TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU

[erkumods]

TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU

00. 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. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. STARGAZER On the first night that new arrivals wash ashore, the moon rises. It's full and beautiful and surrounded by stars. The robots quickly bring old, dusty telescopes out of storage and line them up on the beach to help people get a truly spectacular view. "Look to the heavens! Behold, the chicken, the cat, the owl, the donkey!" It's... the cock, the pussy, the hooters, and the ass. For the rest of the night, characters will become fixated on the specific asset associated with the constellation they've gotten an eyeful of. Whether this leads to some body worship or just casual appreciation is up to you. You can learn about the stars and constellations later this month in some of the rare, non-pornographic books in the library. (More info will go up soon, so please be patient!) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. STIMULATING CONVERSATION An ancient courting ritual has been announced! It involves the give-and-take of candy hearts with slogans printed on them. Of course, since these hearts are being manufactured by robots, their sense of taste is a little... off? Or perhaps off-putting? "You'll do." "5/10." "Acceptable." "Sloppy Seconds." Receiving a negative heart makes one feel insecure, jealous, and submissive. "Be mine." "Nicest ass." "Swell bulge." "They're good lays, Bront." Receiving a positive heart will make one feel confident, boastful, and dominant. Your friendly neighborhood 'bots will give them out to anyone who asks - and maybe even those who don't. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Eat Or Dare The robots have set up a stall by the beach with a banner that reads: Eat Or Dare. They have procured bigger candy hearts than ever before -- fist-sized and larger -- with actions written on them instead of derogatory slogans. "Take a dive." "Lick me." "Get handsy." The name of the game is to follow the instructions or forfeit the challenge by making the evidence disappear into your mouth. Delicious! Those who eat the candy hearts will feel themselves getting giddy and unreasonably invested in the love affairs of others. They will feel compelled to play matchmaker to spread the cheer. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[vaax]

vax'ildan can't seem to tear his eyes away from the constellation he's found. the shape of the rooster is so clear, it's a wonder he's never seen it before. is this what vex'ahlia sees when she looks to the skies?

vax is pulled from his thoughts rather abruptly by someone in cobalt soul blues. it's a distinct vibe, with a distinct person wearing them, and vax settles back in the sand to observe, to ponder her question.

"yeah," he says, noncommittally, "my sister, later in her life. she's not there yet, though. why's the cobalt soul want to know?"

[flurry_of_beaus]

Beau narrows her eyes suspiciously. To be fair, that's a pretty common reaction for her. But on the other side of things, he's just said two suspicious things one right after the other.

It's kind of surprising how few people peg her as Cobalt Soul. Perhaps they don't know any better or perhaps they just think she likes the color blue. But it's weird to hear the name said.

"What doesn't the Cobalt Soul want to know?" she counters.

Then immediately cuts to her next question. "What do you mean, she's not there yet?"

[vaax]

vax shrugs. she has a point-- the cobalt soul's thing is knowledge, after all. they want to know everything, including wherever this place is, what it's inhabitants are like.

"shouldn't the cobalt soul know who's on the council?" he shoots back, relaxing back on one hand to observe the sky without the telescope. it's a beautiful night, even if the people here are weird. she's nice, though. she reminds him of scanlan, or his sister. it's refreshing.

"i, uh, died in tal'dorei. so i got to see my sister's life and how it goes for her. she has a baby girl first, but then a ton of other kids-- anyway. she joins the council later in her life, but it'll be a couple more years. she's got a family to get off the ground first.

"what's your name?"

[flurry_of_beaus]

It is a beautiful night, and Beau had been attempting to find the owl in the stars, but this guy is much more interesting. Even if he does sound full of utter horse shit. It's a fine line between a bullshitter and someone whose life is so weird you just have to run with it.

"Beauregard." She's wary, but if he's on the island, he's going to find her name out eventually. Waste of time to hide it.

"What's yours?"

[vaax]

vax pulls his knees up and wraps his arms around them, grabbing his arms at the wrist. he holds tight to them, like an anchor, afraid of losing what, exactly?

"vax'ildan," he offers, thinking along the same lines. she'd find out eventually, and he's not one to turn down a friend from exandria. she's got a sadness in her voice, a tone that says she's seen a few things. he can relate.

"you like the color blue, huh?"

[flurry_of_beaus]

"Kind of a job requirement," she answers wryly. She does like blue, but the clothing options to begin with had been limited. Now it's just what comes natural.

Something tingles at the back of her brain and Beau pulls up short.

"...This is a weird fucking question, but do you go by Vax?"

[vaax]

vax lifts an eyebrow at the comment. he inhales to ask her about the cobalt soul (if she's with the archive, he definitely has questions for her), but she catches his attention with the nickname.

"yeah... i do. my sister is vex, though. you might be thinking of her." he can't think of a time that he's met beau before? "she's a little more social than i am."

[flurry_of_beaus]

"Maybe both," Beau muses. That Barry guy had mentioned both, right? And getting confused by them. It would make sense if they were siblings.

"Anyway, so how'd you die?"

Brilliant conversationalist, Beau.

[vaax]

there's a few ways to answer that question. there's the whole shit with the raven queen, there's the revenant thing... there's a lot. so he goes for the most simple answer.

"disintegrate spell. raven queen let me come back as a revenant until our job was done, and then i followed her to the plane beyond the divine gate."

when he puts it like that, it sounds so much cooler. maybe he should lean into it.

[flurry_of_beaus]

It does sound cool, very cool. Beau lets out a low whistle of something like admiration.

"So you got two chances at life. Sorta. Not bad, man. What was the job?"

A job for the queen, she's guessing. Why would anyone let him out of their clutches if not to benefit themself?

[vaax]

there's no easy way to answer this one, either. so vax laughs with a tone something akin to being embarrassed, and he shakes his head, allowing black locks to fall into his face. "not really. it was one shot, with an extra chance to do something right. and i did it."

a pause.

"killed vecna, i mean. one of the betrayer gods."

[flurry_of_beaus]

Beau's eyes go wide.

"No. Shit."

She doesn't sound disbelieving, not at first. That comes later. Right now, her instant kneejerk reaction is to stare at him like a hyperactive child who's been told a old fat man in a big red suit is gonna give her presents for some strange winter holiday. Totally unbelievable and ridiculous, but cool as shit.

"Are you for real?"

[vaax]

vax laughs, but he doesn't know himself if it's necessarily humorous. it's a little dry, but the smile is real.

"very real. i don't know what happened after, or what life is like on exandria since then." he doesn't expand on that, either, and by now, he mostly just wants to know if beauregard will continue to ask questions. if he's intentionally cagey, maybe she'll keep digging. "i don't even know if killing a god is permanent."

a glance to the monk across the sand. "have you tried to fight a god?"

[flurry_of_beaus]

Beau makes a quiet thoughtful noise. She can imagine a god being killed or banished and then somehow making a comeback on the mortal plane through some minions or whatever.

She shakes her head in answer to the question.

"Nah, just his asinine, dickhole servants. Servant." She amends carefully to include only the singular, as it seems that most everyone following Obann was doing it against their will. Like Yasha.

"I mean, he was trying to unchain him, so it wasn't just like fighting some random zealots. This was a bad news combo."

[vaax]

"ah, yeah. cultist types, i know." he glances to beau, giving her a smirk that he saves for his cockiest moments. he's dealt with enough of them, too. he gets it.

"the chained oblivion?" he guesses, "maybe it's like a twenty year curse, or something. every so often one of the betrayer gods has to remind us what assholes they are."

he tugs at the braid in his hair with the blue feathers in it subconsciously, acknowledging that his own experience with gods is... shaky, at best.

"looks like you made it out okay, though."

[flurry_of_beaus]

Beau nods a little and realizes that he would get it, probably. Anyone who's that liked, in some way, by a god and has taken out another god probably has seen more than his fair share of cultists and the like. Probably bandits, beasts, monstrosities, you name it.

"Yeah, that's his name. And I hope it's not twenty years. That means I won't be in ass-kicking prime anymore to take him down a second time," she says, grinning faintly.

Then her expression sobers, just a touch, though she forces the smile to stay in place.

"Yeah, we all got out in one piece."