{ event 7 } A▒ E█SI▓Y ░▒▓25░9.▒░█

[expiationmods]

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

March 11. The sun is shining, streaming in perfect sunbeams through uncovered windows. Birds and animals twitter outside, basking in trees that are verdant green and full of life. Outside, the town begins to wake, stirring to life with the sounds of ordinary everyday happenings. Footsteps, carts rolling down the road, the distant sound of friendly neighbors greeting each other.

And you–you have lived here your whole life. Or maybe you’re a visitor to this fine town. Either way, you’re a neighbor here, too.

Aldrip is having another beautiful day.

i. OUR TOWN

The town square is a bustling place to be for locals, and this week is no exception. Aldrip is a vibrant swell of activity: stores, stalls, and stands all open their doors precisely on time, welcoming the new day. Things are quiet, theoretically, while the local school is in session, but anyone playing hooky won’t get a second glance. Everything is fine! It’s too nice a day to be inside, anyway.

(Just like all the other days before, all too nice to waste.)

That being said, Aldrip is not without its own brand of nuisance. Fairies are rarely seen in town, these days, but this week, they seem to be in fine form. They can be found playing harmless tricks on people: taking things from them and moving them somewhere else, rolling carts when no one is holding onto them, mostly-unscrewing screws that hold together mechanical parts… They avoid magical pranks, for now, but these mundane tricks are such a nuisance! They even pull all of the wares out of a local vendor’s stall: dozens and dozens of colorful, patterned scarves. They had been on “deep discount,” leftovers from some “Day of Devotion” event, but the discount is about to get even deeper, on account of how dirty they are.

ii. TEMPTING FATE

A recent expedition to the Lorentia Caves uncovered a hidden gem–literally. Enterprising rock enthusiasts have brought back wheelbarrows full of round geodes, and have made a game out of cracking them open. Geodes that are green inside will get a lavish prize: a stay at a local spa or a gift card to a fancy restaurant. Purple or red inside will get a free drink at the local coffee shop, or a small gift card to use at a local shop. Brown or clear gems get nothing special–but you get to keep the rocks! They hold no special properties, but can be nice to look at and make great paper weights, and some of them almost seem to

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…

ERROR: MULTIPLE REDUNDANCIES DETECTED
RECALIBRATING
LOADING UPDATES...
PLEASE WAIT

Occasionally, very occasionally, breaking open one of these rocks causes it to crumble, becoming little more than gray ash. Static pops across the surface before it disintegrates.

ERROR: DATA CORRUPTED
PURGING CONTENT

Those who have found these ashen geodes will find that memories of them disappear just as soon as they turn away from what they’ve just seen.

.̸.̷.̵.̴.̷.̸.̸.̶.̴.̴.̸.̷.̵.̵.̷

…

Anyway.

No one quite knows where the pop-up casino came from, but it’s doing a bustling business at night. Now, this establishment is small, nowhere near the size of the one in the past, and is not nearly as expansive. Nonetheless, it helps create a thriving nightlife in town: there’s games, drinking, dancing, and all sorts of fun. Locals are encouraged to participate either by attending or working, or even performing in some way!

It’s a beautiful day in Aldrip. Just like yesterday. Just like tomorrow. Just like every day s̴h̵o̸u̶l̵d̸ ̶b̸e̵.

iii. LOST AND FOUND

You wake in a maze surrounded by fog. You have no memory of entering the maze. You have no idea which direction you might have come from. You are simply here, and there seems to be no exit above. So. The only way is forward.

You may be alone, or have company. Either way, aside from you and any other characters you may find, the maze seems empty. Without end. Without purpose.

Whatever twists and turns you take, all will eventually find themselves in the center, in their own time. There is nothing here, either, except for an overwhelming sense of aloneness. There is nothing here. There is nothing there.

There is nothing–

ERROR: REDUNDANT PROCESS FOUND
PURGING CONTENT

...

You wake up.

It’s another beautiful day in Aldrip.

Like all the days before and all the days after, your morning proceeds apace. You start your morning, you say hello to friends and neighbors. You…

… you find something unusual in an area you frequent. An item. It’s small, and somehow, it’s something you think you should know. Some will feel compelled to pick these items up. Some will feel a deep sense of unease when looking at them, and refuse to interact. Turning your back on these items will cause them to disappear. You won’t have to worry about that anymore. Not on this beautiful day.

Picking up the items causes a rush of information to flood your mind. Something like a memory plays in your head: the person in this memory looks and sounds like you. But…you don’t remember living that life, or doing those things. So how does it feel so real?

Throughout the rest of the event, these items will continue appearing. Characters are free to interact with them or ignore them as you see fit. Regaining more memories means they may regain their powers, as well, though whether they remember how to control them is another story.

These memories will feature prominently in the event poll that goes up after this, and your choice of how many memories they regain (or don’t) may have a lasting effect on your character. Not filling it out will also have an impact on them. So please make sure to fill out the poll!

iv. MISSING LINKS

As this strange memory phenomenon takes over Aldrip, other odd things begin to happen. It’s small, at first, and barely notable except that it renders Aldrip slightly less idyllic than usual. There are a few clouds in the sky. You may get caught in a passing rain shower, or maybe sleep through your alarm…

It gets worse.

The end of the month crawls ever closer, slow and steady. As it does, things begin to go missing. Small things, at first: personal possessions, the lunch left in the break room, flyers that look like maybe they were torn down in the town square. Is someone thieving? Here? In Aldrip?? You’ve never known Aldrip to have a problem with crime. Everything is so…

…

Pleasant.

Everyone becomes a suspect. It could have been your neighbor who took your wallet, or a coworker. Maybe your friend took that bracelet from the counter while you weren’t looking. But close to the end of the month, this starts getting bigger. What happened to that tree along the path you walk every day? Wasn’t there a butcher shop on the corner there? Where have all the birds gone?

ERROR: DATA LOST

Things go missing.

They keep going missing.

Why have they disappeared?

And…where have they gone?

v. THE COUNTDOWN

Sunday, March 31.

It’s raining.

It never rains like this in Aldrip.

Characters wake in the morning to anxiety twisting in the pit of their stomach, inexplicable and impossible to trace. As the day wears on, this sense of foreboding ramps up. Characters may even see significant numbers throughout the day that seem to count…down.

Twelve. Morning. How funny, to see these recurrences. Odd.

Eight. Seven. Around noon. This must be a coincidence, and yet, you cannot help but wonder if it is meaningful.

Four. Late afternoon. Wonder and curiosity are replaced by dread. Whatever is at the end of this countdown–it feels like a finality. Terrifying and unknown.

Two. Night. Those going to bed will find their sleep restless and filled with bad dreams.

UPDATES INSTALLED
RESTARTING…

One. Midnight. The clock strikes twelve, and whatever your character is doing–sleeping, waking, etc–the whole of existence seems to blink out.

(Info about what happens after this will be forthcoming in the event poll results and April’s SOTG.)

vi. WILDCARD

Go wild! We know that you all have plotted extensively for this event, so go ahead and do what you'd like with it!

♡

Comments

[feintofhart]

Oh, please. I'm spoiling you just enough. When else do you get to be spoiled, if not by me, hm? [ Claude plants his forearms on the bar between them, bent at the waist, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet in anticipation. He started this job out of a mixture of resentment and desperation to start with, but that feeling has long since faded; he now genuinely enjoys his work, enjoys seeing people like what he whips up, enjoys the mystery of unlocking every patron one step at a time. ]

I don't think what I could have been was very nice at all. I much prefer being like this, here, in good company. We'll dictate our own destinies. And right now, your destiny is to take a sip of that and tell me how you like it.

[invinciblemikey]

... Good point.

(at least, not in a way that soothes, distracts, or comforts. there's something special when he's here with the other, just a mix of feeling at ease and longing that he can't quite explain. most likely because claude won't come with him back home, but he can be salty about it later.

instead, manjiro tastes the bomb of sugar that implodes his tastebuds, and it feels perfect in every way. the smile is a bright one of joy, a rare sight, precious, nearly impossible.)

It's delicious...

(his poor heart...)

I think I much prefer you here, with me, too.

(it might be the glucose giving him a rush of adrenaline, of energy-- courage? that he leans forward to steal a kiss from claude's lips.

fucking finally.)

[feintofhart]

[ When Manjiro leans forward to kiss him, Claude meets him halfway, kissing him back, his breath warm against Manjiro's lips, his own lips soft and smooth, pampered rich boy with a skincare routine that he is. There's a smile on his lips and in his voice as he pulls away just slightly, one hand rising to sweep a lock of hair sweetly behind Manjiro's ear. ]

This is a bad idea, [ he says, voice low. It could be a bad idea for any number of reasons. Mixing business and pleasure is a poor practice, for one. Another good one is that Manjiro is a career criminal, and this is downright dangerous. He's dipped his toe into the criminal underbelly, but he's never actually committed to much at all. ]

I like you far too much to be kissing you like this.

[ But he leans in for another all the same. ]

[invinciblemikey]

(melting. the kiss, the smile, the simple gesture of tucking his hair away from his face. they're gentle, and heartfelt, and part of manjiro craves for something that isn't so harsh. affection that doesn't come from fear - and he knows this is a bad idea on so many levels.

it could jeopardize not only their business but also, very much so put claude in danger from many angles, including manjiro's own. there's a good reason why he's so lonely, after all, with that violent streak that pulsates through his veins. but, god, let him have some peace for once

so, instead of pulling away when both seem to agree on how terrible of a decision they're making, he's just going to let a smile break the second kiss, an answer leaving him.)

Then kiss me harder.

[feintofhart]

[ Claude laughs. It's a quiet, throaty sound, far from the put-on chuckles and peals of laughter that Manjiro has heard him put on when entertaining other guests, schmoozing with people he needs to schmooze with, charming people out of their secrets. God, this is a bad idea. But he's made so many mistakes -- why not settle for one that brings him a little bit of joy, at least for now? He chases away the ideas of where this could possibly be going to lean further over the counter, knee propped up against one of the shelves, and grips Manjiro by the back of his neck, leaning in to kiss him harder.

By the time he pulls away again his mouth is red and plump, and he hops over the counter to sit on top, bracketing Manjiro's between his thighs. He leans down again, tapping their foreheads together. ]

Hey, baby. [ Nobody else would get away with calling him that, would they? It's kind of thrilling. ]

No need to keep all that space between us anymore, right?