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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 |
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Wufei -! [ Duo yipes as he hits the ground, of course already aware he’s fucked up without the bruises to spare for it. At any rate, the slight daze with hitting his head does the most to snap him out of that tightly wound ball he was becoming.
For now, anyway.
He does, at least, give Wufei a middle finger for his trouble with the coffee, happy for it but also.. why, Wufei?
It does take him a moment to sit up, and with a dramatic bout of noises at that, but he takes up the mug of coffee almost immediately anyway. ]
Eh. Hardly paradise, actually. It’s a real wreck.
[ and probably about to be exponentially worse after this is done and over with. ]
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[A torture chamber with a big fancy cabin, a gundam hangar, and basic income for those who choose not to be celibate, at least. Wufei focuses on rinsing out the coffee maker, the better to achieve his goals expediently.]
Though if you're thinking about how to leave, there isn't any way to do it. I've tried everything.
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[ Maxwell mutters this into his coffee, but not in any way under his breath. Torture chamber, really Chang? He's pretty sure his younger self just confirmed that they're all fucking, so. Rude.
But then, it's just like Wufei to catastrophize everything. That's why he's so good at his job back on Mars; he sees exactly when and where shit will hit the fan and he puts a stop to it. Unfortunately, it's a lot like a man plugging up a bursting damn with his finger at this point, but damn if he doesn't try. They really are the same person...
And yet, different. Maxwell can tell. There is bond here - a sense of comfortable co-existence - between this Duo and this Wufei that he's never seen or experienced before, even back when they were dying together in the thinning air of that jail cell on Barge. It makes him think about what could have been, and he hates that.
Maxwell scowls, scoffing a laugh. ]
Leave? Why the hell would I want to do that? This place is a fucking vacation, pun fully intended.
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But there he goes saying it's a vacation... and it's younger Duo's turn to scoff a laugh in to his coffee cup. ]
Not even close to a vacation.. Deathscythe's here.. they're all here, but you can't hit atmo and there's no real reason for weapons of war to be on planet. So you sit and wait for the other foot to fall, I guess. Or at least the anticipation of a possible foot falling, that kind of thing...
[ Duo sighs, then, and mumbles in that typical cryptic way his older self may only understand : ]
- And then you got all the dumb shit surrounding this.. whole set up.. [ Duo sighs, but then diverts the subject on purpose. He isn't exactly looking to talk about his own (mental) issues with Wufei right there, and he's noticing, more and more - ]
Also, what the hell did you do to my hair?
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[Wufei isn't facing either of them, and he has the forbearance not to actually roll his eyes, but the eyeroll is so present in his tone that he might as well have taken the satisfaction.]
The setup of the entire place, the thing for which we're all being paid, the— the whole point and purpose of this fucking island. [Woah there, Wufei. What did the coffee maker ever do to you? He inhales sharply through his nose, holds it for a moment, and then releases.] That 'shit,' Duo?
[He hates you, almost as much as he loves you. Some days its a near thing.]
Yes, about the hair?
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The older of the Maxwells gets the sense that he stepped in something. In the absence of something smartassed to say, he loudly sips his coffee. He's just gonna keep quiet, lest he get dragged into some kind of lover's spat he never asked for between himself and a guy whom he just recently learned fucks.
By the time both of them have addressed him, his gaze has already drifted towards the window like he's contemplating his quickest point of egress. ]
Oh, that?
[ He laughs. It's the fake laugh, the jokester's laugh, and he's had years over the younger Duo to perfect that beatific smile. ]
Yeah, had it surgically removed years ago. Doctors couldn't save it. Weird that you care, Chang.
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Wufei - [ Duo sighs, knowing he's touched a button immediately. Carefully he moves to stand, the coffee cup already basically drained, as he hits the coffee machine. He probably shouldn't say this follow up as he's reaching to place a hand on Wufei's back, bit he just can't help himself as he cuts an eye to his older self - ]
It's the easiest few bucks I've ever made in my life, but y'know. [ Duo tips his head a little as if saying he'll catch him up later, or something, trying to tend to Wufei's reaction here. ]
I'll watch this, get your tea bags, Wu. [ In other words, stop hurting the coffee machine. It did nothing to you. Still, his eyes linger on his older self for a moment at that laugh, the casual explanation... he knows what it means. Or at least.. he's smart enough to be able to infer using his own ways of coping as a gauge.
Duo's voice is a bit more serious, now, as he surmises out loud : ]
So you cut it off.
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Considering that you don't know me at all, inferior as you are... [Here it is, the Chang coping method: find a bridge, and burn it.] ...I suppose it would be surprising that anyone cared about you.
[He knows it's not your fault, Duo, but honestly go die in a fire.]
And yet here we are. Reaching fun new lows all around.
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Maybe I'd know you if you'd ever sent me a fuckin' postcard every now and then. Or, hell, a candy gram.
[ Typical.
But no, he isn't here to argue with these very real ghosts of his past. Maxwell isn't sure why he's here, actually, but he knows it's not fucking that. He's been ruining his relationships just fine for years without any interdimensional timey-wimey interference.
He pushes off from where he'd been leaning against the counter, waving behind him without looking back. ]
I'm goin' outside for a smoke. Have a pleasant breakfast, kids.
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Well there goes that.. [ Duo mumbles it even as Wufei is finishing his tirade. He knows himself enough to realize he isn't going to stick around after that set of comments - hell, he wouldn't if it was him at the other end of Wufei's fury.
As it stands, he's still curious about his hair, and has a few more things to ask, but trying to stop himself isn't going to help at all. So instead Duo pauses, for a moment, watching as the older man heads toward the door. For a long moment he debates, but then calls after - ]
I still got questions, you know. So don't go far. Or I'll track you down.
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I lost my temper. [It wasn't an apology, because he wasn't sorry at all. Given the chance, he might do it again; there's no point in claiming otherwise. But just the same, Wufei does recognize his mistake.] I— care. I cannot allow him to claim otherwise, just because his own Wufei does not.
[It's easy to see why it might be so; how easy to fall to pieces, after the war, to cut himself off, to isolate and hone his purpose until it was completely incompatible with so petty a thought as friendship.]
I care deeply, about you. And he's an ass.
[That's as close to 'I'm sorry' as he's willing to step. He's far too sober for this shit.]
I'm going to the hangar. That should give you time to make friends.
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I know you care, Wufei. [ You literally choked him out not too long ago to show him how much you care, Chang Wufei. He understands better than he probably projects that he does. Duo's eyes still cast to the door, wanting to follow, wanting to ask every question he has still rolling around in his mind. But at the same time...
He can't leave Wufei like this. So instead he places a light hand at the other man's back, quiet support, a much quieter Duo Maxwell than most outside of this cabin are used to.
Still, there's a laugh as he says he's an ass, the sarcasm evident in his voice - ] Hey, that's me, apparently, y'know.
[ Duo's chin finds Wufei's shoulder, expression a bit lost, admittedly, but... this is all some kind of new he can't even contemplate. ]
I dunno if I wanna make friends. But I do have questions. About my hair, about... a lot. He seems... [ Duo pauses, bites his lip, and then - ]
I don't know. I want to know what happened. Why it's.. he's.. like that.
[ Though with that established, he has to at least rib Wufei a little, prodding at his side. ]
Don't go through everything you've got without me, Wu. I was gonna say we should use the treehouse tonight. Get away a little bit...
[ And stay out of the house.. considering.. ]
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[Heero tends to practice a certain focus, where Relena is concerned. Wufei isn't sure what to make of it; it all seems to be tied up in the war, and in Heero's own sense of what he is, what he fought for. Personally, Wufei can't really understand what all the fuss is about; that Peacecraft is a young, brilliant statesman, and a valuable asset in war or in peace is not in question. He hasn't the expertise to really evaluate her performance there, only what he has been shown and told. Personally?
He can only barely tolerate her. But that's hardly unique to Relena. Wufei is not a friendly man. The idea of space, and solitude, and Duo's idea of relief of tension is very appealing, right now.]
Don't let him twist you up. His life is not yours, just because it might have been. We are changing. Only a few months before coming here, I was ready to start another war, just to find a reason to exist. Now there are lilies blooming in the garden, and our worst problem is Heero's girlfriend coming to visit.
Nothing is impossible.
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‘Kay. Then I’ll plan on it. [ Duo turns slightly to plant a kiss at Wufei’s neck, the contact another little confirmation. They’ll go to the treehouse, eat and smoke and do.. whatever it is that they want to do for the night.
They deserve it, and chances are Duo will end up upset and twisted up over his own personal issues if they are in the house. There’s no need to say it, though. There is no doubt in Duo’s mind that Wufei knows already.
But then he has to go and bring her up, and Duo sighs, pulling away. ]
Don’t remind me. I hope it’s only a visit, or I’ll be able to fucking gather maggots before he'd notice I was even missing. [ such a nice image, Duo. At any rate, they’re decided, and Duo .. well. There is no guarantee he will not allow himself to twist him up. They will see, though. ]
I just .. I know that if he cut off his hair.. something was bad. Or I was just in a place where I felt really honestly hopeless. That’s the only reason I can think of to just hack it off like that.