buttrinthum | TDM #1

Arrival / Enchanted Garden

Whether it be sleep or death, you feel your eyes close, and as your body begins to let go, you see a barn owl that is flying through the darkness, soon sweeping you across the clouded sky. You feel yourself mouth the words, “I wish, I wish..” and utter your deepest and darkest desire.

When you regain consciousness, you’ll find you are in an unfamiliar place with no recognition of how you arrived here. You have the clothes on your back, but nothing else. No weapons and if you had a particular superpower, you’ll notice it is missing. All you have is a satchel with a piece of bread, a vial of water and a potion. The potion could be red, blue or golden. There are no instructions about these potions other than two words: Drink Me.

Will you drink it or not?

There is a parchment, handwritten, and it simply gives you a welcoming:

“Welcome to my Labyrinth. Per our agreement, you have consented to live your life here for an undetermined amount of time. In exchange, I will grant you the wish that you desire the most.”

You’re in a garden, surrounded by flowers and plants– most of which you cannot identify. However, there are a few that you can make out: poinsettias and mistletoe. You’ll soon find out that being around the poinsettias give you an odd sense of joy no matter how confusing the situation may seem and the mistletoe, which is left over from the holiday season, gives you the desire to kiss or hold hands with the nearest person to you. It looks like there are plenty of others who are just now waking up from their dream-state as well.. why not go ahead and say hello?

Somnius / Snow Angels

With the influx of new life, the humble town a barkeep tells you is called Somnius seems to come alive as well, with new faces to join that of the resident fairies, goblins and other townfolk. There’s bustling energy to the land that the townfolk will tell you wasn’t quite there before, and some suspect that the presence of the new arrivals might be powering the world around them in some way - but that’s a question to be answered on another day. The quaint town of Somnius needs a little bit of care, that rustic feel to the mushroom houses, old shops and weathered castles too evident at first glance, but it’s not a bad place to live, as the locals will tell you. It almost seems like everything will be okay…

But of course, things are never so simple.

Whether you have been wandering around to get your bearings, talking to the locals or exploring your new humble (very humble) abode, you can expect to find mysterious ice sculptures - fashioned in the shape of snow angels, with blades in their hands - appearing in random places around the town. There are some that manifest in the middle of the street, some that sit quietly at the edge of an inn, and even some that appear right beside your bed, staring at you as you wake up. It’s unclear how these sculptures even got here, but close proximity to them will conjure up feelings of unrest, like you should not step any closer.

It’s smart to trust your gut in these situations. Step too close to a snow angel and it will come to life, moving with the grace of flowing water. They make a vague request and will spare only those able to heed it.

“Cold … so cold … Even the days of Visium are so cold. Have you any warmth to spare us?”

Some angels will accept an article of clothing as warmth. Others are greedy and keep demanding more, wanting to take everything that you have on your body. Heed their requests and they will spare you. Resist even just a little, and that’s when they draw their swords.

It’s not too easy to defeat an angel with brute force given that they reform themselves immediately. Running away or blasting them with fire could do the trick. Be careful not to get cut by their blades, however…

Characters who get cut by their blades will experience an inconsolable sense of chill and emptiness, right down to their bones. They will find themselves desiring ‘warmth’ from others in different ways - whether through physical contact, or affectionate words and gestures. There might be the few who go feverish in their desire for warmth. For those characters – the open fireplace is looking like a very tantalizing place to sit in right now (Yes, sit in, not by). They might even feel compelled to pull a friend in with them. That can’t be good for anyone…

The effects will only subside if the condition of receiving ‘warmth’ is met. This can be in the literal sense (physical warmth and intimacy) or figurative (feelings of love, acceptance and happiness).

Bonfire

When night falls, the temperatures only drop further, which does no favours for the poor souls who had to give up their clothing. The locals want to welcome the new arrivals and give everyone an opportunity to unwind from a busy and chaotic day of being hunted by snow sculptures. That’s why they’ve set up a gathering in the middle of town square. Food and alcohol is being generously supplied by The Cask & Anvil, and marketplace vendors have set up pop up stands to try and cajole the new arrivals into purchasing some fancy new clothes or a pretty gemstone they claim will ward off danger (claims not verified).

At the center of it all is a large bonfire that’s warming up the square. Everyone is encouraged to warm themselves by it after a long day, eat, and make merry. In fact, there’s a certain sense of enchantment to the crackling fire that seems to draw even the shiest wallflower in, pushing them to sit with others and make conversation. As the night goes on, the newly arrived dreamers will find themselves settling easily into the warm and bustling mood, any stresses and anxieties melting away. With time, they’ll start to find themselves without a filter, more than happy to talk about themselves and the life they had led prior to coming to Visium. In fact, they will feel compelled to share a story from their past - one that might be joyous, comedic, thrilling, or tragic. Whatever sorts of feelings come attached to their story, it will be one of emotional significance.

In the back of their minds, they might get the sense someone else is listening.

OOC

Welcome to the labyrinthum TDM! Characters will arrive depowered and with only their clothing, and will be given a satchel with a crystal pendant, a communication device, some water and bread and a magic potion. If they drink the potion, they will manifest an elemental, healing or animal transformation ability.

With the exception of Castle Vaeros, characters are free to go as they please, so feel free to place them in any of the locations available on the map. Yes, this includes the Labyrinth - though characters will not be able to clear the maze. Please comment here to request an outcome for your character's labyrinth exploration and a moderator will get to you shortly. (The longest a character can stay in the Labyrinth is 3 days.)

You can find more information about the game here. Any questions regarding the TDM can go under the comment below.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ keith's expression goes sour and sullen, making no attempt to mask the extent of his contempt for what shiro has laid out. thing is? the bulk of what they've been through of late deserves that reaction. accepting bitter truths, adapting and moving forward anyway is what the war with the galra has done to all of them.

stupid. because shiro should know his best friend better. keith uncorks his vial, and shiro's eyes go wide, disbelief and horror turning blood to ice as he watches the defiant little shit chug his mystery brew.

shiro ought to move and slap the glass out of his hands, but instead his jaw drops in exactly the same impotent way it did when watching his jeep accelerate off school grounds.

there could almost beautiful about how utterly outmaneuvered he's been in the moment, but shiro's head is full ringing static as keith directs a supernova flare at him. ]

Keith....

[ shocked, shiro doesn't manage any other feeling. why is he even surprised? keith's capacity for self destruction has always been there, always been something shiro's done his best to walk him down from and now.... exasperation goes off like a bomb. ]

Keith! Keith, why would you gamble with your life like that?!

[ two quick steps closer and shiro grabs keith by both shoulders. ]

This isn't a game.

[ keith doesn’t fold this time. this time, when shiro comes at him exasperated and disapproving, keith lifts his chin in defiance and holds gaze. he squares his shoulders too… right before shiro grabs him by both. he’s half expecting a hard shake and when he doesn’t get it, some sick part of him is disappointed that he, apparently, hasn’t riled shiro up enough to make him lose it. ]

Oh, it’s not?

[ he scoffs, tempted to steal shiro’s earlier line. you really think i don’t know that? he’s being uncharitable. shiro’s already given his reason for drinking the potion in the first place and it isn’t unreasonable given the circumstances, whereas keith’s reason? unjustifiable. it feels odd to not only be angry at shiro, but to openly talk back to him. shiro’s been through so much and keith, always mindful of that, often backseats his own needs in favor of becoming whatever it is shiro needs him to be in the moment: a best friend, a soldier, a leader.

but keith can only stomach it for so long. it's grating, this bad habit of shiro’s to be flippant with his own mortality and then, to shut out anyone who dares to care too much about that. so know what? if keith can’t make a big deal out of shiro’s potion consumption, then shiro can’t worry about keith’s. ]

You didn’t seem to care all that much about this potion when it was your life at stake.

[ the retort wipes the shock clean from shiro's face as it hardens into bitter resignation. keith isn't listening, and shiro thinks ... yeah, should've seen that coming. his best friend's already made an allusion to it before, he's gotten older, some space-time anomaly putting more than just years between them, but distance too.

it shouldn't matter. shiro was a dead man before he started making fanciful wishes and hallucinating in the galra fighter. the erosion of close ties and the absence of comforting familiarity shouldn't bother him.

and yet it does. a renewed sense of loss weighs heavy on his back as he holds keith's anger. just -- how the fuck did they get to this point of glaring daggers at each other when it can't have been more than ten minutes ago that shiro thought his heart would burst from the joy of getting to see his best friend again? ]

I thought my life was over.

[ quiet. resolute. and then his hands come off keith's shoulders and shiro takes a step back. ]

I don't even know why I'm alive right now.

[ taking another step back, shiro turns facing away from keith. ]

Don't follow me if you're just going to make it worse.

[ it hurts. it was always going to hurt. he thought a good, hard shake would signal the breaking point, and having been part hysterical in this misplaced need for vindication, keith had wanted that, too. but now that he has it in the form of weakening hands and a resolute turn that puts shiro’s back to him? keith wonders how any part of him could have wanted this.

shiro’s back looks massive. wide shoulders, straight spine, a torso that tapers and tapers down to a tiny waist that only seems to exemplify the bulk and weight of delts, traps, lats, sheer muscle that’s holding him together. it’s the equivalent of a wall and keith feels small in the shadow of it. this inadequacy isn’t a novel feeling. he felt like this every time he was in black’s cockpit, shiro’s face popping up on the screen to advise him on how best to handle the deteriorating situation. the hot and cold of shiro during his short stint as voltron’s leader continues to baffle keith; in the heat of it, shiro undermined him, only to find him later to say he was meant to pilot black. he doesn’t understand it. he doesn’t understand shiro.

so he walked away for the betterment of the team and for the betterment of his own sanity. he wonders if he should do the same here.

i will never give up on you.

heh. when did that stop being true? the realization is defeating, the anger draining right out of him as his eyes turn downcast. he hedges, debating his leaving back and forth even though he already knows his answer. no. he can’t leave this time, can he? not when shiro is fresh from the fighter, completely alone in an unfamiliar world. so he steels himself around that resolution and takes the smallest step forward, signaling a follow, but not daring to stand beside him. ]

I won’t make it worse. [ there’s a distance to his voice, emotion drained from it. ] Lead on.

TDM #1

i am still sad about this apple juice headcanon.

i missed my chance to meta about it... but someday.

you're always so enthusiastic about hurting me gosh

ME? LOOK WHAT YOU DID!