Gain the weight of you then lose it

[reddosmod]

JANUARY 2022 EVENT

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Woman in an elaborate blue dress with high collar staring at camera while people dance in background.]
[Image Two: Woman in pink dress touching chest and smiling at camera while people dance in background.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Explicit gif of snake shedding its skin and a new viperlike snake coming out of the old skin.]
[Image Two: Gif of eyes gazing at camera and right eye turning yellow.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Image of rock snake with fire glowing in its mouth.]
[Image Two: Gif of a snake made entirely out of flames hissing.]

[NAVIGATION]

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

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

SNAKE DEN

WHEN: Evenings throughout January
WHERE: The Red, Cellar Door
CONTENT WARNINGS: Alcohol/Drugs, possible NSFW scenarios, forced honesty, mood altering substances.

---

Around Trench, Sleepers will find a gold-edged flyer pinned to most doors, lamps, and posted around stores and throughout the market. Some may even find the flyer pinned to their front door:

MADAM GENEROSITY INVITES YOU TO THE SNAKE DEN

Hello darling and dearest Sleepers! Do not let the cold dampen your spirit or weaken your hope. Do not allow our differences to divide us; do not let the frigid drive you to isolation; do not hurt your soul by forgetting one another. They say snakes cannot thrive in the cold, yet here I am, defying it, thriving despite it. You can too. We must persist. We shall persist. Not with violence and bloodshed, not with pollution and corruption, but with unity! With compassion and fun.

I invite you all to join me at The Red every odd evening of January! Welcome to the Snake Den! A little Talent Show I throw occasionally to remind Sleepers of their profound potential for greatness and awe! Come be flashy on stage or to support your friends. After the Talent Show is our famed Fashion Show. Do you have eccentric outfits you would like to show off? Now is truly your time to shine!

The evening will be filled with plenty of food and drink for all. We shall dance, we shall show off, we shall persist and defy corruption together. Let my lovely Night Walkers shine and keep you company for the evening. Find some new friends, have an illicit affair, or just come so you don't have to be alone for a night. You are all welcome...And don't worry, I've enchanted the Red so that none of your powers can cause any damage while inside the building. Feel free to really make a light show with your fire! It won't hurt anyone.

I so look forward to seeing all of you there.

With Love,
Madam Generosity

The Red has been elaborately decorated for the Snake Den spectacle. Enormous golden statues of snakes have been placed throughout. Golden lights glitter above. Servers carry about golden flutes of champagne, soda, and sparkling water. You can order other drinks at the bar. While the invite has gone out to Sleepers, there are some regular Trenchies who have come to show their support. To perform in the Talent Show portion, one simply needs to go backstage to prepare with the rest.

A female Trenchie named Dorothea seems to be directing the acts. People can perform multiple times. Talents performed can include music, comedy, dance routines, or little skits. After the Talent Show concludes, a Fashion Show will be put on, and everyone is encouraged to join. You can get your hair and make-up done elaborately backstage and find eccentric outfits to try on if you're not so happy with the one you showed up in.

Going to the Snake Den at this time will cause incredible stress relief. Even those who are typically shy or introverted will find themselves soothed at the Snake Den. Giant pillows have been thrown about so people can puddle in together and snuggle up. Private rooms have been created out of silks for some private conversations or interactions.

There must be something in the drinks or the snacks going around because it becomes easy to become a much more outgoing version of yourself at the party. It may increase friendliness or touchiness and relax people's usual reservations. Who knows? It might encourage you to go up on stage and show off a bit or talk to that handsome stranger who has been eying you the whole night. Regular intoxication from alcohol/drugs is possible as well which means some people might not need the additional encouragement.

Regular dancing occurs after the Fashion Shows with various musicians performing on stage to fill the night up with plenty of mood melodies. As the evening prolongs, the lights dim and things become quiet and soothing. Since paleblood magic is exceptionally strong this month with honesty, attendants of the party may find themselves being more open and honest about themselves. Hopefully, you don't confess anything too vulnerable about yourself...

FAQ:
1. Characters with mental abilities may be able to resist the honesty sway if they consciously realize it is happening.

2. Any talent can be performed on the stage.

3. The flyer is magically enchanted so that people who touch it will feel unusually excited to go to the Snake Den.

THE SHEDDING CEREMONY

WHEN: Begins in January - Effects may be permanent. Players choose when the effects wear off.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Forced modification of body, possible themes of body dysmorphia, shedding/peeling skin, burning/eating dead skin, alternate versions of characters, possible genderswapping, possible alteration of personality/memories.

---

[A passage from Rituals and Reality; Chapter 2: The Shedding Ceremony. Found exclusively in Gaze:]

"Worshippers of Madam Generosity believed that the shedding of snakeskin was symbolic to the shedding of an old life and the acceptance of a new life. The skin left behind was a reminder of past trials and tribulations, and the skin you walk away with is evidence of all that you have learned and experienced. In ancient times, Sleepers would ritualistically select one of their own to sacrifice to Madam Generosity. Eventually, Sleepers would come to learn that Madam Generosity did not appreciate blood sacrifices. Due to her gentle nature, she encouraged Sleepers to pay tribute to her in other ways.

Thus came the Shedding Ceremony. Sleepers would rub away chapped skin and set it afire in a bowl. They would reflect on lives left behind and the new life they had been given in Trench. Over time, this created a powerful magical experience that persisted beyond the original ceremony. The Shedding Ceremony is both a ritual and an enchantment.

As January begins, Sleepers may find that their skin has become dry and brittle. The generous application of lotions and oils may soothe the skin, but neglected skin can begin to peel off. Although it is a painless experience, it can be rather gross to look at and a bit itchy. Then one day, you simply fall asleep and when you awaken, you are an entirely different version of yourself. You will find a nearly perfect replica of your old self in a shed skin nearby. Your new body may be stronger, faster, more powerful. Old scars may be healed, lost limps replaced...Or you might be an entirely new gender. Some have even experienced becoming a different species. Some awaken as an older or younger variation of themselves while others find that they have become an alternate version of themselves.

These effects have been known to last for a few days up to months at a time. In some scenarios, the effects have become permanent. Some believe it to be a curse while others believe it is a gift. It may happen multiple times and take a few sheds to return to your original body. It is believed that ingesting your old skin or burning it alleviates the changes and brings you back to your original body faster. Generous application of lotion and oils can prevent the Shedding Ceremony altogether for some - or at the very least, slow it down."

FAQ

1. Characters can avoid this prompt altogether via the application of lotion.

2. If you decide to permanently change your character in a big way (ie; changing their species/gender/age) then we do ask that you update your character on the taken page to reflect that they are now an Alternate Version of a character. This would open up the original character to be applicable to new players.

3. This can change blood types for those interested in trying on a new blood type. You can either temporarily change a blood type or permanently. If you permanently change a blood type, let us know on the Blood Type page and update your information on the taken page.

4. You can play out the transformation as explicitly or non-explicitly as you want. Maybe characters see the changes happening under their peeling skin or just wake up in their new body. The peeling does not need to be any more graphic than what you would typically see on dry skin.

5. You can alter a character's gender, species, age, blood type, or switch to a general alternate version of a character (ie; Coffee Shop AU, an AU of your character but with different powers, an AU of your character if they came from a different canon or timeline.) Please have fun with this and explore the possibilities for as long as you like!

Unsnakely

WHEN: All of Bone Season
WHERE: Anywhere outside
CONTENT WARNINGS: Possible injuries or death from burns/fire.

---

[A journal entry from the Wayward Watcher that can be found in the Archaic Archives reads:]

"Do not trust the naked snake trails of January. They exist to trick you into a sense of Madam Generosity's comfort. The Good Pthumerian leaves snow tracks in her wake, but the Unsnakely leaves melted trails of snow. This creature has spent centuries cloaking itself to rope in those who devotedly follow Madam Generosity. The kind people of Trench look to snakes as a trustworthy, compassionate symbol filled with good intention.

There are many ways to anticipate the Unsnakely's presence. Besides its melted trails (that eventually turn to ice in the cold), you may notice pockets of comfortable heat. While many believe greenery is a good sign, do not be fooled by the melted patches of grass you find. These are not symbols of an early spring. They are symbols of incoming destruction.

The Unsnakely is not of blood or soul; it is a blood curse of the earth, a product of Blood Pollution. It's a creature made out of rock, with no pulse, no soul, no mind. Molten lava pours through its body. It moves in and out of the earth without disturbing the surface, transforming from rock into small beasts or a snake the size of your home. It looks to spill blood to freshen its own magic and its choice of weapon is its size and the fire it breathes. A furious Unsnakely will light up in flames and can bring great destruction to its surroundings. People have lost their homes to the Unsnakely and of course, people have lost their lives.

The Unsnakely, no matter the size it takes, is as fast and lethal as a typical snake. It cannot truly die, as it is a curse of the earth, but it can be physically destroyed by immense blunt strength or coldblood abilities whether fire or ice. Typical ice abilities will not work against the snake - they must come from a coldblood source. Enchanted coldblood items will be effective against the Unsnakely.

The Unsnakely can spit fire like venom and boil the air around it. It can be difficult to get physically close enough to land a blow due to the suffocatingly hot temperature rolling off its body. It traditionally hunts in the streets and in the woods, by the beach and among the cliffs. Once someone has slain the beast, it returns to the earth where it rebuilds itself over a period of 2-3 days. It primarily hunts during Bone Season, preferring to use the cloak of Madam Generosity to its advantage.

Since this is not a traditional snake, it has no desire to "eat" anyone. It will simply roast you alive - which is arguably worse for some. Its fire burns hotter and brighter than regular fire, and it is a slow, agonizing death that has caused absolute madness in some. People have claimed to see strange visions in the smoke that pours off of the Unsnakely, causing distortion in battle. Do not inhale too much of the Unsnakely's smoke as it will cause intense vertigo. Remember: this is a creature of deception.

Lastly, it would be beneficial to know that the Unsnakely cannot hear or see. It responds to the vibration around it. Some who stay still may get the upper hand, but the creature can feel the vibrations of your heartbeat if your pulse is unusually elevated. Good luck, fellow Hunters. Treat burns by the Unsnakely with vileblood. I know it sounds mad, but the vileblood seems to attack whatever cursed heat comes with burns from the Unsnakely.

Take care of yourself,
- The Wayward Watcher"

FAQ
1. Characters who can manipulate earth can contort/stop/fight against the Unsnakely's natural body. It will take great control to fully control or dismantle the body.

2. Coldbloods with fire abilities can similarly control the fire of the Unsnakely with great control.

CODING

Comments

A. — Horror Mom finds Smaul

[rosae]

It's pretty out, with the snow. Rose finds herself outside a lot, breathing in the crisp chill of it, sitting outside on the porch of the Victorian cottage she's claimed, sipping warm tea. It's a strange awareness that a couple of months have passed since she washed up here. Her hair's grown out a bit, she's gotten more clothes for herself; on the surface she looks... settled in.

Though she's hardly truly settled into this place. She still feels... like an outsider, a temporary guest. The future that perpetually lives in her mind is find Sharon, and then find a way out of here, and she's restless, still.

She's sitting on her porch now when she hears a bit of a ruckus going on down the street. Rose gently sets her tea down and heads that way, just in time to hear some of those bloody threats being unleashed by someone hiding in a snow fort. Clearly, by the voice, it's a child.

Rose then witnesses some snowballs pelting some passerby... without the child actually touching them at all. Is he doing it with his mind....? The woman's eyes widen for a moment, but then she's carefully approaching the snow fort, arms folded gently across her chest. Perhaps she should be afraid of someone with powers like that, but she isn't. He's a child, and she of all people knows that even a child with such powers or capabilities deserves to be protected, too.

"You doing okay in there? I thought I heard mention of some blood."

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul's starting to feel alright in this town. He'd been scared at first, afraid this was a test by his master, but while he can feel Force-sensitive people using the Dark Side here, none of them have the distinctive signature of Darth Sidious. So Maul has begun to relax and do what an eight-year-old child his age should be doing: happily playing.

Of course, having been raised by Sidious for the past three years has left Maul a little more odd than most children his age, but he truly doesn't mean any harm. At this point in his life, there's still innocence left in the little boy and a desire to be good.

He's giggling in the fort after hitting another person with a few snowballs when he hears a woman's voice coming towards him. It's a human about the same age his mother is. Normally shy around adults, Maul can sense the goodness in Rose with his Force powers and knows she's alright. Given how matriarchal the Nightkin are on Dathomir and how his mother was the one who loved and cared for him in his early years, Maul trusts women a lot more than he does men. They're the boss in his mind. He pulls back the hood of the fluffy black cloak he has himself in and smiles up at her. Despite the rather extreme look of the little child making him resemble a demon, he's got the voice of a kid and the excited demeanor of one as well while he plays. "That's cause I was killing pirates earlier!" Besides the snow fort, there's also a number of roughly humanoid figures made out of snow by the boy.

"You do it like this!" Maul picks up a very large stick he'd found and starts whacking the snowmen to pieces with great vigor. "Die die die die die!" Once he finishes smashing them to pieces, they start to rebuild themselves without him ever touching them, the Force once again helping the Nightbrother kit to do what he wants. The bits of snow on the ground come back together and coalesce into the lumpy snowmen again. He looks back up at Rose.

"You kill them and kill them and then they fall down dead and there's blood everywhere!" Judging by Maul's innocent playing, he doesn't seem to find anything wrong with this creepy and inappropriate behavior for a child of his age. It's obvious that wherever and whoever he picked these concepts up from, he doesn't truly understand what it all means.

[rosae]

Rose watches as the child pulls down his hood to reveal himself — and she's surprised to see a unique visage that's.... familiar. She'd met the adult version not long ago, and there's no doubt this must be the same person. How many like him can there be...?

She doesn't know what's going on or why he's so much younger now, but that part doesn't matter, right now. He's a child, however it is, and he's out here all alone. So she listens attentively, all through the proclamations of death and blood....

Rose is not very used to little boys. She only knows Sharon — and Sharon was always such a tender little thing, soft-spoken, gentle-natured... easily frightened, but never anything but sweet. Now that she knows the truth about her daughter's origins (as Dark Alessa told her, Sharon was the good part left of Alessa, forged into its own body...) Rose has to wonder if perhaps her little girl was inhumanly sweet. Even if she was, it's all a far cry from dealing with little boys.

It's clear this particular little boy, who might not even be human either, has been exposed to some very... concerning things. The woman moves closer, and smiles down at him. When she speaks, her voice is gentle.

"You know, it sounds like an awful lot of work, killing so many people. Did somebody tell you to do that, or did you decide to yourself?"

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul stops what he's doing and looks up at the nice lady. He's still holding the very large stick he has and lets the end of it touch the ground, holding onto it like it's a spear. He's smiling when he talks. "Master says the Sith are supposed to gain power and one of the ways to gain power is by killing people. He says I'll learn how to do it when I'm older so I can become a real Sith Lord." This is all said like he's heard the words many times and memorized it by rote.

While Maul's not stupid and actually very bright for his age, it's clear he doesn't quite understand the consequences yet of what killing actually means. He's too young and innocent to fully comprehend the gravity of what his master has been telling him. He's just going along with it because he wants to be good so his master will approve of and be nice to him. That's why it's all a game to it.

"He lets me read books sometimes in the library and in all of them the Sith kill lots of people in big massacres and there's limbs that get chopped off and buildings blow up and sometimes whole planets get sub-- sub-ju-gated." He doesn't seem to know what that last word means other than it's something that the Dark Lords of the Sith are supposed to do. No wonder he's developed this creepy game, he's also been reading books that are wildly inappropriate for his maturity level. "So that's something you just gotta learn how to do, so I'm practicing right now."

[rosae]

Master.... That word immediately doesn't sit right with her. There's an odd discomfort, a sort of chill that ripples down Rose's spine. No mention of a parent, but a master.... No, she definitely doesn't like that word one bit.

By now, she's very aware of the fact that there are a variety of people here from a variety of worlds, universes, places that don't even exist in her reality, differing cultures and races. Roses knows there's so very little she does know, and perhaps this sort of thing is the norm where he comes from.

....Or perhaps something horrible happened to him. She thinks of Alessa — the original Alessa — twisted into something violent and powerful because of what was done to her. There was no judgement from Rose towards that child. She'd willingly helped her seek her revenge against the Church, and she'd do it again.

No matter what, a child should be protected.

She listens to this child speak of a variety of horrors that have been introduced to him through lessons and books, terms no child should know about. Words he can barely pronounce.

"If you didn't have to learn about those things, would you want to? If nobody, not even your Master, told you that you had to do it?" Rose asks with a gentle, conversational tone, as though talking to any other child about any other thing. There's an easy little smile at her mouth, despite everything.

"Because I don't know, gaining power doesn't sound so fun to me... It sounds kind of stressful."

cw: physical child abuse mentions

[survivalthroughhate]

Much in the way poor Alessa had been exposed to pure evil in the form of monstrous people and became something of a monster herself, the same thing has happened to Maul. While Alessa's corruption was very swift, Maul's took a very long time, over the course of many years until Sidious got what he wanted out of the boy: a killing machine, an assassin without thought or conscience that was as unfeeling as the saberstaff that he wielded.

Fortunately, that is all in the future for this young boy. Right now, though he's been through horrific things, he's not beyond hope. He's still got something of childhood innocence within him and isn't a monster yet. He's just a boy who wants to play in the snow even if it's in a creepy way.

"Mmmmm..." Maul makes a humming sound like the kind kids will when they're afraid that the next thing they might say will make an adult mad. Maul clearly seems to be expecting an eventual punishment even if Rose is being really nice to him right now. Finally, he speaks, but much more softly and with far less eye contact than before. He's scared but the lady seems so nice he hopes she won't want to hit him the way his master often did when he said the wrong thing. "If I could, I'd want to go back home. To go be with Mother and my little brother." He says the words like they're a secret he's not supposed to tell. "But Master says I'm not supposed to talk about them."

It does make it clear though that whether Maul is his master's ward or slave, (though he's definitely a little of both) he has a family beyond the man who's been corrupting his little mind with the inappropriate things that he's been taught.

cw: questioning about child abuse

[rosae]

Rose does her best to control her expression at the answer, but it's hard. Her mouth tightens a little, that soft smile fluttering just a tad. Something in her eyes shifts, saddening. Her heart immediately hitches, like something's pinched it too hard, too fast. This poor child. What... happened to him? How did this "Master" get ahold of him? There's a flare of anger in her, and an ache.

She has to take a moment to respond.

"He doesn't sound like a very nice person at all. He sounds really scary to me."

Her words are sweet and gentle and some attempt to soften this, to coat this child in a protective padding against what she's about to ask. But she can only do that to some extent, and her own question hurts her, the weight of it. Even as she keeps her tone soft, tries to be gentle with him.

"Does he ever hurt you, sweetie?"

cw: physical and mental child abuse mentions, probably likely for the rest of the thread

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul nods silently when she says he's scary. For Maul, he's the scariest person he'll ever know, and that fear is so deep-set into Maul even as an adult that certain triggers will still snap him right back into PTSD-fueled flashbacks that make him feel like a small, helpless, and scared child again.

At her question, Maul's gaze drops, and he rubs his hands together. Though it's hard to tell with the red skin and black tattoos covering them, there's some Lichtenburg figures there made from a recent bout of Force Lightning Maul had to deal with. He speaks very softly and doesn't look up to meet Rose's eyes. "He only does it when I do something wrong or or make mistakes or when I've been bad. He says he has to punish me so I'll learn not to do stuff again."

Sidious has already brainwashed the poor child into thinking every time he's abused that it's his fault instead of Sidious just being a cruel, sadistic bastard who will do whatever it takes to mold the little Dathomirian kit into the weapon he wants him to be. It will take Maul a long, long time to realize nothing he did as a child ever warranted the amount of abuse he'd been put through.

[rosae]

Perhaps a large part of her had predicted the child's answer, seen it coming. That doesn't mean it doesn't strike through her so hard that it hurts. For a moment, she's back in that hospital room, stained red from rust and blood. Learning the truth about what happened to Alessa, the girl her daughter came from. The reason Sharon was born.

What horrible things had happened to her, them.... the pain, abuse, inflicted by adults. Rose feels a fiery anger boiling within her, mixed with a conflicting sensation of ice — an awful, awful chill, a sorrow so deep she feels sick.

Slowly, she lowers closer to the ground, kneeling next to him. Though he isn't meeting her eyes, the woman's own pair stay right on the boy's face. Gently, a hand reaches to his shoulder, fingertips softly touching there.

"I'm so sorry. No one should ever hurt you. Not ever. No matter what, you never, ever deserve to be hurt."

Her voice is thick with emotion, though she tries to control it. After a moment, her hand finds his shoulder, gives it a soft, affectionate squeeze.

"Do you know why? Because adults are always supposed to protect kids. And if they don't...? That makes them bad. Not you."

[survivalthroughhate]

To here!