deercountry | and my heart went 'boom!'

and my heart went 'boom!'

FEBRUARY 2023 EVENT

Due to the cyclical nature of Trench, prompts from the PREVIOUS FEBRUARY are available for use again. Please note when you are using this years prompts vs last years prompts when plotting or writing top-levels to avoid confusion.

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: A broken mirror with a woman looking into it, pressing her fingers against the glass. ]
[Image Two: A rose lit up like embers. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Neon hearts glowing on a wall. ]
[Image Two: A pocket watch on top of a book page. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A young woman with dark hair standing in the snow with red flowers. ]
[Image Two: Footprints in the snow. ]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

BAD LUCK OF THE EARLY WORM

WHEN: February
WHERE: All around the city
CONTENT WARNINGS: Curses, violence, danger, misfortune

Everyone has their own streak of bad times. There are some days or weeks whre it feels like nothing is going right. Most people would try and tell say that it's just the tendency to focus on the negative. That it can be relieved by writing down all the good things that happen in our lives, because we have a tendency to only ever focus on the bad. And maybe most of the time, people are right! Maybe the idea of luck really is just perspective.

But not in Trench. Not this month.

No matter what way it's looked at, bad luck seems to be clinging to some people. It might start out small, with simple things like knocking over a favorite drink or snack, or ruining a project that had hours invested into it. Then it might become bigger. A person might start to trip over things and injuring themselves, they might get lost in a blizzard and nearly freeze before finding their way home or to someone they know. Eventually, it could even become undeniably dangerous. The person impacted by bad luck could start to notice corruption levels rising quickly, they could start to turn into a beast at random, they could start to attract violent beasts to them and put themselves or others at risk with heavy battles. The possibilities seem to be endless and none of them are good. Did someone break a mirror? Or twenty?

It will be easy to see that this isn't just impacting one person. Sleepers and Trenchies alike seem to be being plagued by streaks of bad luck across the board. Luckily, the locals seem to know what to do about it. Bad luck pops up from time to time, and of course there would be a ritual to help cleanse it.

Small vendors will start to pop up through the city selling wooden carvings that they promise will absorb all the bad luck that's been going around and dispell it with a simple ritual. A drop of blood from the person impacted and a drop of blood from someone they are close should be placed upon the carving. The blood types of the persons involved should not match (i.e. Coldblood/Coldblood would not work, but Coldblood/Warmblood would). It must be left to soak into the wood overnight, leaving behind deep red stains. The carving must then be placed with a fully bloomed rose and burned in the entrance doorway to the home of the inflicted. The ashes should then be placed into a container and kept somewhere in the home for the duration of February, to make sure that the bad luck stays away.

It seems like it really works! The tricky part is making sure that the bad luck following doesn't get in the way of the ritual while the blood is soaking over night. It may be best for both parties involved to hunker down together until morning, just in case. Time to break out the small talk. Or the deep, meaningful conversations that can sometimes happen in the middle of the night.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

GETTING TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU

WHEN: February
WHERE: A magic room in the city.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Reference to mild shocks. Forced honesty. Embarrassment. Lots and lots of embarrassment.

Honestly, after being in Trench for so long, people should be used to not ending up in the destination they initially intended for. This month, it seems like the city is trying to encourage people to social, to form new bonds, whether they're romantic, platonic, familial, or any other option one could think of. The bright idea this month for that sort of thing?

Speed dating.

It's not traditional speed dating, necessarily. No one is here to exclusively seek romantic partners, although there are certainly options for it. And it's not something people are signing up for out of their own free will. Instead, people seem to simply show up at the event, with no real recollection of how they got there. Maybe they just woke up on one of the comfy couches and found a "Hi, my name is..." sticker slapped on them. Or maybe they were wandering in the snow and got lost, ending up finding shelter in this strange place, and are now forced to participate until the blizzard passes. All in all, it's harmless fun, isn't it? Who doesn't need a few new friends.

Each person will have a small information blurb given about them that can't be seen by the naked eye, but will appear as soon as someone looks at the other party through their omni. What the blurb says is unique to each person, but it might become clear pretty quickly that they didn't write it themselves... Deerington survivors may find themselves having flashbacks to the days of DeerlyBeloved.

Pairings are completely random. People will be given a series of random questions they can ask one another or they can always feel free to make up their own. Anyone who tries to lie or avoid answering a question might feel a small shock from the chair they're sitting in, one that gets stronger with every lie they tell. The after effects of the shock seem to encourage the need to answer the question with full transparency. It's important to tell the truth when getting to know someone, after all.

After five minutes, both parties can either press a button beside their chair to continue talking to the person they're paired with, or they can move on to the next pairing. Both parties have to press the button in order to stay where they are.

Have fun and remember to always be honest!

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

LONELY HEARTS CLUB

WHEN: February
WHERE: Trenchwood and throughout the city.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, abuse of power, jealousy, possession, supernatural events, possible death from elemental exposure

There's a tale that comes up around this time of year, one that seems to be an old favorite in Trench. Long ago, in the heart of a blizzard, a young woman was found wandering in Trenchwood. She wore only thin fabrics to keep herself warm and had no shoes. Her skin felt cold as ice. The Hunters who found her quickly brought her into town, giving her shelter in a local in to try and get her warm. She stayed for many nights and it didn't take long for the inn keeper to fall in love with her. But she did not seem to return to his feelings and so he was heartbroken and jealous of all the other men who gave her attention. He demanded she offer him something in trade for her stay and when she could offer nothing, he threw her back out into the snow. The woman went back to the woods and some could hear her howling in anguish, carried through on the strong winds of the blizzard. The Hunters tried to find her, following her cries, but they were unable to, and had to return home before they too might freeze to death. The innkeeper was shunned from the town and forced to leave the city for his cruelty, but nothing stopped the howls of the snow woman.

Throughout the month of February, people will start to hear that the sound of the wind blowing strongly through the streets is starting to sound a little more human-like. The woman's cries will be heard in empty alleys, will be loudest near the edge of the woods, and can even penetrate into dreams. The cries might sometimes sound like cries for help, begging for someone to help save her from the cold. There will be a compulsion that sets deep into the bones of some and many will find it hard to resist her call. Eventually, they may even go looking for her in the woods, trying to brave the winter storms to help the lost snow woman.

Those who give in to that temptation will eventually find the snow woman, but she will not be friendly when found. Her skin has turned a pale white, her lips blue, her eyes glowing a bright red, her long hair blowing every which way in the wind. She will rush at whoever she sees, but instead of giving a physical blow to guard against, she will go through any solid objects and latch on to the soul of her target, possessing their bodies. Male or female, it doesn't seem to matter, she simply wants a chance at life again.

Those who are possessed by the snow woman will not realize they are possessed. They will forget why it was they came out into the woods looking for and will return to the city in a daze. As time passes, they will find that they become irritated by any signs of affection, will become physically aggressive towards couples they see around them, and will attack those who care about them most. The spirit does not necessarily hate love: instead, they see affection as a possible risk for all those who love others. Jealousy kills and she wants to save everyone around her from it, as well as keeping herself safe from losing this new chance at life.

Signs of possession outside of the aggression can be noticed by others. The possessed person will have: ice cold skin, blue-tinged lips, they might shiver even when inside where it's warm, and an aversion to fire or warm/hot water.

Information on how to banish the snow woman from another's body can be found in a book of local legends. This book is sold in stores or can be found in the Archives. To save someone from the snow woman, people must tell the possessed person the things they love most about them. It will cause the possessed person to react violently, so it is suggested that they be restrained during the process. The longer they are forced to hear the positive messages about love, the feelings that they can stir up in another (whether platonic or romantic), and the safety that can be found in that love, the more weakened the hold from the snow woman will be. When the possessed person eventually stops struggling, a cut must be made on the back of their neck, before a cloth soaked in warm rose water must be placed on top of the wound. Their skin will begin to steam before a large gust of snow will pour from their mouth, swirling around the room, and smash through the window. It's suggested to leave it open if you'd like to save the glass.

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh. Ekko's playing it safe as always, but the soft look is genuine. Hearing that she's got someone helping her, giving her advice to work through her episodes is...great. It's not the first time that he's thought coming to Trench might be the best thing to happen to Jinx, as long as she lets it be.]

She sounds great. You've made a lot of friends around here.

Yeah, it's really been great! ( the smile gets big for a split second until it shrinks. idly, she grabs a hold of her braid to tug and pick at it. it's something for her fingers to do.)

Weird but great. I, uh, use to just talk to my guns, y'know? They were my friends for a long time. And only Fishbones would talk back to me. The others were silent types. I'd get mad at 'em for not chatting with me buuuuut what can ya do?!

( she chuckles lightly. )

Human friends are so different. — Like you can do stuff with 'em. ( hearing how that sounds, she corrects herself. ) I mean, you can do stuff with guns, but stuff like sharin' food? Or just eating together. That's nice.

[He notices the way her fingers pull at her braids, but since she doesn't seem all out nervous or anxious yet, he lets her keep going. She never could stay still for long, now it's just...more. All the talk about her guns just shows how unstable she can be. Talking to your weapons like that is concerning enough. But the progress she's made in Trench, all the friends she's made and people she seems to care about...

It's almost funny. Most of the people he's gotten to know are the workers and fishermen down at the docks. The Trenchies. The people who get the worst of everything around here but don't seem to have the favor of the Pthumerians in the same way. He hasn't spent too much time around other "sleepers." Until now. Maybe there's something to this dumb joke of a meet-and-greet after all.

He shifts, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs.]

What's your favorite food to share?

[Perfect timing to segue into the next question, right?]

Crabmeat salad sandwiches! I created it all by myself. ( and jinx will even sit up right to gloat about them. ) — And if you come out more, I might just let ya have a bite.

( now it's her turn to look through the "get to know all about you" questions and boy, such boring questions!! how can anyone learn anything with these? it looks like she'll have to come up with her own. there is one particular she will ask him but she'll save that for a little later. for now, something light. )

I got one for ya. What do you think there's most of in the world? Legs or eyes?

[Ekko raises an eyebrow at the question. That is one of the weirdest questions. It's not really a question about him or Jinx, just about...body parts? He rolls his eyes just a bit, but he's smiling.]

Legs. Most animals and insects have only have two eyes. Sounds like legs would win out. Unless you're counting inanimate objects.

Are ya suuuure about that? What about fish? There's a lotta fish in the sea and a whole lotta eyes.

( why ask about each other when they can ask about other things that will get the gears in your head turning? ... there's still that one question she needs to ask him though. but this is just a warm-up! )

Edited 2023-02-12 21:06 (UTC)

Yeah, we had to eat some of them. [And they weren't that healthy.] But there's millions more insects and most of them have six legs and then all those bugs like centipedes and millipedes. Way more legs. Hands down.

[He sounds even more sure about it, now, the longer he thinks of it. For being such a ridiculous question it does bring up that sense of friendly competition--like the race they had a couple weeks back.]

What about you? Legs or eyes?

Edited 2023-02-12 21:53 (UTC)

That's a dumb take 'cuz there's so many predators that eat solely just insects. We even consume 'em in desperate times.

( she hunches forward with her arms folded on the table. )

I'm sayin' eyes 'cuz of the fish thing. Fish lay eggs between a dozen to a hundred. And they give birth every couple of weeks. And the ocean is huge...! — A lotta sea creatures swimmin' around with hundred lil' babies.

They eat them because they're a near endless food supply. Think of how many eggs can a fly lay in a week? Hundreds. And they hatch every few days.

[Of course they would find something like this to bicker about.]

And. Again. Centipedes and millipedes and dozens of legs on their own per insect. How many fish have 30 eyes by themselves?

( her face sours over his logic. and with the way she throws her arms up in the air, there's definitely some frustration brewing. )

Yeah, okay! But you just proved my damn point here. — Fish don't have thirty eyes, but guess what does? Your stupid insects...! And with 'em hatching every few days and they're hundreds, that's more eyes than legs!

( she holds up her hands; palm up. as a "duh, see?!" notion to him. )

Just 'cuz you're an annoyin' Firelight doesn't mean your buggies are rulin' the world with your stick legs.

Edited 2023-02-13 02:27 (UTC)

Oh come on. So you admit there are more insects than fish. Well, ,ost insects don't have more than two eyes. They have compound eyes that can look like more than one but aren't. Like flies. And even the ones that do have more legs than they do eyes.

[He holds up two fingers in a cheeky salute.]

Thanks for proving my point.

Edited 2023-02-15 18:03 (UTC)

( there's a rough scoff through her nostrils with her eyes narrowing into a glare. even in a debate, this bug just refuses to get squashed under a rolled up newspaper. how many times can a stupid insect get away from her like this? all of this pestering, buzzing, and nose diving, it's driving her up the wall.

a firelight like him can't possibly have this long of a lifespan. and crows like her would had gobbled all of them up for supper in a heartbeat -- just like she did with some of his hive. so why in the hell is he giving her so much damn trouble? is it because he is the leader, the king of his colony? possibly. the kings and queens usually are the toughest. well. she'd complain if he was easy, but he should at least give her a little something of a win. )

( now sour, jinx slouches back onto her chair; manspreading and scowling. then slowly, she raises up an arm with her fingers forming in a shape of a pistol. jinx cocks her head to the side with one eye closed -- lining up her shot with her index and middle pointing directly at his forehead.

instead of her usual pulling the trigger with her thumb, the girl twists her hand palm up and curls her index finger in. doing this now leaves the middle finger up -- a rude gesture to go "fuck off", "fuck you", or both and in between. )

Edited 2023-02-15 18:42 (UTC)

[Of course it wasn't going to last. The easy banter and disagreement had to turn into a conflict. Because nothing can be easy. Nothing can stay simple. Not with Jinx. And now here she is, pouting like a child. They haven't been kids in years and she's never fully grown up. Trapped some kind of limbo.

Sometimes Ekko feels old. He's not even 20 yet. But it's hard not to feel like he's lived enough for ten lives and overstuffed by everything. Not that it's going to change anything. None of this will help him get shit done. Thinking about it doesn't change the past or help him live in the now. And that's what matters. He's let himself get caught up in the past lately, of the what-ifs and the could-have-beens. Ever since Vi came back. Ever since she reminded him his past wasn't as dead as he thought.

...Or maybe he needs to stop thinking like the two have nothing to do with each other.

Powder always hated to lose. Always hated when someone else beat her at anything. She wouldn't be as loud and whiny about it as Mylo every time Powder beat him, but she still never liked it. She'd stew and pout and grumble and Ekko would often be the person trying to cheer her up if Vi wasn't around. Because losing to her was just another sign that she wasn't good enough.

And Jinx was all of the best and worst traits of Powder grinded up together and stuffed inside a grenade.

Ah.]

I think it's your turn for the next question.

[It's not but he'll give her that.]

( soon, she lets her arm drop heavy on her midriff -- intertwining her fingers together as her foot sway underneath the table. her foot is probably close to his own, and maybe she should take the chance and kick him. she won't, though. something tells her within if she did something like that, a rabbit might whimper and give her the puppy eyes that she can't stand to see.

what a tight and short leash that little thing has her in. if she didn't ~~love~~ like her so much, she would gnawing on the rope until it snapped. anyhow it seems it's "her turn" to ask the question. she purses her lips from side to side as she thinks this over. hmmm... what would be a question to ask him? )

( — oh who is she kidding? she knows exactly what to ask him. the question she's been dying to know the answer to since day one of his arrival in trench. and it's in a snap that her expression just twists into something entirely different. the grin of hers warps dangerous and vile. her eyes largen with the pinks shining way too bright for its own good.

and when she speaks, it's thick and coated with malicious:)

Where do you live?

[He thought this question would be the first one Jinx asked. The way her expression changed was...a problem. But the question does not surprise him. He still hadn't forgotten how she acted in the group chat. He hadn't forgotten all the caution he'd been taking.

Ekko can't lie. Because if he lies, she'll know when he gets shocked. So he wouldn't bother lying.]

In a house I've been fixing up.

Yeah, no shit in a house. Quit buzzin' around the real answer. Where as in, what part of Trench?

( why did she give him the benefit of the doubt that he would answer without vagueness? jinx leans forward in her seat now with her arms folded over the table. )

C'mon Little Man, we're trying to be buddies here. And buddies tell each other lil' innocent details. Details that mean nothing.

Details that mean nothing, huh? Sure. I live in the part where people work and there's shops. The part where you get a good view of the forest. The part where it's loud most of the time. Always busy around there.

[If she's gonna ask for meaningless, he'll give her meaningless. But he's gonna flip it around on her.]

Why do you really want to know where I live?

To keep an eye on you.

( short, sweet, and straight to the point. and there is no nerves or shame of her telling him so. after all if there is a good quality about jinx, it would be that she is very honest. sometimes too honest.

shifting around in her seat, she fishes out a pack of cigarettes -- lightly tapping the carton against the tabletop. )

— Just like I keep an eye on everyone else. Kiiinda obvious, dontcha think?

( with a sly smirk, the germlin wiggles an eyebrow to him then tugs the cigarette out of its slot with her teeth. )

Edited 2023-02-23 04:05 (UTC)

Maybe it is.

["Keep an eye," huh. As if anything is that basic when it comes to Jinx. He wishes it were. He wishes she was just nosy and it would be innocent and he didn't have to worry. But he couldn't. Because unfortunately, he knows better.]

But why do you want to keep an eye on me? What else are you gonna do with that information?

[Pushing back and forth trying to get more specific answers from each other. Who's going to talking around the truth next?]

( while he speaks, the teen shuffles once again so she can return the carton into her pocket. but before she lights the stick, jinx removes it out of her lips -- pointing it directly towards him. )

Ah, ah, aaaaah ♪! — That's a two-parter question. Gotta pick one or the other.

( she is completely aware that she is being a stickler for no good reason and a smart-ass. there's no rules against asking multiple questions. in fact, she's done this to previous speed daters. her reasoning on doing so here? to agitate him. it's hard to do, of course. ekko is pretty calm-minded and possibly a million times grounded than her. but jinx likes to give it a go anyway.

the blue-haired girl slides the cigarette back between lips; using her index to spark a light to the tip. )

[New game, is it. Because it's always a game until someone is bleeding and dying and then it's a game with lives on the line. And he is still watching his steps, careful of the landmines.]

Sure, keep it fair. This ain't Zaun. We're at a truce. So why do you really want to keep an eye on me?

( she doesn't answer right away. maybe she wants a moment to take a puff, maybe a moment to stall, or maybe a little of both. whatever the reason behind the silence, her chair sparks and her entire body jerks -- not violently, just a mere subtle one. jinx doesn't react to the shock. in truth, she's use to this sort of thing when she spends a dangerous amount of time with her gadgets. and even if there was some sensation out of it, the girl can't feel any pain due to her shimmer's side-effect.

well. unless someone shoots or stabs her repeatedly without stopping. that would be the only real way to slow her down in combat. and is he ready to know the truth of that question? he did ask for it and jinx is an honest woman. so with her smoking hand down, she smiles sweetly (it's not. it's... not at all sweet): )

'Cuz I'm obsessed with you. And I just can't help myself sometimes.

Edited 2023-02-26 05:35 (UTC)

[The chair sparking was...not okay. He was not okay with it. He knew about it, he's seen it happen before, but watching it spark and her barely react is Concerning. His foot taps under the table. It's a set kind of tune, a noticeable beat. It's a good way to hide that he's unsettled by sounding like he's just working through something with music.

Because he's not surprised at all with the fact she's obsessed with him. Jinx obsessed about a lot of things. She especially obsessed about things connected to her Before and After. It all makes sense as much as anything about Jinx makes sense.]

Really is that simple.

[He almost crinkles his nose from the smoke. Sure, he's used to it, but they avoided all of that. Smoke wasn't good for the tree. No one who lived near it did anything like that around it. They took it as far away as they could.]

Vi might get jealous if you talk about me like that. She's supposed to be the favorite sibling.

A girl can have more than one obsession, y'know. All of my pets and things are of equal. No one is more important than the other.

( unlike vi, who she favored the enforcer so much that she replaced her flesh and blood. but it's a good thing her older sibling saw the error of her ways and now is on the righteous path of... not being an enforcer-googly-eyed-girl. it's what she likes to believe, anyway. "mylo" still says otherwise.

the teen notices the wrinkle of his nose and it makes her snort. how would he feel if he knew she sometimes smashes her cigarette against tree trunks? a part of her wants to do it in front of him just to see his reaction. a quick inhale and pew out the smoke, the smile continues to stay. )

Well! Now that you know that answer, it's okay for you to tell me more about your lil' hive, right?

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cw: idk jinx is weird with her weird brain. i dont know how to label this warning