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TDM 016 & 4th WALL EVENT: NO WALLS BETWEEN US
| TDM 016 & 4th WALL EVENT: NO WALLS BETWEEN US |
00. An Arrival and a Broken Wall?! You should be coming 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 should be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card already loaded up, and if you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they should usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you should be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed! Should. That’s how things are for newbies - and maybe today, some newbies will arrive the usual way. Others might be surprised to hear that there is another "you"... already here! If and when you finally meet this other "you," there's simply no way to agree on who the so-called real version is. Your histories may be the same or they may be wildly divergent, but those little differences don't change the fact that you are who you say you are. Some islanders might even find themselves running into a much older or younger version of themselves. Duplicates and doppelgangers, you say? People who look and sound familiar but are just a little bit off? What strange anomalies have washed up from the ocean! On the other hand, maybe you’re not new here at all, or so you think. You’ve definitely been on this Island for months already. You can't exactly remember what you were doing here before, but you have the modest home and personal effects to prove that you existed. You’ve always been someone who greets new arrivals at the shore. You know very well how things work on the island, and how many of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair. You know that 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. You know all of this. You’ve already claimed a place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. You’re a veteran at this by now. Aren’t you? I. A WHOLE NEW YOU The fog has thickened off the shores of the Island and in the areas that have still been obscured. So thick that it looks not unlike the heavy clouds of the recent storm. But late into the night and early into the morning, the fog seems to encroach on the Nameless City even more, blinding and catching Islanders traveling through in areas normally free of its effects. Anyone who gets caught in the especially heavy mist might find themselves suffering from more than just the usual amnesia. The fog no longer only takes memories, but can also alter your memories... and you. You may forget your time on the Island. You may forget your life before. But you’ll remember something else. You’ll remember a life entirely different as if you lived it yourself: you are a merperson who has always lived here, in the waters around the Island. Those grand underwater cities look like ancient ruins to others, but to you? You still see them as beautiful and palatial as the day they were built. You are a Native whose memories are fuzzy, but you certainly remember living your entire life here in great happiness and luxury. And once you step out of the mist, you might even find yourself physically changed to match what you recall, with fins or tentacles and gills to allow you breathe beneath the waves. You might be completely transformed, or just enough to make life underwater as easy as it's ever been. Someone else attempting to free you of these delusions will find that the more they try to force you to remember your true life, the more real and convincing your undersea life begins to feel. You must embrace this new (old?) life, embrace this new you in all ways and live it to its fullest. Completing Auspicious Acts will help bring out glimpses, hints, flashes of memory and recognition that perhaps this is not who you once were, and allow you to return to your former self. But the longer you take to embrace this, the harder it might be to let go. Some of these changes could become permanent. II. LET XXX BE YOUR GUIDE Things have been strange, not just for the people of the Island, but the robots as well. The typically welcoming robots that offer their assistance in guiding new arrivals or encouraging Islanders to visit the various locations seem to be scarce. There are fewer of them running around the entertainment district and other establishments. To ensure that new arrivals continue to have a pleasant Island experience, robots will be recruiting Islanders as mentors and guides: mentor guides, if you will! Volunteers will lead other Islanders around the Island as a means of helping them become better acquainted with the locations available here for your fun and entertainment, and they will be rewarded with credits for their hard work. Guides and sightseers alike could be someone fresh and new to the Island, someone who insists they’ve been here for years, or even someone that a robot randomly dragged off the street. Mentor guides will all receive a very form-fitting and revealing uniform - no two are the same! - and, of course, a glossy paper map of all of the available sights on the Island. The pictures are big and detailed, and cute sex toy icons point out various key sights such as the recreation center, the bath house, and the library. There are even suggestions for which Auspicious Acts are the best for each location! Strangely, none of the maps list the same suggestions, so each map encourages its own unique experience. Mentees will also find that their mentor’s voice is very appealing. So appealing that just listening to them speak is enough to get you feeling some kind of way. The more they talk, the more of a reaction you have. Your body begins to burn or itch and it’s very hard to pay attention to their words when thoughts about all the things you could be doing to them instead keep coming to your mind. The only way to relieve these thoughts might be to make your mentor stop talking altogether, or follow through with some of those helpful map suggestions. Maybe you need them to mentor you in more ways than one? III. SITCHES GET GLITCHES You’re walking down the road, or in your own home, or visiting a friend and suddenly something happens out of the corner of your eye. There’s a soft pfzzzzzzt and the feel of static on the skin. You turn and realize that the wall is suddenly gone. Or, maybe the glass in a store window disappeared. Perhaps someone’s clothes just vanished off of them in the middle of the street, or the chair you were sitting in at the cafe suddenly poofs right from under you. It’s as if the world around them is malfunctioning - little glitches that can last for seconds, hours, or even days before returning to normal on their own. Nothing that could seriously harm someone, but enough to be quite inconvenient. At least completing an Auspicious Act in the affected area or with the affected person seems to put it to rights immediately. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop these glitches from happening again. You may be concerned, and the robots understand, but if asked they will insist it’s just the world adjusting as the Augur welcomes so many new people! Nothing to be worried about, obviously. It will take time for fluctuating energy levels to adjust, that’s all. Some robots might even say it’s the perfect time to enjoy having so few barriers between you. Embrace the open nature of the Island and share yourself and your home with others. Walls are only meant for keeping out what you could be letting in! OOC Notes:Enjoy a mini Fourth Wall event, Islanders! As such, this test drive meme is open for anyone to create top levels, not just prospective players. Current player characters, characters you want to play in the setting but can't app full-time, drive-by castmates, duplicates, canon AUs, characters that normally would not be allowed such as fandom AUs and genderswaps (not including characters under 15), formerly dropped characters, etc. are all encouraged to come in and play! As all other test drive memes, this one will be game canon. Characters who fourth wall but do not app will disappear after a few days to a week, along with their home (if applicable) and all of their possessions. Please label your top levels as to whether you are test driving [TDM] or fourth walling [4W]. (Of course, you are allowed to change your mind! But our rules regarding appable characters will still apply.) Since auspicious acts are an integral part of this event, potential and current players can swap one Auspicious Act on their card for one of their choosing, if needed for any of the prompts. As usual, prospective players can use an Act and swap it onto their card if they choose to app into the game. If you have any questions, please ask them below. N A V I G A T I O N |
Verin Thelyss | Critical Role | OTA [4W]
Let XXX Be Your Guide
Sitches Get Glitches
Wildcard
no subject
Thankfully, he does not have long to wait. The door opens slowly, and Essek himself enters - barefoot below dark pants, a white linen button shirt undone, hair somewhat mussed. There's an ease about his shoulders, looser and relaxed, and at first he doesn't even notice Verin there, checking something written on one of his notes on the desk, and then -
Violet eyes blink owlishly at his brother, staring in clear disbelief. How?
"Verin??"
no subject
Verin shrugs helplessly.
"I--was I here...?"
The question barely makes sense to him as he asks, but he's hoping Essek will follow his line of thought. Unless Essek doesn't remember. Verin looks down at himself, absently tugging at the shirt he's wearing - which is absolutely recalls getting from Essek - and trying to pull together incongruent memories.
no subject
Essek pinches the bridge of his nose, completely forgetting the state in which he's dressed, the vaguest hint of a memory triggered by Verin's question, by the clothes. That had been a dream, hadn't it? He would remember, starkly, if Verin had actually set foot here, even for a day.
...Assuming the Augur would let him.
A cold feeling curls in the pit of his stomach, pulling his lips into a frown as he looks at his brother again and takes a step forward, reaching for his hand.
"I thought...I had a dream, weeks ago, of finding you on the beach. I explained everything to you and brought you here. But-"
His brows draw together, and discomfort itches between his shoulder blades.
"I thought for sure it was a dream..."
no subject
Verin pauses, looking away for a moment like that might help him focus. It doesn't. He takes a few steps back to sit on the bed again.
"I remember the conversation. I don't remember leaving." But he's also sure he wasn't here all this time, because he has memories of Xhoras filling that gap. Verin lets go of Essek's hand to push his fingers into his hair - braided in a different style than it had been the last they saw each other.
no subject
All over again, his chest aches.
"No-..." it feels helpless.
He shakes his head. "This is the first time I have heard of this sort of thing. The Augur can...alter...memories...but this is - that he can reach so far to someone who hasn't actually been here-"
Or has he?
no subject
Maybe it's just the shock. Maybe, if they have time, they can figure out what exactly happened. Where the gaps are.
Verin looks down, carefully pulling his thoughts together. He can be steady. If this has shaken Essek, he can be the one to shoulder it. And--His gaze flicks up to his brother again, searching. Their mother's voice cuts clearly through his memory, as does the hollow feeling that consumed him when he learned precisely the position Den Thelyss was in. He hadn't wanted to believe it then.
But who knows Essek better than he does?
no subject
He looks to Verin again, his brother uncharacteristically quiet. Despite the dream having been fairly recent, it still is no match for the real fact that he is actually here.
It has been...so long. So much has changed, and there are so many things...
But there's clearly a thought, a look in Verin's eye that stirs trepidation in his stomach.
"...what is it?"
no subject
Would things have been different if he'd refused Bazzoxan? He would have been accepted into the Aurora Guard in Rosohna, he had both the standing and the skill to guard the Bright Queen herself. If he'd found some reason to stay in Rosohna, if he'd been there, could he have kept Essek from completely disappearing into theory and ambition? Would he have been able to pull his brother back? He doesn't know, and that is the worst part.
Verin isn't the sort of person to ask what if, and now he finds that's all he can do. And he wants to go back. He wants to be the man who first plunged into the ocean here, unaware of anything beyond his brother's transfer to the middle of frozen nowhere.
Essek is looking at him, and Verin has been quiet for far too long. He lowers his gaze.
"Time has passed since I was last here. I think. Less here than in Wildemount, and I can't... reconcile it."
Maybe it would be better if he didn't try. Essek is here, now, and that is all that matters. Isn't it?
no subject
Surely he knows; what else could he be hinting towards? What else could have happened? Yet if Verin is waiting for Essek to voluntarily confirm his unasked question, he will be disappointed. The fear of losing him entirely is far too great, even if that had been something far from his mind when he committed his sins in the first place.
He schools his expression into careful concern, a well-practiced expression.
"Time is...very different here, it is true. It is not uncommon for those of us who are from the same world to be from different points in time, although I have yet to fully determine if anyone is from a divergent timeline, or somehow, all from the same thread."