TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

[erkumods]

TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

Arrival This time, you come out of the water. While the Augur reboots, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy draws people in. It's like being suspended between realities and walking through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you and carrying you to shore. Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. Inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. Feel the friendship! Recent arrivals and visitors to the beach may notice a sudden influx of hundreds of bright red crustaceans crawling (and coupling) across the sand. It's crab mating season, as it turns out, it's a regular invasion! To keep the beach a pleasant place to gather for the island's inhabitants, the robots are offering credits to especially enterprising crab-catchers. Grab a bucket and get to work! Be sure to watch out for their pinch, mind you. Their little claws are tiny, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt. Surprisingly, there is another effect that even the robots don't anticipate: islanders who are pinched by the crabs find themselves feeling instantly buddy-buddy with the next person they spot. Did you just become best friends?! Get pinched one too many times, however, and those feelings may sour into a crabby mood, indeed. If you are feeling particularly vengeful (or just hungry), the little crabs do make for delicious gumbo. Once cooked, they have no side effects whatsoever. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. Phallus Phestival Although the Augur is offline and supplies are scarce, the robots of Erku are still eager to make their run-down little island a welcoming place for the new arrivals. To that end, they have arranged a three day festival to boost morale and promote the generation of plenty of Eros energy to assist in the restoration of the damaged and decayed parts of the city. The robots claim that this celebration was once a cornerstone of the long-lost civilization of the island. By the dawn of the first day, every island resident will find at their doorstep (or tent flap, mobile suit, etc) the traditional costume of the ancient islanders to wear to the festival. It appears to be... a giant sheet? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the sometimes garish colors and patterns of the fabric, but at least the robots have uploaded instructions on how to wear it to your bracelet device. Attendees will find food (mostly crab-flavored), confections, and household necessities in rather suggestive shapes, as well as goods you might find handy to complete your A5 squares: sex toys, pervertibles, sexy maid outfits, and the like. While islanders are welcome to set up shop on the festival grounds and sell (or charge) whatever they like, all items from the robots are offered up for free to those who wear their traditional island garb! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Fireside Adventures Each night of the festival is wrapped up in style with an enormous bonfire on the beach, where drinks, fruity cocktails, and lively music appropriate for dancing is all provided at no cost by the robots. Even if you’re not usually much of a dancer, the longer you stand by the fire and allow it to warm your limbs, the more you feel like moving! Not only that, but everyone is looking quite beautiful by the firelight, are they not? If you’ve grown tired - or if dancing just isn’t your thing - you might prefer to sit back and swap stories on one of the many driftwood log benches the robots have prepared for seating. Or, maybe you’d prefer to rough it for the night in one of the beachside canvas tents. Better claim one quick, though, or be prepared to share… there’s only one sleeping bag! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[lockedon]

[ Investigate crimes, huh? Maybe she's not as bad as he originally dismissed her to be, and he peers over at her again a second time, studying her while he flicks crabs away right and left in his quest to build a little crab trap. ]

Crimes such as murders?

[ He's closer to a hitman than any sort of morally upright officer - that anime nerd gun has to be good for something - but he can understand a little bit of the process it takes to gather information. ]

There'll always be a place for that, even without published laws.

[unstable]

[ a strange chortled laugh escapes her before she can stop it, mostly out of disbelief. whatever shenanigans were afoot needed to cease immediately, it was hard enough to comprehend and the added headache only made the bubbles in her stomach feel worse.

Azula wants to make a joke about how little the Avatar was, but she vaguely recalled him maybe having an inch on her the last time she saw him. besides, she literally just saw Korra airbend-- not something that could be faked. she was familiar enough with the reincarnations that she knew this wasn't some bizarre history encounter, so all it really left her with was a big fat pile of confusion. did it even matter now if Korra knew who she was? should she just be thankful there was someone from her world seemingly powerful enough to help her escape this one?

she hates how Korra is looking at her, like she was expecting her to have some grand reaction. instead Azula is just staring at her with the blankest of expressions while she presses her palm against her temple in an effort to stop the throbbing. ] Of course I'm trapped in sex city with the Avatar. Do you have any plucky sidekicks with you or do we get to try to return home on our own?

[occulti]

Information.. let's see.

<sub>[ He seems pretty thoughtful. There's tons of stuff he could unpack on her here. He could talk about his ability to commune with ghosts— even manifest them into existence. He could talk about how he time traveled and served in Vietnam for almost a year. He could talk about how his brothers and sisters were supposed to stop the apocalypse. There's a lot of information packed into that brain of his, though veiled by a haze of drug consumption and trauma.

As far as this place goes, though? He doesn't really have much information and doesn't seem interested in finding out more information. He seems entirely apathetic about finding a way home unlike some of the people here, so there's not point in finding out information. So he settles on the most pointless response, though leans in very close, very serious: ]</sub>

I once wore a sarong to a fraternity party.. and got a shit ton of phone numbers.

_{[ Alright. ]}

Also, if you plan on.. interrogating me before you suck my dick, I'll have you know the last time that happened it was a roaring good time. I enjoyed the waterboarding part the most.

_{[ There is a small smile that returns, though. He's down to clown. ]}

[meticulousity]

You don't need to answer if you don't want to, either, but I - I'm kinda new to the whole being dead and having superpowers thing. Like, I didn't even know vampires were real until I became one.

[ she pauses to take a breath, then a drink of her water. ]

So like - you didn't freak out when I told you what I was, but what are you, exactly? You said you had powers, and that your brother was the only one who could see you, and I've never heard of that being a thing before.

[ granted, there's been a lot that was kept from her. but his version of unusual sounds like a whole new version of unusual. ]

I'm sorry, is this too much?

[chestburster]

[ Vampires have superpowers? Wait, that tracks. The downsides occurred to him but none of the benefits. Invulnerability. Glamour or mesmerism, maybe. Eternal youth. He'd still rather have the freedom to soak in the sunshine, given the choice. She wasn't, though, which really does suck. ]

No, no, it's okay. Most people know about us back home because we were kind of famous. [ Fully not a brag. Allison is the only one of them who can handle fame even a little. ] Nobody knows why exactly but we were all born on the same day. Out of nowhere. Like, our moms weren't even pregnant. Seven of us were adopted and brought up together. All our powers are different.

Our brother Luther is super strong. Klaus can summon the dead. I, uh... I have this portal in my body. I open it and a monster comes through. [ A self-effacing expression, mouth flattened. If not crappy compared to the others, it is at the very least highly situational. ]

[skullmish]

[Which is...honestly even more concerning to him than if it WERE the Metaverse. At least they have powers there, and agency over what to do that they don't in the real world. And without the actual...brain cells of their operation?

He doesn't want to say they're in trouble, BUT...]

If we're okay, then they probably are too.

[...]

Except...maybe Yusuke. But if he's here, we'll find him. Guy like that sticks out like a sore thumb.

[navigating]

[ Abel takes the bucket from him, holding the handle with both hands. Oran is way more suited to going after the crabs, nudging them with little concern about the pinching that Abel is not at all eager to experience again. ]

There's not much to say... [ But he keeps talking, shuffling his boots through the sand as he follows the crab hunt. ] We were about to make our final attack on an enemy base, and now I'm here. I was late to the battle to begin with, but now I've missed it for sure.

[skullmish]

[DUDE...Ryuji's expression sort of tightens a little, but he decides to just slide past that quickly.]

Jus' one so far. One of the girls from my class.

[Ann...he'll run into Ren later, when he inevitably tries to muscle his way into his tent.]

Might as well just be me, though. She didn't know any more about this place than I do.

[torso]

[ The truth of Chase's physical body is probably just as out-there as whatever Piers is thinking, honestly. ]

Yeah, I tried that too. Got a 'no refunds' error back in just about no time.

[ Where's his hacker friend when Chase needs her? He figures she'd be able to hack a robot into compliance, at the very least. ]

[torso]

[ While he thinks Valentina may have been some crazy kind of fun to be around before joining up with the ESU, he'd be glad to know how him being around means she's not setting her sights on partying herself into the ground. He likes the person he knows now, respects the way they've changed and dedicated to helping through gen:LOCK, even if he knows the two of them won't always see completely eye-to-eye on their ideals. ]

Smart way to check for it. Hopefully no one comes here without.

[ Honestly, that sounds like it would suck. He's hardly ever been long without his holon. ]

...Hey, speaking of. You haven't been able to tap into GL since coming here, have you?

[ With no Caliban, no techs, no other team-mates, he can't imagine she was about to give it a blind try even if she could figure out how to get through the overrides blocking people from uploading themselves. He's suddenly a little worried it might not even be possible to upload, the tech damaged in whatever transfer brought them here. ]

[skullmish]

I mean- yeah sure, it's technically food. It's just not food I'm eating.

[And it's not like...FUN food. Though he guesses it could be fun, depending on who you are.]

Anyway, I dunno. I just didn't know this place was gonna be like this, yaknow? I don't care if people like it, they can if they want, it just really ain't my bag.

[occulti]

Yeah? Do you think she’s cute?

_{[ don’t try to wingman YOU JUST MET HIM. Anyway, he seems completely at ease to be in a new place. Way too relaxed. It’s weird. ]}

I found one of my brothers here. My dead tentacle brother. But guess what! He’s alive. So that’s great.

_{[ that may explain why he’s in such a good mood. ]}

I don’t know anything about this place either, but dicks and debauchery are sort of my thing.

_{[ also might be why he seems so chipper. ]}

[instrumentalized]

[ Wow, Amuro, don't be so direct, some of us still believe in propaganda! ]

It treats some of them far too well, still.

[ Char. He's talking about Char. ]

[defaulthawke]

Well, the sort of illusion I mean is the kind created by spirits to trick people into getting possessed, so...

[There are solid reasons to not Just Enjoy It. Garrett kind of waves dismissively.]

Whatever. There are worse ways to go. If you're a demon, you're a damn better actor than any I've ever met before.

[And honestly he's well past caring. Maybe August is a spirit or a demon in this illusion. Maybe he's another person, consciousness here in the Fade while he dreams. Garrett is 90% sure that this place isn't real, but he's also 90% sure that he doesn't give a shit.]

Or I'm dead, the Chant of Light was wrong, and this is what the Maker's bosom looks like.

[It wouldn't be half bad for an afterlife.]

[vegalthon]

[That sounds... troubling. Oran stops in mid-step, both brows raised.]

You seem to be taking it well. That sounds... um. Worrisome?

[He could prattle on about the strange putty-quality of space and time that the Augur has left them all mired in, but he hasn't yet made heads nor tales of what it means, and so in this instance... it's probably not a good time to make a little white lie, like with the elbow smooch.]

Are you doing okay?

[unvarnished]

I guess you're just going to have to trust that I'm not a demon. And I'm not dead, either, as far as I know.

[defaulthawke]

[Shrug.]

You're not very demon-y. Most demons would have tripped over themselves with really obvious, over the top denials about it.

[He takes another bite of his Unspecified Food Item.]

How would you know you're not dead? Could have had a freak accident, for all you know.

[unvarnished]

Hm. Because technically speaking, I've died before. But I guess I could have been killed by something or other. My home's pretty crazy.

[So chill talking about being formerly dead]

[defaulthawke]

What are you talking about? Repeated deaths and inverting the balance of nature is just a normal Tuesday.

[Not just chill, positively cheerful!]

So, do you always proposition strangers, or just at cock festivals?

[birthrighted]

Oh, come now. I'm sure your masculinity can handle the blow.

[ He's subtly challenging this lad because well. He doesn't think he'll do it because he's a weenie. Haha. Weenie. ]

I don't know why you're surprised. They told you what they want us to do here, right?

[unvarnished]

Exactly. [He laughs and throws a wink. He would've said a normal Sunday, but same idea]

Depends on if I find the stranger interesting. The cock festival didn't hurt, though.

[vicissitudinal]

[Exxis pulls the neckline of his own toga away to reveal the black skintight tactic shirt he always wears.]

They do not seem to care as long as the traditional clothing are also worn. And the assimilation device will overlay onto your own hologram, it should not disrupt it as long as we are not as a distance from each other.

[If Chase accepts, he'll program the style into it himself, which is noticeable from the glowing of his one eye. Then he holds it up and the little crescent shaped device blinks twice in return before a projection of light flashes in Chase's direction. Within seconds the toga would appear, draped almost perfectly over his non-existent shoulders in shades of black, blues, and silver ombre that swirls back onto itself.]

Is this appropriate? I could adjust the design if you prefer.

[shangrilady]

Too busy just tryin' to survive. Hoping my friend's sister Leina can at least get a proper education, but I had to pick between that and like... food.

[ Not like she minds, but a lot of colonies sure are poorly run. ]

[defaulthawke]

Personally, I'm disappointed. I expected more sword-swallowing.

[They reach a seemingly random abandoned building and Hawke opens the door, inviting August in with a sweeping gesture.]

At least we can make up for that.

[He winks back lewdly. Yes, August, welcome to Hawke's tragic sense of humor.]

[shemara]

...That's not what I meant. I don't get why I'm here. This isn't what I do and I'm not really sure I'm okay with someone demanding it of me, either. Whether through force or "heavy encouragement."

[But then...was She-Ra only supposed to be for fighting? Mara had thought it was her job to protect, but how good of a job had she done at that? Fighting had bought Etheria time, but it hadn't saved anything. It had delayed the inevitable.

If she couldn't save her own world through fighting--the one thing she was good at--how she was supposed to save some other world doing something she had no idea about?]