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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
Mako's real question is why, and it's unlikely that Ange can answer that. Still, he can't help the prickle of awareness at the back of his neck, raising goosebumps as the other-him catches up with them both and then just stops, his hand half-outstretched. He looks too-thin, a little starved, his cheekbones jutting and his knuckles stark against pale skin.
Mako swallows and looks almost at the thing over his own shoulder, and then back at Ange. ]
What does he want? Is he attacking anyone?
[ Mako thinks, oddly, about familiar alleys and his own defiant stare as he yanked Bolin into an opening to keep him away from Creeping Crystal goons.
It'll take him forever to learn Trench that well. Mako doesn't have nearly the escape routes he used to, doesn't know how he's going to get away from this thing safely with Ange in tow like he's thinking he should. ]
no subject
And while Ange is inclined to assume the answer is 'nothing too great', considering what Deerington was like and what Trench now seems to be like, the truth is that she isn't sure. She can infer some things here, but not the other Mako's intentions. Sure, it doesn't seem to be attacking them, but Ange likes to think that it is a 'yet'..
She's staring right at the other Mako now though, which means that the actual Mako might just see her staring at nothing in particular. Yet the stare is so pointed, as if she really can see something.
Why is the other Mako looking like this? Almost more dead than alive. ]
No. [ She finally answers. ] For now. It's just that he looks a little weird, and he keeps reaching out for you.
[ And she doesn't like it. Because it's a potential threat to Mako, and Ange hates the idea of anything happening to him. ]
.. maybe him appearing has something to do with what you were thinking about just now. You seemed really lost in thought. [ Would the power of those thoughts be enough to conjure forth another Mako? Ange doesn't know, but it's a working theory for now. Especially when she has nothing else to go on. ]
no subject
He hunches down against the unseen thing anyway, his shoulders bunching with energy that can't go anywhere. Behind him, the other Mako tugs his ratty scarf up further on his face, takes a step closer with his eyes locked on Ange now. The red of that fabric is the brightest thing about him.
Mako twists back around to face Ange, his face set like he's trying to hide his fear with a sharp kind of anger. ]
I...
All month. I've felt like something was following me, but just now I was, uh.
[ It shouldn't be this difficult to get out the words, should it? Mako hesitates. This is Ange. She won't judge him for his useless wishing. ]
Thinking about home. Or. What used to be home. Which is pointless. I know that.
no subject
[ Not that she knows for sure. But how could any of them? The thing Ange hates the most about places like this and Deerington - and even her own situation back home, really - is that the beings or the powers that play around with them never bother to ever explain something to them. You're always left to struggle and figure these sorts of things out by yourself.
Would it ever kill anything to just give them a manual? A slight explanation? Anything?
She sighs before she can let that frustration, currently driven by worry for Mako, take over her. It's not productive right now. ]
If he's you, but younger, perhaps he's somehow manifested by you thinking about that. [ Again, full disclosure, it's her going entirely on hunches. On grasping at any faint logical strand she can find here.
Her gaze finally shifts from the younger Mako over to the real one. ]
Have you thought about home more often lately?
no subject
He likes putting the pieces together, likes scraping together answers from clues like bits of trash, pressing them into place until a picture forms. It's fun, except when it involves trying to figure out why your friend keeps looking over your shoulder at some horrifying version of you that you can't see.
Reaching out for him, apparently. Mako shifts a little closer to Ange, trying not to shiver. Questions will help. They can put this together.
Mako wonders what happens if the younger him manages to touch him, if he'll get replaced like that other version of him wanted so badly. ]
Uh—
[ Home. The word is like a punch. Mako's jaw tightens. ]
...yeah. I have. Guess it's been really sinking in that... I'm probably never going to see the city again.
[ Nope, too vulnerable. Mako flushes blue and rushes to add, ]
Which is fine! I can handle it, I just need to stop thinking about it.
no subject
[ Something about that sound is a little unimpressed, an indication of the fact that she's onto him. After all, she figures the way he suddenly seems to correct himself would seem obvious even to people who aren't as sharp as Ange - which means that she totally sees through it.
Again, it's just because he's way too similar to her for her to not use the exact techniques she too uses on a daily basis.
But she'll let him have it, not calling it out further than that. They have bigger problems here, after all. ]
What if you could see that place? [ Her brain is still figuring things out as she speaks, churning away. ] Do you think that would help the feeling subside a little?
[ Maybe that would help take care of that other Mako too. Ange can't be sure, but at the same time she can't help but feel like he might be tied to that feeling that's swarming around inside of Mako. ]
no subject
The younger him takes a step closer, reaching out a quiet hand almost to touch Mako, but he stops mere inches away, hovering there. Mako shivers, goosebumps rising on his skin, and finally looks up.
See it, huh? He has no idea how Ange would accomplish something like that, but Mako's sure she wouldn't suggest it if she didn't have an idea—that just doesn't seem like Ange.
And he'd be lying to himself if he claimed not to feel a little flare of something like—
A feeling he has no name for, really. Something sweet and sharp, like an ache sending thorns into his lungs. ]
It... might, yeah. What are you thinking? You have some secret way home you've been keeping to yourself?
1/2
2/2, cw: very slight self induced injury
Just-- hold still for a moment.
[ This isn't magic she uses every day, after all. But she's seen the other witches doing it back home, which means she ought to be able to do so here too, now the limits Deerington imposed on her magic are gone. Ange sucks in a deep breath, and her hands start to glow, golden butterflies floating out of them. There's a lot of them, enough for them to start surrounding the two of them like a thick fog.
Ange has no idea if the other Mako is there with them. She has closed her eyes to focus, letting out a deep breath, feeling her magic just isn't strong enough yet by itself. Digging her nails into her hand, she manages to draw some slight blood, the glitter escaping from the wound adding itself to the cloud, and it's only then that it starts to shift.
Because the sounds of the market start to fade. And a moment or two later, it's as if the two of them have been transported somewhere else entirely - even if it's just a temporary reality warp around where they actually are.
Not that it's Republic City. Ange has no idea what it looks like. Which is why Mako will find himself and Ange standing in 1998 Tokyo - the first thing that comes to Ange's mind when she thinks of a city. Cars rush by on the street, suited businessmen frantically talk to each other as they pass the two of them on the sidewalk, huge billboards advertize the latest fashion. ]
Tell me about that place. [ Ange says, her tone a bit more dazed. She's still trying to focus, trying to keep this from slipping before she can tune it into the right city. ] .. Republic City. Tell me what it's like, so I can shift it.
no subject
(What does he want? To replace Mako, like that other version? To take over his life, to saturate his mind with memories until he's a useless shell—he doesn't know. He doesn't know and that's kind of terrifying).
He focuses instead on the butterflies, watching them cluster, half-turning as they start to crowd together, glowing and small. The chill from the stonework is the only thing keeping him grounded in reality, seeping through his pants and adding to his own chill. The other Mako is standing behind him still, but they're both looking at the butterflies with a sort of soft-mouthed wonder, eyes wide. The square fades, and noise with it.
It takes him a moment, amid the rush of new noise and sights and people (people who, at least, look like him—Mako hadn't realized what a startling change that would be, how much even that would feel like home) to realize that Ange has spoken.
Ange, who is... creating this, standing there like a conductor.
For him.
Mako's stomach twists up. ]
Uh.
[ The word is thick from the sudden tightness of his throat. A weird Satomobile flies past, followed by a scurry of pedestrians across a street he doesn't know. ]
Republic City. It's—a lot like this. The people look the same, but they dress more like me and Wu. Suits, hats, stuff like that. Uh...
[ Mako has to close his eyes for a moment, makes himself picture home, outside the precinct where he spent so much time. ]
Our Satomobiles don't look this modern but they're just as loud, and there aren't as many of them. Most people walk. Now there's a Spirit Portal in the middle of downtown surrounded by trees and vines—this big column of light, I don't know how high it goes but you can't see the top. The whole city wraps around Yue Bay, and out there is where Air Temple Island is, and it's all surrounded by mountains.
The part I spent a lot of time in had street carts everywhere. Noodles, cabbage, stuff like that.
[ He misses their spicy smell and the hum of Satomobiles, the snap of the police force's sharp wires. ]
Ange, what are you...?
no subject
[ Because even though she's been working on her magic in Trench, Ange knows that she's still got a long way to go before she can do this at a more natural level, where she can do it casually - rather than having to focus her entire being on it, like she's doing right now.
She thinks of his description, and slowly things do start to change around them. First in a rather weird, borderline comical way though, where the city around them seems half-Tokyo, half-Ange's-intepretation-of-Republic-City-going-just-by-Mako's words. Realising just using his words isn't going to work, Ange tries to tune in to Mako's feelings, his memories. The longing that's practically radiating off him in waves right now. Isn't that what she read about witches doing back home as well?
Like a radio trying to tune in to the right frequency, the landscape around them shifts a few times. From the weirdly mixed city to a big rose garden, to the inside of a boarding school, to a hotel room - but then Ange finally seems to get it right, and the landscape around them changes to Republic City, exactly as Mako remembers it.
And it isn't just the view. The smell is like he remembers. There's familiar sounds he'll recognize in the distance. Things are moving around them. As if the two of them are suddenly really standing there.
Ange slowly opens her eyes, letting go of his hand, glitter gliding in a thin stream down her own hand where she pricked it to add her blood magic to the shifting of the reality around them. ]
.. is this right?
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[ That one word is packed near to bursting with feeling. It can barely hold everything it's being asked to hold, overflowing with a quiet surprise and longing, confusion at the strength of his own feelings.
He was just here a few months ago.
He didn't think—
But Mako is a creature of habit and of place. He was formed by this city, forged into who he is by its streets and its smells and its traditions, and it is so, so different than anything in Trench. A raccooncrow lurks on a nearby rooftop, and overhead, high in the sky, an air bison is heading back over toward Air Temple Island. The spirit portal shimmers in the distance, ringed by trees and vines, and the slanted, lushly-tiled roofs of the main square cluster together like birds on the water.
They aren't downtown. They're not in the dazzling heart of Republic City, they're in Dragon Flats full of jammed-together shops and shouting street vendors and a million smells, a few benders working together to put on a show down the street. Holding down the entire block is a sprawling red-roofed club, guarded by firebenders in cool gray. Above them hangs a sign with three, peeling-gold intertwined dragons. The cobblestones here are cracked and broken in some places, and the whole thing is a little dingy, crossed with wires, not very green, but these are the alleys and vendors and streets that made Mako who he is, and it hurts to think he really won't ever see them again.
For a moment, the other Mako stops reaching out, looking around himself as a couple street urchins, shrieking and laughing, dart across the street in front of Mako and Ange.
Mako swallows around a cresting wave of feeling he can't possibly name. ]
This is, uh. This is exactly right. This is... where I grew up.
How are you doing this? You've never been here. Most the city doesn't come here.
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The odd animals. The crowdedness. The elemental magic she saw Mako use, displayed on the streets so casually, like it's normal.
It's so weird, how one place can be home to someone, and seem like something straight out of a storybook to someone else.
Ange only turns to look back at the two Makos when the older one speaks up to her. ]
Well.. [ She lets the sentence trail off for a moment, but then a smile slowly creeps onto her face - even though she might not realise it herself. ] I wouldn't be a very good witch if I couldn't at least pull off this much, right?
[ That statement brings a weird sense of pride to her, a warmth filling up her chest. She really did it. She was able to use her magic to help someone, to become a little more like the amazing witch she wishes she could be.
It feels nice, especially when it's helping someone like Mako, who has rapidly grown more important to her.
She gestures at the sight around them with one arm. ]
I got this from your memories. You're right, after all. I've never even seen this place before. [ ... ] But I'm kind of glad I have now.
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[ There's no question in Mako's voice this time, though it's still quiet with wonder and longing. He follows the arc of her arm, taking in familiar rooflines and the radio and telegram cables spun between them like yarn, dripping alongside clotheslines hung heavy with laundry. ]
It was always like this. Full of people. Half the time it smelled like garbage—this is a pretty good day, I guess, if it really is pulled from my head. It's... there are nicer parts of the city. I wouldn't choose to show this part to anyone, but.
[ But he's so, so grateful that he's here. That Ange gets to see it, that it won't only be in his own head: that maybe, if he says something like at least it's not as bad as Dragon Flats in the summer he might not be the only one who understands. ]
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[ Granted, Ange has spent pretty much her entire life in the nicer parts of cities, just through the fact that her aunt pretty much didn't let her go anywhere by herself, so she was instead just dragged around from rich people party to rich people party.. So she's never really seen the seedier parts of it before like this.
But even now she's seeing it, she doesn't mind. Sure, it might be a little dirties, but.. it also feels more.. weirdly warm in ways, with all the booths around, and all the people gathering.
It feels more alive, despite this just being an illusion she conjured forth. ]
It's the part that's important to you. [ And that, in turn, is important to her as well.
Because they're friends.
Her head dips a little, almost shyly due to that thought, before she manages to look over at him again. ]
.. I hope you don't mind me seeing it too? [ After all, he did say he wouldn't choose to show it to anyone. ]
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