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deercountry2021-10-08 06:14 pm
reddosmod) wrote in deercountry2021-10-08 06:14 pm
Entry tags:
- *event,
- abby anderson: c,
- anakin skywalker: michele,
- ange ushiromiya: jelle,
- anna amarande: celene,
- ariadne: wizera,
- catra: pink,
- childe: bean,
- diluc ragnvindr: samuel,
- faolan: teresa,
- fern: pan,
- flynn fairwind: teresa,
- goro akechi: kei,
- izuku "deku" midoriya: tea,
- kaeya alberich: daisy,
- katherine pierce: jade,
- kd6-3.7: moz,
- lance: charley,
- luke skywalker: skyla,
- lumine: trix,
- luna lovegood: cheryl,
- luz noceda: pedro,
- manabu yuuki: elle,
- mebh og mactire: oggy,
- nehan: ray,
- orpheus: qv,
- peter graham: jhey,
- ryan akagi: billie sue,
- savage opress: vette,
- soldier blue: elle,
- stiles stilinski: charley,
- the medicine seller: greenrivers,
- tsume: shade,
- usagi tsukino: jax,
- varian: tf,
- wanda maximoff: jade,
- wei wuxian: tohma,
- willow rosenberg: lucy,
- winter schnee: mesi,
- wu: mads,
- yuri lowell: mads
Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom
OCTOBER 2021 EVENT
IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]
WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE
LONELINESS KILLS: THE CURSE OF CLOVERFIELD
LEGENDS OF TRENCH
CODINGPrompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]
WHEN: During the daytime every day of October
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A
The Black Parade has begun in Trench. You will begin to see residents painting skulls and monsters onto their faces, even the ones who abide by practical lifestyles. By the first week of October, you won't see a single resident of Trench without facepaint or a mask of some kind obscuring their face.
"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."
Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.
Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!
Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.
It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.
QUICK FACTS
1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.
2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!
"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."
Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.
Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!
Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.
It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.
QUICK FACTS
1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.
2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!
WHEN: October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.
It is said that the Blood Moon reminds Cloverfield of those he has lost over the decades. They say that the howling wind is actually the sound of Cloverfield's cries and there seems to be some truth to that. He can be seen wandering the Farther Shores and watching the moon. If you seek out Cloverfield and offer him comfort and companionship, he will bless you with a worn picture of a loved one or someone you miss desperately or even just a place you miss...Even if it's impossible for such a picture to exist.
Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.
Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.
Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!
Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.
QUICK FACTS
1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.
2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.
3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.
4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.
5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.
Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.
Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.
Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!
Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.
QUICK FACTS
1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.
2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.
3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.
4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.
5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.
WHEN: All October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.
Unfortunately, not everyone can gain control of their loneliness. As blood is spilled throughout Trench over loneliness, this blood pollution festers and begins to claim poor souls. Corruption leads way to beasthood and people lost to this find themselves transforming into familiar, legendary ghost stories of old-world lore. These Legendary Ghosts come out primarily at night. As the Black Parade established, anyone who keeps their faces disguised with make-up or masks will be completely safe from the Legendary Ghosts. Though if you go after a Legendary Ghost in a costume, you'll only be safe until you attack them. It's not a bad move for a sneak attack though!
...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...
Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.
You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.
QUICK FACTS
1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."
2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.
While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.
3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.
...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...
Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.
You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.
QUICK FACTS
1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."
2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.
While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.
3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.
no subject
[It's playful and light, and from someone who has the same worries and fears. When Wu leans on him, Ryan slings an arm around his shoulders in a sort of side-hug. Mention of his awful apartment gets a startled laugh out of him. But this isn't about his terrible apartment, and that might turn into a whole thing so he side-steps it.]
Dude, you had your big day ruined. Anyone might have thrown a tantrum over that! At least that's like, understandable.
[Ryan takes a deep breath. Okay. Time to admit his own terrible stuff.]
So...you know I had a solo career. But like, it wasn't supposed to be a solo career. Me and Min had talked about wanting to run off and tour with our band and play New York City since we were like, in middle school. But when the time came...he wasn't ready, and I tried to rush him. He panicked right before our first show and left me on stage alone, and I didn't chase after him. I just...I didn't try to work things out? I didn't wait for him. I just decided he didn't want what I wanted and I took off alone. It was...a whole thing, for like a year.
[He makes a gesture with his free hand, like he's sweeping the entire contents of that year aside. He doesn't like to talk about it a ton.]
Fast forward and I totally hit rock bottom. I didn't even have a van anymore, just the money in my pocket and clothes and guitar on my back. And I got this stupid idea that I would go back to Min and try and make him come with me this time, like I could just make everything like it was supposed to be.
[He looks at Wu before going on, to try and gauge exactly how much he's being judged for this story. It's...not the most comfortable thing for him to admit, but Wu should hear it. Wu should know there are very real reasons that Ryan thinks he's the more annoying one here.]
no subject
Doing something like that alone sounds really hard!
[ There isn't judgement there, not really. The story is good, it's distracting, even if Wu is disappointed in Min on Ryan's behalf, imagining Min leaving him alone on stage. Wu sort of knows how that feels, having to be up there alone, having to do it all yourself.
He's glad he had President Moon to have his back when he needed it. ]
Was he? Ready, when you came back?
no subject
[A memory will flutter into Wu's mind - Ryan and Min-Gi talking at a booth in a cheesy-looking restaurant after close. They both seem tired in different ways, and kind of awkward as though they don't quite remember how to talk to each other anymore. Ryan is trying - babbling about whatever comes into his mind to try and make it feel normal, but everything has a manic edge to it.
Ryan can tell it's happening. But...at least it's Wu. It's nothing he wasn't already planning on saying.]
I was desperate to get him to come with me, so...I used the rest of my money on two one-way train tickets to New York. I told him I'd booked a show, and I figured-- I don't know, that he would come if I already had the tickets? If I seemed like I had a plan? It...wasn't my best plan ever.
[It shows in the memory, and the emotion seeps into every inch of it. Ryan probably would have said anything to make Min go with him, and because what else did he have to lose at that point? It was time to take a wild swing, because he couldn't possibly end up more alone than he already was.]
Obviously he said no because it was like, insane, but I, uh. Didn't take it well. I kinda...
[It happens in the memory before Ryan manages to say it - he snatched Min-Gi's keys right off the table and ran with them. He winces at the memory, but he lets it play out. Wu can watch him laugh into the night as he bolts down the street.]
...Stole his keys? And ran all the way to the train station with them? I think I thought if I just got him one the train he'd have to come with me. It was...ugh, I don't even know what it was.
no subject
[ Wu looks up at him, aghast ]
You made him follow you? That's, that's-- [ really annoying, and kind of hilarious. Wu bursts out in an incredulous laugh, looking at Ryan in a different light now because, wow. He didn't know he had that in him ] Wow, Ryan! Did he follow you? He did, right? Did he get so mad? Mako would get super mad if I did something like that to him.
[ He shakes his head, completely distracted from his own loneliness. The corpse is gone now, his absence unnoticed by Wu, at least, whose full attention is on Ryan. ]
no subject
Yeah, he was super mad. He chased me all the way across town, right onto a train!
[Because Ryan sure did run right onto a train. Was it even the right train? Who knows! But Ryan sure does run on without stopping, pushing through train cars until he and Min wind up in a car on their own.]
Would you believe I made it worse? Because I made it worse! I just kept digging my hole deeper!
[In the memory, Ryan moves to keep going, but when he throws open the door to go to the next train car, a different train speeds by. Both of them stare in shock and awe as a wormhole opens up in front of them, swirling and beckoning them.
Ryan looks at the keys. He looks at Min-Gi, who shakes his head.
But it's too late. The thought is there, and Ryan gets an impish grin before chucking Min's keys into the portal and running in after them. There's a flash, and then the memory goes dark.]
Soooo. Yeah. I'm definitely the more annoying one here. You're totally fine! A tantrum is practically endearing next to throwing someone's keys in a magical wormhole!
no subject
He can't get his laughter under control, even as he tries to say ]
You, you, you are so annoying! How could you do that to Min? His face!
[ It shouldn't be funny. It shouldn't be, but he can't help it, the catharsis of laughter seeping into his bones. He wants to know what that wormhole was, wants to know what happened next, but any questions are lost to tearful laughter as he burying his face into Ryan's shoulder ]
no subject
I-- I don't know! I don't even know why I thought that would help!
[He really did think so at the time, but looking back on it now, what did he think was going to happen? That Min would just give up and roll along with everything? That he would just forget how pissed off he was? He breathes, and finally reels in his laughter.]
But even if I'm maybe actually the most annoying person ever...we still patched things up. And he still changed his mind and hit the road with me. So, it all worked out? Somehow?
[That explains absolutely nothing about how they got from point A to point B, at all.]
no subject
[ His laughter dies down, too, leaving him feeling exhausted but happy. What was he thinking? Of course he has people who care about him. Even if his family didn't, he doesn't need them. He has Mako and Bolin and Ryan and Chuck and Raleigh and Manabu and Lysithea. His friends, his family, people who care about him for him and not for who his parents were.
He's quiet now, his mind a little hazy from exhaustion, but then-- ]
Wait, what was that weird train? That you threw Min's keys into?
no subject
Oh, that. That was...I don't know if it actually had a name? I keep calling it the Wormhole Judgement Line. But I think most people there just called it The Train.
[Which honestly, that's not very creative. The Train could use some better branding, honestly.]
We woke up in weird grey jumpsuits with glowing numbers on our hands? [He holds up his right hand, even though the number isn't there anymore.] And we had to like...learn lessons to make our number go down - and it really was our number. They were synced together, so if one of us messed up and made it go up, both our numbers went up. But uh, if we didn't get our numbers to zero we were going to be stuck there forever.
[He would be more worried about this sounding impossible or insane, but...they're in Trench. They're part squid. They literally just banished a physical embodiment of Wu's loneliness. It's totally par for the course.]
Every car had something different to try and get you to learn lessons. Like one was the wild west but with bug cowboys, and there was a horrible pig baby you had to cook for, and an astronaut party, a sentient castle - all kinds of weird stuff!
no subject
[ R Y A N this seems like important information! ]
With the, the lessons! Deerington was all about lessons. But that sounds so much better than Deerington! Deerington was all deserts and giant worms and creepy flowers. There was one part, I guess, but an astronaut party sounds so cool! Oh, wow.
[ He knew Ryan got him, but this is yet another thing they have in common. Maybe this Train isn't exactly like Deerington, but being ripped away from your home and being forced to learn lessons, that certainly something Wu is familiar with. ]
Did you do it? Did you get your numbers to zero?
no subject
I mean, the Bug Western car was definitely in a desert and those bug cowboys? Pretty big. And they super tried to send us to Death Row over a tea stain, so...even the whimsical stuff was still pretty bad.
[And that's not even the tip of the iceberg car.]
Yeah. ...Yeah, we did. It took like forever, but we did. If we didn't we'd still be there, and I'm pretty sure this isn't secretly a train car?
[He laughs, though it's hard to make light of the fact that he almost got stuck on a magic train the rest of his life. Right now he's joking, but could the Train make a car as elaborate as Trench? ]
I definitely thought it sounded familiar when you guys talked about Deerington. I just... [He shrugs.] I got so used to not bringing it up back home because it was totally messed and no one would have ever believed us.
[He knows though, even as he says it, that Wu would have believed him. But they had also literally just met the first time Ryan could have said something, and he didn't want to scare him off. It feels really silly, looking back on it.]
Also you would have hated the uniforms, dude. It felt like we were in jail!
no subject
[ Wu laughs, swaying into his side. ]
No, I get it. It would be wild to tell people about Deerington if, you know, there weren't so many of us here who experienced it! But you experienced something else entirely. I've never heard of stuff like this, of being taken away from your world to experience something else. The closest thing we have back home is the Spirit World, but that's... not quite the same. I don't know if there are moral lessons there? Or if there are, they're more, ah, coincidental. Korra would know more about that. I've never been.
Well, I'm very glad that they didn't kill you! Unless you would come back like in Deerington-- but I'm still glad you didn't. Death was so, so awful there.
no subject
[It's actually kind of nice to be able to complain about something train-related that isn't all of the obvious dangerous things.]
It's definitely not something anyone back home knows about either - we had to lie to Min's parents when we got home because we were gone for ages and we couldn't exactly be like "Whoops! I made your son follow me on a magical train!"
[Which is definitely what happened. They didn't have to get on the train. They could have walked away, but Ryan was a jerk and threw Min's keys.]
I think it was like, real death on the train? I saw way too many astronaut skeletons for death to not be real there.
no subject
How long were you there? When I went home after Deerington, it was literally like no time had passed! I woke up from being brainwashed like bam! Nothing had happened except I remembered being there for six months and was definitely more in love with Mako than I had been back home?
[ And he kissed him in front of all their friends, which was pretty awkward ]
Well, at least it doesn't seem like we can actually die here. Which is good. Because it might happen a lot. [ If it's anything like Deerington.
He looks at Ryan again, with a tentative smile on his lips. ]
Thanks, Ryan. I... needed this.
The answer might get retconned if/when Min turns up shhh
[Min's mom had cried when they turned up on her doorstep, and Ryan had never seen her cry before that.
He has so many questions about that extremely casual mention of brainwashing (and he absolutely makes a face when Wu says it; he can't hide the startled look at all) but...now probably isn't the time. He'll just table that and hope he doesn't forget to circle back to it.
(He will absolutely 100% forget to circle back to it.)]
No problem, man. I'm here for you.
[They're not at all sitting at the right angle for this, but Ryan turns to him a bit and opens his arms up a little to offer a hug, if Wu wants one.]
nwwww
[ Wu trails off with a frown as he thinks about it, but when Ryan is offering him a hug, and he needs that right now, so he shifts closer and wraps himself tight around Ryan, taking a deep, shaky breath. At least talking helped him feel better, at least it helped him to stop crying, and Ryan is still here.
He really wonders why he thought all that stuff. Ryan cares about him, he has so many friends here who do, but those old, awful insecurities crop up again and again and make him face them, no matter how much he thinks he's moved past it.
But at least for now, he can relax into the hug, feeling safe and secure and much more sure of himself than he was an hour ago. Having friend sure is something, huh? ]