Lance (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
azurestar) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deercountry2022-01-05 07:42 pm
azurestar) wrote in deercountry2022-01-05 07:42 pm
January Catchall [OPEN]
Who: Lance (azurestar) and OPEN
What: Catch-all log for January.
When: All of January
Where: All over Trench.
Content Warnings: alcohol and drug use, risky behavior, symptoms of PTSD and trauma induced hallucinations etc., memory loss, shedding of skin to alter one's body and all the psychological issues that comes with, traumatic memory share, lockjoint, will add more specific warnings as they arise.
SNAKE DEN
azurestar) and OPENWhat: Catch-all log for January.
When: All of January
Where: All over Trench.
Content Warnings: alcohol and drug use, risky behavior, symptoms of PTSD and trauma induced hallucinations etc., memory loss, shedding of skin to alter one's body and all the psychological issues that comes with, traumatic memory share, lockjoint, will add more specific warnings as they arise.
SNAKE DEN
i. [Lance frequents the Red practically every night it's said to be hosting the talent and fashion shows. He only gets on the stage when he's in different forms, though. In the second week of the month, he's a catboy thief from a tabletop fantasy game called Monsters and Mana. On stage, as this persona he'll grab a guitar and start singing extremely well and captivatingly as he walks through the audience and uses his tail pick pocket the onlookers. He can also be found chatting people up and lounging in booths with beautiful ladies in this form and letting them pet his ears... yes, he's purring when that happens.SHEDDING CEREMONY
In the middle of the month, he's a bit younger, back to who he was before he went to space at the age of 17, and he'll be getting on stage to show off his acrobatic and dance skills, as well as his musical skills. He'll descend from the ceiling from bolts of fabric around his legs and waist, with his guitar in hand, spinning around slowly and playing with a rose in his teeth. He'll then toss the rose to the prettiest person in the audience an start singing and dancing quite well once he reaches the ground.
Also in the middle of the month, he's a beautiful young woman for a short stint. In this form, he does singing and dance routines, showing off his high notes and also gets in the fashion show, the outfits he gravitates to look like this, this and this. He can also be spotted mingling in the crowd dressed nice and downing champagne flutes and charming everyone.]
ii. [As a paleblood, people will be extra compelled to open up to him and tell him the truth in this space, and in all his shedded forms he's pretty good at active listening if the subject is heavy enough. He may also offer to help ease pain if someone is hurt or emotionally suffering, as that's the paleblood power he has when touching people skin on skin. At first he'll be confused about people just dumping all their truth on him, but eventually he'll start to figure it out and definitely take full advantage with some people he knows or is curious about.
He'll sidle up to anyone who looks interesting or he wants to get to know, and especially to existing friends and go:] Sooo, got anything you wanna get off your chest, maybe?
[It will be easy to mistake him for a working nightwalker, feel free to proposition him for anything.]
iii. [In all his forms detailed above, he'll be available for a private conversation or interaction as even he needs some time to sit and chill out. Often, he'll be laid back in a more private area just strumming on his guitar and casually singing random lyrics that come to mind. Because of his empathic powers, what he's unconsciously singing about may feel specifically tailored to your life, especially if he touched your skin and took some suffering or pain from you no matter how small. If he hasn't touched you recently, then the song may still feel relevant to you and like the notes being played hit you in your soul, but it's not as deeply specific.
Lance doesn't realize he's doing this, he still doesn't have control over his powers and has not figured out how to consciously channel them. When he notices someone's emotional or physical presence, he'll stop playing and look over, brows drawn together.]
Uh hey, looking for something? Maybe someone~?
[He waggles his eyebrows a bit and smirks on that last bit. Could be he means someone else, or himself and is implying you should stay a while and hang out with him. Either way, he's not bothered and oblivious to what he was just doing that got your attention. If you'd like specific lyrics and a musical tone/genre for your character, just describe the emotions/situation they are experiencing that Lance would be singing about in prose and let me know.]
iv. [Later in the month, Lance sheds into a full AU of himself where he isn't human, but a highly advanced Android that didn't know he was an Android until very recently. Many things in his life are the same, and he remembers Deerington, but through the perspective of an Android Lance with slight differences to his background and certain edits to what he experienced. From his perspective, he's just returned from a big "canon update" where he discovered what he is and is understandably shook.UNSNAKELY
He can be found overcompensating as he walks through the streets of Trench or enters various venues to shop, shooting finger guns at every person he sees. This is normal, he's normal, he's totally a person and not a thing with no soul. But the mechanism that keeps his head attached to his body is disrupted after he recently tested taking it off and promptly freaked the fuck out, he didn't put it back on entirely right, so all it takes is someone or something jostling him and- POP! His head comes off and rolls up to your feet.
He looks up at you from the ground looking like he's barely keeping his shit together and trying not to freak out as he blinks and then laugh so nervously and through a tight anxious throat, that he chokes on it.]
Hey, l-looks like I lost my head a second there...
v. (closed) [Vary late in the month, Lance is a merboy! He sheds to the form in the night, and all his memories are shifted slightly, he doesn't know where he is and believes belongs with Mariana ever since arriving in Trench. In his version of history, many things are the same, except that he had his DNA messed with on an ocean planet and gained the ability to turn into a mer. He struggled with the feral nature of that side for a long time and coming to Trench, steeped in blood pollution caused him to perma shift into the merman state and heavily bond with the Ocean. Naturally, this was startling and scary to him to wake up in a strange place and he started freaking the fuck out when woken.]
vi. [After merboy Lance is brought back to Mariana, he is actually quite happy to talk to people who come by the docks, he'll pop up out of the water and grin with all sharp teeth and flirt, Mariana sometimes assisting him further out of the water by lifting water with him in a cone. But his flirting is sometimes meant to lure in victims... yes, he's one of those siren types of merpeople. Sometimes, he's harmlessly interacting and interested in having some fun, others... he's hunting.
If he's not directly targeting you on the docks, you can catch him in the middle of luring a poor sailor out of their boat and into the water with him. If you call out to interrupt, he'll look over at you with a death glare and his hands fisted in the person's shirt as he's in the process of pulling them in.]
Ohoho you better not be interrupting us right now. Can't you see we're having a moment??
vii. [Lance has taken a liking to Madam Generosity as she slithers through the streets. He feels comforted by her and talks to her as she goes, running to try nad keep up. Then, it doesn't take long before he's just riding on her back every now and again throughout the month, no matter what form he's taken or what memories he has (excluding merboy). Catch him lounging on his back with his hands up and pillowing the back of his head and ankles crossed like he's on the beach, definitely flirting with the giant snake.]WINTER MOURNINGS
So, how's your day going, beautiful? Heading anywhere interesting?
viii. [Because of his affection for Madam Generosity, he does fall into the unsnakely's traps more than once and in multiple shedded forms (all but merboy). And unfortunately, his star powers are still not working correctly, even after he's shedded, and in some forms he has no powers at all, so when he follows the trail to find the snake of his heart, he's not the most prepared for when a giant fiery beast emerges to attack.]
AHHHH!
[Immediately, he leaps out of the way of a fiery attack and covers his head protectively. Then he hops up and looks around for any assistance or weapons or ideas. Regardless, he's taking a stance and rolling up his sleeves.]
Alright, let's do this.
[And if he's in a body that has powers and/or combat training (regardless of their functionality), he'll stand his ground. If he's his younger, early canon self or his catboy self, he'll immediately run for his life after saying that.]
ix. [Possible memories from Deerington open in the thick of a jungle where many of them were forced to battle each other much like in the Hunger Games. This is where he ate a man, killed his friend Moira and where Reaper tortured him to death in revenge and he'll look around at the place they end up, look at you, then at the area again...] Nope. Bye.WILDCARD
[And with that he turns to walk away into the jungle. And if it's not the jungle you found yourself in, it's the streets of Deerington during darker periods such as October's blood filled streets or something that looks more benign and normal but definitely isn't. He'll have no idea what is about to happen and that makes him fidgety. He looks around uneasily and then his hands come up to his head.] Maaan, this could be anything!
x. [The experience begins in his memory and the first thing you see is the inside of a very futuristic space ship, fighter cockpit, or you're in the back seat of a land rover on earth. These possible memories are from his time back home and they have him sighing next to you heavily with a note of "oh this again" on his breath.] Well, let's strap in, this'll be over soon.
( Want to combine old Winter Mourning Prompts with current events? Want to add a lockjoint element to one of these prompts? Or just wanna come up with something completely unique? Hit me with anything your heart desires. Current Event and last month's event prompts are largely flexible with each AU form as well, if you want a specific AU form for a prompt that doesn't specify which one/leaves it open, just let me know in the subject line. If you'd like to plot, I would be more than happy to! Contact me on my plotting comment where I detail all my ideas so far, atspypigeon or on discord at charley#8222! )
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The Pthumerian Ocean is… alive, and intimidating and overwhelming in ways he has trouble describing. So since he came to these waters, he's lingered by the shores and docks, not exactly keen to go further out. Plus, he still likes people, and… now eats them. And it's nice to talk, but since he became a merboy, there aren't a lot of people who seem to want to initiate conversation when they see him.
So this is a surprise, for sure. He hears the boy from under the water, looks up and can see he looks almost like his nephew. If he gained a few years… which by now he probably has, it's been so long since he's seen him. Well that thought is really depressing, so he's just going to abruptly pop up to the surface now right next to where Luca is looking down at the water.]
Sure. What's your name?
[He still looks like himself from the waist up, but he has fins where his ears are normally, and also between his fingers. There's also patches of scales around his joints and along his sides, and his eyes have an odd catlike reflective quality to them, but otherwise look human. When he speaks, some sharper teeth are also visible.]
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Luca. And I'm...well, I'm not exactly like you, but...
[The water will feel cold and miserable right now, but maybe it won't be too bad if it's just a splash? Luca pulls off a glove and reaches into the water, green scales spreading across his hand an blue webbing forming between his fingers. Then, noticing how much Lance's ear fins look like his own, Luca scoops up a bunch of the water and splashes his own ear so it'll transform.]
I'm a sea creature, too. I'd get in the water, but I'm from a much warmer climate than this, so I'm not sure how safe it would be.
[He'd probably slow down and possibly freeze to death. Sure, he was pretty adaptive and maybe could adjust to colder waters over time, but jumping in when he hadn't had a chance to adapt would be a terrible idea.]
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Hey, would you check that out? That's pretty cool! So you just turn whenever you get wet?
[Then he looks down at the water he's in and nods.]
It is pretty cold, I'm definitely not a fan. [A wave seems to lift impossibly up from the surface of the water and rumble with agitation, and then big swells from the ocean start up seemingly out of nowhere. He looks panicked and adds, talking to the water:] You know what I mean! You're great all the time, but I grew up in Cuba, I'm used to warm water like Luca here!
[He jabs his thumb at Luca and after a moment, that seems to appease the ocean enough to lower the swells a bit.]
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[His eyes go wide when he sees the way Lance and the ocean interact.]
Woah...you can talk to the ocean? I just lived in it, but it was never something I could talk to.
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Well, I can talk to this ocean. She's a Pthumerian. Pretty sure all other oceans are just plain old water. Weeell… most are, anyway.
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Well, I guess they don't exactly say it's weird, but some people have definitely been surprised when the fish stuff came out! But...not in a bad way. Not like it was back home.
[He thinks about the squid thing for a moment.]
Although...technically...squids are cephalopods, so technically they're shape shifting cephalopod people. Totally different.
[Or is it, since Luca was a squid, too?]
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[Then his brows draw together a bit.] Sorry to hear people get freaked out by you back home. Humans aren't great at the whole accepting different people thing, are they?
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[Luca thinks about the humans not being great at accepting different people thing.]
Well, some are. I mean, sure, there were humans who wanted to hurt me back home...but there were also humans who saved me from them. And then there are tons of nice people here! But...then they're actually squids, so I don't know if that counts. Maybe that's why I like hanging out with other people that look like monsters here, because I kind of feel like they'll get it.
cw: light discussion of racism
Well yeah, not all humans are freaked out by people who are different. Some people back home were way more ready to hang out with aliens than I thought they'd be. And around here I think aliens and aquatic animal people are pretty normal compared to a lot of the every day creatures and stuff that happens. [He tilts his head thoughtfully.] But I don't think someone's gotta look like a monster to get what it's like to be treated worse for looking different, back in Deerington a lot of the locals were pretty racist. And by the way, you don't look like a monster to me.
CW: Discussion of racism continues
Yeah. And...I guess we're not that much different. I mean, my parents had a lot of stuff to say about 'land monsters' even though I never even saw one up close until a few days before I ended up here.
And...I guess I wouldn't look like a monster to you even if I was in my natural form, because you're a fish person, too, but...I mean, I don't look like a monster to anyone right now, but if I got wet that would change.
[Lance already got a small glimpse of what that would look like from Luca splashing himself, of course, but he didn't see Luca's complete sea monster form. By now the parts of him that had grown scales and fins had already reverted back.]
What do you mean about Deerington locals being racist, though?
[While the concept of racism is something Luca's aware of in the sense of different species being racist against each other, the concept of humans being racist against other humans is not something he's encountered. Not because he comes from some egalitarian time or place, but mostly because he only first spoke to a human three days before showing up in the Trench, so he simply knows next to nothing about human history or culture.]
CW: Discussion of racism continues
There's good guys and bad guys of all shapes and sizes, sometimes when people are scared, it feels safer to call everyone who's not like you a monster. [Then he tilts his head and squints in a way that usually goes along with an "ummm, actually…"]
Weeelll, I wasn't always a fish person. Where I'm from, we travel to all kinds of different planets and we landed on this planet that had fish aliens who could change you to be like them. They did that to me but didn't finish the job, and I've been kind of like you ever since. I'd look human on land, but get me wet and I'm like this… but lately, I can't change back to human anymore.
[That last part has him looking tense and pensive for a moment, but then he shrugs.]
And what I mean is humans sometimes hurt and discriminate against other humans because of the color of their skin or because of who they fall in love with… or any other things that make them different. Lots of the locals in Deerington were stuck in the past. Literally. To them it was the 1950s, which was a time when people who weren't white and straight were… less than human. I got called some things because I'm Cuban, was even attacked a couple times… [More than a couple times.] My friend Chloe used to get her truck vandalized like alllll the time.
CW: Discussion of racism continues
[At least when they're dry.]
When it warms back up, we should definitely swim together.
[Finally, it's the swim partner he'd been waiting for. Although, he feels kind of bad.]
Do you miss being human?
[Luca knows he'd miss being able to turn human. Being able to explore the surface had been amazing, though he did also miss the water being warm enough for him to swim in the ocean. Still, at least he knows it'll warm back up and he'll be able to go back in. He listens as he hears Lance describe how humans can be. With how colorful and varied sea monsters were, and how they might not even keep their coloration if they go to the deep sea, it's honestly surprising to him to hear such small differences could be enough to make humans treat even their own kind as badly as they treated sea monsters.]
They attacked you? I mean, I've been attacked before, too, but...I didn't think they'd do the same to normal humans. I guess we don't care as much about color because we can lose ours if we stay in the Deep too long. Literally. It's kind of gross, though, because you can see their organs and everything.
[He can see why his mom was so afraid of them, then, though, if they treated each other like that. Still, Luca's met enough good humans to know that they're not all like that.]
What's 'straight' mean?
[He knows what a straight line is, but he's not aware of how a person could or couldn't be straight. Unless he means that they really hate anyone who's hunched over?]
CW: Discussion of racism continues
[And he doesn't really wanna think about it beyond that point, so he moves on and nods in confirmation of Luca's question. Then he tilts his head thinking about the difference of the way sea monsters view color. His nose crinkles at the gross visual of that, organs thing, though.]
Dude, seriously? Gross man. But I think maybe it has something to do with the way humans evolved or something.
[He shrugs uncomfortably. He grew up in a future that was a bit more accepting compared to a lot of eras in human history. They'd invented hover craft and were making manned expeditions to Pluto. And he'd dealt with racism growing up, definitely… but nothing like what he experienced in Deerington, it was deeply uncomfortable and he was in no way an expert on the why, just on how it felt. And he doesn't want to talk about how it felt. Then Luca poses that question and he looks surprised by it for a moment and then chuckles.]
It just means if you're a boy, you like girls and if you're a girl, you like boys. Y'know… in that way.
CW: Shifting to Luca contemplating homophobia
[He pauses, thinking, considering everything that was just said. Does he like girls? Hanging out with Giulia is fun, but he doesn't really feel that way about her. Not like he does about Alberto. He also thinks about the time period thing, and realizes he doesn't know what year it is in his own timeline and how close it is to the 1950s. After all, it's not like sea monsters operated on human calendars. Depending on when it is, though, he might have a few more unpleasant surprises to deal with when it comes to living among humans.]
You know...since I don't know a lot about humans, I don't really know what year it is in my world. I know...I know they listen to music with a machine that has a crank on one side and a little pointy thing that touches down on a flat disc that spins and music comes out of a big flower shaped thing, and they have boats with motors and bikes...I'm not sure if that tells you what era I'm from? And how...how the humans are back there?
CW: Shifting to Luca contemplating homophobia
[Then he tilts his head, watching Luca go through some internal something. His empathy tells him moods, but not what causes them, so he can tell there's some deep thought and a little concern maybe? Then he takes a moment to consider all of Luca's questions.]
It kinda sounds like early to mid 1900s to me, but I'm not an expert… what're you worried about? I thought you knew most humans were afraid of you for being a sea monster, or is there something else?
CW: Shifting to Luca contemplating homophobia
[And if he lives here, then attitudes of people back there are irrelevant.]
But...I kind of think I have a crush on a boy back home.
CW: Shifting to Luca contemplating homophobia
[Lance grins with a sidelong look, because that's cute. That's hella cute, as Chloe would probably say.]
Weeell, tell me about him.
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He's about my age, a little older, and he's a sea monster, too! He's really brave, and he's the one who got me to come out of the water in the first place and he taught me to walk and everything. He's collected all sorts of human stuff, and he's really nice. We even stayed up late one night so he could show me the stars! We had plans to run away together on a vespa, but that...didn't really work out.
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Maaan, you got it bad. [He chuckles and smiles slightly.] How come it didn't work out? And… why did you guys wanna run away together?
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[So...he kind of ruined it himself.]
But I think in the end, Alberto got something he needed from all of that, too, because one of the humans kind of took him in and he really needed a dad.
[As for why they were doing it in the first place...]
We'd been sneaking off to an abandoned island together, and my parents found out I was going on land. They were going to send me to the Deep.
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Okay, first of all: awesome choice in life goals. Seeing as I've been to the stars and studied science too, you and me? We're gonna get along. And your dreams always come first, follow them no matter what, don't forget that.
And it sounds like even if things didn't go like you guys planned, you both ended up on the path you needed to be. And maybe your paths'll come back together, never know, right? Also… that seems like a pretty harsh punishment for just going to an abandoned island.
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[Because even if Luca can't actually get to space, that won't stop him from learning everything about it.]
And yeah, my parents were pretty strict about the 'no land' thing. But when they caught up to me and Alberto, Alberto talked them out of it and convinced them to let me go to school! I hope you're right about us coming back together again.
[Because Alberto's the best.]
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[Space is stupid cool and Luca is valid for loving it.]
Alberto really is a special guy, huh. Not a lot of people out there who'd go that far for someone else.
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