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hugtopiamods ([personal profile] hugtopiamods) wrote in [community profile] hugtopia_logs2019-10-09 12:00 am

♥ October Event Log

scary spooky jack o' lantern and steampunk windmill with alien ship and moon
October (Lasohm) Event Log

The last breath of summer leaves along with the month of Ohnir, and now fall has come to Havenwell with Lasohm. The leaves on the trees in the conservatories and botanical gardens are changing, the days are no longer hot but seasonably warm and the nights bring a cool relief. The air turns crisp and sharp and the daylight hours are starting to lose out to the evening dark. Thankfully, Havenwell is well lit even at night, and the dark gloom is chased away now that the city's colors are (mostly) restored to their original glory. Here and there, patches of gray still exist, but thanks to everyone's efforts, things are back to normal.

Hopefully those dreams didn't plague you too much, offworlders. The citizens certainly didn't seem to notice...


PROMPT I: The Havenwell Archives
black and white storage shelving with data boxes

Lasohm is another month that belongs to Ohma and as such, a small group of citizens decide that it might be great for the offworlders to help with something that might please the feline god. These citizens are marked with a sash with the sign of a quill on it, a decidedly antique symbol considering how technologically advanced the people are. They hand out fliers to any who will take them, offering a small amount of Dora in compensation to any who will help the Havenwell Archives repair and restore their books. The Archives is a large building in the south and its doors, which have been sealed shut until now, are slightly ajar, allowing people entry.

Head to the Archives and you'll be greeted by one of a handful of robotic citizens, all wearing that quill-emblazoned sash, and directed to a small room where you and other offworlders are put to the task of reassembling history texts that have fallen into disrepair. Most of the writing is illegible, but it seems that these books are important to the Archives for more than just the information contained within. As you work, you might notice that talking and sharing information about yourself or engaging in physical contact near these books with the other people in your room makes the text on your pages a little more legible, a little easier to read and understand....

OOC: Those who choose this prompt, please comment to the Mod thread on the OOC Plotting Post. You will be randomized to receive a small blurb that your character will be given to transcribe. This is limited to one blurb per player.

PROMPT II: Chase the Rabbit
Those plagued by the dreams with their strange, indistinct figure will find that they haven't gone away even as the month changes to Lasohm. Not everyone is dreaming about this stranger and they don't come every night, but that might be a small comfort to those who see the figure lurking in their dreams, watching silently. They no longer flit away when you look at them though and instead, start holding their unnaturally long arms out to you. Their outline is like a shadow and it feels like you might fall into their arms if you keep looking at them. It's almost tempting, but the way the figure beckons and approaches without actually moving its legs seems unnatural. Every time you blink, it grows closer and larger and its arms are opened wide for you. You get the distinct feeling that, should you embrace it, it would be like dropping into an endless, dark void, which is wen a sense of vertigo seizes you and wakes you up.

The vertigo plagues you even into the waking hours and out of the corner of your eye, you can see that figure from your dreams, arms outstretched and waiting. The only way to rid yourself of this phantom is to let another character hold you tight, in the same way that figure seems to want to do. Letting another character hug you dispels the dreams entirely this time - the phantom figure dissipates, the dreams stop, and it seems like everything is back to normal for you.

Those who accept the phantom's hug, however....? Well. Let's just say they have very different dreams that night.

PROMPT III: Catch the Rabbit
a dark image featuring a silhouette of a person staring down a floating fish monster, with the text YOU SHOULD WAKE UP BEFORE YOU FORGET HOW beneath it

Those who accept the phantom's hug also see it vanish from the daylight and it seems like everything is fine. It's gone, just like everyone else has said, and there's nothing lurking in the shadows anymore. You go to sleep that night and that's when it hits you. That sense of vertigo is awful and the dreams? They're back, but this time, they're a little different.

The White Rabbit: You're not alone in this space. Whether it's by accident or by some bond of fate, someone else is here with you. All around you, the world is empty and pure white, stretching into eternity and blank, like it's waiting for something - and it is. It's waiting for you. Once you recognize one another, the world reforms to take on the appearance of a dream you've had before, or a memory from long ago. The other person in your dream is conscious of this not being real, but you? Well...maybe you're aware and maybe you're not. Whatever the case may be, it seems the dream can end naturally as it's meant to, or your companion can try to wake you up. Because it's not just the two of your in this dream - that long-armed phantom is back and it's getting closer.

The Black Rabbit: The dreams are pitch black. You're floating in the darkness with nothing to tether you, whispers in foreign tongues all around you, words you can't understand. If you linger too long, the whispers grow louder, the sound of claws raking down metal approaching from behind and you know: you need to run. The dream seems to go forever, with you tumbling through the darkness, running on nothing, running to nothing, but definitely running from something. And then suddenly, there's someone with you, also fleeing the unseen horrors. As soon as you see them, the dream shifts and now you're experiencing each other's worst nightmares. Fend the terrors off by working together, holding one another, comforting each other as needed, but don't let them catch you.

Whichever dream you have, it ends when you see a figure suddenly appearing in front of you. The phantom that haunted you in your waking hours is back and you know that it sees you as well. Rather than come after you, however, the figure points to the side causing the walls of Havenwell to appear out of the dark, a bright beacon in the gloom. Then the figure opens a gaping, toothless mouth and wails, a bone deep sadness filling the air until the white walls of Havenwell begin to crumble like dust. You awaken with a jolt, the vision fading but the memories remaining.

PROMPT IV: It Warned You
a snarling monster in shadows with multiple red eyes and dripping skin

Toward the end of the month starting from October 28th, offworlders and natives alike will start hearing noises. A deep, quiet scratching, the sound of something dragging heavily against stone, or a leaden thump that seems to reverberate through the floors. Then a slow rhythmic banging starts up and for the first time, the offworlders will see the natives truly scared. They start retreating from the public, sealing themselves up into their homes or taking to the temples to pray. During this time, all other festivities start to close, the VR cafe still boasting bright advertisements for the Harvest Festival games are deserted, the businesses and streets barely have anyone in them. The only activity to be seen is that of the wall guards and the police who start patrolling the streets, trying to locate the source of the noise, stopping anyone they see to interrogate them.

This continues until noon on October 30th when a loud crack, like glass being broken, splits the quiet across the city. Those outside can look up and see a long spider web of breaks snake out along the blue sky. The crack splits and splinters the sky until it hits the wall to the north where it stops for a brief moment, and then the wall itself cracks. The banging intensifies and the plaster flakes, cracks, and with a horrific boom, it breaks and a thick hairy hand the size of a car reaches in, pulling the stone away to widen it into a hole through which a steady stream of small black spider-like creatures start to spill into the city. An alarm rings shrill and the guard and police take to action, but it's clear they're not prepared for this. Help if you can, offworlders, your home is under attack!

What to do: Fight the monsters that are breaking into the city. Most of them are relatively small, black spider-like creatures that have very basic melee attacks, using their fangs and their sharp legs to bite and claw at people. On occasion a rarer monster might appear that will take more than one person to kill - these might resemble strange versions of monsters from your respective worlds, though nothing larger than a horse is present. The giant hand that punched its way through the wall is gone and won't come back. Clear the city of monsters and find a way to seal the breach. This event will ICly run from October 30-31st with the breach being sealed late on the 31st.



This event will run from 09 October to 31 October. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread here.
whenyouneedme: (143)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-09 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Already knowing that this was probably got to be A Lot to take in, Kai got himself good and settled. The exact details of the dream were a little hazy. All the parts he hadn't understood were a bit frayed at the edges, but there were some things he couldn't forget.

Massive and monstrous, looming against a crazy orange sky and shaking the earth with every step.

"'Angels,' huh... That big blue guy, then. They were one of those?"
hedgehogsdilemma: (Yo that's $50 for a T-shirt)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-09 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
He grimaces slightly.

"Yes, and no." It feels awful enough even giving that a partial yes, you wouldn't be able to twist his arm hard enough to get him to say otherwise. "The weapons we had to fight against them were... they looked and acted like robots. They wouldn't move without a pilot, and there were three of us." Kai might remember that fact from the dream, but it's pertinent now, "At one point, we were supposed to get a fourth pilot, and a fourth Eva."
whenyouneedme: (139)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-09 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
There was a little furrow of his brow. The connection might have been easier if he'd seen Shinji's unit, but even with this, Kai was starting to follow a line. The Evas were the robots, Shinji was a pilot of one of them... The thing that was walking right out of a mech anime was and was not an Angel?

Even though it pretty much looked like a robot. H... m.

"Supposed to?"

hedgehogsdilemma: (Someone to bruise and leave behind)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-10 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah..."

You're on your way to getting it, Kai, but Shinji will continue at any rate.

"Something happened to them when they were on their way to us, I don't... I don't know what, exactly, but..."

Ah. Give him a second here. He's volunteering this information freely, without the cover of the dream to show some kind of version of the events, but that doesn't make dredging up those memories any easier.

"They were... infected, taken over, by an Angel, and they were reclassified as a target. The three of us were sent out to destroy them."
whenyouneedme: Toniii ~<3 (070)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-10 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh."

It came out as a soft exhale. He'd gotten there, kind of. There were a lot of details he didn't know, but the gist of it was there. The gist was enough to make dread settle heavy in his gut. The whole notion of having to pile into a robot to fight monsters was already A Lot. And if one of those supposed 'monsters' was... someone you knew...

The dread was cold and creeping up his chest.

"The Eva?" But then, softer still. "Or the pilot?"
hedgehogsdilemma: (Hang my head)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-10 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
Just as softly, "The Eva, but... the pilot was trapped inside."
whenyouneedme: toniii (102)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-10 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
Well that was. Probably terrifying. Kai sucked in a little breath. "Shit."
hedgehogsdilemma: (So tell me what you want to hear)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-10 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
"... Yeah."

You got it.

"None of us actually fought it, knowing that."
whenyouneedme: Toniii ~<3 (059)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-10 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't blame you."

But if no one fought it, then... Kai wanted this to go at Shinji's pace, didn't want to ask a lot of questions but.

"... Can I ask what happened?"
hedgehogsdilemma: (Some'll laugh)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-10 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
He's quiet for a moment after the question is posed. It's a part of the story, and one he knew he'd probably have to recount when he offered to explain in the first place, but it's still... incredibly difficult to confront out loud.

"They cut my control of my Eva," his words are soft, deliberate, and dreadfully sad sounding. "And switched it to a kind of... autopilot."
whenyouneedme: toni is starshine (073)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-10 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
Kai didn't expect the way that sad, soft voice would twist painfully in his chest. It was hard enough to try and make that choice on your own, Kai could hardly imagine. It was another thing entirely to have it stolen from you.

"So they trapped you too." Whomever they were. It didn't matter who, the edge in his voice would have been there for them regardless.
hedgehogsdilemma: (No threat at all)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-10 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
That... that is absolutely what happened, isn't it? He curls in on himself a little, staying quiet a little longer while he tries to sort out which details to give, and which to leave out. Not all of it is that important right now, and some of it still isn't the kind of thing he's comfortable giving out. He'd already completely skipped over the part where he was absolutely willing to let himself be killed over fighting back, after all.

"They let it just... tear them to pieces."

Which on its own is, uh, already not great.

"Under their armor, the Evas have a lot of parts that are, um, organic. Flesh and blood."

To make that even less great, but maybe explain his capacity for swallowing the more disturbing parts of Kai's nightmare a little easier.
whenyouneedme: (052)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-10 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah that, uh, that explained some things.

Looking and Acting like a robot... didn't mean it had to actually be a robot. Kai knew the whole situation was fucked just from the surface, but fucking hell was it fucked. Kai didn't know what to say that wasn't just a string of fuck word after fuck word, so for the moment he didn't say anything.

He just sucked in another breath, pulled the shrinking ball that was Shinji a little closer. Kai gently, a little awkwardly, ran his fingers after Shinji's hair in extremely unpracticed motions.
hedgehogsdilemma: (Far away from all the trouble)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-10 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Shinji lets out a brief shudder as he's pulled in. Kai's efforts, though, do a good deal to help ground him back into this moment, and he quickly gives in to the comfort, however clumsy and awkward it may be. His own hold on Kai tightens in response, both out of a deep appreciation for the attempt as well as a measure of returning some of that comfort. Maybe Kai's nightmare had been a typical one, but exposing him to more and different terrible things isn't exactly a great thing to have him deal with either.

So, no problem with putting this story on hold for a few moments.

Just as Kai's tale had a silver lining to it, Kei does come back after that horrifying scene, Shinji's has its own nugget of... less-grim news buried under all of that fuckery.

"The pilot did survive."

So. That's good.
whenyouneedme: Toniii ~<3 (068)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-10 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Kai's little motions grew a little more confident when Shinji didn't shy away. He'd been afraid for a moment, that this was too much, but. Good.

It certainly helped that Shinji's dream hadn't made it that far. The vague, carefully pieced together description alone was enough to leave Kai feeling twisted up and ill, though it was hard to place how much of that was unbridled rage over everything in this scenario. At least he didn't have a visceral memory of everything being out of his control.

He didn't really mind intruding anymore, if it had meant that for at least one night, Shinji really didn't have to do it.

Yeah. That was. "That's good," Kai breathed out against Shinji's hair.

It was good, right? Well. 'Survive' could have meant a lot of things. Based on everything else, Kai couldn't imagine it was unscathed.
hedgehogsdilemma: (Lost all they’ve got)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-10 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe under other circumstances, he'd try and keep more of a buffer between the two of them. After opening up as much as they've both done, they could probably both use this. This, right now, is perfectly Fine. Good, even? Yeah, this is Good.

"Hm," he nods slightly. As Kai suspected, there's... a little more to it than that, but as far as an outcome for being involved so tightly in such a dangerous and potentially deadly battle, just surviving is a pretty good baseline. "It turned out he was a friend of mine, so..."

Like. At least he didn't end up being a part of his friend's death or anything.
whenyouneedme: (141)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-11 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
At least. There was that.

Kai was quiet for a moment, and then he nodded slightly in turn. "I wondered," he admitted. It would have been scarring enough, with a stranger. It absolutely would have been the kind of thing that haunted your dreams, with a friend. It didn't even matter if Shinji hadn't been initially aware of it. In hindsight, in his memories, he would always know.
hedgehogsdilemma: (Time crawls on)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-11 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Small positives. Very, very small ones, but that's nicer than none.

That, mostly, covers that dream, Shinji thinks. There are plenty of other things he could probably explain, enough to keep them talking until morning breaks, easily, but everything they've covered between the two of them has already been A Lot. No need to drag it out any longer, not with how raw he's already finding himself from just that much.

If Kai asks for more, he's sure he'd comply, but... only if he asks. Otherwise, other things can be talked about at other times. For now, the both off them could use the opportunity to cool off.

Shinji settles in just a fraction closer to Kai, taking a few moments to just... breathe. Appreciate the fact that they were both somehow here instead of off somewhere else trying to deal with the terrible cards their worlds had been dealt.

"Thank you," he eventually murmurs, "For... listening, and being here."
whenyouneedme: Toniii ~<3 (062)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-12 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
No, this was enough for tonight. There were absolutely more questions to be had (how did Shinji get roped into this? Were all the pilots teenagers? what the fuck?), but those could wait. This was already far more than Kai would have asked for. And for as raw and vulnerable as everything might have left them... Kai kind of felt better for sharing, and better for knowing.

There was still that wretched feeling that came with knowing there wasn't anything he could do for Kei from here. It was hard to reconcile, and he couldn't deny that. But he also couldn't deny the strange feeling that came with Shinji's choice to tell him. That being here for this was also important.

Regrets never suited him. He couldn't change how things had went, but he could keep Shinji close and count their breaths until both of them came calm and even.

For tonight, Kai wouldn't fuss over the gratitude for once. He nodded, quietly murmuring back, "S'what I'm here for. You checked on me, after all." A beat, and softer still, "Thanks for... uh, for trusting me."
hedgehogsdilemma: (It goes like this the 4th the 5th)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-12 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
He kind of has been letting more and more of his trust go to Kai, huh? Maybe something about how he had reached out to him in the first place, letting Shinji know he had his back through their initial dragon adventure... If Shinji were to take a mental step back, it would feel kind of strange that he'd allow himself to even be as open as he's been tonight, but in reality, it's been kind of a natural progression. With most other people here? Who could say if he'd be able to manage it, but around Kai it feels... safe.

It certainly helped that Kai had been forthcoming with details of his own nightmare, as well. Knowing he was sharing with someone with at least a little experience with cosmic unfairness made it that much easier.

And, if we aren't fussing over gratitude, Shinji will receive Kai's thanks with a small nod of his own. It's... a little odd for him, Kai's not alone in that regard, but he'll take it as long as they're offering sincere sentiments. "You, too." There had to be some degree of trust offered to let Shinji in on the kind of information he had, he'd think.
whenyouneedme: (010)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-12 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
There was. A little more than Kai was maybe willing to admit. It wasn't really his secret to hand out, after all. While it was probably a slim chance that anyone would have to worry about it, Kai didn't want to ruin anyone's chance to live quietly and unknown before they even got here. The natives were nice and all, but it'd still must have taken them a lot of tests to get where they were, and there was that guy that had had so many questions about... everything. The less people knew, the better those quiet chances were.

But it hadn't felt wrong to tell Shinji.

"Mmm." He had to think about that for a moment. Needed to let himself finish coming down from that very real spot of quiet anger and sadness and really appreciate this for what this was. "It's okay," Kai echoed, "if it's you."
hedgehogsdilemma: (See things the right way up)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-13 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
If admitting he wanted Kai, specifically Kai, to know more about him had left him feeling a little chilly, hearing those words echoed back to him now warms him right back up. But... that's strange too, isn't it? Telling him outright that kind of trust has been placed on him feels so... lofty. Like he really has no place to be holding on to it. Like an odd twist in his chest.

But, here we are.


He will, at least, Mind His Own Business and not ruin anyone's chance at at a quiet life, should those particular anyones show up here. It isn't as though there's a single person here who isn't simply trying to get by in this truly strange world, after all, and anyone who had to deal with being literally hunted down in their own world absolutely deserves to use this place as a respite.

"If... you're sure," soft tones full of awe and gratitude, despite the somewhat disbelieving words.
whenyouneedme: (023)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-13 06:39 am (UTC)(link)
"Of course I am." Even with all their hushed, secretive tones, Kai's reply came firm. He was absolutely certain, especially now, that it was okay if it was Shinji.

Kai's litmus test for people he'd call a friend was abysmally easy. There was another one though, one Kai didn't wasn't even aware of that started with something as simple as "are you okay" and ended somewhere with a warm body curled up close against his chest. Not that it ended there, but that was as far as it had gotten and even Kai knew there was something different about it.

He wasn't really sure how many times he'd woken up from the same thing with sore eyes and an empty everything. And actually, he wasn't really sure if it had only happened once before during one of their sleepovers. Tonight... definitely wasn't the first time. As much as he'd never wish for Shinji to see it, it was still. Freeing? In its own horrible, selfish way.

"I'm glad you're here."
Edited 2019-11-13 23:39 (UTC)
hedgehogsdilemma: (The way you've come to think of me)

[personal profile] hedgehogsdilemma 2019-11-14 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
'Of course,' he says, like it's some obvious thing, that he'd trust Shinji that much. He doesn't get it, can't figure out on what merit he's earned that, but he won't argue. It had felt like an almost natural thing for him to give Kai that much, maybe it's the same for him...? It still feels a bit mystifying, but of the two statements Kai had just given him, it's the one that's at least a tiny bit less difficult to grasp.

The other one, though. Oh. Oh boy. That one's going to take at least one whole moment, possibly even two, to parse fully.

If Shinji had been mentally preparing himself for the inevitability that he'd have to put a little space between the two of them sooner or later, for the sake of comfort or easy rest or something like that, Kai saying that he was glad Shinji was there of all things, definitely puts any of that work right back to zero. He is... not going to move from right where he's planted himself just yet. How. How is he supposed to respond to that. That's one of those things that... god, has anyone ever said that to him before?

Just thinking about it does all sorts of weird things with his heart and gut, and while there's a very hard to ignore part of him that's convinced he may have somehow tricked Kai into thinking that, he... kind of wants to hold on to that sentiment tightly anyway.

When he does speak again, his voice is just as soft, but perhaps a little... smaller sounding.

"I-..." What can he even say to that? "I can... try to come over more often."
whenyouneedme: (044)

[personal profile] whenyouneedme 2019-11-14 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
That kinda hadn't been what Kai was expecting. To be fair though, he had no idea what he was expecting. Nothing, probably. It wasn't as though he'd ever said that to anyone before. Maybe he'd thought it once, when he was too young to know that it was something you could say to people. Who knew if anything would have been different if he did.

It was true though, so why not say it?

This. Wasn't nothing. This was something, and that meant it was Kai's turn to take a moment. To just soak that in. Maybe wonder if he wasn't the one tricking the poor guy into things. It wasn't like he was somebody people went out of their way to hang with. Well. Except for tonight, apparently,

Kai let out a small puff of air, the hints of a smile playing softly at the corners of his mouth. "Sure, if you want to," he said gently. "Whenever. S'your call, Shinji."

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