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buttrinthum2023-01-01 04:59 pm
TDM #1
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?
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).
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.
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.
i'll make it up to you i promise .... somehow
suguru doesn't take his hand away and in turn, this one … might just hold on a bit more tightly, or at least give over the impression that he doesn't want there to be more space between them even when there most definitely should be.
always more alike than not … two sides of the same coin, two beings cut from the same cloth and poured from the same mold whether they realize and acknowledge it or not, but where the other is feeling a flicker of warmth for the first time in too long, gojo is feeling like a part of him that's been missing has finally come back home.
he shouldn't trust this, and he knows he shouldn't, but weakness always has a way of showing itself when it's most detrimental to all those involved, doesn't it?
what did you dream about? ) I'm not sure that I remember … only that it was in black and white. ( he pauses, and finally looks at suguru fully. ) I only ever dream in color. Do you think that means something?
no you're just going to bring more pain
loopholes, and such.
but suguru chooses to focus on the heat of his hand, the press of his fingers, so long and so elegant. his fingers curl over his after a moment's hesitation, because this is a type of homecoming, even for one as lost as he is. there's a bittersweetness that sits in his chest, and if this is weakness, then let them share it together.
he meets his eyes when satoru finally looks at him, and suguru thinks about that question for a moment before he reaches out slowly, a single fingertip easing satoru's sunglasses down the bridge of his nose so he can look into those blue, blue eyes again. how beautiful they still are.
were you mourning, satoru? ]
Your brain might have just decided to go with a more avant-garde approach.
[ he stays instead, and looks down at their joined hands. if they are all depowered, and satoru, too --
more quietly, so no one can overhear. ] Did you let me touch you on purpose?
you don't know that for sure!!!!!
there is. so much to unpack here, so much to sort and sift through like there was ever any hope of coming back from it in the first place, which there never could be, but he's always been something of a hopeless romantic ( read: absolute fucking idiot ) when it comes to holding onto things, incapable of letting them go even when heh knows well that he should.
( he should have let him go a long, long time ago, and even still there are tendrils keeping them tied together, connected whether they want to be or not. )
he allows that touch, the subtle downward slide of glasses from the bridge of his nose and he wonders, before the other's question even comes, if he would have let him touch him, given the choice; there has always been a weakness in him where the other man is concerned, perhaps there always will be, but there is little to be said of how this really does feel like a homecoming that isn't why couldn't we have met like this sooner.
maybe not precisely like this, but maybe, too, there was no other way for this meeting to be so subdued if not for the complete absence of their powers.
he inhales deeply, lets it out slowly. ) You can feel it, can't you? The absence, the … emptiness. It's all gone. ( there is no simple an answer as yes or no, and he's just going to let him speculate if he chooses to. )
Your curses are gone, too, aren't they?
i know you!!!!!!!
but satoru has always been a hopeless romantic in all the unexpected ways, just like suguru. for everything once close to him that he's destroyed, satoru remains an exception, the chink in his armour. perhaps he will always remain so -- satoru is the only one that he has that's precious to him, this other half of his soul.
if only we did this sooner. talked sooner. if only we knew how.
the lack of powers makes this easier, makes them vulnerable, forces suguru to see past that to what matters -- and it's satoru's hand in his. it's the fact that he seems within reach, for once. here, instead of being set so far away.
he hasn't let go of him. he doesn't think he wants to. suguru craves the warmth of him, this very real feeling of his hand, the way it holds on to him like he matters. ]
Everything is gone.
[ he says quietly, with a note of bitterness. ]
Now we're no better than monkeys.
[ down in the muck and mud. the powerless, wild savages who bare their teeth at their betters, who revel in their ignorance and cruelty and fear --
-- but even in the bitterness, there is a thread of... relief, an ease that is completely alien to him. absently, his other hand comes to rest on his stomach. the constant, wretched feeling is gone, the corrosive weight and presence of the curses, the worst, most vile of humanity ingested by him, carried inside him to be used and manipulated, their evil and hate and horror and pain -- there is nothing, only a strange, entirely alien lightness.
a small, traitorous thought flickers. it doesn't feel so bad.
his brows knit, his feelings unsettled. nonetheless, he continues, his thoughts turning to how satoru is coping with this. surely, it must be hard on him, too. or would it be a relief, not to have all that weight on his shoulders? to be the strongest is to be lonely, set apart from others, and now...
his frown deepens. ]
You can get hurt now.
do you though!!!! ( jk you do )
they're always going to be each other's effective weakness, aren't they? whether they choose to acknowledge it or not, whether they even realize it for what it is or not, that much is going to remain the same. a weak spot in their otherwise impenetrable armor, their own personal achilles' heel, where otherwise they would go untouched.
( he should mind it, but he doesn't. he never has.
if only … )
neither of them are willing to let go and it … should go without saying by now that that's how it's always been, even when suguru had been the one to walk away from him, to put all that distance between them when it would have been so much simpler to stay, even if it had meant trying to see the world through a different set of eyes.
they would have at least been the eyes of someone that might have rather seen the world burn than watch the only person he'd cared so deeply for abandon him. )
Don't say it like that. ( he says quietly, softly, though he understands where that thought process comes from; to a man that had sought to rid the world of all non-sorcerers, of course they would be no better than his deplorable monkeys, but for satoru … he thinks, this must be what it feels like to be normal, isn't it? and while there is something to that thought that is outright terrifying — because he's only ever known what it felt like to be tied to the power of his family name — there's a bit of a novelty to it, even if he isn't about to admit that much out loud.
he sighs, an abbreviated inhale followed by an exaggerated exhale, like he's brushing off that last comment. ) I'm not entirely helpless. ( his own brows raise, and he smirks. ) I'll have you know I can still pack a mean punch if I need to.
( still worrying over me …
some things really don't change, do they? )
look at this THIS IS MORE PAIN
some things will never change, even if suguru was the one that walked away.
he sees right through him and his flippant response, right to his kindness and his understanding and yet -- don't say it like that, a gentle correction that suguru takes without a word because it's satoru, because underneath all of this he must be struggling, too. ]
You might've gotten rusty.
[ suguru muses, clearly teasing him. it's an alien feeling, this odd sense of lightness, this desire to be close, and he squeezes his hand again. how strange, that it feels like they're closer than ever, that they could be connecting once again, without powers getting in the way. just like this, satoru doesn't have to be separated from him, going on more and more missions, becoming even stronger while suguru fell farther and farther away --
-- he takes a breath. ]
I'm more concerned that you'll say something that people will want to punch you for.
[ because he does that. they do that. they're both insufferable motherfuckers with terrible personalities who are, at their core, kind. ]