ercookies | TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

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TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

Arrival

This time, you come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface 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. Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased.

With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a rundown apartment, a tent on the beach, or a bed in the "comfortable" new barracks. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. Harvest Hunt

As the daylight grows shorter and the muggy heat of the island’s summer gradually shifts to temperate days and chilly nights, Erku’s accessible wilderness explodes with a colorful collection of tempting fruits, fragrant-smelling herbs, and nuts and seeds plumped and ready for harvest. With warnings to beware of monsters, the robots of Erku encourage Islanders to take advantage of the land’s bounty by distributing basic camping supplies to those who are interested in exploring, hunting, and harvesting. They strongly encourage making the journey with a friend! Any surplus foods that Islanders bring home with them can be exchanged for credits with cafeteria robots! Just be careful out there - some of these fruits have strange effects once consumed.

For extra protection out there in the wilds, the robots have fashioned crowns of flowers or foliage to wear on their adventures. The sweet and herbal smells from the crowns will discourage most Erku-native monsters from approaching, they assure - this is ancient knowledge from the planet’s long-gone civilization, so it can’t be wrong!

What the robots don’t know is that the crowns have a deeper, more ritualistic purpose: after a few hours, the scent of flowers or herbs begins to awaken primal instincts within the wearer. Those who are wearing the foliage crowns feel overwhelmed by an urge to hunt, while those who wear the flower crowns delight in every opportunity to tease, outrun, and outwit the hunters. What happens when the chase ends? Well, that depends on the personalities and the chemistry between the hunters and their prey.

While the robots are very insistent on placing crowns atop the heads of any Islander they see, they aren’t stuck on in any way and they are easy to remove, which can prevent or break the hunting trance.

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II. seeds and sap

Of particularly high credit value, the robots explain, is an elusive flower known as the skull sunflower. It appears exactly as one might imagine: at the center of an otherwise innocuous, towering sunflower is the gruesome visage of an open-mouthed skull. Don’t worry, the flowers are harmless! Even if it’s strange how the empty-socketed eyes seem to follow your every move. And why is it that the teeth - which, on closer inspection, are actually the seeds of the flower - only seem to chatter when your back is turned?

Any Islander who can withstand their heebie-jeebies long enough to collect the petals and seeds from the flowers will fetch a handsome reward in credits upon exchange with the robots. Beware the sticky, blood-red sap that seeps from the eyes of each skull, however. Those who absorb too much through their skin will begin to hallucinate, visions of frightening or emotional events from their past dancing in the shadows. One might even mistakenly imagine that another Islander is someone they recognize from their past, someone who meant something to them - no matter whether that person is alive or dead in the present.

The hallucinogenic effects of the sap can last for hours, or they can be shortened by a dip in the public baths.

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III. Tarot

Night comes, and in the darkness, a robot sets up a table by the beach. A solitary candle sits in the center, illuminating a deck of cards. F̶i̴n̵d̸ ̸y̶o̸u̸r̵ ̵f̵o̸r̷t̵u̶n̶e̷?̴

The robot reveals tarot cards and will do a variety of spreads to tell your fortune. Each fortune can be distilled into one central theme, which characters will find pervades their life for the next 24 hours. There is magic afoot: it can be sensed, and perhaps even dispelled, if luck is on your side.

Though most robots on the island show a capacity for greater-than-average artificial intelligence, this pseudo-psychic 'bot -- M.S. Cl30 -- is less advanced. It only has six interpretations prepared:

Always watch your back. - Characters will be compelled to walk, or even speak, backwards for the duration of the day. Those who mishear it as "wash your back" may spend longer in the shower than usual.
Fake it til you make it. - Characters will feel compelled to act performatively. They will more readily fall into acts for serious or flirtatious roleplay, or try on costumes that reflect a particular persona they're interested in exploring. Faked orgasms will seem quite realistic.
You will receive an affectionate letter from a friend. - Just as it is said, someone will be compelled to engage in correspondence - and whether it turns dirty or not, well, that's up to you! Characters may also quite literally receive an article of clothing with a red letter sewn on the top. What could it stand for?
Hold on tight. - Characters who are given this life advice will start to feel rather clingy. They'll attach themselves to someone's side and refuse to leave, or they may find a "security blanket" item and won't let it go.
You are a generous, giving person. - Characters will feel compelled to do something kind for someone else. Maybe they'll invite someone to the movies, come over and cook, or do that thing their partner is always asking for.
Don't think. Feel. - Even if they weren't before, characters temporarily experience impulsive and hot-headed urges. They will also become very tactile.

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N A V I G A T I O N

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[ Stuck in this place, Jim can't really say if maybe he's not losing it, too. It's likely under other circumstances, and were he in a different mindset or with a different disposition, he'd need some time for himself, some space. But this place is strange, he's alone and feeling more lost and overwhelmed than he'd care to admit, and suddenly the thought of having someone around him who knows him, who trusts him like this, is a greater source of comfort than he can explain.

So, good idea or not, he likes having Finn here right now. At least he manages to stop himself from clinging onto him, even if a tiny little part of him kind of wants to, just to feel that bit of safety from him. ]

Cooking? God, I can't cook worth shit. No, I was just gonna put some things together in a plate that we can peck at.

[ He crawls down to the end of the mattress so Finn doesn't have to move, getting to his feet, smiling down at Finn as he walks past him and makes his way to the rows of cupboards that make for some kind of kitchenette. ] Save your award-winning pancakes for the morning.

Edited 2020-09-23 12:25 (UTC)

[ They make for a hilarious pair as they half-stumble, half-run away from the skullflowers, sober expressions clashing with the otherwise chipper aura of the field. (Or maybe not—hard to be anything but creeped out with endless skulls grinning silently at you.)

As they move, his eyes slant backwards every so often, checking the periphery for any signs of their mysterious enemies. The sky is darkening and he swears he can see layers of black smoke drifting towards them, but instead of any opponent all he sees is Satyr favoring one leg over the other. Strange. She'd been fine that morning. Had something poisoned her? Or some invisible weapon injured her? It wouldn't be unheard of, especially if all of this was the Foe's doing.

He doesn't have the luxury of time to ask what's wrong, so instead he just acts. Unsurprising, given how much he's always been a man of few words. His fingers release her wrist as he slows, pivoting his body so he's briefly facing her. And then his arms are wrapping around her as he lifts her up in his arms. She's not very heavy, especially not when half of her is that ridiculous hair. ]

It'll be faster this way.

[ Hm. Let him look ~~cool~~ a little bit longer, at least until they make it to that line of huts at the edge of the fields. ]

[The skepticism is what finally pushes Lorenz from conversational if a little flushed to outright violently blushing and indignant, looking furiously away from Seteth as much as possible while still keeping to the little game trail they were following.]

I-It isn't as though other options weren't tried!

[By him. He tried. Alright. He tried spells, he tried to wait it out he-

Are the ears still cute when they're pinned back and his tail is poofed out in irritation?]

[ He wasn't exactly asking a question or expecting an answer anyway, he just needed to let something out, with how good August is makes him feel it's impossible to keep it all in. It's enough of an answer when August just sucks him harder, sharper groans leaving him when he teases the head with his tongue, then proceeds to swallow him whole once more.

Another curse, his hips buck slightly, fisting August's hair tightly. He's close to an orgasm and August can likely tell, when that first taste of precome spills onto his tongue. ]

[ She could say, "I don't trust foreign technology forced on me," but it would sound silly in the face of what she's currently incapable of doing: understanding the people around her. One doesn't integrate at all if one can't understand, though she notes this lack, and figures in some ways it would be convenient. For example, Yuri's not unpleasant to listen to when he's talking and she has no idea what he's saying: turning background noise into beautiful sounds without attention catching meaning would be a novelty.

She sighs, frowning and continuing to wring out her sock. ]

Will you watch my boots?

[ She thought about using his word for boot, but it was the singular as far as she knew, and he couldn't hear the difference anyway. With the amount of gesturing that'd followed, she's assuming he's encouraging she reapproach the metal constructs in all their... whatever the hell she'd call it. Enthusiasm, perhaps.

But bracelets... ones advanced enough to be interpreting for their wearers... what the hell else did they do? ]

Even fortune claiming by some means or another wasn't strange, but she frowned, looking for anything particularly suspicious in what he'd related. More idly than because it occurred to her as the first point of questioning, she asked, "What fortune did they read for you?" while considering the possibilities. Something in the air? If so, she should potentially also be affected, depending on where that'd factor had been introduced.

If it was specific parts of the food provided, then was that the key, too? Or not, given what she'd gleaned about how the islands growing natural resources were due to the engagement factor of everyone trapped on it. Or of everyone engaging, at the very least. The geese, at least, should be edible. She's not afraid of a few goosefights.

[ That made two of them. She blinks, then approaches with wariness but less of the obvious caution of one person used to violence uncertain of a stranger who may or may not be equally used to violence. When she holds out her hand, however, her palm faces up. ]

Walking you there. If you've got to hold onto something, a hand should do.

[ Her eyebrows creep up at that, and Annie... smiles. Not much, but considering her default is neutral to frowning, a quirk up at the corner of her lips is indeed a smile.

Good news, or at least someone willing to tackle the classification of what foods here are or aren't capable of doing, doesn't come often since showing up on yet another alarming, isolated island. ]

Good, because the only way I know how to is trial and error. It might be a version of scientific, but it's heavily lacking.

[ Don't ask the fighter to pull science, most of what she knows of it is practical or has been used against her, and discovery of new foods was not something she'd actually had to do in a "no one knows what this is" way before. Meaning the one thing he'd said that was strange to her, whatever else her belief in his naval career, only comes up a moment later. ]

"Outworlder?"

[He can taste that precum and begins sucking and swallowing with more gusto. He bobs his head faster, allowing Jim's cock to slide in deep down his throat to hit the back. Just when he thinks Jim might be ready to spill his load, August backs off slightly so he won't choke on it]

If this were a Wynonna who had never been to any other town outside of Purgatory before, who hadn't spent over a year-and-a-half in a city where she ran a bar and welcomed patrons of all shapes, sizes, shades — maybe she would be more taken aback by the sight of someone very furry and very blue making their way towards her now, half-dressed and looking... well, the smile definitely indicates that something aggressive isn't about to happen, unless they're trying to lull her into a false sense of security.

But she tries to keep herself as open as possible, elbows crooked as she draws her shoulders forward — and there's a slightly curious grin that makes its way onto her face when he greets her in a language that her little sister would recognize immediately but she only knows as not-English.

"Wait, that way? Through the water?" She rises up on tiptoe to peer over his shoulder back toward the ocean, her gaze zooming back to his face shortly after. "What are you, some kinda... furry Aquaman?"

I'm certain you tried your best. Still, I must say it all sounds as farfetched as the excuses students cook up to escape detention. It seems truth really is stranger than fiction.

[He's heard all manner of tales spun by students scrambling to justify being caught out on trysts. It's not what it looks like, (Then pray tell what is happening, finding you on top of each other with your tongues down each other's throats?) they were just sparring, (And just what sparring technique has Professor Manuela been teaching you that requires you to put your hand down someone's pants, exactly?) it's for their magical research..... (Then surely they won't mind explaining what hypothesis they're testing while still on their knees like this, will they?) Quite frankly, explaining kissing as a form of emergency magical healing is exactly the sort of nonsense he'd expect a horny teenager to come up with to defend themselves in the heat of the moment. Lorenz's reputation in his school days doesn't exactly help that impression, either, no matter how far he's improved since them.

Still, in a place like this, where random acts of carnality are assigned like missions, and body parts grow and vanish upon essentially random circumstance? He's far more inclined to actually believe it, no matter how dubious it sounds--and even he has to sympathize, seeing Lorenz so fluffed up and flustered like one of the courtyard cats. Seteth turns a little as he walks, reaching up to pat one of the hands holding Darby's reins with the one not occupied by feeding one (1) messy, impatient horse.]

[ She now knows its supposed to be spicy, and her ability to handle spice has... gone down on Paradis, and had been more limited access even before. Isolated communities, be they village sized or island sized, have more limited options when it came to what fare they provided versus being in more open trade economies.

She glances between the food (and she's not picky about food, she can't be; starvation leaving a mark as it does, and four years of not being able to eat making her greedy for it in ways she doesn't talk about) and then to him. Nothing so far being immediately obvious, so not fast acting, if there's anything in there. ]

That's probably better for me.

[ She says this with zero compunctions: why bother pretending her system is robust on an account where she doesn't know if it is? ]

You're not feeling unusual, too warm or anything?

[ She can hear that minor delay in having something not need translating, and the mechanical interference (or is it magic? who knows, nitpicking it won't tell her more right now) barely being a blip is still something notable. She wants to open her eyes, but makes sure she doesn't, instead furrowing her brow and better turning her head toward the source of the voice. Or where she thinks the person who sounds like Mikasa is talking from. ]

... Been off another island long?

[ Isn't how this conversation goes when it's light, common talk, a back and forth for getting to know the situation and the people within it. But if this is just sounding similar, it's not going to make sense, and if it's a true hallucination... would that make any more sense? Probably not, but her own head would find a way to point it out. ]

[ Being cut off suddenly and having someone shove something red-pink and unknown at her, telling her it's hers. For what reason?

... That she's pale and skinny and thus starved?!

Annie looks up at this man, bemused. Sans context, she has to wonder if he does this often. ]

What is it?

[ Specifically, what is this thing he's offering her, since it looks vaguely like things she knows, but might be utterly unrelated. She wasn't the big culinary indulgence person until... donuts, she supposes, and the delight that was pie after coming out of crystal stasis.

Her gaze flicks from his face, which given she has to tilt her head back, makes the way she looks back to the thing he's offering even more obvious. She could pretend to be insulted that he'd just passed judgement on her size, her weight, and her overall appearance, but that requires caring, and monsters (retired or otherwise) don't need to care about those details. She brushes her hair back off her face, but doesn't tuck it behind her ear. ]

It's not laced with anything, is it?

[ ...

She's honestly dumbstruck, holding onto that bracelet and trying to figure out in what world any of that makes sense. When she hands back the bracelet, it's because the thing that sticks out to her is what she doesn't know has otherwise been qualified as not possible, so her immediate question is: ]

They want people repopulating this place?

[ It would... not be improbable, for various reasons, back home. It wouldn't occur to her that the island, the robots, or anyone involved was looking at a purely hedonistic side of things: intimacy for the sake of intimacy alone (or the various ways it can become personally useful), and nothing related to continuing bloodlines of a species. ]

[ Maybe it's a good thing Jim isn't clinging on. Finn wouldn't know what to do with that. Well, he wouldn't run or something. He'd cling back, try to offer as much comfort as possible, and panic all the while about the idea of taking advantage in some way.

That idea still bugs him, unsurprisingly. It's crossed his mind that James is only comfortable with him because everything else is part of the unknown. Finn is too, but he's made it obvious that he knows him and cares. It worries Finn greatly and he's not going to do a damn thing about it. He wants to give comfort and he'd always been of the mind to give James absolutely anything he desires, anything that Finn can give. Comfort is the least and probably worst he could do.

Need to stop thinking so hard about that, really.

He rolls over onto his back, watching James rummage in the makeshift kitchen. ]

I didn't know you couldn't cook...

Actually, you said before that your home has these replicators? Machines that make food and materials almost instantly. You probably told me somewhere in there about it... But you were always great help whenever I cooked for us. We even learned how to make things other than pancakes.

[ Funnily enough, Jim feels much the same way. He worries that he'd just be taking advantage of Finn if he tried for something, no matter how... simple. (It's not simple, and he knows for a fact it's never going to be simple between them.) But the point stands. He already feels like he's taking advantage right now as it is, asking Finn to stay, holding his hand, coaxing him to lie down in the same bed with him, when he knows how much more overwhelming this all must be for him. ]

Oh. Yeah, I suck at it. Granted, I've never even tried, [ He shrugs, grabbing a plate and some cups, bits of food and snacks from here and there. Fruit, something like bread, things of that kind. ] But with how long I was in Prismatica, maybe I actually bothered learning?

[ He glances at Finn and nods. ] Yeah, we have those back where I'm from. Very useful. They're the reason why I never needed to learn how to cook before, as you can imagine.

[ You will never be out of my mind.

Garma knows this with a fatalistic certainty. There's no coming back from this, he'll feel Char's grasp on him for as long as he lives this second life. The moment Char had killed him, he had made completely certain that Garma would be haunted for eternity. ]

-- No.

[ Rubbing at his eyes to wipe away his own tears does nothing to make Garma appear any less like a forlorn child. It's not particularly effective either, but maybe it's the effort to stop crying that counts? ]

It.. it won't be easier. And it will make Angelo try and kick me out of the house, which is annoying.

[ As much as Garma wants to believe that Angelo has listened to any of his warnings about Char, conversational evidence points to the contrary. ]

...I guess it was too much to expect that you could just get over it, huh.

[And that was his mistake. He may not like admitting to it, but it was absolutely was his mistake, pushing a dead man to accept his own demise. Especially when his murderer was standing right there. So he reaches down, reaches deep, and tries to find some forgotten shred of empathy for the Zabi prince.]

Listen, you're the Zabi heir, right? Technically, that still makes you our boss. So you do still have some authority.

[And he's going to regret asking this, but...]

What do you want to do?

[ It doesn't take much longer for him to get there, for what it's worth. Between August's eager pace and the way he welcomes each snap and thrust of his, he reaches his peak soon, crying out as he comes into August's mouth. His hand doesn't move away from August's hair but he does ease his hold considerably, allowing August to pull back or move away if he needs to. ]

[ 'Undo the past and go back to how we were' is the honest answer, but even Garma is not childish enough to say that out loud. He's spent enough time today whining about how life should have been and though he certainly would repeat the same vent again a hundred times, he's painfully aware that it will never make a difference.

So instead of saying something inane and embarrassing himself even further, Garma actually takes a moment to think while he continues to give his best to suppress sobs and sniffles. ]

We're both going to be on this Island for the foreseeable future. Let's not have any illusions about that. So it's foolish to pretend the other doesn't exist. We'll run into each other at the Hangar at the least, let alone the attempted Zeon alliance.

[ That's a whole lot of nothing much, content-wise, but at least talking for a while makes his voice even out again. ]

You said it yourself, you've already done everything to me. I'm dead. My father isn't here to mourn me, even if I die again. And I... I meanwhile, don't take any pleasure in seeing you inconvenienced or hurt by circumstance. So let's make a truce.

[ By his own hand, now that might be different, but... let's not go there. ]

Eh, I don't know... if you're giving me orders, you could put a little more oomph into it.

[...this jackass.]

[He manages to pull back just enough so he doesn't choke immediately when Jim comes in his mouth. August swallows, and then lets more of Jim slide back down his throat so he can suck down the rest, licking and swallowing until he's milked Jim completely]

[ Garma's eyebrows twitch and for a moment he very much looks like he wants to hit Char again, just for good measure. ]

You will form an alliance with me and if you wish to not be annoyed to hell and back by it, you will also cease to make scathing remarks about my emotional state.

[ No illfated crush related sentiments unless Char is deliberately setting out to, hah, crush them. That's a plan, right? ]

[ Each suck and lick sends sparks of pleasure across his body, making him tremble and moan, muscles nearly twitching with how oversensitive he is by the time he collapses into a messy heap on the ground. Panting harsh and shallow, the sounds dissolve into breathless laughter, eyes closing and head spinning delightfully in pure bliss. ]

F-fuck... That was something.

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TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

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i do what i want

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mikasa! <3

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