WEEK 5

[killerwaves]

WEEK FIVE

21 Vacationers

The weekend sure was something, wasn't it? Tempers flared, explosions burst, and some were treated to an immersive sand bath experience. Come Monday at least, things seem quieter though not in the unnatural still way—the distortions on the islands have receded sometime in the night (with some impressive firework-like booms that may have stirred your sleep, at that; and the waves seem a little higher this morning) and the various amenities on the island have been made orderly again. Though, as always, some traces remain in the landscape; the waterfall looks like it has seen better days, though it's no longer in danger of coughing up debris on your head if looked at wrong.

This week like the rest brings new locations for you to explore, on Kakapo's Nest though it seems like only one of them really fits the vacation vibe. Hope you like snow!

!

WEATHER ALERT:

Bulletin:
Starting Monday morning and continuing throughout the week, pollen counts will be elevated. This is expected to last until late Thursday

!

TASKS:

Breathe Freely:
Enjoy the great outdoors with a fellow vacationer! It's never too late to appreciate nature.
(REWARD: RARE!)

(( Yes, only one task this week which is memshare with someone else. Have fun!
REMINDER: Task submissions are due Friday by 9 PM EST/6 PM PST. ))

(( OOC: Murder proposals are due by Tuesday at 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST, for the current week's murder, which is the last week of standard murder, week 6 being endgame!!

Also, as always, your admins can be contacted for a chat. ))

MONDAY • TUESDAY • WEDNESDAY • THURSDAY

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Comments

[diabolizes]

[ Ah, that's... hm. He isn't sure how to process that, actually, and it takes him a moment before he finally responds. ]

Thank you, Xiao. I'm glad to be here, despite everything.

!!!!!

[killerwaves]

[Yet another week is slowly beginning to come to a close -- a tumultuous one, to be sure, full of surprises both good and bad... though perhaps not quite as tumultuous as last week in some ways -- and the skies and the sea are surprisingly peaceful this bright Thursday. Even the birds seem to be enjoying their early morning song when the sun rises.

For a little while, you may be able to tell yourself that this perhaps is the week where the islands' distortions will give it a rest. You've already laid one of yours to an eternal rest, after all, sending her off in a manner much more dignified than the last creature that stormed the beaches.

Right around afternoon, though, as though on cue; right about after lunch (so at least you might have had a good one) the familiar hush seeps back in. It's hard to detect at first, with everyone awake and rowdy, but it's there in the background from a moment to the next. It muffles everything for the encroaching storm.

There's that familiar low-pitched rumble once the sun has dipped towards the horizon, working itself up in pitch and frequency. Those on Kakapo's Nest may notice that the quality is a little different than usual -- by the time the stars are out, it's easy to see the shimmer across the water by the island's shores, a vast veil that looks just like marine fog. But that's not where the sound is coming from. Three large whirlpools have formed not far from where the island meets the sea, dark maelstroms that seem to swallow the stars. Moreover, something almost like cries emanates out of them -- like the discordant laments of a thousand sirens in a blender, maybe? Something like that. Good thing you'll be able to sleep through that tonight, right?

Meanwhile, a more sedate state of the warp has settled over Seagull's Playground, crouched over the go-karts as though knowingly. Is it protecting them from further harm? Or daring those who will be out and about tonight to come closer, ever closer? Some karts get knocked out of their spaces and go skidding into the track like bumper cars, but it isn't quite as grand a scale as Kakapo's little showing.

Dodo's Outlook, meanwhile, isn't spared by virtue of having had a dragon trample all over it yesterday. Unfortunately. Winding fingers of the distortion creep up from the shore to wrap themselves around the theater like a mantle -- there may be cracks appearing in the columns here. Best to keep an eye on it.]

[plunges]

[ Sorry, Wei Wuxian!! ]

Good. ... For what it is worth, I have experienced a similar sort of pain, myself. I can only hope that you've had better experiences since then.

[diabolizes]

[ He watches the scene unfold, anticipating the sword coming out of the stone by the woman's hand when Merlin suddenly steps in. Wei Wuxian furrows his brows, listening to the prophecy and feeling... something.

Hm.

Resented by accepting a burden... it hits a little bit too close to home for him, and he can't help but inch forward to see how the woman responds.

Is she going to take it on? ]

[diabolizes]

[ Slowly, Wei Wuxian shakes his head. ]

I wish I could say that I have, but... this was only the beginning. In that memory, I had not even seriously considered taking on raising the dead yet.

[diabolizes]

[ The emotions flowing through him are intense, the panic and the despair almost enough to make him feel ill. His heart pounds in his chest with adrenaline as his fight-or-flight reflexes kick in, but even so... all he can think of is Psyche.

Which is why, when the memory fades away, he immediately looks for her. ]

Psyche?

opens my arms

[diabolizes]

[ LET'S SEE IF I CAN WORK IT IN SOMEWHERE IN THIS THREAD

Wei Wuxian's reaction is... muted. He doesn't seem particularly moved by it, but it isn't from lack of emotion. Rather, there's a numbness that's taken over him instead, leaving him feeling hollow rather than saddened. ]

That I have. But I suppose that makes it easier to push onward and keep living, in a way.

[gluttoning]

Archon?

[...]

Why do you think it's been too many times?

COME ON IN

[diabolizes]

[ Wei Wuxian himself seems relatively fine, but whether that's because he forces himself to be or because he actually is... Wang Lu might know the answer to that.

Regardless, he lets himself be pulled into a hug. ]

I'm sorry you had to see that.

[plunges]

Because I've burdened him, more than I should.

[ Even if Rex Lapis does it out of care, Xiao sees it differently.

This probably explains a lot about him. ]

[gluttoning]

...

Is that something Rex Lapis has told you?

[plunges]

...No. He has not.

[ Hm. ]

[gluttoning]

Then why do you think that?

It sounds like you respect him at least a little.

[dupiety]

That...hardly makes sense to me, but who am I to argue with the Demon King?

[Shrug!]

What of your other brothers? Have they adjusted well enough over the millennia?

[dupiety]

[He manages a smile as Beelzebub cleans him up. He'll have to freshen up later- perhaps take a nap to rest his eyes. They already sting from all the tears.]

...If you would like, then I would be happy to tell you.

[The subject doesn't seem quite so daunting anymore.]

But I will say now, I daresay he would have had quite the conniption fit if he knew how close to a demon I've become. [In spite of that...he laughs.] But he'd come around. He always did.

[plunges]

Of course I do.

[ His response is immediate, a little snappy. It's nothing personal; it's reflexive, instinctual. He would never want anyone to question his loyalty and respect for Rex Lapis. ]

...There are just certain things that I should be able to handle on my own.

[chrysaline]

[ It's not the first time she's had to dredge up this particular memory. Is it getting easier through repetition? She's still pale and shivering, arms wrapped around herself in reaction. But she can manage a slight smile for him that's only a little touched with tension.

If it's him, he won't be scared of her. If it's him... he won't envy her. ]

Well... I guess even like this, that's as much as I can remember.

[diabolizes]

Things like that… sometimes we won’t allow ourselves to remember it fully.

[ He holds out a hand. ]

I have memories of my own like that.

[necrotiem]

[Ah... She'd just been talking about ruining his reputation here, for a bit of fun.]

Haha... [At least it doesn't get an lol, this time.]

You're very earnest, Wei Wuxian. Your deeds show that well enough!

[chrysaline]

[ She reaches for it, curling her fingers around his and stepping closer. The contact is very welcome right now. ]

So you know too... Will you tell me what about? [ A quick glance at his face. ] ...Not if it's painful, though.

cw physical & emotional abuse, alcohol served to minors

[butcherspice]

[Oh. Billy knows what this smells like even if the person he's looking through the eyes of doesn't. It's obvious that he's being lied to, and blatantly so. The desire for approval just feels so foreign in his chest that he might get sick from it.

"You're a disappointment" and "I have great expectations for you" being put in the same sentence does give Billy a sense of familiarity though. The constant uncertainty he held growing up--his own father was an obnoxiously inconsistent man. Beating the shit out of him one day, calling him a real man and offering him a beer despite the fact that he was barely sixteen the next.

So, once he's looking back at Haruka, Billy gives the same sentiment he'd held towards his father.]

You oughta knock that old cunt on his ass next you see him.

[microtransactions]

all right let's see

in a time long, long ago, aeons in the past... from a time that's long since been forgotten, there were once four heroes. who these four heroes of yore were has been lost to time, and it is said that after they sealed a great darkness away that they all vanished mysteriously, never to be seen again.

but there's another legend, see. one about someone who might have once been known as a renowned hero, long ago in another time. the greatest warrior in the galaxy, and he was sealed away due to fear of the power he held. it's said he's been sealed away many times over the years, for he had too much power for them to ever successfully destroy.

if this hero was one of the four, after such treatment, of course he'd grow vengeful, don't you think? somewhere out there, his seal must rest. i wonder what might happen if that ever breaks?

[gluttoning]

As well as they can.

[It's a little hard to remember after so long, to be fair.]

We're not who we used to be. But the Devildom is our home now. We've come to accept that.

[gluttoning]

...

[Hm.]

Would you go to help him, if he were in trouble?

cw: possession/dissociation mental grab bag

[microtransactions]

[ you open your eyes. (part of you is surprised you did?)

everything is ... hazy. dreamlike and distant, rather. disconnected. a perspective that feels strange, somehow. you observe and take in your surroundings with a dissonant unquiet in your being, seeing without really seeing. the ground is a glimmering pale blue, insubstantial and ethereal. your surroundings are awash in light. you yet feel surrounded by darkness regardless.

there's a pain singing through you that doesn't feel like it belongs to you. (it hurts this isn't right it hurts) it, too, is faraway. these wings are yours. this crown is yours. these thorns are yours. this pain is yours. these shackles are yours.

there are four beings before and below you, where they belong, though they seem not to have made any move yet.

> what do you do? ]