Echo of People-ing 101 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
individualized) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deercountry2023-01-26 04:58 am
individualized) wrote in deercountry2023-01-26 04:58 am
although I search myself [OPEN]
Who: Echo and OPEN
What: Continued player plot; trying to survive the Echo-Otherworld and helping her stab her way through therapy.
When: A day in the last week or so of January
Where: Around "Trench"
Content Warnings: Violence; bloody monsters; allusions or mentions of physical and mental abuse, sexual harassment, and/or murder; blood and body interior imagery; poisoning; burns; potential for strangulation or drowning; creepy puppet imagery; emotional distress; will add more as needed
[Sorry you've found yourself somewhere as awful as the Otherworld. Echo's navigating it for the first time, and unfortunately she has a ton of trauma in her past so she's unwittingly spawn quite a lot of monsters. Luckily she is very skilled at combat if you need her help with (almost) any of them! Unfortunately she is very unfamiliar with processing the feelings all of this is going to make her deal with.]
I. Outside
a.
[With the relative suddenness of finding oneself in this nightmare, some people who have been drawn into it may be unprepared for the dangers it carries. Echo however is almost always armed, and she's not bad surveillance work either.
A Marionette monster sways unnaturally toward a potential victim, some resident of Trench or possibly even you! The swipes from the dagger it's wielding have been getting more precise and closer to hitting its target. But suddenly Echo leaps in, literally. You may not have seen her jump, but you certainly notice her downward trajectory as she lands a hard kick into the puppet's head, sending it crashing to the pavement. She then quickly plunges one of two short blades protruding from under her large sleeves into the back as she kneels, running the monster through. It all goes limp.
Echo then turns her head toward the person who had just been in harm's way.]
Perhaps you should find shelter.
b.
[Echo is walking the streets of this disturbing, twisted Trench. Maybe you're already walking with her, or you spot her just now. A variety of monsters may be nearby as well, ahead or following behind (as one of them does). She tends to be quiet unless there's a need to speak, so it's probably up to you to start the conversation, whatever the exact scenario is!]
II. Inside
[The particular building you've entered is leading toward a major fight, one that would probably be the final boss were this a video game. But it isn't, so maybe you'll do more after this.
The interior seems to suggest the trouble ahead if only because of how grotesque it is. It almost looks like the inside of a body; walls lined with muscles and tendons, bones supporting corners, maybe even bits of an organ showing here and there. There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to the placement of the contents, but you'd definitely think of it as some living creature's interior.
In contrast, the floor seems to be made of a dark water. While you can definitely recognize it as a liquid, you're still able to walk on it just like any solid ground that would otherwise be there. Deep down, you may spot some decayed and dismembered bits of the Marionette monsters you likely already encountered.
On top of all that, very strong emotions are projecting themselves into this space. There are feelings of anger, sadism, hate, and fear that definitely seem like they're coming from someone else, but you can recognize what they are all the same.
For her part, Echo doesn't seem too bothered by any of this. While her expression is definitely darker than her typical almost blank look, she is also in control of herself.]
This looks...odd.
[Enjoy this weirdness and grossness with Echo traveling with you while you can. Your final destination is going to be much more dangerous.]
III. Safe Room
[Finally, a place to get away from the mess that is Echo's past! These rooms are fairly simple, but good for hanging out in for however many hours are left if you want. On occasion, a blue feather will come floating down out of nowhere. You also may see a doll or two as well: a brown bear cub with a rope around its neck or a very dark colored bunny with a red necktie.
In this particular room, you've found Echo too! Whatever she's been through so far is hard to tell (but feel free to specify what you'd like it to be if there's something you wanna talk about). She's seated, maybe even holding the aforementioned bear doll.]
...Have you had trouble as well?
ooc: The details can be found on the plotting post! Please feel free to specify in the subject lines or the comments here or there about what exactly you'd like to encounter. You can do multiple boss monsters in any order, no monsters at all, go from the outside to the inside, handwave whatever parts of their trek that are going to be too boring or too much, the possibilities are vast! You can even write what any monster is doing; as long as it's under my specs I really don't mind!
What: Continued player plot; trying to survive the Echo-Otherworld and helping her stab her way through therapy.
When: A day in the last week or so of January
Where: Around "Trench"
Content Warnings: Violence; bloody monsters; allusions or mentions of physical and mental abuse, sexual harassment, and/or murder; blood and body interior imagery; poisoning; burns; potential for strangulation or drowning; creepy puppet imagery; emotional distress; will add more as needed
[Sorry you've found yourself somewhere as awful as the Otherworld. Echo's navigating it for the first time, and unfortunately she has a ton of trauma in her past so she's unwittingly spawn quite a lot of monsters. Luckily she is very skilled at combat if you need her help with (almost) any of them! Unfortunately she is very unfamiliar with processing the feelings all of this is going to make her deal with.]
I. Outside
a.
[With the relative suddenness of finding oneself in this nightmare, some people who have been drawn into it may be unprepared for the dangers it carries. Echo however is almost always armed, and she's not bad surveillance work either.
A Marionette monster sways unnaturally toward a potential victim, some resident of Trench or possibly even you! The swipes from the dagger it's wielding have been getting more precise and closer to hitting its target. But suddenly Echo leaps in, literally. You may not have seen her jump, but you certainly notice her downward trajectory as she lands a hard kick into the puppet's head, sending it crashing to the pavement. She then quickly plunges one of two short blades protruding from under her large sleeves into the back as she kneels, running the monster through. It all goes limp.
Echo then turns her head toward the person who had just been in harm's way.]
Perhaps you should find shelter.
b.
[Echo is walking the streets of this disturbing, twisted Trench. Maybe you're already walking with her, or you spot her just now. A variety of monsters may be nearby as well, ahead or following behind (as one of them does). She tends to be quiet unless there's a need to speak, so it's probably up to you to start the conversation, whatever the exact scenario is!]
II. Inside
[The particular building you've entered is leading toward a major fight, one that would probably be the final boss were this a video game. But it isn't, so maybe you'll do more after this.
The interior seems to suggest the trouble ahead if only because of how grotesque it is. It almost looks like the inside of a body; walls lined with muscles and tendons, bones supporting corners, maybe even bits of an organ showing here and there. There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to the placement of the contents, but you'd definitely think of it as some living creature's interior.
In contrast, the floor seems to be made of a dark water. While you can definitely recognize it as a liquid, you're still able to walk on it just like any solid ground that would otherwise be there. Deep down, you may spot some decayed and dismembered bits of the Marionette monsters you likely already encountered.
On top of all that, very strong emotions are projecting themselves into this space. There are feelings of anger, sadism, hate, and fear that definitely seem like they're coming from someone else, but you can recognize what they are all the same.
For her part, Echo doesn't seem too bothered by any of this. While her expression is definitely darker than her typical almost blank look, she is also in control of herself.]
This looks...odd.
[Enjoy this weirdness and grossness with Echo traveling with you while you can. Your final destination is going to be much more dangerous.]
III. Safe Room
[Finally, a place to get away from the mess that is Echo's past! These rooms are fairly simple, but good for hanging out in for however many hours are left if you want. On occasion, a blue feather will come floating down out of nowhere. You also may see a doll or two as well: a brown bear cub with a rope around its neck or a very dark colored bunny with a red necktie.
In this particular room, you've found Echo too! Whatever she's been through so far is hard to tell (but feel free to specify what you'd like it to be if there's something you wanna talk about). She's seated, maybe even holding the aforementioned bear doll.]
...Have you had trouble as well?
ooc: The details can be found on the plotting post! Please feel free to specify in the subject lines or the comments here or there about what exactly you'd like to encounter. You can do multiple boss monsters in any order, no monsters at all, go from the outside to the inside, handwave whatever parts of their trek that are going to be too boring or too much, the possibilities are vast! You can even write what any monster is doing; as long as it's under my specs I really don't mind!
no subject
Is there a better word?
[She looks toward Ange, and it's obvious she's just purely curious about this. It's like she's totally ignoring the dangers and horrible "decor".]
no subject
[ .. thanks, Ange.
A very helpful answer. But then again, Ange wouldn't be Ange if she didn't just give the blunt and direct answer under any and all circumstances.. It's the easiest way to cope with said gross and weird circumstances they've found themselves in, at the very least.
At least she's still moving, even as she's talking. Despite the fact that she does think their surroundings are really gross right now, it's not going to stop her either. ]
Do you know the part in the story of Pinocchio where they get swallowed by a whale? [ Ange, please don't just assume everyone knows these tales.. ] That's what it feels like right now.
no subject
[Echo focuses on the path again and is still pretty unfazed despite her agreement. The only change in her expression is mild confusion at the reference she doesn't understand. Even if it came up in movie night she doesn't always bother showing up, the anthropomorphized animal ones make no sense to her.]
I am not familiar with that story. That sounds very strange.
But it does suggest being in another's body. And with these other troubling things that have arisen...
[Now she looks like she's worried and seriously considering things.]
no subject
Because it really does to her. As they keep walking, she can't help but keep having that thought, even if it makes no sense. How would they ever be inside someone? It's not like they were swallowed.
(Then again - when has anything in this place ever made sense?) ]
I guess it means we have to watch out there won't be some sort of stomach acid that could try to melt us.
[ She says it relatively calmly, but that's just how Ange deals with the idea of any threat, really. Just face it head on with a pokerface, no matter how gross or ridiculous it may be. ]
no subject
...I doubt we have to worry about digestion. While it's still speculation, I have been suspecting for a while that all of this is intended to be a message for me.
[She falls silent again.]
no subject
[ There's a sense of doubt in Ange's voice as she glances over at Echo. It's not a total denial, since.. well, clearly the other would know better about this than Ange herself would. But at the same time the idea feels a little weird. Sure, sometimes Trench twists and bends and shows them their worst nightmares, or other personal stuff, but on this scale?
It's like the entire world has been twisting and bending around them.
Just to send Echo a message?
Ange frowns. ]
What makes you think that? [ Sure, it might be a bit of a personal question to ask, but Ange can't help but ask it all the same. For all they know, the key to getting out of here could lie in that information. ]
no subject
[She turns her head down to the floor, staring into the dark water.]
This, for example, reminds me of the space where Duldee controlled the personalities it created. And the broken dolls are...
[Echo's expression darkens. After a moment of silence, she begins again.]
That is, the dolls and the strings are also reminiscent of its powers.
no subject
But the meaning of all of this being reminiscent of things Echo is familiar of.. that's the part she's struggling a bit more with. Sure, it could be a message, but.. ]
This place loves reminding us of our past.
[ Just Trench. Just this world as a whole, really. If there's anything Ange knows at this point, it's that fact. ]
It could just be trying to unsettle you. It's what it usually does.
no subject
[Said completely emotionlessly.]
However, the fact that this clearly symbolizes being in a body that belongs to someone else is too specific. It's not a common experience even where I'm from. Unless people simply do not discuss it here.
[Her, all the other shorter-lived Duldums, Oz... That's all she's aware of, yep.]
If these connections only grow stronger, I'm beginning to feel concerned about what else this place may contain.
no subject
[ Sure, it might be.. something that's just a little bit too direct to ask.
And usually Ange wouldn't bother. She can be nosy, sure, but she tends to keep that to herself, knowing how much it can suck when someone digs too deep into your personal business.
On the other hand, there's none of that luxury here and now. They can't let it rest if they could run into something potentially dangerous. ]
What else could be here? If you let me know, we can be prepared for it. [ And sometimes that's what determines the difference between life and death here. ]
no subject
Noise. Or... Duldee may be more likely.
...Has Break-sama informed you on Chains?
[She's explained them to a couple of people around here, but if she doesn't have to waste time on that section with Ange it'd probably help in this situation.
Especially since there's now a door ahead of them in the grotesque corridors. It looks like a normal door at least.]
no subject
So her gaze ends up resting on Echo instead as she nods. ]
Yeah. I know about them.
[ There's very little about their world that she doesn't know at this point, she figures - as long as it's related to Break, anyway. Especially when she even knows the things about the guy he seems to like talking about the least. ]
.. did you have one too?
[ After all, if this entire world is related to Echo somehow, and the other is starting about Chains, it's easy for Ange to make that kind of connection. ]
no subject
No. I am one. Or rather, an extension of one.
[Since she'd already mentioned them, Echo just continues, figuring these would answer her following questions.]
Noise was the Contractor of Duldee, which had the power to instill temporary personalities into others, called Duldum. But Noise could not control the power of the Abyss and began to lose herself. To slow the process, Duldee used its power on her as well to guard her heart. I'm not sure how many there were before, but I was the final one created for this purpose.
[She moves one hand to her chest.]
Therefore I have always inhabited the body that was originally hers.
no subject
Sure, she's heard about Chains, but she didn't know that people could also be Chains. Or maybe the other way around-- Chains can be people? They always seemed more like spirits in her mind, or just generally supernatural beings.
Although these specific circumstances sure.. sound like something. Ange frowns as she tries to process it all. Thankfully she's used to adjusting to ridiculous-sounding information by now, given what she's always dealt with back in her own world. ]
So that was that other girl?
[ At least that's a puzzle piece she can now properly click back in place from a long while ago. ]
Do you think she could be here too? [ If this place is all about Echo.. Then why couldn't there be a representation of her, just like there had been back then? ]