Viktor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mehanizovati) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deercountry2022-03-31 12:24 pm
mehanizovati) wrote in deercountry2022-03-31 12:24 pm
april catch - all
Who: viktor and others, open to all with some closed prompts
What: some late march/early april logs, including some tdm stuff. i'm happy to attach something else on if anyone's interest in doing something specific
When: late march through april
Where: various
content warning; terminal illness, arcane season 1 spoilers, likely game typical beast gore/body horror, potentially ableism mentioned, claustrophobic imagery
open prompts.
fishers of dreams - the lighthouse, early april (tdm)
a. while awake
[if you've been roped into this lighthouse business too you may enter to find a man already there. he seems vaguely disgruntled by the business, offers vague greetings but otherwise sticks to scribbling in his notebook. it looks like schematics and formulae, but anyone with an eye for either might notice they tend to trail off and start in odd bursts.
viktor will offer to cook when evening falls (or whatever seems to be the right mealtime in this place) so maybe that is a better time to strike up conversation. the smell coming from the kitchen is heavy on whatever spices the place stocks, promising pain to anyone who doesn't have the stomach for that sort of thing. worse if he finds the rotgut liquor tucked away, which he will pull out and offer despite smelling more like turpentine than anything edible.
these tricks of the eye though, flashes of people vaguely recognizable, he chalks it up more hallucinations. last month was mushrooms, so this? irritating, far more distracting, but it followed the pattern.
it isn't until later in all this he'll track whoever is with him down.] Did you see someone else come through? There, just up the stairs.
b. nightmare
[trying to reach the odd lighthouses is fruitless, the shadows converge and when the dark clears the area seems more closed in than before. it shouldn't be, he was just outside on the shore, yet now the dark sky seems to hang too low, lower still, suffocating.]
What now? This is another illusion of sorts, is it not? One this place is so fond of. [viktor sounds more irritated than anything, maybe defensive since the grip his has on his crutch is white-knuckle tight. in the distance seems to be a lighthouse, though the light is far and the area is so stifling, promising a tunnel that will close and snuff out the light entirely.
it's ridiculous of course, the walls are not that close, certainly not enough for this suffocating grip on the lungs and throat. there's no real explanation, less so when a few steps forward and the ground begins to dot with great metal cables, the distinct, sickly sweet smell of chemicals in the air. there are pools between them where the ocean should have been, this time shallow spills of what could be gasoline or something similar, slick rainbow puddles, oily and difficult to walk through without slipping or sinking.]
(ooc; for this one please, feel free to add your own character's nightmare in any flavor at any point!)
odds and ends - willful machine, early april
[viktor can be found around the vendors often enough, especially those specializing in scrap metal, tools or small machinery. for the most part he doesn't stick out, except for the fact often his massive omen often accompanies him, some sort of huge pink salamander/axolotl that he'll lean against or ask rather politely to help carry larger purchases.
he doesn't seem to notice or care about any attention, though the creature will blink curiously around. feel free to approach or find him haggling rather intently for such a stick of a man, accent thickening when it gets heated enough. maybe you want the same scrap? or are looking for something and he's standing nearby enough to notice a lost look and offers assistance?]
[one might also find him about by the sound of a nasty coughing fit. he stands with his back curled, a rag to his mouth as a makeshift handkerchief. it's a wet cough that shakes his entire frame, and when it's over his sniffs and clears his throat, straightening.
the cloth is stained in a pale color that catches the perpetual moonlight of april. paleblood, that he regards for a moment before folding the cloth in on itself with a small frown.]
closed prompts.
jinx - willful machine, late march
[viktor doesn't stay by the lamp exactly. he would usually but he hardly sees the point when this person he's meeting knows him by sight as far as he can tell. it leaves him feeling comfortable to wander within eyeshot mostly of the lantern, strolling down the canal docks to find a place to stand and watch the boats cut slowly through the water.
he likes it here, he thinks, in this district. the noise and foot traffic, the winding canals and dirty water, the boats bobbing to and fro - it wouldn't be a bad place to set up. a lab that will double as his home because he doesn't see the point in separating the two any longer, even if he can practically hear heimendinger's tutting about his work-life balance in his ear. it will be closer to the vendors, less of a hike to acquire what he'll need to start fresh. first a new brace for his leg and back, then some basic experiments into lunar energy to get a feel for it.
his lungs flare and burn, minor enough he manages to swallow it down without reaching for the rag in his pocket. he makes a note of the severity and timing, adds it to his growing mental list that seems to indicate his illness does indeed remain but is diminished. promising, if he's being optimistic, but at the moment he feels only a sense of irritation that now he doesn't know the timeline of his own life. one he might be shortening drastically with this ridiculous stunt.
a sigh and viktor goes back to watching the boats, trying to clear his head. he considers trying to message vi and ask her opinion of this but... no, he doubts he'll get anything. he's not sure if he disgusts her as a class traitor or amuses her in truth. better to just see for himself what he's gotten himself into like a fool.]
allen - willful machine, early april
[the 'grand tour' doesn't amount to much yet, the lab area just a large, empty space dotted with a few tables and a couple of desks, not even a chalkboard he's been keeping an eye out for or something that could do the same. one of the desks at least is littered with junk, at the moment tools and the starts of a knee brace, a table nearby with all the scrap he's managed to grab that could be useful in the future. one corner has a cot, maybe he'll clear out whatever other small rooms the place has later for a bedroom proper. maybe not.
viktor seems satisfied with it as he gestures around, and rio has commandeered one of the tables for her own to lie across.] A solid start, I think. I like this area, this eh... Willful Machine, that is.
[he'll never admit part of it is the boats. everyone's allowed a sort of childish interest, right? they're soothing, even if they lack the motors that fascinated him.] Have a seat, if you'd like. How have you been since the tombs?
wildcard.
[as i said, feel free to ask for anything else, including other tdm prompts, i am more interested in seeing the worlds built by others for the archway prompts so i didn't include any here. my plurk is![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
dichotomy or you can dm me here!]
What: some late march/early april logs, including some tdm stuff. i'm happy to attach something else on if anyone's interest in doing something specific
When: late march through april
Where: various
content warning; terminal illness, arcane season 1 spoilers, likely game typical beast gore/body horror, potentially ableism mentioned, claustrophobic imagery
open prompts.
fishers of dreams - the lighthouse, early april (tdm)
a. while awake
[if you've been roped into this lighthouse business too you may enter to find a man already there. he seems vaguely disgruntled by the business, offers vague greetings but otherwise sticks to scribbling in his notebook. it looks like schematics and formulae, but anyone with an eye for either might notice they tend to trail off and start in odd bursts.
viktor will offer to cook when evening falls (or whatever seems to be the right mealtime in this place) so maybe that is a better time to strike up conversation. the smell coming from the kitchen is heavy on whatever spices the place stocks, promising pain to anyone who doesn't have the stomach for that sort of thing. worse if he finds the rotgut liquor tucked away, which he will pull out and offer despite smelling more like turpentine than anything edible.
these tricks of the eye though, flashes of people vaguely recognizable, he chalks it up more hallucinations. last month was mushrooms, so this? irritating, far more distracting, but it followed the pattern.
it isn't until later in all this he'll track whoever is with him down.] Did you see someone else come through? There, just up the stairs.
b. nightmare
[trying to reach the odd lighthouses is fruitless, the shadows converge and when the dark clears the area seems more closed in than before. it shouldn't be, he was just outside on the shore, yet now the dark sky seems to hang too low, lower still, suffocating.]
What now? This is another illusion of sorts, is it not? One this place is so fond of. [viktor sounds more irritated than anything, maybe defensive since the grip his has on his crutch is white-knuckle tight. in the distance seems to be a lighthouse, though the light is far and the area is so stifling, promising a tunnel that will close and snuff out the light entirely.
it's ridiculous of course, the walls are not that close, certainly not enough for this suffocating grip on the lungs and throat. there's no real explanation, less so when a few steps forward and the ground begins to dot with great metal cables, the distinct, sickly sweet smell of chemicals in the air. there are pools between them where the ocean should have been, this time shallow spills of what could be gasoline or something similar, slick rainbow puddles, oily and difficult to walk through without slipping or sinking.]
(ooc; for this one please, feel free to add your own character's nightmare in any flavor at any point!)
odds and ends - willful machine, early april
[viktor can be found around the vendors often enough, especially those specializing in scrap metal, tools or small machinery. for the most part he doesn't stick out, except for the fact often his massive omen often accompanies him, some sort of huge pink salamander/axolotl that he'll lean against or ask rather politely to help carry larger purchases.
he doesn't seem to notice or care about any attention, though the creature will blink curiously around. feel free to approach or find him haggling rather intently for such a stick of a man, accent thickening when it gets heated enough. maybe you want the same scrap? or are looking for something and he's standing nearby enough to notice a lost look and offers assistance?]
[one might also find him about by the sound of a nasty coughing fit. he stands with his back curled, a rag to his mouth as a makeshift handkerchief. it's a wet cough that shakes his entire frame, and when it's over his sniffs and clears his throat, straightening.
the cloth is stained in a pale color that catches the perpetual moonlight of april. paleblood, that he regards for a moment before folding the cloth in on itself with a small frown.]
closed prompts.
jinx - willful machine, late march
[viktor doesn't stay by the lamp exactly. he would usually but he hardly sees the point when this person he's meeting knows him by sight as far as he can tell. it leaves him feeling comfortable to wander within eyeshot mostly of the lantern, strolling down the canal docks to find a place to stand and watch the boats cut slowly through the water.
he likes it here, he thinks, in this district. the noise and foot traffic, the winding canals and dirty water, the boats bobbing to and fro - it wouldn't be a bad place to set up. a lab that will double as his home because he doesn't see the point in separating the two any longer, even if he can practically hear heimendinger's tutting about his work-life balance in his ear. it will be closer to the vendors, less of a hike to acquire what he'll need to start fresh. first a new brace for his leg and back, then some basic experiments into lunar energy to get a feel for it.
his lungs flare and burn, minor enough he manages to swallow it down without reaching for the rag in his pocket. he makes a note of the severity and timing, adds it to his growing mental list that seems to indicate his illness does indeed remain but is diminished. promising, if he's being optimistic, but at the moment he feels only a sense of irritation that now he doesn't know the timeline of his own life. one he might be shortening drastically with this ridiculous stunt.
a sigh and viktor goes back to watching the boats, trying to clear his head. he considers trying to message vi and ask her opinion of this but... no, he doubts he'll get anything. he's not sure if he disgusts her as a class traitor or amuses her in truth. better to just see for himself what he's gotten himself into like a fool.]
allen - willful machine, early april
[the 'grand tour' doesn't amount to much yet, the lab area just a large, empty space dotted with a few tables and a couple of desks, not even a chalkboard he's been keeping an eye out for or something that could do the same. one of the desks at least is littered with junk, at the moment tools and the starts of a knee brace, a table nearby with all the scrap he's managed to grab that could be useful in the future. one corner has a cot, maybe he'll clear out whatever other small rooms the place has later for a bedroom proper. maybe not.
viktor seems satisfied with it as he gestures around, and rio has commandeered one of the tables for her own to lie across.] A solid start, I think. I like this area, this eh... Willful Machine, that is.
[he'll never admit part of it is the boats. everyone's allowed a sort of childish interest, right? they're soothing, even if they lack the motors that fascinated him.] Have a seat, if you'd like. How have you been since the tombs?
wildcard.
[as i said, feel free to ask for anything else, including other tdm prompts, i am more interested in seeing the worlds built by others for the archway prompts so i didn't include any here. my plurk is
no subject
But the fear it elicits in her doesn't make her want to hide herself away. No, Rose is freshly invigorated with the desire to find out yet more about this place. She doesn't trust it at all, and she wants to learn anything she can. She's out and about often, though she never stays away from her daughter for long. Trips to various shops and businesses don't take too much time, and there's dashes of exploration in there, too.
She also frequents the beach, because she knows well by now that it's where things wash up. Things from home... and clues, snippets that could be useful. It's where she is now; admittedly, it is a nice day and she's enjoying the fresh breeze as she heads down the boardwalk. The new food items that have popped up catch her eye as well, though less in a curious way and more in a wary one. She'd freshly witnessed what eating weird food can do to people around here.
When she sees a man just up ahead inquiring about it to a vendor, Rose hesitates, before stepping in closer and uttering quietly. )
I wouldn't eat anything here, if I were you. ( But as she takes the stranger in, she notices the mushrooms seemingly blossoming right from his neck, and her eyes widen. )
....Did you already eat something?
no subject
but yes, he ate something he vaguely knew would cause him grief later. his hand goes to his neck before falling again because he isn't sure he should be touching the mushrooms.] Yes, I did. The spring rolls cause... well, this. Plantlike attributes.
I've also seen the cookies here make someone shrink, so that's two effects down. [he says, turning back to glance the selections over with a frown.] I simply don't understand, what is the purpose? Are these made with the intent to cause effects? Is it imposed by some force in the Trench itself?
no subject
Honestly, I have no clue... My daughter tried some chocolates from here and ended up growing horns. ( She can speak more easily about it now, but at the time it happened... Rose was almost sick from worry. )
Fortunately, it wasn't permanent. So hopefully none of this will be, either. ( She gestures to his neck, though the man doesn't seem particularly worried about it, more curious to understand. But Rose has got to Mom a little bit. )
Do you feel... strange, otherwise? Sick or anything?
no subject
[that's... hm, he can see where it would be good and bad. good to have the support, bad because the amount of stress they both must go through when things get dangerous, violent... yes. double edged sword.
he considers her question a moment before saying,] No, I feel the same as I did. The sensation isn't particularly pleasant but it isn't painful. It seems harmless- that and baffling. I do not see the point of this, or horns for that matter.
[sometimes the trench is just like that, he's starting to think.]
no subject
Though she's... not the same age that she was when I saw her last, back home. This place gave her to me nine years older.
( Rose is careful what she divulges about Sharon; her situation is.... certainly very complicated. But there's no need to hide that particular detail about her age-up.
About the horns, however... Rose can't help thinking that in that case, this place was trying to play some cruel joke on Sharon. Reach into the place within her that was called demon by that cult, force her to bear a literal reminder of that. Is it all just coincidence, or is there some true deeper meaning to it? She can't help thinking it's the latter, but she certainly doesn't know for sure. )
I do have to wonder if some of those changes aren't.. intentional. This place seems to know how to look into a person, see their... past. Show them parts of it in twisted ways.
( She pauses though, looking up at the man. Rose smiles a little, halfway joking. )
I don't suppose mushrooms mean anything special to you or your past, do they...?
no subject
Well, I suppose if she was a child when you knew her and older now that is better? Having a child here... [not ideal! still.] That must have been quite the adjustment, regardless. I admit I find the idea of learning the future unsettling.
[some here seem to find peace in it but viktor can't help but think it's a dangerous thing, both to know and to dwell on. better to focus on the now, at the very least.
funnily enough when she says that viktor blinks and realizes... well, yes? his hand goes to the edge where the mushrooms eat skin, thoughtful.] Now that you mention it I suppose these do. Fascinating, it would make sense if the power or magics around this are pulling from some mental reserve of the person they are effecting. You are right, internal struggles do seem to be a favorite of the Trench.
I find that incredibly irritating. [let them have their weird hang ups in peace!!]
no subject
Yeah, it's been kind of a mind trip learning about all of the things my future held. ...Holds? ( Sharon's divulged a few things that happened in her timeline, things that still feel so far away for Rose in hers. It's... very strange, surreal. )
Sometimes, it all still feels like some bad dream.... ( But Rose blinks then, at the man's words, looking back up at him. That's what she'd been afraid of. Not that this was all coincidence, but that it could mean something. That it knows how to target a person, how to draw out what's inside... She's absolutely terrified of it doing that for Sharon, considering.... what's inside of her daughter. What she's been through. )
It's definitely... cruel, in a very particular way, if that's what it's doing. ( Rose still doesn't know for sure, but the evidence she's been gathering over time here seems to point that way. )
Of course, I suppose I don't have much to compare it all to... Things like magic didn't exist, in my world. ( A thoughtful frown as she pauses. ) Is magic common in yours?
no subject
[they're just so young. people grew up fast in the undercity but that didn't mean he had to like that fact, or not want it to change. regardless, the future- he shakes his head.] I apologize if it is prying to ask, but would you prefer not learning of the future now that you know it?
[kind of nosy, but he can't help being curious. she seems more than capable of telling him to back off, so he takes the chance.]
Yes, though magic is a complicated matter where I am from. To put it simply mages during a great war caused enough destruction and death that even hundreds of years later magic is seen as dangerous and often persecuted. [he drops his hands from the mushrooms, offering a one shouldered shrug.]
To live in a world without magic fascinates me, I admit. Though I do not envy the eh... the learning curve coming here.
no subject
I have to admit, handling teenagers isn't my forte. I... probably have ended up babying them a little too much.
( Rose smiles, folding her arms loosely over her chest as she converses with him, posture more relaxed than it usually is. Admittedly, it is nice to get to stand and chat with someone else who's on the older side of things. )
No, it's all right. ( Her smile warms a bit; she doesn't mind answering the question. ) Honestly... I'd still prefer to know. I want to know as much as I can, you know? Even if it's strange, or..... difficult. I'd rather know. Then I can use it.
( It's been jarring, learning what she has. And yet, it's something she can utilise from here on. She won't hide away from what's hard or scary, especially not when it involves protecting her daughter, or the other young ones of Trench. But Rose's brows are lifting at what he says about magic, because some of that is relatable, too. How it's been seen as dangerous, how people have been prosecuted for it. Magic isn't a thing in her world, but people with powers... clearly were. And it makes her think of Alessa. )
Does anyone still openly use magic, or is it something they have to.... hide? ( She wonders, clearly not shy about asking questions of her own, either. )
no subject
[mirroring her thoughts there. even if he's covered in mushrooms because he ate a weird springroll.]
That... is true. Given how this place often tests us you may be right there. [mental tests, and surely it's better to be prepared?] Have you found it useful yet?
[he hopes so. the idea of cutting off some attempt at a psychological trial appeals to him. take that, the trench. but her question is met with a shake of the head as he answers.]
Where I live? No, it is not openly used by anyone. Tides are changing though, so to speak. I cofounded a technology that makes use of magic, to put it simply, and I admit I hope that may help matters. People reworking their idea of magic as useful rather than frightening will hopefully mean something.