reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2021-10-08 06:14 pm

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
WHEN: During the daytime every day of October
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!
LONELINESS KILLS: THE CURSE OF CLOVERFIELD
WHEN: October
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.
LEGENDS OF TRENCH
WHEN: All October
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.
CODING
droptheious: (She'll look the same)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-11-22 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
The sharp inhale makes Varian still- a tension twisting into his shoulders. He doesn't know what it's about and he's bracing for more. For something worse...somehow, to what is already happening. That what he's doing here is making things even worse for her- that he's not helping her at all. Which stands to reason, why would she find any comfort in him? He's already failed to see where she's hurting so much. He's just going to continue failing her.

Usagi takes hold of his head and for a split second, he almost pulls away. His shoulders tense like he's about to- but then he gives in, resting his head against hers, his eyes closing as he tries to fight back the flood of bad thoughts surging in his head.

"You...you know none of us are going to judge you for it right? We...we won't think lesser of you because you need help?"

Because that's definitely something that worries him. Not measuring up. Being lesser.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Can I really save them?)

CW: Suicidal Ideation

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-11-22 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm pretty good at doing that for all of us," she offered with a sad smile. She pressed a kiss to his brow, keeping her lips there for a few seconds longer before pulling away, bowing her head.

She knew, to some degree, the root of the problem was the consistently high standards she held herself to. She was supposed to be some grand, elegant, sophisticated, calm, and wise queen, unperturbed by practically everything and anything.

Although... now that she was here... Well, she supposed she wasn't anything anymore.

She was back to being Usagi again. Serenity just... was also around, now.

This wasn't her Earth, this wasn't her moon. She was some stupid squid thing.

So what had all her sacrifices meant then? What had it all been for? Some OTHER Usagi was living her life now.

Maybe the new Usagi was going to be able to be the kind, elegant, sophisticated, calm, graceful queen everyone expected. Usagi knew she'd never be able to become that, not ha- not even in a thousand years. Maybe she was always meant to disappear, just like everything else kept happening, and the other Usagi took her place.

Maybe it was better for Earth that she did disappear.

Her vision blurred, again, and she felt tears falling down her cheeks and onto her hands. She was being such a crybaby.

"But... I don't know who I am anymore," she sobbed out, putting the back of her hand to her lips to try and keep her fangs hidden. "So much of my life... got tied up in what was revealed to me. And everyone had dreams outside of that except me. I only... I only ever kept getting ready for what I was supposed to become. But what am I supposed to become now?"
Edited 2021-11-22 06:29 (UTC)
droptheious: (Working hours fill the day)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-11-22 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah...I guess you are."

But then, he's good at that on himself, too. Between them, they make one hell of a self-destructive pair. It's a good thing they did find each other, he realises. Because if nothing else, the other can always fight against the self-loathing the other feels. To constantly stand there and shout that they are wrong, that those feelings simply aren't a true reflection of the person feeling them. Not at all.

To make the other know at least one person felt like they deserved to keep existing.

He reaches out to grip her wrist, he doesn't pull it from her mouth, at least- the action is meant to be comforting, steadying, rather than trying to find out what she's hiding.

"You're supposed to be Usagi Tsukino," he says, steady despite how much this is breaking his heart in half. "You're supposed to be a... a kind, caring person who obnoxiously puts everyone else before herself even if she really needs to learn to look after herself sometimes, too. You're supposed to be clumsy and loud and sometimes a little bit overbearing. You're...you're supposed to be imperfect and make mistakes and just...just exist."

He lets out a slow, unsteady breath. He can see orange-yellow creeping into the periphery of his vision- the creaking sound of growing amber. He tries to shut it out.

"You're supposed to... to just be."
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (It's alright I understand)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-11-23 05:56 am (UTC)(link)
They were excellent at helping one another out and helping others. Yet, they were absolutely horrible at doing it for themselves. It would be a dangerous co-dependency if it wasn't for the fact that they didn't NEED to rescue the other, they didn't need to feel like they had to be the one to save the other.

When she listens to Varian list what she was supposed to be, she smiled. And it had felt like an eternity since she last had. She couldn't hide her fangs with the way he made her smile. She laughed. She actually laughed. How could she not when he made her sound... well certainly more amazing than she currently felt. She sobbed again, but a happy laughing one.

"It's been a while since I've been allowed to do that, to be honest."
droptheious: (To keep you out to run you faster)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-11-24 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Hearing Usagi laugh, seeing her smile, should be a lifted weight. It's clear she's desperately unhappy- that something is genuinely cracking inside her - and he's scared of what that might mean for her. So hearing a real laugh should be the most comforting thing in the world. He starts to smile at the sound of it.

"Yeah, well- maybe it's about time you-"

His sentence trails off, eyes widening as they drop on her mouth.

"...Usagi. What- what happened to your teeth?"
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Just a bit down)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-11-26 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
She idly runs her tongue as he mentions them, causing it to bleed again, the smell of milk filling the air between them.

"They... just came. I didn't have them this morning," she whispered. "Do they... look bad?" she looked down at her hands. "Do you... think it's the holiday?" no one has quite explained all the stages of corruption (or any of them, actually) to Usagi. "How do I get rid of them?"
droptheious: (And the science gets done)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-11-27 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
The milky smell does nothing to ease his own concerns, he can feel dread settling on his shoulders, heavy like a shroud.

"They just came?" he frowns, he remembers reading things in the library, about corruption and beasthood and- he swallows thickly. "Usagi it's...have you heard what the Hunters have been saying? What they've written down? This...this can happen to us. It's...it's something in our blood. It turns us into- into something else if we don't try and calm it down. That's why they sell so much incense here, to try and stop it from happening. "
lightthedarkness: (Serenity) (I can choose?)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-11-27 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Into... into something else?" her eyes widened. "What... what am I going to turn into?!" oh no... what if... would she come back? She swallowed, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "I... no, I didn't read anything by the hunters about corruption or beasthood or anything like that."

She pressed a hand to her mouth. She had already been fearing turning back into that version of Serenity, going so far as to ask the girls to kill her if there was even a hint of her. But had it been for nothing?

Did she need to stay away from people to keep them safe? Was that the trick? If she stayed away, she couldn't hurt them, right? "I... I have incense, yeah..." she hadn't been using some all that much recently, but she didn't think it was that big of a deal, she had been saving it for when things REALLY got bad here in case getting more was not possible.

Was she going to hurt her loved ones again?

"I'll... I'll go home. I'll use incense then until the fangs disappear."
droptheious: (Things change when)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-11-29 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
Well, this is a crappy way of telling her about this. Varian exhales- it's shaky, worried. More yellow creeps into the corners of his vision, he tries to ignore it. Move forward. Focus on this. On her.

"Y...yeah. Do you remember how Sleepers could turn into monsters in October? It's...like that, only not focused on one single month. From what I was reading, it can happen any time."

He nods, incense seems to be a good idea. Most of the texts he could get his hands on were written by hunters- who had a very final way of dealing with beasts. It seemed once people went too far, that was that, and it scared him a lot.

"I wish I still had the antidote. I don't even know if it would work here."
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (How do you not understand?)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-12-03 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
"I remember," she inhaled sharply, her body tensing. "Am... Am I going to turn back into her?" she had already told the girls to kill her immediately at even the HINT of her? Should she tell them? Should she tell HIM.

"Varian... Varian, I can't turn back into her," she whispered, slightly becoming more panicked at the thought. "I maimed... I killed so many people, I hurt- Varian- Varian I CAN'T become her again!"
droptheious: (And think about me and you)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-12-04 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
"I..." he falters- that has been a nightmare, and he doesn't want to relive that, he doesn't want Usagi to relive that, not ever- but he doesn't have the answers. "I...don't know. I don't know if it'll be the same or... or something different."

He's not going to lie to her, not even to calm her down. He squeezes her arms, firm, steady.

"But we'll figure this out, okay? Even if it means putting you somewhere out of the way while it happens. It might NOT be her. Did...she didn't have fangs, right?"
lightthedarkness: (Usagi)(Mamoru) (Distressed rabbit)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-12-04 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"No..." she whispered, latching onto his question. "No... claws, no fangs. Just... blood and pain," she rubbed her forehead. "My moon would bleed, my tattoo too. But I don't have that anymore. It was just... me. It was Serenity but twisted, but no claws or fangs."
droptheious: (I don't need anyone now)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-12-05 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"Then- then I don't think it would be...that...her," he doesn't;t know for sure, none of them know for sure, but even a little hope is better than letting her fall into despair and getting worse. "So...maybe it'll be something different? Or...or maybe it won't even get that bad to begin with? Maybe we caught it early enough?"
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (It has to be more than that)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-12-06 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
She closed her eyes and nodded, letting a long breath, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. That was true. She could at least rely on that much, that that version of her was... well, the whole point was that she looked exactly as Serenity did normally just... unhinged.

"Maybe we did," she nodded. She blinked and for a moment it felt like the fangs were gone but then when she ran her tongue along her teeth, no, they were still sharp. It must have just been her hoping for it.

"I... did the Hunters happen to say how the corruption goes away?"
droptheious: (There is research to be done)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-12-06 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"Time, mostly," which isn't the answer she wants, he knows, but he's not going to lie to her. "From what I read, people need time and support. It...it's more an emotional wellbeing thing. Also trying to steer clear of blood to avoid the pollution making it worse."

So neither exceptionally easy ways of clearing it.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Can you hear her heart break?)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2021-12-09 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Ah..." no, it's NOT the answer she wants to hear. She lets out a breath and feels pinpricks at the corners of her eyes as she looks up at the sky. "Emotional wellbeing..." she whispers. "I... I'm sure... I can manage that."

Maybe, hopefully...

She inhales and exhales slowly. "Blood I can avoid, mostly. But I'll... I'll think of something for the emotional wellbeing." She can do it. She has to.
droptheious: (When I look out there)

[personal profile] droptheious 2021-12-10 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"...I know."

It's said quietly, but with a great amount of understanding. He knows he hasn't got much hope in that department either. He doubts he ever will.

"I...I think that's just something we need to work through together."