exactly why you feel so certain of this fact, but the knowledge is there as if dropped into your mind at the moment you opened the book. So you pretend to be a princess, or you pretend to be a pirate, or you pretend to be a serial killer, and you hope that'll be enough to get you out. You might find yourself in any of the stories below... GENRE STORY DO THIS TO ESCAPE Horror Possible victims locked in the murder basement of the serial killer who will be coming back soon Spill blood OR escape the basement Fantasy Royalty and knight seek out the lair of a dragon to steal its eggs Successfully retrieve an egg OR die heroically to save another Romance Set in regency-era, looking for your secret lover at a masquerade ball Kiss your secret lover OR break their heart Science Fiction Researchers on an "abandoned" alien spaceship being hunted by the aliens Find the escape pod OR kill the aliens Adventure Pirates on the high seas engaged in a sea battle to protect their ship's treasure Down the enemy ship OR drown in the choppy waters Choose Your Own Adventure Story of your choosing Feel free to make up any story or situation that you like, but please do not use existing stories (i.e. your character may fall into a high fantasy story, but not Lord of the Rings; an animal cooking story, but not Ratatouille; etc.) At last, it seems like you've made it through to the end of this part of the story… or you've broken it beyond all repair. The lights suddenly grow dim. It's as if the candles lose all their light, the lightbulbs burst, even the sun starts to fade away. It's back to black again, the darkness sinking upon you, until you find your bearings again, find light again... ...and find yourself standing in another story, forced to endure the same process again. No? Are you one of the lucky ones? (Or have you passed through too many stories to count, now?) Then you'll find yourself standing in the middle of the film & media store, completely unaware of how much time has passed, or how you arrived here. If you sustained any wounds in the course of your adventures, they're now gone except a vague ache. If you died, you're alive and well now. And they all lived happily ever after! Characters will find an elegant-looking, untitled book lying atop the bed in their dorm room. They will feel strongly compelled to open the book, and once they do so, they will be transported into a particular scene in a random story, where they will have to either behave in a way typical of the story's genre or complete a specific task in order to be set free from the story. The above options are only suggestions—players are welcome to make up their own stories, so long as the story location is generally limited to a reasonable size (thereby enabling characters to easily find each other without traipsing for days), and so long as the story is not an identifiable real-world media property. For example, your character cannot be dropped into a country named Westeros, a town named Hobbiton, or a magical school named Hogwarts. Once inside the story, characters will find that they do know exactly what needs to be done to get out of the story, almost like they've memorized lines or watched a scene so many times they can repeat it verbatim. But similar to memorizing lines, they might occasionally get something wrong and set themselves back a little on their quest for freedom. Characters are welcome to take on any role in a story; they can be a protagonist, an antagonist, or even a side character if they wish. All characters who assist in completing the task or acting out the genre-typical scene will find themselves freed of the story, regardless of whether they're a "main" or a "side" character. Players can send their characters hopping from story to story if they wish. A character can be the first person to arrive in their story, but they will never be the only person—characters have to work together with at least one other person to complete their part of the story. Once the story hopping is complete, whether it takes one trip or seventeen, characters will find themselves standing in the middle of the media store. Any injuries sustained by the characters during their adventure will disappear, and their clothes will return to those they were wearing when they entered their dorm room. There is no punishment for any kind of crime committed while inside the book. If a character dies in furtherance of their story, they will awaken either in the media store or in their next story without having suffered any consequences of death (i.e. memory loss, aphasia, etc). Characters DO NOT have to participate in this part of the event in order to access the media store. This section can be skipped entirely if the player would prefer to send their character directly from the dorm room to the media store. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS ONLY I HAD FORGOTTEN MY MISSION, FORGOTTEN HOW TO CALL HOME. » THE MEDIA STORE — ENTERTAINMENT FOR ALL No matter how you end up there, the media store appears to be the perfect solution for your boredom! It boasts a combination of all sorts of media: books, magazines, DVDs of various movies and TV shows, and even a few VHS tapes. One section contains rows and rows of CDs, with headphones on hooks at the end caps so customers can listen to sample tracks and pick their favorites. There are even video games, with generic video game consoles that can be taken back to your home. There is also a generic café in the back of the shop, for those who would like a little coffee or hot chocolate with their new book. All items in the store can be taken with you back to your home. The music is in your language, though you don't recognize any of the artists; the magazines don't seem to have any faces, and oddly, contain photographs cropped so closely that they appear to be just bodies modeling various clothes or make-up products. There is certainly no one that you recognize in any of these magazines, though how would you be able to tell? There is even some adult reading material, though these too do not contain any faces... Some sections of the bookstore seem to be completely empty. There are no books on any kind of major events, no biographies of famous figures—in fact, there are no books that seem rooted in history at all. It's as though all the books are meant either for strictly educational purposes or pure entertainment. That's not so bad, though, is it? At least the store has an impressive movie collection! There are a variety of DVDs and DVD players that can be taken, though the actors in these DVDs are so forgettable that you find yourself not recognizing anyone, and while you may remember details of the plot, you find that you have a hard time recalling what anyone looked like. Either way, this seems to be a nice place to pass the time. You settle into one of the oversized armchairs nearby with a stack of books and no curfew in mind, letting yourself enjoy stories that you no longer have to physically participate in. The media store has just about any kind of media imaginable, and characters are able to take from the store with no consequences. There are books, magazines, TV shows, movies, CDs, etc. There is also adult media, like pornographic DVDs and magazines, but these can only be taken out of the store by adult characters; characters under the age of 18 will get home with their finds only to realize that the pages are completely blank and the recording is all static. The music selection consists of anything that would sound appropriate for the 2000s in America, and it is played in whatever language the character speaks. There are no recognizable artists. In the same vein, there are no recognizable actors or people in any of the other media. The video games are mostly very simple sprite games with no identifiable characters, which people can play on computers or on the available era-appropriate generic consoles. Pictures in magazines will either have the faces blurred or will be shot from the neck down. There are no items in the store that would enable breaking of the fourth wall, so characters will not be able to, for example, play Resident Evil or read Interview with a Vampire. There may, however, be media in the store that is fiction-within-fiction, meaning a work of fiction that doesn't actually exist, but is referenced within a piece of real media—the Heart's Desire book series in Genshin Impact would be one example, or the book of Neverending Story that is contained within the film Neverending Story. (This also applies to nonfiction, if a canon contains references to a well-known work of nonfiction.) There is also a distinct absence of history books or anything that could reveal information about the City itself, but there will be general nonfiction such as science or math textbooks, as well as history books about the worlds that characters hail from. Players are welcome to make up whatever kind of media they want, within reason! JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS WILDCARD. The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back. If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations. This month's event headers come from an untitled poem by Pete Wentz. JUMP TO TOP ↑

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Comments

EVENT QUESTIONS.

[citycenter]

As a reminder, there is a thread of questions (and answers) available on the OOC plotting post here. However, any additional questions not answered there can be asked here!

[justscribing]

Another clarification on the available books: are the ones from character's worlds fresh/generic copies of published materials, or are they able to find very specific copies (I.E. a copy in a library that has personal annotations in it)?

[reaperrabbit]

What happens to the book after a character successfully escapes the story? If they go back to the dorm room, is it still there? If so, does it still compel characters to look at it?

Can it be destroyed?

Re: EVENT QUESTIONS.

[firstwaters]

More questions! This time about the dorm rooms.

1) In the rooms, if there are plants that would require care, do they seem like they've been recently cared for.
2) Have any possessions been left in the room outside of the decor? Nothing that wouldn't be found in the existing shops anyway - things like clothes or hygiene products, that would imply a room in active use.
3) Not relevant right now but going forward, can photographs potentially contain images of future residents? As in, if someone apps in later on, is there a chance that someone might recognise that person from one of their photos (with ooc permission)?

DON QUIXOTE | LIMBUS COMPANY

[icanfixer]

a. a knight's tale (finish a quest)

[ as one stand before a board littered in papers, they may think: why.

what are they doing here.

to pick up a quest, of course -- and there is a young woman beside you, eager for adventure as she peers at the various words written in a language anyone can understand: common! ]

Lost items... escorting another... slaying beasts that threaten a town yonder -- oooh, each one sounds better than the last! I wonder what we ought to pick~, there is not a single scrap on here that does not promise aventura in some way!

[ ...

well, get the show on the road. whatever you are in this story, be it a knight proper or just the unlucky baker's assistant that's found yourself lingering a moment too long nearby, a fantastical adventure of some sort awaits you. don quixote shall make sure of it. become the escorted. be the person who lost an item. the world is your oyster and she's here to crack it open!!!!!!! ]

b. daily lives of high schoolers (pass midterms)

Uuuu... Whilst I do not mind reading, I confess, I do not like studying...

[ the library is, however, a wonderful place to do so. placed into such a story, with such a role and knowledge that all she must do is pass a test--

don quixote has certainly given up before she's begun, because she wants to do everything else but study. they've got time before midterms... they've got a week before midterms! surely they don't need to spend the whole time studying... ]

My companion, I think perhaps we ought to acquit for now and come back another day.

[ join her... stop her... be the teacher that overhears and sets her right... there's a lot of roles in high school, choose one and let it rip!!! ]

c. choose your own adventure (wildcard)

[ anything else at all!!! promise!!! let's have fun with it... if you wanna talk it out, PM here or hit me up at sundrymunity or tojokaname on discord!!! ]

for kromer

[icanfixer]

[ two seadogs, long at one another's throats, suddenly find themselves stranded upon the same island where they had landed with their crews to seek the same treasure. captain, or rather former captain don quixote shakes the sea water out of her hair and raises her eyes to gaze at her competitor, the woman who had become a thorn in her side and she in hers both in the city they had just been at and here, as it turns out... the former captain franz kromer.

survive and leave the isle -- together, is the way this is supposed to go, two powerful forces combining into one and reclaiming the fleets they had lost, and don stares down the woman with an irritated expression. ]

I think I should rather have died attempting to swim after the boat that left me stranded here with thee.

[ the feeling's mutual, she knows that, but kromer's always got a pretty way to put it. ]

for sinclair

[icanfixer]

[ the season.

a time for debuts, for romance and courtship, for young men to flirt among the women of status and find their match -- to have her, by way of hand or something more; for young women it is the spring of their lives, filled with prospects and gossip, dressed in fanciful gowns and wearing the jewelry that had caught their fathers' eyes in ages past. it is a time for careful manners, chaste distances and discreet meetings of eyes and hands and lips if one is bold enough, and her age don quixote is overdue for her season to come.

it isn't her fault, or so the story supplies in her mind, for she had found it hard to give up that boyish way her father had raised her among the brothers she was born youngest of -- riding horses, attending the hunt, singing a round or three at the taverns in trousers and loose shirts to disguise the feminine figure that she now beheld in the long mirror of the house the story claimed was that of a friend's she visited, a young woman of some acclaim who had in her family a bachelor of a brother that don quixote's mother was eager for her to make an impression on before the gala a week from then.

which would apparently be nervewracking by the assurances she was given if don quixote did not know the name of the man she now sought to find among the hallways of the house that she nor her role knew whatsoever, and "find emil sinclair"? easy. that's her friend. her best friend, outside of the story, so long as he was here there was nothing they couldn't deal with!!!!!! this would be over and done with, nevermind that

the final thing she knows she must do is

swear her love to him by way of a kiss.

it's duty. it's duty. it's to leave the story, every part of her knows, and that still doesn't stop her heart from thudding loud in her chest. it's fine. it's fine. first, she must find sinclair, and then they can figure things out from there. ]

For what reason have they so many doors, however...!

[ please!!!!!! so many corridors! hallways! rooms! are rich people's houses always a maze!!!!! ]

for neztach

[icanfixer]

[ so the story goes:

girl falls for friend and gathers her courage one day to confess her feelings after they've incubating for a bit, growing slowly as the year passes on. that's how it's supposed to be. don, one of the handful who like netzach and has been watching him systematically be confessed to by girls and boys alike, is... also on that wait list, according to what she knows must be done, but you know what?

hits a little close to home. she doesn't wanna do it. on the other hand, she'd already decided that... she should, because one needs to live in the present, just as she always tells others (to regret something done rather than not done and leave that what if hanging in the air), it's just--

like this, in an academy neither of them ever had the chance to attend back in the city? not particularly... the way she had hoped, but it's not as if she had been trying to find a way to do it the way she had with gebura in the end. if the opportunity presented itself, she had reasoned, then she would say something, and that would be that! ]

Though I do suppose this is such an opportunity... [ mumbled... her friends, all faces she doesn't know but does at the same time, agree, and encourage her to join netzach in the art room he'd been known to paint in during after hours with teacher's permission.

the door opens and don stares at netzach, thinking of what she has to do, and tries to step back into the hands of the gaggle of girls who put her in and shut the door. they'll be gone in a bit, but the room is just the two of them now.

and don has absolutely decided she is not going to confess. ] H-Hail and well-met, Netzach! What is it thou'rt painting today?

[ she says, not moving from the door, which she hopes will be free to open sooner over later, they will be doing this set-up in more than one place until she can't run anymore, ]

for netzach and yesod

[icanfixer]

[ youngest son of three, netzach is a better match for lady don quixote than most -- he has freedom and luxury to do what he'd like, his parents unconcerned with his going-ons for the most part, and thus there'd be little expectation on their sole daughter as well... while still bringing their family up a rung or two in society.

the politics of such a society are beyond her, actually, but she does find the young man a good conversationalist and welcome company besides; there's no doubt that she does care for him a great deal, and wouldn't mind a place at his side as far as such things go, and every servant knows it.

the servants also know, however, that the young lady's got a suitor she fancies as well: the young mister yesod, who -- despite her engagement with netzach being an open secret among their peers, very "they're bound for it any day" -- has been courting her in his own serious, clumsy way, something that apparently the lady finds very endearing and allows him her company and time aplenty.

well, that was true enough. don likes that trying side of yesod. it makes him one of her cherished friends, though the stirring desire for his more romantic attentions is... new thanks to this role of hers. regardless, as the days mount-- ]

I wonder if we are able to discuss that which lies ahead of us.

[ don quixote's done the most scandalous thing, though the genre seems to be fine with it, as she's invited both her suitors to tea. the servants have been specifically dismissed save for the handmaiden that don knows has been at her side since she was young and all the more trustworthy of every secret in her maidenly heart (???) and thus wouldn't speak a word of the dealings within the room... and even then, she stands at the door to ensure no entry. ]

Forsooth, such a life is not an easy one for myself -- and for the two of thee?

[ "not an easy one" she has to get up SO EARLY, you two. it's terrible. nevermind what lies in their future is a deadly duel, and a marriage to follow. that's the least of it to her. ]

for midnight

[icanfixer]

[ tale as old as time. a lot of classic are, really -- a big shot business person finds their next destination in a quaint little town, where everyone knows another and tradition is celebrated. there's plenty of family run businesses, from the bakery to the christmas tree farm, to of course the local sleigh hands that furnish santa's ride every year with a pair of snow-dappled horses.

though don quixote is a young woman who marvels at the sight of them every year, she's not in charge of that rodeo. she does like to help out with it though when she's not trimming the trees for that picture-perfect triangle everyone adores so much, and after nearly trampling midnight with one of the horses she'd offered to give some exercise on the cobbled streets of their little slice of home --

well, love blooms even upon the battlefield. whatever midnight's purpose is as a hotshot rolling into town, it's against the very giving spirit of christmas, and while he might think he lost that magic so long ago... it's up to don to show him different, and to save christmas.

why they're required to ice skate as part of the non-plan for whatever saving christmas includes, don doesn't know. but she isn't going to complain, because -- ]

I did not think we would be... R-Rather, I am certain one from the city such as thyself has never seen so large and oddly desolate a frozen lake before, far from any neighbor who may wish to spy upon us and cast doubt upon my certainty that I am merely showing thee "Christmas Cheer".

[ ..............

that's gonna fly? okay. christmas romcoms are a dime a dozen, after all. still, there's rinks in the city as midnight would know from his lines saying so, he's more familiar on the ice than this little lady would presume -- and he ought to show her that, too. ]

daan | fear & hunger

[limbical]

I. dorm life

[Honestly, Daan hadn't been particularly excited to get back to the university anytime soon after all that had transpired there, but he follows his usual thought process: with new things and locations arriving, someone's going to inevitably get hurt, which means he's keen to be prepared.

Fortunately, the first aid classes should help ease the burden, take down the risks, but he still would rather be prepared.

Thus, Daan has arrived, sighing as he looks at his dorm key.]

Are these normal to have at a school? Hmm, I wouldn't know...

[Daan muses to himself mostly before he unlocks the room, stepping inside. Alarmingly, it's a fairly normal looking room, albeit more sparse than one might expect. If it is meant to be a reflection of Daan, it only goes to show how little has ever actually been his in life.

He squints at the billboard of pictures, then swiftly scoffs, as if to wave them off even though they distinctly show photographs of himself and others in situations he has no recollection of.]

Doppelgangers. [It's said with the same tone someone would have as if they were answering a basic question. As though he has solved the issue already, Daan sets about exploring the room more.]


II. tale of the pocketcat

[As soon as one opens the book, the room goes dark.

There begins a drizzling of rain, lightly sputtering upon dirt and grass. Soon, it becomes obvious as to where one is--]

It was a rainy day in the countryside, just north of the woods.

[Daan's voice speaks, to narrate, albeit it doesn't appear he is in sight. His voice sounds more just tired than particularly invested in speaking, but he speaks regardless to fulfill the role designated to him.]

And you, such a rascal, are ever defiant of your mother, who has warned you time and again to never wander the woods. During rain decent children would help their parents with various indoors tasks. Rain brings forth all kinds of dangers not otherwise known to little kids. You do know what they say about curiosity, don't you? But maybe a bit of danger has always thrilled you, child.

So what will you do?

[1] DISREGARD THE WARNINGS AND GO INTO THE WOODS
OR
[2] GO INSIDE AND HELP YOUR MOTHER


III. wildcard

[make your own prompt i aint the boss of you]

ii

[icanfixer]

[ oh shit

... this is cool. don stares at the rain, then back inside where her "mother" is. it does look warm, but if she is a defiant lass, then she ought to stay out a little longer. ]

I shall go into the woods, just for a bit! The rain does not scare me, nor does anything that may lay ahead.

[ ever brave, she will go into the woods. besides, what if daan is here? in the woods... ]

Senua

[hardestbattle]

I – The Dorm

[Senua isn’t actually certain what this place is. It seemed like just another place of residence to her. Just a little more odd than the others. Her fingers gently rubbed themselves against the key in her hand as she stood in front of the double-sized dorm. She wasn’t going in though. Just looking at it. Squinting.]

”Why won’t she go in?”

”What is she doing?”

”She doesn’t know.”

[And Senua really doesn’t know, beyond the prospect of potentially exploring a new area. Her mind was going through everything up to this point. The location, anything that seemed to be off. Of course, she didn’t trust any of this. She had no reason to do so. The Furies she was listening to around her agreed in a chorus of hushed whispers. There isn’t anything wrong so far, of course. Yet to her the possibilities remain. Her mind continued to work itself into knots.

Asking question after question. Thinking.

Her fingers continued to rub against the key in thought.]

II – Media Store

[Her eyes hurridedly glanced around the music CD’s. Then over towards what others were doing with them. Her confusion is evident. But Senua managed to piece together what was going on. Something about these little, fragile disks was allowing others to hear noise and what sounded like music. She frowned and looked down at the album in her hand. It wasn’t anything she recognized.

Someone else might be able to. But not Senua.

It was all foreign to her. The books, the music, the CD’s, the devices that played odd, moving pictures. It was all a little much for her at the moment. And she just looked as lost as ever.]

III – All through the City

[She needed to breath, Senua decided. She needed to be outside more and move her body. She needed to stretch nice and wide and--!

She needed to run.

And so she did without any particular direction in her mind. Just the urge to move once more. Her body felt heavy and suffocated. Her mind felt like a jumbled mess, more than usual. Her breathing was heavy, her feet left a rhythmic thud on the concrete ground. Her heart beat hard and fast in her chest, feeling her with the sensation of life.

She felt lighter now. If only running could solve all problems.]

[WILDCARD]

[ooc; feel free to hit me with whatever! Or contact me via pm, discord : billbill#6387, plurk : mr_cynicalperson.]

ii.

[reflexio]

[ He's been observing the woman for quite some time, as a crow might perch upon a railing to watch the crowds go by. ]

...do you require assistance?

[ Yi Sang hasn't seen her before, but Daan's words echo in the back of his mind. The people of this City, generally, seem to be relatively good people. Perhaps he should do his part to continue this trend.

He waits, patiently, gaze dropping to the album clutched in her hand. ]

You are holding an album. Should you gently pry open the lid, a disc will lie nestled inside the case.

Akagi

[kidobutai]

I - Dorm

A room for one? Ah, but there’s two of us with only one, small bed! Ara, whatever shall we do~?

[She sounds teasing and flirty, but her red eyes scanned the room closely, sweeping over the memorabilia. Pictures with herself in them, and of people she doesn’t know, and is only vaguely familiar with here. That all seemed to be par the course for this place. Almost like it was attempting to forcibly fit the occupants into whatever narrative it was creating.

Some sort of American university by the looks of things.

There is a brief pause in her observations when her eyes land on a familiar photograph. Her gaze lingers on it for a moment longer. Her hand twitched as if she wanted to pick it up. But stopped. Her eyes turned away as she looked over the rest of the room.]

Hm, students certainly live a spartan life, don’t they~?

II – A Pirate’s Life For Me

Hehehe~! Don’t worry, Akagi will take care of the vermin!

[With that, the nine-tailed fox dropped down into the ocean waves below and… landed on top of the water with a light plop. Standing above it like it was solid ground or ice.

Akagi grinned wide and predatory as she skated above the water, over and through the waves. Even if this is a mock up of the sea, it was still as close as she was going to get while here. The salted spray, the ice cold waves that bite into the skin and would leave any regular human in a state of hypothermia. The fox’s body slide to the side just in time to avoid the blast of a canon.

Her flaming flight deck was on full display, as were the balls of fire. The best defense is a good offense, she decided. And what better offense is there than to abandon the ship she was on and charge ahead their attackers herself? She’s in her best element here, after all. Might as well draw the fire and lead the charge!]

III - Cafe

[Akagi sat at a table, a cup of tea in one hand, and a non-descript book in front of her, or three. At least one seemed to be 18+ in nature, one looked like it was a romance, the other was a book of poetry. Try as she might Akagi couldn’t quite recall any of the authors, not that such a thing was all too surprising, but still-!

That and a lack of apparent books on history or biographical information didn’t sit well with her. It was as if this place really is hellbent on not giving up any history or information. If any exist at all…

…A sip and a turn of the page follows. No matter, she has all the time in the world~!]

[WILDCARD]

[[ooc; feel free to hit me with whatever! Or contact me via pm, discord : billbill#6387, plurk : mr_cynicalperson.]

wildcard.

[rainswords]

[ To be fair, not much prompting was necessary for Xingqiu's attention to be drawn immediately towards the book. Its ornate and stylistic cover was much appreciated but his interest was in the possibility that something may actually be contained within its pages. So far he hasn't had any luck in finding any reading material within the city, honestly, he isn't expecting things to be different here and yet he can't help himself. Soon he sits on the bed, picks up the book, and after placing it on his lap opens it up... and within its pages...

There is no opportunity for him to catch a glimpse of what is contained within the book, it may very well be as empty as any other tome he has perused throughout his stay. Instead, there is a strange sensation. The world around him seems to fade and before he can take any action everything turns to darkness.

Darkness which he realizes may have been caused by him involuntarily closing his eyes. When he blinks them open, initially his vision is bleary. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he has another look at his surroundings. Now he is no longer in the dorm room, there is forest all around him, a sea of endless trees which seems endless. Looking down at himself finally he notices the change in his garments; he wears the clothes of a maiden and he is sure that the young woman standing next to him is probably not too pleased with her own set of clothes. While the change in scenery and outfit is strange, more so is the feeling that he knows where he is. That he knows what is happening.

Isn't that why he is grasping his brother's hand? It was upon his suggestion that they flee their witch of a stepmother's cruelty! In fact, their stepmother was a literal witch and for their own safety, it meant abandoning their childhood home. Now in a forest with night descending upon them, they had agreed to climb a high tree to avoid the dangers of the forest once the sun set. ]

Actually isn't sleeping on the highest tree branch also a dangerous idea...?

[ It's his first rodeo traversing through a tale, it can't be helped that he would question the logic of its characters when forced into into a role. Bringing his free hand to his chin he seems pensive before looking up their selected tree for the night. ] Well, according to this story we didn't fall so perhaps it should be fine...

( ooc: hope this one is okay; the story is the brother and sister. )

kromer | limbus company

[gripper]

「i. he came from the other world: betrayal was no crime to him」
(CW: mild drugging, violence, horror)

( drip. drip. drip.

your vision is blurry as you stir from... something. your head hurts, your mouth is dry—maybe you were drugged, or maybe it's just a natural consequence of the anxiety that spikes your heartbeat as you realize you're not quite alone in the dimly-lit room.

there's a young woman with you, striking with a wider build to match her height, white and gold hair cut lopsidedly. in her hands is a hammer, glinting in the light, and when she notices you're awake she smiles brilliantly, friendly. )

Hey! About time you woke up... I tried shaking you, but you didn't respond.

( right, that's what her line is. kromer leans back in her chair, laying the hammer across her lap. she sighs, glancing up—there's a staircase further back with a shut door at the top that seems to have suffered a few heavy blows already. )

I think we're locked in here until whoever it is comes back... I managed to find something to try and break us out, but no dice! That knob's way sturdier than it looks, and the wood's really good, too. ( her silver eyes slide over to her newfound partner again. ) You okay? I was pretty out of it when I first woke up, too.

( and, if she doesn't know you already, she'll do the honor of introducing herself. "kromer, by the way."

anyway, it seems like the best course of action right now is to find a weapon to defend yourself with just like she has—especially since the objective that flashes in you mind is a very clear-cut defend yourself and escape. )

「ii. i'll give you a whistle tomorrow, then we can talk about it some more」

( it's a masquerade. it's full of poofy dresses, gentlemen and gentlewomen from high society or low society looking to climb the ladder, and clandestine meetings in the gardens, the stairwell, behind curtains and in empty rooms.

it is, quite frankly, not her element. she hasn't bothered to try to solve the objective yet—find and kiss your secret lover without getting caught—instead preferring to sip wine and roost at the balcony at the top of the stairs, watching the rest of the party. she's appropriately dressed, with a white feathery mask to match covering half her face—even her hair is a little longer, done up in a french braid and decorated with similar gold elements. it's not as if she's completely unrecognizable, masquerades are just empty farces and games of plausible deniability after all, but... well, it's nothing she wears in either city.

kromer has always been more of a suits girl.

regardless, she looks at the card she received some time ago, apparently, according to this tale: to meet her lover beneath the rose arch in the garden before the party's end. she presumes whoever her partner is in this tale will be waiting there, but she doesn't mind making this scene reset as the clock ticks closer and closer to the end of the night—

she's a little soured on love, that's all! she certainly stands out compared to the rest of the faceless party members though, if her beau or belle wants to come harass her into finishing this fucking story already so they can leave the storybook PLEASE. )

「iii. wildcard」

( not into the stories thing, or just want or need to grab her outside of event-specific stuff? all's good, wildcard it! if there's anything you'd like to plot, you reach me on plurk coordination or PM this journal! i'm more than happy to write a starter for us. )

i. rolls up to no good very bad dungeon

[reflexio]

[ Blurry vision, splitting headache, bitter aftertaste on his tongue -- Yi Sang's no stranger to any of it. In truth, his current company is more alarming to him than the state of his surroundings.

That white and gold hair, the hammer clutched in her hands... Yi Sang groans, pressing the heels of his palms into his tired eyes. ]

...Kromer.

[ Something in the back of his head tells him to work together with her, which means the hammer lying across her lap isn't of any danger to him. Probably. He lowers his hands into his lap and glances around to take stock of their surroundings. He's also seated in a rickety-looking chair, and it looks like there are several items strewn about throughout the room.

Yi Sang forces himself to his feet. His legs are a bit unsteady, but he manages to find his balance before wandering off to explore a bit. He reaches a decaying desk and pulls one of its drawers open. Inside lies a letter opener that looks more akin to a full knife than a paper-opener. How convenient.

He lifts the knife into his hands, turning the blade over in his hands. Yes, this should do. He's not particularly eager to slice and dice his way out of this situation, but it's not looking like he has any other choice. Yi Sang returns to his seat, slipping the knife under his vest for now. ]

...I will be fine. My current symptoms -- they are nothing that I have not experienced in the past. Approximately how long have I been unconscious since you awakened here?

angela | library of ruina

[worldexecute]

「i. today i will plant a flower on a corner of the shadow where i got to know you」

( the story of a mermaid in love with a human, in love with humanity, is not an uncommon one. it exists even within her own city in various forms—a mermaid trades her voice for a pair of legs to convince a prince to love her, and if she can't do it she'll lose her voice forever. a mermaid is blackmailed into trading her voice to save her kingdom from a ghastly sea witch, instructed to kill the first person she sees but she can't, having fallen in love with them and choosing to become seafoam instead of sacrificing that person. a mermaid loses her only way to communicate and steps on ground that feels like broken glass and does her best to show people who she is and in the end, she dies anyway.

angela wakes up in a bed that isn't her own and tries to speak—nothing comes out, and she sits up slowly, wondering which version this is. the sea witch in the memories fostered upon her by the story tells her if your love remains unrequited, you'll die; but i can make them love you, for the small price of a soul.

she remembers: the sea witch pauses, reclining back in her clamshell throne.

their soul, so they can never refuse you.

angela lets the maids of the house dress her once they step in, not minding their conversation—she can't contribute anyway. the only thing she catches is that their liege is waiting for her outside, and she presses her lips together as she gathers the skirts of her pale blue dress and steps painfully to the door.

to the person (you) waiting outside, she gives a small bow of her head, as the scene's objective becomes clear: deliver a soul to the sea witch. )

「ii. the unknown bird, the bird i wished to see, had died and wasn't there」

( the quest seems easy enough: retrieve the tome from the dragon, with the promise of a hefty bonus if one killed the dragon in the process. the party is ready and assembled at the bottom of the dragon's mountain, and angela, dressed in the typical garb of a wizard, thumbs her tome and sighs. )

...Do we really need the money that badly? ( it tastes bitter to repeat a script again, but she forges on ahead. ) Our last quest went well-enough.

( the other party members shrug—it had, but this would definitely land them in good standing with the king. angela's face takes on a brief, complicated expression before it smooths back to her usual placid neutrality, and the first part of the objective rises to her and her companion(s) minds unbidden, dictated by the story: make your way up the mountain. )

Then I guess we should get going. ( mmm. ) Let's be careful. Supposedly, the dragon has a multitude of goblins beneath their rule—it's likely we'll have to defeat or trick them somehow.

( ...well, time to start that quest! incidentally, this isn't the first time you've been on this quest with her: it's probably the third or fourth, since something always seems to go wrong and reset the whole thing from the beginning each time. )

「iii. wildcard」

( not into the stories thing, or just want or need to grab her outside of event-specific stuff? all's good, wildcard it! if there's anything you'd like to plot, you reach me on plurk coordination or PM this journal! i'm more than happy to write a starter for us. )

for netzach

[worldexecute]

( fairytale after fairytale after fairytale. at least this one she can speak in—not that it's any better than the last ones, because it's based on a story similar rapunzel, of all things. at least she isn't the one in the tower this time: when she looks up from her perch on her horse, she sees green hair resting against the window.

netzach, huh.

not the sephirah, the librarian, she'd like to be trapped in a story with, but alright. if she remembers, there's something different about this variation on the story—that a number of knights had come by to save the prince, only to leave him and never make good on their promise, or to have been assassin secretly sent to kill him... but given the objective is to leave the tower, she'll have to do so.

so she cups her hands around her mouth to shout up, hoping he's actually awake and she doesn't have to sleeping beauty him instead— )

Netzach, oh Netzach, let down your long hair! I've come to... ( ....ugghh. a soft groan. ) Save you.

( ..........

this is so stupid. she wants to go back to being the princess. )

Loki | MCU | OTA

[abit_ofboth]

When I Was Younger


In all honesty, Loki hasn’t paid much attention to anything he’d received the night of the Halloween party. All that really matters at the end of it all is that he’s had the chance to speak with Hob and come clean with him on his feelings and that since he’s had the chance to try apologizing to those he’d hurt that night. But when the text shows up on his device, he remembers the key he’d found on his person when he’d gotten home.

Of course Loki is interested now, though there is something playing in the back of his head that this might be along the lines of what had happened in the bank a few months back. He doesn’t really trust anything he gets from this place, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to investigate.

Once he arrives at the dorms, it doesn’t take long for Loki to find the room that goes with the key. Opening the door, he looks around the room with a curious sort of frown on his face. It’s clearly a space for living in and apparently for two to live in, though there is no one else there yet. There are two basic, small beds, two dressers and two bookshelves. The room feels cold and bare, especially after the redecorating he’s done to his apartment with Hob. Still, he might be able to find a purpose for this place.

Anyone passing would find him standing in the middle of the room as he considers all the possibilities.



Forgotten Mission


After getting stuck in other people’s stories, some of which were entertaining and others that were heart wrenching, Loki feels the need to find some sort of distraction. So when he comes across the media store, he can’t help but go in and stare around in awe.

The Music Section

He quickly passes through the movies. He remembers Lestat mentioning such things for his birthday celebration and as excited as he is for that (and not just because it will be a date with Hob, he’s also curious about such strange forms of entertainment the humans have come up with), he makes no time for it now. Instead he quickly finds himself first in the music section. Loki has always loved music and though none of it is familiar, he is sure he’ll find something that is worth listening to.

Looking over the selections, he frowns slightly. The covers of the albums are all so strange to him and often the names of the bands, singers and songs sound completely foreign, things even his Allspeak could never translate with any sort of accuracy.

“Excuse me,” he asks as he notices someone passing by. “But do you know what kind of music this is?” Before he decides what he should try, he figures he should have some sort of information on what he’s deciding on.

The Book Section

After he’s done with the music area, Loki makes his way over to the books. This is what he’s really been looking forward to. He doesn’t particularly care what he reads, he’s just happy to finally have the option. Mostly the options are, again, nothing he’s ever heard of, but he appreciates that many of the books have a short synopsis on the back cover.

Before long, he is carrying around a stack of close to ten books and muttering to himself about how he wishes he had access to his pocket dimension. Carrying all these things by hand is turning into quite the annoyance. As he’s distracted both by trying to carry them all, he is not paying attention to where he’s going at all and soon finds himself walking into something or someone.

“Damn,” he curses as he drops the entire stack on the floor in front of him.


Wildcard!

Got something you want to try! Throw it at me!

Forgotten Mission: The Book Section

[chaossealer]

It's not exactly the best practice to get utterly lost between bookshelves, but she finds that it's not too bad. She doesn't do a lot of reading—at least not the type with too many words and not enough pictures, she'll save that honour for her best friend back home. She will always enjoy mangas over novels any day, and that's what she's here for.

She's just casually browsing and not paying attention to her surroundings like a normal person when she collides with someone else—figures, given her coordination and absolute lack of awareness at times. However, it's not that collision that surprises her, but the sound of the books falling to the ground. You've done it now, Usagi! She looks so regretful then, and profusely apologizes for causing so much trouble.

"Oh no," she stammers out, "I'm so sorry—are you okay, I'm so, so sorry..."

Hob Gadling | Sandman (Netflix) | OTA

[100more]

University - Dorm

[ After he received the notification, Hob was wary to go to the address, which is obviously the university. They've had a lot of trouble pop up in that place so far, but in the end, he has to go and investigate. Once he finds his room, he uses his key to unlock the door and steps inside to have a look around. Hob is puzzled at finding personal items here, some of which shouldn't even exist anymore.

If someone happens upon his room, they might see him looking through the wardrobe at different clothes present. Some are from his London flat back home and others are much, much older. God, some of the fashion from hundreds of years ago he does not miss. It's so much easier getting dressed these days.

Other than that, Hob might be found wandering the hallway, looking for anyone else who might be around, just in case someone encountered a bit of trouble. ]

The Book - (c. 17th century London but not actually London)

[ On a snowy, winter's night, there are no sounds on the city street. Barely a horse drawn carriage still operates at this hour. Everyone is inside asleep in their beds or warming themselves up with an ale in a pub or at the inn. One inn is especially lively, with music, laughter, and food on the tables. Orders from the patrons keep coming.

Perhaps you enter as someone inside the inn, surrounded by boisterous laughter and good cheer, adorned in the local fashion. Or perhaps you're out on this cold night, looking for such a place to take shelter from the cold. Or maybe you're in the same situation as Hob Gadling, dressed in a tattered cloak and standing outside of the inn, looking through the window as if he could absorb the warmth and fill his belly just by the sight of the food on the table.

Hob pulls his coat around him some more, but it does nothing to fight away the chill of night air. He's so cold. Practically frozen. He won't last another hour like this unless he finds a way to warm himself. ]

( ooc: 17th century Hob )

The Media Store

[ Of course the city would torture him with a story book only to land him in a place filled with all of the things Hob's been missing since he arrived here. Like that's supposed to make up for it? And yet, Hob can't help himself from looking through everything. Sure, none of the music is familiar, but he'll still listen to it. Absorb its melodies, which are foreign yet familiar at the same time.

Several books are taken, fiction and non-fiction, which he intends to bring home with him. He's going to have a hard time carrying the number of things he's picking off the shelves, but he's feeling a bit starved for reading material, so it's easy to get carried away. And perhaps he's not the only person browsing the shelves. ]

The Book

[abit_ofboth]

[It is a very cold night indeed, though the chill hardly seems to reach Loki. Typically he’s quite a fan of winter, the cold never really bothering him, but tonight as the wind whips around, he can tell it’s much colder than usual. Tonight though, tonight he is distracted for other reasons.

It’s been a less than stellar day for Loki. Fired from his job simply because his co-workers didn’t enjoy a good practical joke (really, what was the big deal in shortening the height of everyone’s chairs? It hardly hurt anyone… well except for poor John who didn’t realize until he was in the act of sitting and promptly fell off said chair. Still Loki doesn’t think he should’ve been fired over it). As a result of said firing, Loki can no longer afford his tiny apartment and now has just enough money for a tiny room at the inn.

As he reaches the inn, he’s looking down, feeling sorry for himself when he physically runs into someone, someone who looks horribly dishevelled. Loki frowns for a moment, startled enough to forget his manners for a moment.]

My apologies, I did not see you there.

Alhaitham | Genshin Impact

[justscribing]

[Dormitories]

[In the end, the message on their screen directs them back to the university. Alhaitham still has that key on-hand. It'd make sure it would be used for something eventually, he just hadn't predicted it would take the place of opening a new area.

He's arrived, found his room, glanced at the memorabilia, grabbed the photos and walked right back out. So this place has gone from mining their memories to making them doubt their memories. Wonderful. There's no way he attended this many get togethers.

He stops in the doorway of someone else looking at their own set of photos.] So, what's your theory on that?

[To emphasize what he means, he waves his own set of photos in hand.]

[Media Store]

[At least, when he finally gets out of liminal story hell, he finds himself in the place he had been keeping an eye on last month. The first time, when he's effectively spit out in it, he gives the area a quick perusal, through the bookshelves, audio tables, videos--but he doesn't linger long. Not because he isn't interested, but because he knows he's going to need more than two hands to walk out with everything he wants.

So he returns later with more purpose--and a little red wagon that he drags around the store while collecting various textbooks, how-to books, and similarly dry non-fiction.

He stops along a particular shelf, though, scrutinizing the book that he slowly slides off the shelf.] Still things pulled from our own worlds.

[Wildcard]

((You can find my plotting comment here if there's something else (including stories) you'd like to do.))

dormitories

[limbical]

[The sudden question earns Daan to glance at the photos with a scrutinizing gaze, brow arched. He goes ah, as he realizes what Alhaitham is showing him.

Then he shrugs and goes back to his notebook, writing something down.]

Doppelgangers. [The tone he takes is almost a bland one, sound incredibly unconcerned. Daan sniffs and closes his notebook.] Something similar happened to some associates of mine.

Personally, I'm not that concerned.

Tsuruno Yui | Magia Record

[fanstheflames]

A. BOOK - WILLY NILLY

[ Tsuruno is always game for an adventure. And truthfully, this is far from the strangest thing that's ever happened to her, so she appears to be ready to settle into her new role in whatever story the two of you are stuck in with aplomb. Whether that's as your sidekick, as a knight (oh no she just teetered over in her too-heavy armor), as a villain, as a mermaid (imagine suddenly getting flung into the ocean, how fun), as a whimsical young maiden in a forest, as a trench-coated detective--

Well, she's ready!

As evidenced by her muttering to herself: ]

Okay, I'm gonna be the Mightiest [ INSERT ROLE HERE ] ever, just watch--


B. BOOK - HARMONY

[ Tsuruno's smile remains steady for this particular scene in which you find her, dressed up as... well, likely what you expect a witch to wear, pointy hat included, but the garment's in orange and gold and as she tilts the brim of her hat down in greeting, it's difficult to see her eyes.

But the smile? The smile's the same as ever. ]

You've traveled far. I am Yu Hong, the Witch of Harmony.

Now tell me--what will bring you harmony in your life?

[ Answer truthfully or not, but know to get through this, something will have to be lost. ]


C. MEDIA STORE

[ How nice to have a nice normal prompt and a nice normal store to rummage in, and someone is clearly delighted by her findings, which you can tell fairly easily.

Why?

Because her arms are so full of books and movies that she's resorted to holding the pile down with her chin and if you make eye contact with her, she can't even nod, because she's balancing a smaller pile on top of her head. ]

Hey, sorry, could you grab that book on the shelf? The green one? And just put it riiight on top?

Wildcard | Gingerbread House Escape Room

[featheradrift]

[ They were in a gingerbread house. It was all gingerbread. Every single surface and item in the room was some form of sweet. The doorknobs were chocolate. The windows were sugar. The countertop was shortbread. Worst of all: his regular outfit had been exchanged for a simple cotton shirt and overalls, and his hat was nowhere to be found.

What in fresh hell was this.

The scene was this: this was the house of a malicious witch that wanted to cook and eat them. They had an hour to break out of the house and escape from the witch's territory before she came back from her excursion and caught them. ]

I am not eating any of this.

Tsunayoshi Sawada | Katekyou Hitman Reborn

[theskyaccepts]

[A - A Band of Merry Men (steal from the rich, give to the poor)]

[This story opens on a gravel road. The road winds its way through a forest, and off in the distance, you might just be able to see the rising towers of a castle. It's common enough for carriages and caravans to make their way through here, being one of the main roads to the city after all.

But people should be on their guard for the rumour goes that this is a common place for those travellers to be beset by bandits. So, keep your eyes peeled and your valuables close.

Unless, of course, you're up on a hill with Tsuna, hidden in the trees. There's a band of seven bandits up there. Tsuna, of course, but also his right hand, and his left, his muscle, his guard, the one who would rather be a loner, and one who Tsuna seems to be in conversation with right now, who seems to be pushing for a harsher strategy. And those roles can be filled by anyone

Tsuna speaks with a bit more confidence than he usually does as he addresses his group.]

No, we're going to stick with the strategy we've always used. There's no need to make things worse and hurt people.

[B - This is a Robbery (be the villain)]

[Tsuna is running through an alley.

There was a rat, that was the only answer. Someone had to have betrayed them, and that's why the police knew where the meeting was. That's how the raid happened. He runs through the people in his organization, trying to figure out who it was who might have been willing to go to the cops. There's no way anyone in the Vongola would do such a thing.

And that's when Tsuna stops running, trying to figure out how he could have had a thought like that. He doesn't have thoughts like that. He trusts his friends wholeheartedly. And they trust him. He...he sounds like the people he swore he wouldn't become.]

What the heck am I thinking?


[C - Stick a Fork in Him, He's Done (media store)]

[This is probably the nicest place that Tsuna has found himself in since coming to the City. All things considered, everything here looks, in order and not vaguely creepy and not out to get him. Sure there's nothing here that he recognizes, but it's familiar enough that he's not bothered.

If anything, he's tired. The stories he's lived through were more than enough, and probably had several metaphors that he's not prepared to think about right now. Nor does he want to really explain.

Instead, he's in the video game section, and there isn't really much consideration as he grabs one of the consoles and then starts gathering games into a basket with it. Fighting games, racing games, even an RPG or two. If it looks vaguely familiar, he'll take it. He does the same in the manga and comic book sections, making him quite loaded as he leaves the store.]

Where's the train station from here?

[D - One Man in his Time Plays Many Parts (wildcard)]

[Want a different Tsuna? He can be your damsel in distress, your bumbling sidekick, whatever you need, though he might panic if he's cast as a villain. Further plotting can be done at his comment here or at urbaninja

Media Store

[pureyang]

[Chongyun actually doesn't intend to walk down the aisle for video games; he's actually here with a basket full of books, intending to pick up a few for Xingqiu before he returns home. But while the video game cases seemed like book covers, Chongyun is a bit lost when he looks down the aisle, blinking up at the video games. But then his eyes settle on a familiar face.]

Oh, Tsuna? I didn't expect to see you here. Are you also picking up a few things?

Brook | I'm the Grim Reaper

[reaperrabbit]

a. THAT'S MORE LITERAL THAN I USUALLY TAKE "CINDER"-ELLA (The Book Prompt)
cw: corpses, fire, mentions of immolation, possible mentions of fratricide and/or sororicide

[Thousands of cultures--probably infinitely many, given that the City proves the existence of the multiverse--tell a story like this. A young woman's father remarries, her new stepmother and stepsisters treat her like trash, her departed mother's spirit or a maternally disposed fairy watches over her and guides her towards opportunity. Tedious, pointless tasks are common. A bevy of animal sidekicks may or may not sing musical numbers. The point is, when you enter this story, you might already know how it goes, even without the auto-download of your role and lines within it.

That makes it all the more obvious that something has gone very, very wrong.

The scene drops you onto a dark footpath in a cold, ancient-looking forest, the kind that whispers of trolls, highwaymen, and witches; the kind that haunts European folklore to this day. That's not what's wrong. What's wrong is how thickly the scent of blood stains the air. What's wrong are the bodies--and pieces of bodies--strewn off the path, in the trees. It seems they're all that's left of a series of young women, or copies of the same young woman. They all sport pale, almost bone-white hair and the rough-spun dress of the fairy tale's mistreated heroine.

Someone doesn't want the story to continue from this point. The record is scratching, repeating, and each forced walk-back leaves its scar in the narrative, a scar in the shape of a woman's corpse.

Perhaps she's still holding a skull-shaped lantern. Perhaps you're the lantern-bearer now, or Baba Yaga, a fairy godmother, woodland fauna-turned-footman, a horseman happy to give the time of day, or a prince with a glass slipper.

Whoever you are and whatever your part in this story, as soon as you step onto that path, something crashes through the trees and grabs you by the shirt. Brook, looking both incredibly pressed and impressively dressed, only falters slightly when he sees you're not the person he's expecting. Then his expression hardens again.]

I am not getting burned to death.

[Oh. Yikes^TM. It's that version.]

b. CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

[Send Brook hopping into your character's story or hit me up at asherdashery to come up with something else! If they can destroy or get rid of the storybooks, you bet your butt Brook's heading back into the dorms to burn his.]

a

[bemist]

[ Well, of course she's all clad in red, sliding off her horse to examine all the--uh. Dead girls? She's aware of her role, not that it's of much importance in the scheme of the story, but she tenses as soon as Brook grabs her and one scarred hand lifts to grab his wrist in return, instinctively. She recognizes him at the same time he realizes she isn't who he wants, but-- ]

... Do I look like I'm gonna set you on fire?

Astarion Ancunín | Baldur's Gate 3

[vampires_pawn]

i. black skies changed into blue (dormitories)

[ It’s a foolish sort of curiosity that brings Astarion to the dormitories. After his dismal experience at the Halloween party last month, there’s no reason to expect anything good from the place, even less so with the luck he’s been having these past couple of weeks. Nightmares, hallucinations, a growing sense of pain behind his eyes and across his back—perhaps the only reason he shows up to the dormitories at all is because he’s half-hoping for answers. Maybe he’ll find out what kind of trick the city is playing now.

Yet, this time, there are no traps or curses waiting for him in the dorms. Instead, after finding his designated door—#263, apparently—he finds himself standing in what seems to be a small but pleasant bedroom, decorated in shades of blue and teal with subtle touches of gold, brightly lit by the sunlight streaming in through a large window. Astarion steps inside, still a touch wary, and begins to examine this new space more closely.

He doesn’t close the door behind him, not quite trusting this place enough for that yet. Over the course of the next few minutes, one might catch him searching through drawers, checking for traps—and, at one point, sitting on the bed with an expression of astonishment and what appears to be a thin, ratty blanket in his lap.

The bulletin board over the desk doesn’t get much attention at all. Certainly, Astarion doesn’t know his own face well enough to recognize himself in any of the photos. ]


ii. dear fellow traveler underneath the moon (fantasy story)

[ Foul times have befallen the kingdom. A dragon’s curse ravages the land, spoiling harvests and choking livestock in the womb. The people cry out for deliverance and the king weeps bitterly for their suffering, for he knows the wyrm’s price—one of his own flesh and blood, sacrificed to the beast in an unholy bargain for his kingdom’s future.

Yet, the court’s high wizard has scried another solution, one that is perhaps far more perilous: a powerful spell, capable of destroying both dragon and its curse in one fell swoop. But such potent magic cannot be called upon without a price. For, just as the dragon demands one of the king’s own progeny to sate its appetites, so does the spell demand the dragon’s in turn: one of its ivory-colored eggs, intact and whole.

And so now are the two of them sent: knight and princess. Thief and sacrifice. If one should fail, then the other shall take their place—and both shall perish.

The story filters into Astarion’s mind as if he is recalling a tale he’s heard a thousand times before and then forgotten, and his first thought is: ’Well, that explains the dress.’ Indeed, his current attire leaves little ambiguity as to the role he’s meant to play in this little tableaux, all sapphire silk and fine silver embroidery. He supposes it’s better than the cat costume from last month; it’s certainly more well-made.

Standing a few meters from the mouth of a deep, dark cave, lines from a storybook fill Astarion’s thoughts and somehow, he knows he must say them if he is to escape this strange melodrama. And so he speaks, not quite able to keep incredulity from his voice as he does so. ]

"Oh, noble knight, this burden of yours weighs more heavily upon my head than any crown! To think that your valor must be tested against such a foul and vicious beast! Would that I could offer myself willingly to the wyrm, sparing you this treacherous journey into its—wait, they gave you an actual sword?”

[ Astarion has just now noticed that his companion’s knightly costume includes what is definitely not just a prop weapon. His envy is practically palpable. ]

They didn’t give you anything extra, did they? A dagger? A bow? [ He crosses his arms, indignant. ] If I have to play dragon fodder, then I at least deserve the opportunity to make it a difficult meal, don’t I?

[ The magic goes out of the scene like light from a snuffed candle. You get the feeling you’re going to have to take this one from the top. ]


iii. in our travels we found our roads (media store)

[ After getting over the disorientation of how exactly he arrived here, Astarion finds that this particular corner of the city is… quite nice, actually. There are books, for one thing, books that have actual words contained within their pages rather than the blank paper that’s plagued the city’s other reading material before now, and Astarion spends a good amount of time simply browsing and selecting a few novels and nonfiction volumes to take home.

At other times, he can be found inspecting the music CDs and video games, with a skeptical sort of expression that openly suggests that he has no idea what these things are or how they work. Maybe someone can give him a demonstration?

Or maybe you happen to run into him when he has the misfortune of experiencing one of the hallucinatory episodes that have continuously afflicted him for the past week. One moment, he’s walking through one of the aisles, a handful of books in hand—then you turn a corner into his line of sight and he leaps back like he’s seen a ghost, books thudding loudly to the floor. His pale face is even paler than usual as he stares at you, eyes wide and fearful for a brief moment—and then his expression twists into one of displeasure and embarrassment, looking down at the books scattered on the floor with a scowl. ]

Wonderful, [ he mutters, then glares at you like it’s your fault. ] What are you looking at? Are you going to help me pick these up or not?

iii

[bemist]

[ She doesn't look impressed as soon as Astarion snaps at her, especially when, to her knowledge, she hadn't done anything but existed within his line of vision and had then apparently scared the hell out of him. Which is not exactly unusual to Gebura; she's aware she cuts a somewhat intimidating figure, as scarred as she is, mismatched eyes meeting his for a glare of her own. ]

Depends. You gonna bite my head off if I do?

[scowlish]

I Felt Sent Here From Another World

[When Onni's eyes open, the first thing he realizes that he's sitting in some kind of hyper-futuristic looking chair, wearing some kind of scratchy, uncomfortable uniform, and staring at a very large screen of some sort with a face on it that is completely alien.

Onni startles at the sight of it, all blue skin and scales and some translucency to its skull so the brain shows through. Looking around frantically, he tries to see if there's anyone else here, but for the moment there's just people he doesn't recognize at the other stations.]

Brook?

[But he's not here. Behind him, Onni hears the door whooshing, allowing someone else entry to the weird, futuristic room (the bridge of a starship, though he doesn't know what that is), but he doesn't look. He's too fixated on the alien on the screen who's saying something about shooting torpedoes and laser beams, words that make no sense to Onni.

But he gets the sudden feeling he knows what he has to do to get out of here: win this battle, or get to an escape pod.]

How do you fight a battle in the stars?

Only I Had Forgotten My Mission, Forgotten How to Call home

[That was weird.

The room he wakes up in is weird too, and he finds himself surrounded by racks of things he doesn't recognize, at least not at first. He walks over to a rack and pulls off one of the items, opening a flimsy plastic case to expose a circle of plastic inside, and when he lifts it out of its tray, the back is shiny with a sort of rainbow tint to it. It's then that he recognizes it.]

CD? Or DVD?

[He's heard of such things, that this is what movies are put on to watch later, or music. Looking through the racks, he finds one that has a nice-looking forest on the front with several bearded men on the front with strange makeup. Furrowing his brow, he takes it as he wanders into the section that has books and is surprised to find that they're not blank like the rest of the books in this place.

It's only after he's been engrossed in the titles for a while that he realizes someone else has appeared in the store. Peering at them around the edge of a shelf, he holds up the plastic case from earlier.]

Do you know how to use this?

[It's a heavy metal CD.]

Wildcard

[None of these strike your fancy? Want your own prompt? Hit me up by PM, at onlilypads in discord, or caffemisto and I'll make you a custom starter! Or feel free to post a starter with whatever you'd like and I'll jump right in.]

only i had forgotten my mission

[miyagimagic]

[ Daniel may not have gone through the same adventure that Onni did, but the moment he heard rumours going around that at least the media store seemed like a safe place to go to, he couldn't quite resist his curiosity..

Especially when media is something he's really been missing in all his months here.

But whereas he was expecting to be able to take a look at some nice music and good movies, maybe even a book-- he wasn't expecting to see a familiar face here too.

It's a good thing, though. Daniel looks a little surprised at being spoken at, but his look turns into a smile when he realises who exactly is talking to him. ]

Are you saying it's time for us to move on from Technology 101 to Technology 102?

[ .. a joke that might go over the other's head, given what Daniel knows about his world, but he smiles about it like he's having an inward chuckle at it all the same, wandering over to where Onni is peering out from behind the shelf. ]

Of course I can help. Is this stuff all new to you too?

Miu Hinasaki | Fatal Frame V

[blackwaterchild]

A. Dorm Room

[Well of course she's going to go exploring, pleased to find her single dorm room done up as if in welcome to her. It's a small room, but...She likes it. The touches of traditional Japanese decor, including an impressive Hinamatsuri doll stand.

The pictures littered around just makes her laugh--it has to be this place just messing with her, but she knows they can't be real because--] No way! I'd never look this happy in pictures. They'd definitely be more posed than that.

[She pokes her head out of the door to flag someone down to point out the picture collage.] Hey! Look at these. Do you have this crap in your room too?

B. Once Upon A Time (CW: potential suicide, potential murder, talks of suicide)

[It's an eerie place you find yourself in. Mist rolls in on the mountainside, the forest surrounding you unnaturally quiet. THere's a reverence about the place, creeks and rivers flowing from the top and bringing cold mountain water down to the base. It becomes evident very clearly:

This is a place where life ends.

Miu can be found quietly wandering through the mist, dressed quite extravagantly. You probably can't even tell its her at first until she notices you, tilting her head with the tinkling of the jewelry on her headdress sounding louder than they should be in this place. She lifts her veil and blinks owlishly]

...Huh. You're here too.

[There are only 4 roles available to you: Either you're a Priestess like Miu (open to women only), or you're someone coming onto the mountain to die and Miu is the priestess you've chosen.

Or...Maybe you're actually here to open a Ghost Marriage with Miu, having chosen her from the others and preparing to go up to the House of Joining to die with her.

Or maybe you're the titular Maiden Slayer, come to live out the romanticized version of the massacre of the Priestesses, with Miu as you obsessive love. It's fine, don't worry, she won't hold it again you. Probably.]

A

[kidobutai]

If you mean the dolls, no. The pictures, however, are.

[Her fox tails moved behind her gracefully as she approached and entered the room, careful to not knock anything over. Akagi is very curious as to what the other dorm rooms look like. Her own appeared as a typical, American-style dorm. Or what she might believe to be typical. Well- it certainly appears that at least some of the rooms seem to be quite a bit more fanciful than her own.

Akagi's smile doesn't waver. If anything, it kind of grows slightly as she takes the room and its overall familiar style in.]

I take it you don't enjoy having your photo taken?

Jullus pyr Norbanus | Final Fantasy XIV | OTA

[pyrrhichope]

{A place to lay one's head}

[Given what little he has come to expect from the city during his stay thus far, Jullus is honestly surprised to get a message of something having been delivered to a dorm room he doesn't remember having had. Or at least, not having been told of, though he supposes it's not like his arrival had seemed to be terribly well handled.

On the other hand, if it's supposed to be his - and there's something theoretically waiting for him - he supposes he might as well check it out. No matter how unusual he happens to find the idea - in the worst case he can simply continue to not actually use the room in question.

All the same, he doesn't let that keep him from speaking to anyone else who might be headed in the same direction.]

What do you make of this?

[The key he's holding in his hand is probably explanation enough, but he's more than glad to explain more if need be.]

{Tales of loss and fire and grapes}

[Once he's finished exploring the dorm room that is meant to his, Jullus turns his attentions instead to the media store. Honestly, he's not expecting a whole a lot, given what else he's come to expect from the city thus far, but well. It's better than most any of the other things. If only for a fact that whatever it has to offer is at least some manner of distraction.

The partial emptiness he finds when he gets there is... less surprising than perhaps it ought to be, but then again, there's so much of the city as it is that follows similar patterns. Frustrating though it might be, and he pauses in front of the lackluster section on history - or at least where it ought to have been.]

A city doesn't just start from nothing.

[Or well, it does, in a sense. But there's usually a reason for its existence anywhere, if not necessarily any documentation of it.]

{wildcard}

((Have anything else in mind? This is where it goes!))

A place to lay one's head

[firstwaters]

ruh roosh?

[ The rooms? Hello, potential new neighbour! You appear to have caught Ryne in the process of attempting to pick a lock. Specifically the lock to the door of her own room, if the key she's holding in her mouth along with a collection of pieces of wire is any indication. She pauses, considering something, then holds up a finger to indicate that she needs a second longer.

She fusses a little more, then wriggles the handle until it moves. Victory! And she actually remembers to remove all the bits of metal from her mouth before she next speaks. ]

Well, the locks aren't any better than they are at the apartments.