THE THINGS I GAVE YOU.
» THE BANK — INTRODUCTORY NOTES
District 2 is open, bringing with it access to new and interesting locations—including the city's main bank branch. The bank is a large building with a stone exterior, wrought iron grating on the windows, and large, heavy metal doors that take surprisingly little effort to open, their hinges silent and well-oiled.
Early in the day on July 19, characters in the vicinity of the bank will hear first a low, metallic creaking sound from inside the building, like metal straining against metal. This is followed by the sharper noise of locks disengaging, and then the large, heavy doors on the front of the building swing open slightly, enough to let a person through.
Directly inside the doors is the bank lobby, and beyond that is the main banking floor, with elegant marble flooring and dimly lit chandeliers. It would appear that this was once the main commercial bank of the city, although it is now completely empty, with no tellers behind the counters and no cash in any of the drawers.
You may rifle through the tills and filing cabinets to your heart's content, but similar to the files in City Hall, there is no useful information to be found—all the papers are blank, or are empty forms without any personally identifying information. There are no monetary devices to be found either; this is, after all, not a city that operates on a cash system, so there are no coins or paper bills in any of the tills or, indeed, anywhere within the bank.
What you might be able to find, though, is a rack of delicate, burnished brass keys on a wall toward the back of the main banking hall. Each of these keys is attached to a stamped metal keychain bearing a name on one side and a number on the other. Some of these may be names you recognize, and some of them may not, but they are all names belonging to current residents of the city, and each key corresponds to a safety deposit box within the vault at the back of the building. Can you remember what you stored in that box for safekeeping? Maybe you had better go find out.
At the back of the main banking hall is a vault secured with a large circular metal door. The door is currently unlocked and propped open; it can be closed, but cannot be locked (intentionally, anyway) from either the inside or the outside. The vault contains row upon row of safety deposit boxes, each locked. Participating characters who are in possession of a key can open their own safety deposit box, but it is not currently possible to force open any safety deposit box that does not belong to them. After August 1, players will be able to use their safety deposit boxes to store their own belongings, and break-ins will become possible with prior player permission and appropriate consequences.
Below sections detail the safety deposit boxes for both choose-your-own-adventure players and randomized players! Please see the randomized matches for this event HERE.
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IT'S TRUE, PEOPLE TAKE THINGS BUT RARELY.
» SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES — A SELF-GUIDED TOUR
For some of you, getting into your safety deposit box is quite straightforward.
You take your key from the rack behind the teller's counter and make your way back through the building and into the vault. It's cool inside, the temperature well-regulated and the air dry. On the walls are rows upon rows of safety deposit boxes, and it may take you a moment to find the one that corresponds to the number stamped on your key. Does that number mean anything to you? It may, or it may not.
When you find your box, it takes very little effort to open it. A slide of your key, a quick turn, and the safety deposit box's door springs open to reveal the metal container within. You remove the metal box from the wall and bring it over to the table in the center of the room, clearly placed there for this express purpose. Maybe there are others around, or maybe you're alone. Do you remember yet, what it was you put in here? Well, there's no time like the present to check.
You open the safety deposit box to find—something that shouldn't be there. It's yours, that much you're sure of, but you didn't bring it with you to the city. You reach into the box to pick it up, and the surge of memory is immediate, sending your mind back to your strongest memory associated with the item in your hand.
Then the vault door swings shut, trapping you inside with whoever else has the misfortune of sharing the vault with you right now. No matter what force you try, the door won't open again. There doesn't appear to even be a mechanism that unlocks the door from the inside, and from within several feet of metal and stone, no one on the outside will be able to hear you shout. It seems hopeless—how long can anyone last, trapped in a place like this?
Should you turn back to the open safety deposit box, you might notice a slip of paper resting on the bottom. The paper looks aged, like it's been in the box for quite some time, and in printed text it reads: "Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it."
Maybe it means you should let another hold the item you've retrieved from the box… or maybe it means you should share the weight of memory. Try to interpret the meaning in whatever way you can. But should you decide to unburden yourself, and share with someone else the weight of the item you're holding in your hands, you may find that there's a means of escape after all.
Once you free yourself from the vault, for the next several days you find yourself feeling rather honest, like you may not be able to stop yourself from confessing the truth about the item you now carry…
Characters who wish to participate in the event, but who do not wish to randomize the contents of their safety deposit boxes, can open their safety deposit boxes to find an emotionally significant item belonging to the character—player's choice as to what the item is. The only guidelines are that it should be small enough to fit reasonably in a pocket and may not have any magical or weapon properties. Similarly, players are able to choose the memories associated with the items in the safety deposit boxes. The vault door will remain closed until the characters in the vault explain to each other the significance of their items and the memory associated with them, at which point it the vault mechanisms will disengage and the door will swing open as if it had never closed to begin with. However, for the four days following the event, characters who carry their safety deposit box item on their person will feel oddly compelled to tell other characters about its significance and meaning.
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A CRASH-SITE IS SACRED, WE'RE FAITHFUL.
» SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES — A JOINT VENTURE
For others of you, the contents of the safety deposit box may be considerably more disconcerting.
You also take your safety deposit box key from the rack behind the bank teller's counter and make your way back through the building and into the vault. It's cool inside, the temperature well-regulated and the air dry. On the walls are rows upon rows of safety deposit boxes, and it may take you a moment to find the one that corresponds to the number stamped on your key. Does that number mean anything to you? It may, or it may not.
When you find your box, it takes very little effort to open it. A slide of your key, a quick turn, and the safety deposit box's door springs open to reveal the metal container within. You remove the metal box from the wall and bring it over to the table in the center of the room, clearly placed there for this express purpose. Maybe there are others around, or maybe you're alone. Do you remember yet, what it was you put in here? Well, there's no time like the present to check.
You open the safety deposit box to find—wait, what is that? It certainly doesn't belong to you. Tucked inside the safety deposit box alongside the item is a slip of paper with another name on it, as well as a cryptic message: "Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it." The item isn't yours, but it does appear to belong to another resident of the city. Maybe your safety deposit boxes somehow got mixed up? It seems like it would be a good idea to find this person and return their property to them.
Whether you encounter the owner of the item in the vault or elsewhere in the city, when it comes time to hand the item over, two things happen. One—the doors are locked tight, refusing to allow either you or the item's owner out until you both understand what the item is and what it means to the other. To unburden your heart is the only way to free yourself.
And two—as the owner of the item explains its significance, you find yourself oddly captivated, resonating strongly with whatever emotion the item's owner most closely associates with it. You may not be able to see the memory that the other person describes, but you can certainly feel the emotions they felt—after all, the easiest way to unburden oneself is to share the load with another. Isn't that right?
Once you free yourself from your enthralled state, and once you have your own belongings returned to you, for the next several days you find yourself feeling rather honest, like you may not be able to stop yourself from confessing the truth about the item you now carry…
Characters who opted to randomize the contents of their safety deposit box during the plotting post, or who plotted a joint experience with another character, will open their safety deposit boxes to find a small, non-magical but emotionally significant item belonging to another player character in the city. They will need to find the owner of that item and return it to them—this can either be inside the bank vault or in another location within the city. Regardless of where the meeting takes place, the character holding the item will find themselves unable to leave until the character who owns the item explains its significance; as they do, the holder of the item will find themselves swept up in the emotional highs and lows of the memories associated with that item, allowing them to share all of the feelings, regrets, joys, griefs, and rages that the owner experiences in the telling. Additionally, for the four days following the event, characters who carry their safety deposit box item on their person will feel oddly compelled to tell other characters about its significance and meaning.
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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 "The Things" and "The Gatherer," two poems by Brendan Constantine. The text of the paper slip comes from Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed.
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citylogs2023-07-19 08:45 pm
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[ He reaches out slowly. Katsuki isn't so much delicately holding Izuku's cheek as he is rubbing a thumb under an eyelid. A way to prove a point since there's still signs of dark circles there. Katsuki hates that deadened eye look that Izuku can get. ]
Don't think I won't slip a sleeping pill into your food if you won't do it on your own.
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Izuku's thoughts seem to shudder. He feels himself going still the moment that Katsuki's fingers brush his face. It's such a small simple gesture and yet it strangely makes Izuku feel focused for a moment. Katsuki's words make him remember that he's ... right here with him.]
I...
[He feels breathless for a moment. He watches Katsuki's red eyes before he feels a flicker of his fatigue really set in. Then he lets out a sheepish laugh...]
It would be like you to threaten me with something like that...
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[ But that does put him at ease a little. Getting Izuku to actually show his fatigue is at least a start. It's by no means enough to satisfy Katsuki. Not at fucking all. He wants the other to admit it. To actually state outright what it is on his mind and what it is, exactly, that is causing him to lose sleep.
However, he'll accept this for the time being. Katsuki won't press too much. He's not withdrawing his hand just yet though either. ]
I've got your back.
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... Katsuki's being so... Nice to him.]
I have been trying. [He lets out a shaky breath.] To not overthink things and to try and sleep but it's just ... it's hard to turn everything off. When I lay down I start thinking about so many things I could or should be doing.
[He's starting to feel a little shy.]
But... Erm... You... You don't have to... Umm...
[Touching his cheek...]
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Because the blonde doesn't want to keep falling behind. ]
Of course you're overthinking things. If you need to exhaust yourself -
[ Cupping that cheek! Before giving it a slight pinch and a tug. ]
Then we'll go running or spar. I'll beat you up so bad that your brain won't be able to think about that shit.
[ Then he drops his hands. Shoves them into his pockets and looks off to the side. Now his ears start to burn... Because he thinks that Izuku is calling him out on looking after him. ]
I don't have to do shit. Ain't doing anything I don't want.
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[Of course, when Katsuki pinches and tugs his cheek he lets it happen but also it kind of hurts. His head tilts with Katsuki's fingers as he gently tries to resist. Right here in the middle of an abandoned tunnel. When Katsuki lets go his hand goes to his cheek to nurse it gently.]
You'll... really do that for me, Kacchan?
[It's a little hard to process these things still but Izuku is trying to get better at accepting it too. Accepting that Katsuki is honest when he says these things and genuinely wants to help him even if it means beating each other up to keep Izuku from thinking himself into an anxiety storm.
... He looks down.
Because honestly...?
He's really happy that Katsuki is paying attention him. Looking at him...]
T-Then I'll... I'll hold you to that.
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This is just the way that they are. It's the only way he knows to be "helpful" when it comes to Izuku. ]
Remember that you said that. Cause you know I ain't gonna take it easy on you.
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I know, Kacchan. I wouldn't want you to.
[He looks away from the other boy too only because he knows his cheeks are getting warmer. He decides to try and focus on the situation again which is exploring creepy tunnels. He takes a few steps into the darkness again.]
L-Let's keep going.
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You're about the only one who'd say that.
[ He snorts and starts to walk. Katsuki has no idea how far they are going to walk before turning back. But he's probably embarrassed himself enough by now, gauging from Izuku's reaction and the way he just. Is trying not to think about how the nerd is likely on the verge of tears. ]
Way ahead of you.
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[Izuku quickly follows after Katsuki. His grip on the straps of his bag is a little tight. Because he's trying to get himself to calm down and not overthink what just happened between the two of them. Or how his heart is beating a little faster. Or about the slight tingle on his cheek where Katsuki's fingers had brushed...
... Don't. Don't think about it.]
These tunnels are darker than I thought they would be. The service lights are so dim.
[Focus on the task at hand. This also means as they travel farther and farther they'll soon reach a part of the tunnel that seems like it just breaks off into a black void. Nothingness. And before they can even do anything to remark about that they'll start to feel dizzy and turned around.]
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It's enough to make his ears burn. Stop it, Bakugou. Stop thinking about it! ]
I'm wondering how we'll know when we've reached the end.
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[Izuku stops walking for a second. He looks puzzled because he's sure that they passed this particular notch in the train tracks before. He frowns and looks both ways and finds that everything looks so dark. Harrowing. Unending.
He feels a little sick to the stomach...]
What is... going on?
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He clicks his tongue against his teeth. Pauses in walking forward to walk towards one of the walls. ]
'Zuku. Bring your light over here.
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Did you notice something, Kacchan?
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[ Katsuki is pulling something out of his bag. Looks like chalk. And then he's marking an arrow on the wall of the tunnel. ]
Just to help us out.
[ And if they are going in circles, this will be a good method to know. ]
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[Well that perked Izuku up a little bit! It's a note in the right direction.
Maybe.
If they start walking again the same thing will happen. They'll walk and walk... and find the same mark that Katsuki put on the wall. Like they are going in repeating circles.]
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Until Katsuki stops and looks at the wall. That giant X staring at him. Mocking him. ]
Fucking...
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[...]
We're somehow going in circles.
[Izuku lets out a ragged sigh...]
I should have expected something like this would happen...
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[ But he has a feeling if they backtrack, they most certainly will. ]
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[Izuku makes a frustrated noise.]
Maybe we should head back, Kacchan.
[They didn't learn anything... Only that the train tracks also don't let them continue or escape.]
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[ His hands are sparking, but that's it. Just sparking. No blasts or explosions. But he's pissed off enough that he SHOULD be. And Katsuki still doesn't know what to do ABOUT THAT. It only adds to his frustration. His irritation.
They aren't getting fucking anywhere. No information. No one stepping up and reaching out. It's like fucking radio silence and it is finally starting to get on Katsuki's nerves.
To the point where he's not hearing Izuku. ]
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[He sees those sparks coming from Katsuki's hands. He wishes he could help somehow- but Izuku knows how it feels. The sheer frustration of not finding anything, the way their quirks have been malfunctioning... It's so hard to deal with.]
Kacchan! [He reaches out to touch Katsuki's arm. He dares to...] L-listen to me-! I ... I know this is frustrating but we're only going to get tired if we stay here...
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At least he doesn't jerk away when Izuku touches his arm. His fists tighten, effectively cutting off the sparking hands. ]
You're right.
[ Oh... Izuku is? ]
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I- I ... [He's right???] I am right. [He's gonna hold onto that right now!!] This is confusing but we just have to hang in there for as long as we can. Let's go back now.
[So he'll try to coax Katsuki to come with him back towards the train station and out of here.]
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Yeah... Fine.
[ Katsuki will allow this. Allow for Izuku to grab and pull him away from the wall and back to where they had started this journey from. ]
🎀