I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't

[reddosmod]

DECEMBER 2021 EVENT

Hello! We are trying a new style of event this December with archival-like entries that characters can ICly find in the Archives. This should allow characters to be able to plan against certain events that occur in-game and do research ahead of time, during the event, or after the fact.

The idea is that these prompts will provide you with all the possibilities characters could theoretically face from the prompt. We hope this leaves more open-ended opportunities for people to engage with. Anything mentioned in the excerpts could be an experience characters encounter. You can always ask for clarification on any prompt on the plotting page.

This is a way to keep all event prompts relevant since new characters would be able to "read up" on these events/excerpts by visiting the Archives or other such resources for information about past events and what they can anticipate from the setting.

We hope this new style makes sense and is fun for players to work with! They will rely on players creating more of the atmosphere than the prompts, but we think that the prompts will provide the perfect guidance as to what the atmosphere should feel like. Enjoy!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Holiday themed antler decoration.]
[Image Two: White stag with perfect, circular antlers with bits of ice attached.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Sculpture of white rabbit with neck caught in a snare. Non-graphic.]
[Image Two: Person in red cloak and wolf mask turning around.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Puppet making bloody snow angel in snow.]
[Image Two: Bloodied hands wrapped in bandages clenching.]

[NAVIGATION]

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

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

WINTER MOURNING

WHEN: Begins in December and can last until the end of Feb.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Spoilers for various canons, survival situations, forced memory share

---

[A passage from Rituals of Trench: Remembering Our Pasts reads the following:]

"A long-standing tradition to celebrate Bone Season is for Deerians to collect antlers and bones salvaged from natural resources and create decorative home accents. These antler-bone decors are known formally as Winter Mournings and can be found in almost every residential home throughout Deer Country. Winter Mournings can be made to look like wreaths, candle holders, or simply an antler with a bow hung up on a wall.

Winter Mournings is seen as a way to honor one's past tribulations and how one has managed to survive and overcome hardships during their life. Winter Mournings serves as a testament to survival and a willingness to keep surviving even when things look bleak and dismal.

Creating Winter Mournings is considered a blessing to the Pthumerians Dorothea, Remina, and Argonaut. You will know if the blessing was accepted once your Winter Mourning begins to glow like the moon. Touch your Winter Mourning and you will be pulled back in time to a memory of a specific time when you or someone else had to survive something physically or mentally challenging. For some, it is merely a memory that cannot hurt, but for others, you may want to proceed with caution as it has been known to pull people physically back to times of war.

One cannot choose which memory they wind up in if it is their own, a friend's, or a complete stranger's. Winter Mournings was designed to create a sense of union and empathy among residents and is meant to open your mind and heart to those who have suffered around you. It is time you explore your past, or someone else's past, with an open mind and see how the other side has lived through hard times. These memories are known to be from adolescence, adulthood, or sometimes even futures that have not yet happened or timelines you have never known. After all, Remina sees all past and all history. That means they see all of your past and history too.

No memory lasts forever though. Once the memory has been concluded, you shall be brought back to the present by the Winter Mourning Stag: a great white beast with a circle of frozen antlers. It will come to you when the time is ready, and you will return to the present like waking from a dazzling dream.

Experiencing Winter Mournings can stabilize one's mood and provide restful sleep after, even if the memories may be difficult to swallow. It truly is a tribute to honor past horrors and traumas. Some memories are painful to remember, but forgetting them will never do anyone any good either. So hang your Winter Mournings and remember what matters.

Survive another day. You are worth it."

FAQ

1. Winter Mournings can produce new memories every time you touch them or the same memory.

2. Characters cannot choose what the memory is.

3. Characters can arrive in each other's memories regardless of if they already know each other. Multiple people can experience the same memory.

4. You can either experience the memory as a memory you can't touch or experience - or you can physically be in the memory and have to survive the situation as well. If you die in memory, your body will die wherever you had been touching the Winter Mourning.

5. Palebloods are capable of altering memories or how they or others experience memories.

6. Characters can be pulled into memories at random - as long as one of the characters in the memory share is touching a Winter Mourning at first.

RUN, RABBIT, RUN

WHEN: Month of December
WHERE: Everywhere/the woods
CONTENT WARNINGS: Themes of hunting, ghosts, curses, attempts at animal violence, hunting people based on blood types.

---

[An excerpt from Legends of Trench: Curses and Causations reads the following:]

"One of the most notorious legends of Trench is without a doubt the tale of The Huntress and the Hare. Most Trenchies have been told this tale since they were children, but for those unfamiliar, settle in.

This story begins with a mischievous god and an ambitious huntress. The Pthumerian Dorothea loved to play tricks on hunters trying to survive the Bone Season, setting animals free from traps and remaking the traps to catch the hunters instead. One day, a darkblood Huntress was fed up with Dorothea preventing her from catching food for her family and decided to settle the score. The Huntress began to hunt for Dorothea specifically, but it is no small feat hunting the god of trickery and survival.

The Huntress started to rely on her darkblood powers to alter reality to make the perfect traps. Innocuous trees turned into glue traps that anyone would stick to until they were freed by a darkblood or death took their pain from them. Walking through bushes would snag legs and necks, effectively trapping whatever creatures were unfortunate enough to wander for food. Magical snares and beartraps lock around victims with unrelenting force, leaving people and animals to try for help until they cry no more. While this took many innocent lives in the woods, animals, and people alike, it never seemed to work on Dorothea.

Dorothea continued to outwit the Huntress until she eventually drove the Huntress insane. The Huntress died without ever catching Dorothea, but they say her vengeful spirit awakens in winter and begins to set her traps yet again. The Huntress sends her traps and her dead animals after vilebloods and warmbloods to spite Dorothea and hope to maybe catch the god's attention. But Dorothea is no passive god. Dorothea spurs vilebloods and warmbloods to defend themselves against darkbloods and coldbloods.

Infamously, this has created enormous tension between the blood types during December some years, and it is said that the blood lust has caused the types to begin hunting one another regardless of old friendships and alliances. Beware the Huntress's curse. Some believe darkbloods and coldbloods can still hear her haunting commands and cries from the Trenchwood.

They say there is no ease for the tension between the bloodtypes until December has passed, but some believe palebloods may provide relief if they are willing."

FAQ

1. Characters will increasingly feel the urge to actively hunt one another using traps/etc.

2. The Huntress's curse includes undead animals/beasts chasing after warmbloods and vilebloods and magical traps. Players can invent unique traps for their characters.

3. There will be an innate urge to chase/hide from one another.

4. The curse can be broken by paleblood intervention, character death, or a gradual wearing off by the end of the month.

LOCKJOINT

WHEN: All of Bone Season
WHERE: On Sleeper bodies
CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild body horror, blood magic curses, physical curses, cures through blood ministration/blood letting, possible skin removal, injuries, possible death via starvation/exposure.

---

[An passage from The Sleeper Condition; Chapter 13: Bodily Aches and More. Found exclusively at the Lumenarium:]

"Generally speaking, Sleeper blood allows Sleepers to navigate this world without the fear of illness and disease. However, no organic body is perfect, and Sleeper blood has its own set of ailments to fret over. Blood Ministers have studied the phenomena of Lockjoint for years now and believe that it is linked to the crystalization found in Sleeper death, though the exact connection remains unknown.

Lockjoint tends to begin and last throughout Bone Season. Some Sleepers may never experience it, but for many, it becomes a reoccurring issue to dread each season. This condition forces blood magic to gather at the joints and effectively lock up. Sleepers find it difficult to move their bodies at the bends, fingers, knees, shoulders, etc without some form of discomfort. Minimal lockjoint can be painful and annoyance, but critical lockjoint can be fatal.

The most severe cases of lockjoint documented have shown Sleepers to have crystalization form over their joints, rendering parts of their bodies completely immobile. Some Sleepers have been found dead in this condition, all their joints crystallized, and it is believed most died from natural causes thereafter.

One can determine they are experiencing lockjoint when the coloration around the joints begins to darken in color, typically looking like a bruise. Calcification may occur rapidly the more magic a Sleeper uses or the more they expose themselves to outside elements. It is imperative that Sleepers remain properly clothed during Bone Season, even if they are coldbloods, and to invest in enchanted clothes that can lock in heat.

A known cure for lockjoint is the art of bloodletting. Puncturing the joints with small incisions seems to allow a release of the built-up magic and can provide immediate relief to the Sleeper. Catching lockjoint early is imperative. Alternative methods are soaking in hot springs and salted water.

Those who are in a more severe state will have to carefully have the crystals removed. This will likely remove the skin as well. Local anesthesia is highly recommended for the procedure. This process is known to leave scarring. The crystals can be saved and used as bloodstones from whoever they were harvested from. If you find a Sleeper dead from lockjoint, make sure to harvest the crystals as they are incredibly valuable.

This curse is believed to stem from Sleeper blood magic congealing within the body in contrast with the atmospheric magic of Bone Season. There is no known prevention for lockjoint. Lockjoint can impact all Sleepers regardless of bloodtype or the material their bodies are made from."

FAQ

1. This impacts characters regardless of blood type or their body - meaning it can impact characters with metal/plastic/plant/wood/etc bodies.

2. Players can choose how rapid or severe this gets and how quickly they can be healed.

CODING

Comments

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz didn't expect to be lifted up like that, but she could honestly improvise if needed, and did so, going with Lance's improvising and managed to still stay oriented. She looked back at what Lance's memory was doing and was alarmed to see him attacking nothing. Oh no. Was that craziness getting to him?

When she heard the lantern song even her heart was beating pretty fast now, because she didn't want to imagine what else could happen if it caught up with them. She looked over at HER Lance, because he was looking like he was starting to remember something bad.

Luz grabbed his hand and held it tightly, a sign she's help him weather with what would happen next. It didn't look good]

[azurestar]

[Luz's grab of his hand goes barely noticed as he stands frozen, watching himself try to hush Allura. She's still babbling nonsense and the terror is gripping Lance more and more, he's hyperventilating as he crouches by her, eyes shifting this way and that and muttering to himself. Voices only he hears, a hand to his head as he tries to just think think think. But the song is louder now…

"Allura, I don't- I... please." It's a final, desperate plea that sounds completely unhinged and frantic and broken. And She doesn't hear it, and the next thing he knows, his sword has pierced her heart. She convulses. But she's quiet.

Current Lance looks like a deer in headlights, expression stricken, horrified and frozen. His body trembles and shakes as he watches himself not even realize what he's just done. And the song grows closer.]

[imaglyphwitch]

[Ok, Luz's horror goes from a seven to a TEN. She had definitely knew this was coming, that it was a possibility since they were both in such a bad place, but actually seeing it was something new altogether. She knows it hits her Lance hard too, because he's spellbound now.

He must have known that he did this, right? But he's acting so shocked, like it was his first time SEEING it.

And once she hears the song getting close, she knows darn well they can't stay. Luz slams a glyph down and a vine stalk pushes them forward, farther from the approaching song].

Lance! We've gotta go!

[azurestar]

[The vine is turned to ash before it even touches him as his powers start to activate in response to his mounting distress, he can't really seem to get himself to pull out of it or really hear her warning. But the song is closer than he thought and it's all he hears. He starts breathing heavy, his head bowing and his shoulders rising close to his ears. He's sort of just staring into nothing, wide-eyed and unfocused. Then the Lantern appears and energy increases around his arms, bursting forth like bright plasma arcs from the surface of the sun.

It might be safer for Luz to step to the side, but if she doesn't she's not in the path between him and the lantern. Lance isn't present anymore, he's pain and instinct and he launches himself at the monster in a fit of psychosis and hysteria with a strangled burst of sound. His entire body is engulfed in the light of his powers and then he's rocketing past his memory self and Allura to slam the Lantern with powerful force and then slice through it with arcs of energy from his hands.

This is the Lance that snapped and killed Reaper, and he's trying to overcome another demon… this one is more complex, though. Pounding it to ashy smithereens with energized fists and blasts from his palms and wild, whipping arcs of energy he's barely in control of doesn't return any shred of control or freedom… it's just momentary catharsis. The real demon he has to overcome is the complex monstrosity of the act he himself committed.

While current Lance tears apart the Winter Lantern, memory Lance is in a state of disconnected shock. Time has lost all meaning for him and the Lantern would have just passed him by if Lance had not obliterated it. And he's standing over it still, heaving half sobs and bouts of hyperventilation, the glow dying down because he's reconnected with the physical pain it causes him to use his powers right now.]

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz thought she might have had an idea of what to expect, maybe, but it was obviously very much not THIS. She did not expect Lance to lose it so quickly, to go after the Lantern with such zeal. It wasn't like she didn't understand, of course: the Lantern monsters had caused them to go crazy, and that in turn had led to Lance doing something that was unthinkable.

And honestly, Luz could relate. She remembered having this very real feeling when Eda had been captured, or when she'd finally caught up with Lilith. She could even attribute it to the Cave cannibals and how she's burned them all and not let one go free.

But this? She knew it wasn't just anger, but a memory of something he'd done under duress, just as he was attacking the Lantern in the same way. Luz knew she was witnessing a breakdown, a detachment from reality. She went after him now, and as he heaved, she put her hands on his shoulders].

Lance, Lance! Calm down. It's gone. You-it's not there. Cálmate. You're just going to hurt yourself this way.

[azurestar]

[Lance stops, and he's breathing hard, ragged breaths that are only interrupted by wheezes and hiccups of emotionally distressed sounds. Her hands on his shoulders have him jerking away like it hurts and he's spinning to face her with his hands raised and glowing. But the moment he sees that it's Luz, he freezes. Or… what looks like Luz, his wild eyes are moving all around like he's seeing more than just her. He's shaking and his breaths are still coming in heavy and wet wheezes as he tries to figure out what is happening, where he is.

Then he hears his own voice coming from memory Lance nearby: "Allura?" It's a tentative whisper, like he's trying to wake her up from unconsciousness, not death. Then when she doesn't respond, he seems to pull himself out a bit to say "I'm... I'm wasting time."

Then, he carefully pulls her into his arms, like she's a fragile thing he still has to save. Pulling her remaining arm around his shoulders and tucking her head against his chest so she doesn't get a crick in it. And then he's standing up and racing down the tunnel. Current Lance watches, expression slowly turning more heartbroken as it pulls him back to where they are, he sounds choked as he speaks in a voice barely above a whisper.]

We'll… we'll get out… if we follow.

[It's painfully clear how much he does not want to follow, to see what's next, but he knows that much. Remembers that much, at least. He has a clear flash of memory of carrying Allura out of the tunnels… and they shouldn't stay here.]

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz swallows when Lance turns to her, ready to strike. For a moment, she saw her life flashing before her eyes, because Luz had not died yet and wondered if today might be that day. Luckily, he seemed to regain himself, and seemed to have a better grasp on what was happening to him. It was maddening to Luz, because if she were just watching this on a screen or a movie, she might be able to piece things together at her own pace.

It was very different when you found yourself a part of someone's memories and you were trying to make sure that you didn't wind up a casualty of the things in the memory itself.

Watching the past Lance starting to move with Allura in his arms, Luz didn't need to be told to follow him. She couldn't help but feel a spark of pain for her friend, for Allura. It was worse to know that Allura wasn't even here anymore, and the two of them couldn't resolve their feelings for this past memory].

Right! We don't want those lantern things affecting US, even if this is just a memory.

[azurestar]

[Lance nods, numbly and follows after his memory self. His eyes are on his feet as he goes, not able to look at Allura's limp form in his arms. There's a couple times when they have to briefly hide from the creatures that lurk in the tunnels, but it's not long before they reach the opening. And it's the bottom of the sinkhole in front of the hospital, there's a whole mountain of corpses piled high in the tall space and looking up, there is a pinprick of light indicating the way out.

Memory Lance is rocketing himself up and using parkour to make his way to the top using his armor's jet pack. Lance reaches a hand out to Luz for her to take after a moment of detached thought where he doesn't seem all there again.]

…I can get us up… maybe. [He can rocket himself up as well as across lateral distances… he thinks. Unless she has vines that can reach that high and lift them all the way.]

[imaglyphwitch]

[Lance looks pretty miserable, and Luz feels pretty bad for him. How could she not? This had to be one of the worst memories he ever had, and she'd not even sure how that ranks with how he has that scar on his eye! She just takes a long breath, and looks up at...

Corpses. Madre Mia, why was it always ALWAYS corpses?!

But at his urging, Luz shook her head. He's honestly been through enough].

I can get us out. I'm a paleblood too, remember?

[What does she mean by that? She calls out, and suddenly there's Owlbert, Eda's faithful Palisman, who turns into a staff, and she hops on, motioning for Lance to climb aboard].

I'll fly us out.

[azurestar]

[Silently, he accepts her method of leaving, too exhausted by trauma to even register the method of escape she's brought out. And distracted. Hearing voices and screams in his head is something that never really stopped.

Once they're out of the hole, they're in front of the hospital in Deerington. It's the same sinkhole that lead those who went through the gate to get to Trench. Against the nearest wall of the hospital is memory Lance, who has propped Allura up against the brick. Usually, when people died for the first time in the dream, the body would fade, but her death had not been accepted yet. Not by him.

"Allura?" he shakes her gently and her head lolls to the side. That lifeless motion seems to jarr him into taking in the full extent of her injuries. It looks almost like he's seeing them all for the first time, "Wh-what?"

He grabs her shoulders and shakes her this time, harder, desperate as it slowly, finally starts to sink in, "Allura?! Please, I... we escaped. Please wake up. Wake up!"

From there he repeats the pleas for her to wake up in a more hushed whimpering, tears starting to well and fall. He's caught in a loop of inability to accept it and having it right in front of him. He's breaking.

Current Lance has turned away from the scene and as it continues, he crosses his arms, shoulders rising close to his ears. And then finally, it seems to hit and completely break him. Her body fades and turns into a ghost repeating her last moments over and over in a loop and memory Lance is frozen watching it.

On the horizon, the red lion can be seen flying towards the scene. She is downsized to about the size of a large horse, but it is still her.]

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz got them out as fast as she could, hoping that the memory would stop here. This was, without a doubt, one of the most traumatizing things she'd seen in some time, at least in regards to how it could break someone. She could tell Allura was someone special to Lance, so to see him struggling against the madness amidst the corpses and the thing that had just happened was sobering. Current Lance was still very much affected too: he knew what was coming.

Luz heard past Lance struggling to come to grips with Allura being dead, and she was going to turn away, because it was rude to stare, she knew that. But just as she was about turn, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the repeat of Allura's last moments.

Now Luz remembered the day she found Margot after Darth Maul had been brainwashed by the teachings of his Master. There was her sister, dying from her wound, and Luz unable to do anything but see her last few moments before the light left her eyes.

She put her face in her hands a moment, taking several deep breaths. No. Thinking of that wouldn't help. She'd be stuck in her own loop of sadness, and there was enough of that already knowing Margot's fate back in her world.

Luz walked over to Lance, pausing to put a hand to his back].

I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened to you. You OR her.

[azurestar]

[He's silent for a long moment, seemingly not hearing her at all as he watches the Red Lion fly over to sit by his memory self. The death loop continues to play and he continues to be too broken to process what's in front of him, reminding over and over what happened.]

…It shouldn't've happened… to her. [He says in a hoarse, pointed whisper. Saying without really saying that he considers what happened his fault. This isn't his pain he's watching in his mind, it's hers. That he caused. He wanders over to the Red Lion, and closer to the scene, but from this vantage point behind the lion, he can't see it, only hear. Being near the lion brings a small measure of grounding to his heart, but he's still visibly traumatized by reliving this.

Then familiar black clad figure arrives on the scene not long after. Reaper. The man looks down in the hole first and then spots the lion and with it, memory Lance and Allura's ghost. He crosses his arms, watching, assessing before silently approaching the broken boy.

He hums when he's by Lance's elbow and the current Lance beside Luz lets out a shuddered breath, looking a little confused and torn as Reaper speaks in a firm but oddle compassionate tone, "Lance… Come on, hijo, you're not helping her by watching this. It's time to go; we need to get you checked over."

Current Lance looks away with a sharp intake of breath when Reaper calls him, hijo. Then he stiffly turns to start to leave, voice tight and still as broken sounding as it has been this whole time.] I…it's over. Let's go.

[imaglyphwitch]

It shouldn't have happened to either of you.

[It was a crazy situation, one that would have probably made you crazy if you thought about it too much. It was interesting to see Red Lion of course, but that seemed more background for right now, and she was sure the Lion was a comfort in its own way].

You at least tried to end it quickly for her. But you have to remember this. That's way more painful. You surprise me though, Lance. If this had happened to me, I don't know how good I would have been at recovering from it.

[If it had happened to Eda, which it nearly HAD back in the Boiling Isles, Luz would not have known what to do with herself. She was surprised to see Reaper here though and took note of Lance's posture when he called him son. Looks like they were both still dealing with some hurt feelings there].

Yeah. Good idea.

[azurestar]

[At first he doesn't answer her on that. But then when she continues, talking about how he ended it for her quickly, he looks sharply at her.]

That wasn't quick. [His voice shakes and cracks.] And it wasn't what- what I was trying to do. Just- just leave it alone. Alrigh-?

[Behind them, memory Lance's broken and unhinged voice replies to Reaper, "La envié al lugar profundo. So puede salir... lo siento, lo siento."

It has current Lance flinching and trying to walk faster. But… this is part of it. Many parts of this whole experience are blank to him, and they will be blank again. This one is especially hazy because of how broken he is. But he knows the basics… and his feelings about Reaper will never not be painful and hateful.

"Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte protegerá su espíritu desde aquí. Ella está más allá de nosotros, pero la verás de nuevo, hijo… ¿Estás lastimado?"

Current Lance makes a snarl of a sound and yells to the sky in a, exhausted, breaking pleading voice.] Just let us go already! This isn't helping! None of this helps! …Please.

[He lowers his chin and sees one of those flowers Cynthia liked and heads towards it.] Th-this way.

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz decided to leave it alone. After all, this was his memory, not hers, and she wasn't sure what she would say if she had to rewatch some of her worst moments. It sucked to see Lance struggling to deal with all of this, and most of this left her at a loss for words].

Ok.

[She walked with him as quickly as she could, making sure to note the exchange between Reaper and Lance (a prayer) but saying nothing more about it. She could see the mounting frustration in Lance though, culminating in his plea to the sky].

We should summon my staff. It-it'll be quicker.

[And it was the only real way she could interfere with the memory, even if it was only a way for them to leave quickly].

[azurestar]

[Distantly, he feels guilty for snapping, for not being able to contain the pain enough not to lash out at someone who, through no fault of their own, doesn't understand. Though she saw it play out, it's not the same as experiencing what's in his heart and mind as it does. For right now, he just wants to escape it, then after that maybe more can be said.

They're far enough now that the exchange is faint, hard to hear, but it's clear Lance is babbling and unhinged and yells. And then Luz suggests her staff and he has no idea what it's going to do besides fly, but he doesn't ask, just nods shakily.]

Y-yeah. [In his experience, the flower ahead shows the way out… or to the next memory.]

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz felt a little guilty herself, mostly because she hadn't wanted to upset Lance. She was trying to at least bring him up, but thinking about it, there was no way she thought that she could fix having to kill your friend to save her. She wanted to help him, but the best she could was help him get out of what he just saw.

So she whistled and Eda's palisman, Owlbert, flew over to them, hooting with concern].

Shh, shh. We just have to get out of here, ok?

[Owlbert seemed to nod and became stationary, turning into a staff, and Luz hopped on, motioning for Lance to hop on. Once he did, she sped them as quickly as she could to the flower, and they could finally leave that memory behind].

[azurestar]

[Lance lets Luz take the lead and silently follows. This is a memory that has traumatized and re-traumatized him as it's come up in memory share situations before. So he has never really fully recovered, only put more distance of time between himself and it.

When they get to the flower, the setting starts to fade and transition to somewhere else. It sort of looks like a desert to him and he frowns, standing still and then looking down. He feels like he should say something before the go to the next leg of this journey. His voice is low and hoarse when he speaks.]

I'm… sorry you had to see all that.

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz sighed once they reached the desert, remembering all too well the silent town she and Fern had ended up in once they got off being stranded on that Ferris wheel before].

I don't think I'm ever going to get use to these places' casual displaying of bodies and blood. If it wasn't for Deerington and that stuff in the warehouse I'd probably have been throwing up all over the place.

But now I think I understand a little more. What this place has done to you, I mean. That was way too much to happen to someone without making them feel like they were losing their mind.

I'm sorry you had to live through it all again.

[azurestar]

[This isn't Lance's memory, but he still frowns in apprehension over what they may be walking into. Especially after Luz was just subjected to viewing his own horror show of a memory.

He's quiet for a moment, looking down and his posture is a vulnerable hunch. What is there to say? So he just nods, a little too choked and feeling uncomfortable and exposed and still trembling from the trauma being re-surfaced. Already, his mind is building walls around the whole thing again.]

Do… do you know where we are?

[imaglyphwitch]

[She was all too familiar with that position, the hunch. She'd been dealing with things at a slower rate, but the pain hurt just the same. Even though she'd heard stories of what happened in Deerington, actually seeing it was so much worse. Luz could be grateful that she'd not seen this at that time: she didn't think her mind would have been able to handle it].

This place? No. It isn't Twin Peaks, that's for sure.

[Deflection, but she figured they could use a little of that right now].

[azurestar]

[Lance's brows draw together slightly, not understanding what she means, but recognizing deflection when he sees it. So he goes for asking her an inane clarification instead of pushing.]

What's Twin Peaks?

[imaglyphwitch]

[Yay for distractions]!

A creepy show in the early nineties. Basically the theme song is super misleading because you're seeing all this pretty nature stuff with waterfalls and all these trees, but then you find out the town is full of all these secrets and double crossing and magic! But it's the backdrop that makes it so eerie: you look like you could be in the middle of nowhere.

Kinda like this, but with less...desert.

[azurestar]

Oh… that was a few centuries before my time, I guess.

[He's still… recovering, so his voice is kind of out of it and he doesn't have anything more interesting to say, but he's definitely stabilizing.]

This… kinda looks like the desert from right before the dream collapsed.

[imaglyphwitch]

I keep forgetting that you come from a farther time on Earth. I hope they have their stuff together in your time.

[Clearly they have though, and its Deerington that brought out the worst in people].

Oh. OH.

[Luz took a deep breath. Why did seeing this part of Deerington start to unnerve her]?

Why do you think we'd be seeing that now?