reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2023-02-08 06:25 pm

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. ]

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.

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!

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.

CODING
hauntedsavior: (count the years of isolation)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2023-02-21 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
[being looked at, being seen in such a way is difficult. it's hard, knowing that she has someone's attention—if not completely, then certainly completely enough. even if that person is saying something kind to her. anna looks around as subtly as she can manage, trying to figure out where the music is suddenly coming from (who is it, it's one of the fuckin' russian guys, right, she can't remember)—and then it stops so quickly and angrily that she jumps in her chair like she'd been shocked.]

[that's one way to stop focusing on the way that this storm of a person makes her feel. she doesn't attribute any of this immediate event to ariane, at least. why would she? her mind stayed where it was even as it wandered.]


I've had worse... I just wasn't as obvious about them, I guess. [never one to accept a compliment. instead, she returns to something else.] I've, um. This might be a little fucking heavy, but I've seen what's left after the body is gone—hell, I'm part of what happens after the body is gone. At least in my world. [she's learned that she should be couching these statements.] How much do you know about souls?
toteninsel: (lost carcosa)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-02-27 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ There it is. How much do you know about souls? The eternal question. How much do you know about what you are? About who you are? What is a you, anyway, that could possibly be different from a we? Glory to the nation, glory to the flesh. All hail the cryogenic pod, keeper of eternal un-life. There is no red eye in the sky, but Ariane looks up anyway. ]

Not enough. I'm not sure if I'm meant to know. I could tell you more about flesh, I think.

[ She looks back to Anna. ]

What happens, after the body is gone? Is what you are different than who you are?
hauntedsavior: (⚡ our shields were all but shattered)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2023-02-28 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[oh, cool, a question. that means that if anna's wrong, she'll fucking know about it! which is frightening! but it's fine. she doesn't know what ariane's looking at, but she's keeping herself trained on the woman in front of her with this mysterious knowledge of flesh. everything is so... so normal, in this entire conversation. but anna lets herself breathe, and she starts speaking like she's done several times before on the nature of all of this.]

Where I'm from, the body is split up into your actual body, your memories, and your soul. Or maybe your soul is what has your memories in it—I'm not totally sure. I just know that I've seen souls in jars, hidden away in secret laboratories and flooding my head with their lives. And it was already kind of crowded in here.

[every time she tells this story, she tries to add a new spin to the elements. she tries to keep it interesting. above all else, and she smiles casually as she curls her fist against her chest, she tries to make it seem like none of it bothers her. but the person that approach might work with the least is sitting right in front of her.]

The Replika I'm transforming into is named A2. After her body was destroyed, her soul survived, and ten thousand years in her past, I became a vessel for it. And now my soul and hers are both just... inside my chest, together. So maybe that's what's left after the body is gone. And I just have everything about A2 living inside me now. So maybe that means the body isn't as important as people think it is, or... [she breathes out heavily and leans backwards in her chair.]

I have no fucking idea. I just know that me and her did not get along when she showed up, but things are better now. I can handle one extra soul. It's when more people move in that it gets rough.
toteninsel: (lost carcosa)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-03-08 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Anna's performance is excellent. She looks unbothered, with that casual smile and relaxed posture. Ariane doesn't believe it for a second, though, even if her disbelief is a result of her own projection rather than anything Anna is telegraphing. Ariane never got to see what happened to that Falke unit that came too close, but she can guess. It's hard enough having one body and one soul, let alone multiple. ]

Where I'm from, our leaders don't put memories in jars. Instead, memories get copied and pasted on engineered brains. They like to tell us a story about how the copied brain is the same, and that the process doesn't create anyone new.

[ Ariane drops her gaze, now looking Anna in the eye. ]

You and I both know that's a lie. But I do think you're a good steward for A2, whoever she was. I hope you can become something new together. [ Ariane offers a wry smile. It's not much of a comfort. ] How many souls do you have, now?
hauntedsavior: (⚡ caverns shake like thunderstorms)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2023-03-08 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[yeah. well. there is something genuine here in the way her eye meets ariane's. yes, this coming storm is frightening. but it understands her in a moment when understanding seems so difficult to come by. and maybe that will protect her. she tries for another real answer, but this one is harder to come by than the others.]

At least two. But then there's the others. All different versions of myself. [she leans forward again, resting her elbows inelegantly on the table. and equally inelegantly, she starts counting them off.] The one you met, of course, who doesn't know anything about any of this. The singing one who went berserk and had to be put to sleep by a god until her bloodlust stopped. The angry one who blew up a forest because if she was going to die, she was damn sure going to do it on her own terms.

[she stops talking, and after a moment, like the chair itself is considering things, she gets a shock. and anna closes her eye, and she breathes out slowly like she's trying very, very hard to calm herself down. her heart is pulsing faster; she hopes ariane can't tell. at least she doesn't have an actual pulse to give her away anymore.]

And then there's Annalise. [four syllables. even more german than anna already was. if she looks away, if she tries to twist her lips into derision, if she just picks the right words, maybe she can hide her real feelings. maybe she can hide the fear.] Mommy and daddy's favorite little girl who did everything right. And I have to assume she's still in here too, but god forbid I be allowed to remember anything about her.