APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to April's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: ENCHANTMENT HORROR.

All Test Drive Memes contain at least one clue to the Deerington's upcoming in-game events for the month! Keep your eyes peeled! But...not literally.

Characters may die during TDMs, but you do not need to count it towards a game-canonical death unless you want to. Consider it a freebie. All TDMs can be considered game canon as TDMs introduce minor aspects about the world of Deerington that can be revisited by characters later on in the game. You may also use TDMs for your application writing sample as well as AC.

CW: Enchanted food, possible body horror, mild finger injuries, magic based mind control, rapid aging, possible death
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

Pork is on sale!! Time to buy it up for all your family meals. It also means anything with pork in it in all of the restaurants is on special and super affordable for just about anyone. New arrivals can even get a free meal of bacon, sausage and eggs at the diner! Seeing all the low prices, you find yourself craving pork more than ever. But who doesn't love bacon, right? Maybe you had ham and pineapple pizza at Peter's or those delicious and mouthwatering pork dumplings at the Hot Pot. You could have cooked a nice pork loin with your friends and family for a large get together. Candied bacon is a real treat to munch on in the park!

You're cooking it yourself or getting it from the local restaurants, so nothing bad could happen with a little self-indulgence, right? Just about everyone has learned not to trust the food at a giant feast in Deerington, but short of the lunch and dinner menus at the diner, the restaurants and the grocery store have never done a Sleeper harm! At least, that's the way it's always been before. Two years is long enough to start taking things for granted.

Anyone who has any of the specials from the restaurants or who cooks any kind of pork related product at home will find that once they have finished their meal, they will slowly turn into... pigs. It seems to vary on how fast a single person turns, some moving slowly over the course of days while they eat more and more food, and others will turn into a full blown pig in a manner of minutes. At first you can still talk to others and display your usual personality in pig form, but the longer you stay a pig, the more boarish you'll become.

So how do you break the curse? Locals say there's a magic stream up on the mountain that will stop these kinds of enchantments, but you can't go alone. Someone will have to carry you up and sing to you while you drink. It might be a friend or a lover or a complete stranger, but whoever you can nudge into it will have to physically carry you in their arms up the side of the mountain looking for this stream. It can take a while— the walk is fairly long, a few hours at best, but you'll know it when you find it. The stream sparkles unnaturally in the sunlight and it seems like none of the animals are willing to drink from it's unnaturally cold waters. The moment you take a long sip while your companion sings whatever song pops into their head, you'll turn back into a human. Hopefully your clothes turn back with you.

If your character does not eat meat/pork, then they'll be safe from this event!

GOOD ENDURES

Mirror mirror on the wall...

The pork doesn't seem to be the only enchanted object around Deerington this month. There are several of them cropping up all over the place and each one has a different outcome for those unfortunate enough to run into them.

Spinning wheels seem to be in the most random of places. Some of them will even just appear in your house. Sometimes multiple spinning wheels show up. Anyone who gets to close will have the strong urge to prick their finger on the spindle, the needle very easily cutting the tip and making you bleed more than you might have expected. Hopefully you have a first aid kit around.

Anyone who pricks their finger will find that they are forced to follow the next person they see around everywhere. They'll follow them to work, to school, to the bathroom, to the kitchen, even to bed. It doesn't matter if it's someone you've never spoken to in your life, you will follow them like a lost duckling every hour of every day. It's enough to drive anyone bonkers.

Mirrors will also suddenly be being displayed in every home and every shop, even if you never had them before. It doesn't matter whether or not you have a reflection, any person who looks into the mirror will find that they are forced to imitate the next person they make eye contact with. This can be their personality, their posture, the way they speak, their basic movements— you'll start to become a total mirror image. If it goes on too long, you might even start to find the two of you start to look more and more alike...

Apples start to pop up in all the stores as well as in your fridges. They're bright red and look so delicious, you can't resist taking a bite. Even if you don't like apples or are normally allergic to them, you'll want to eat these, and you'll find they taste delicious and don't bring harm to anyone. At least... not at first.

A few hours after eating the apple, you'll start to notice differences in your appearance. Your hair has start to thin and become gray and limp, your skin is wrinkled and covered in spots, your hands become frail and shaky. You're aging, and rapidly at that. Before you know it, you've turned into a hideous hag, one that would frighten children in any fairy tale book. But how do you reverse it?

The cure for all three enchantments is to tell three facts about yourself. Even just introducing yourself will show improvement if it's to someone who never knew your name before. Those who ate the apples will have to seek someone out, but anyone who pricked their finger or looked in a mirror will specifically have to confess these three facts to the person they're enchanted to follow/imitate. Once three facts have been shared, you'll be able to leave, return to normal, and age back to your regular self.

Character Arrival

You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.

There is not a collective "all these characters showed up at the exact same moment" occurrence in Deerington. Since characters fall asleep, die, or pass out at various times throughout all their worlds, it wouldn't make too much sense if they arrived in game all at the exact same time. There should be some discrepancy between character arrival, whether by a couple minutes, hours, or even days up to a week.

The players are entirely in control of how/when they want to play their characters arriving in Deerington. For TDMs, you can play it like your character has just arrived and that can be maintained as your game canon, or you can wait until game events for that moment. Or you don't need to acknowledge it at all. The flexibility for character allows a bit more of an organic feel to the character arrival situation, so please play it to whatever feels right for you.

If you are interested in having an "arrival" introduction for one of your TDM prompts, you are more than welcome to explore that option.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[sodder]

[laruetheday]

If somebody actively tries not to follow ~their person~ in the spinning wheel prompt, what would happen to them?

Johanna Mason - The Hunger Games

[pineneedles]

𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞
part 1
(Johanna Mason came from a poor place. Not as poor as the others, maybe middle class. It wasn't unusual to have bacon once a week. The abundance of it here drives her wild, she's one of those Bacon Bros. Johanna can be found each day of the week in the Dearly diner, eating some fried eggs and a rasher of bacon.)

part 2
(SO JOHANNA IS A PIG NOW. She has been one of a week because she is a stubborn shit. At first, she sang Be My Baby by the Ronettes as a pig in front of the local businesses. Then she stopped being able to talk in general. Instead, she's become more of a boar, with small tusks peeking out of either side of her face. She runs around the middle of Deerington, bashing into anyone who comes close enough. TAKE ME UP THE MOUNTAIN! TAKE ME TO THE RIVER, like the Talking Heads song.)

𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
(Johanna has taken to eating just about anything she can get her hands on. Even with the pig incident. She's eating a hamburger (because cows are so much more tolerable than pigs, so she'll take her chances), when she notices the spinning wheel. The hamburger is tossed aside (possibly at your character's feet) and she immediately pushes her finger to the needle as if it were an elevator button.

Then ... she follows your character. All the way home. And tries to get inside your house.)

𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝
go nuts, butts.

Good Endures

[threelayers]

[Who are you, you strange hobo person, throwing a perfectly good hamburger down on the ground. It was the only thing edible around here other than the pork, and after seeing someone with a snout rifling around for more bacon, she was taking one hell of a hard pass on that. Maybe that weirdo at the Hart Mart was right and they were trying to kill them slowly with the food around here.

The point being, some stranger had just thrown half of a perfectly good hamburger in front of her and jabbed their finger with the nearest sewing implement, and now they were following her around. She stopped and stared at the girl with a 'Yesssssss?' expression on her mute face.]

syd novak // i am not okay with this

[thighzits]

𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍. 𝑐𝑤: 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑒

[She hits the ground running. Boots slapping at the rain puddles, eyes wild and terrified like a hunted fawn. Past the Hart Mart, across the bridge, without the scantest sign of a pursuer. The flight would already be a spectacle, a cause for investigation, even if it weren't for the fact that she's absolutely covered in blood.

It's a bit Carrie at first glance, as though someone's splashed a big bucket of the stuff right in her face. A dress that may have once been cream is soaked through, plastered to her chest, and her hair could be any color under the deep red. There are flecks of something - something horrible - across her chest and her arms, covering her petrified face. Something's happened, and it was bad - but just who it happened to is another question entirely.

So, all things considered, a little staring would be understandable. But don't look too long, because she's running right into you (yes, you!) in 3, 2- ]

Shit!

𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒍.

[So. There are showers in this place. That's... well, nothing's good right now, but not being drenched in blood is definitely a bonus. When Syd next makes it into town, it's looking like a passably normal person. Or, at the very least, not a goddamn psychopath.

Next step? Finding somewhere to shoplift a jar of peanut butter.

About halfway to the grocery store, though, she starts to feel that familiar prickle at the bottom of her neck. Paranoia, probably, after everything that's happened. But it tugs, and it nags, and finally she steals a look. Okay, so there's someone behind her. No big deal. People walk behind people all the time, don't get nervous about it. Don't get upset, whatever you do don't get-

They're still there. Two blocks, three, and they're still there. Four, and then five, and finally she can't take it anymore. She whirls around, eyes full of anger and anxiety, fists clenched at her side.]

Leave me alone!

[Overhead, a streetlamp goes out with a snap, glass shattering. Probably a coincidence.]

spinning wheel

[laruetheday]

[ Several feet back, Clarisse comes to an abrupt stop. Her mouth twists in a scowl, immediately offended, though she's well aware that if she were in the position of the girl standing opposite, she'd be just as pissed off. Above them, the streetlight shatters, and she takes a step back to avoid the glass—but not a big step back. ]

What? I'm not doing anything.

[ She's not. She's not, seriously. She's not following this person, she doesn't even know this person, so why would she be—? ]

Ariadne | Original Character | OTA (Player is Fresh Meat!)

[demonicbeauty]

Arrival

Ariadne had scars on her back. Two long, jagged lines running vertical across her shoulderblades. Most of the time, she didn't really notice them. They were just a part of her, as much as her eyes, her chi, her breasts, her fingertips, or any other part. Not worth thinking about, especially.

Except for this particular moment in time. At this particular moment in time, they felt like they were on fire.

Nightmares were nothing new. Ariadne had been having them since the day she was born, but this was so different. She woke up with her eyes closed and let out a yowl of pain and surprise. Then a second, when she opened those eyes and found herself somewhere that...wasn't? Not her bed. Not her bedroom. And yet it existed. Of all the possible futures she'd predicted for herself going to sleep the night before, this was...not one of them.

She rolled over onto her face, pulling her knees up and under her chest, rounding off her back to relieve what felt like she'd been ripped open. "Scout the terrain," she muttered to herself. "Find the language of the land. Get help." The same three rules for any time she found herself stranded away from Valeria.

Somehow, this wasn't how she imagined it.

Groaning, she rolled off of the strange bed, pulling herself to her feet and taking one staggering step after another to the nearest window. Her traveling leathers creaked softly as she planted her hands on the sill and threw herself out, to the grass below. If nothing else, she successfully managed to land on her feet.

Spinning Wheel

Ariadne had seen spinning wheels before. The ladies maids in countless palaces sat at them, performing a sort of magic that she scarcely understood.

She'd never seen one in the middle of the woods before.

Really, seeing something like that could hardly compare to the way she'd woken up in this new village. But it was just strange enough that she stopped to stare from the tree branch, where she'd been doing a bit of scout work. At first, she sat on the branch, just watching it, waiting to see if someone would come to claim it or use it. But the more she watched, the more it seemed to call out to her. Silly, of course. She couldn't sew to save her life. The one time Aunt Lysia had tried to teach her, she'd managed to sew her embroidery into the hem of her skirt. But it was just so...pretty.

No harm in getting a little closer.

She hopped down from the branch and walked over.

And closer.

And closer still.

Her gray eyes fixed on the needle. She couldn't look away. She needed to...she needed to touch it. But why?

Wildcard

[ooc: I'm so painfully new to this game, I'm open to anything. Feel free to hit me up with any prompt you'd like, or PM me with ideas. Seriously. Go to town!

Note: Natalie Portman face-twin confusion more than welcome!]

Arrival

[trancheuse]

That? That was a thing. Larxene had seen and done plenty of acrobatics, but rarely while leaving her house. Then again, her house was a wretched den she barely kept up that the kids all said was haunted, so what did she know?

She caught sight of this strange woman landing like a cat and raised an eyebrow. Her memories from home were currently kind of blown, so she was a bit out of it right now, but there wasn't any glimmer of familiarity there, so since she might not have known her, that left the obvious question of the day.

"What the heck you doing over there, ya overgrown grasshopper?" Not her best insult, but she was seriously off her game and a little pale at the gills, so cut her some slack.

Stephen Day | A Charm of Magpies | cw:blood

[thejusticiar]

Arrival

Stephen jolts upright--in the middle of a park? Or a green grassy area, anyway. He's still dizzy and somewhat bloody, somewhat dusty, and not anywhere familiar. Merrick, Bell, and Crane are nowhere to be seen. Neither are the bodies or the rose garden.

Tentatively he feels for the ether and breathes a quiet sigh when he feels it. Oh thank God.

He runs his fingers over his short hair and he realizes he's ravenous. He needs to stop doing this. Stephen gets up slowly, wobbly. He isn't much to look at: just over five feet tall, to thin at the moment, and very bewildered.

"This isn't Piper," he murmurs to himself more than anyone.

Good Endures

A. Spinning Wheels
It's like something out of a fairy tale. Stephen frowns when he sees the spinning wheel in his house. He feels drawn to it, and some quiet part of his mind tries to suggest this is a bad idea. Still, he finds himself reaching out toward the spindle and--

Just like that, he's bleeding.

Stephen snaps his hand back and frowns at the blood. He sighs and trudges into the kitchen to take care of it, but thankfully it stops bleeding without much effort. He adjusts his shabby suit and heads out. Every step away from the house puts the spinning wheel farther from his mind.

Except--he starts following the first person he sets eyes on. And at first he thinks they might just be going in the same direction, but then they head into a shop that Stephen had no intention of visiting, or across a park he hadn't planned to walk through.

It gets more awkward if they don't notice him until they're heading home. No matter what he tries, he can't stop.

B. Spinning Wheels II
It doesn't take him long to realize that someone is following him. Stephen tries a couple times to lose them, but they're right on the mark every time. It's starting to become unnerving, actually.

Finally, he spins to set proper eyes on them.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

Wildcard

[Find Stephen anywhere, totally willing to explore other Good Endures prompts, just let me know what you want!]

Spinning Wheels B

[threelayers]

Well now, wasn't this going to be fun? He was definitely being followed, and whoever they were? They were pretty good at keeping tails. Every once in a while, they seemed to be lost but there was always someone in the crowd who was looking at him a little too closely. By the time he'd tried to shake that one, the same two-colored eyes had been there, all too close. Did she have informants?

Worst of all? When he spun to confront her, she paused in her pursuit and thought about it for a second, putting a finger to her cheek and looking up a little before shrugging. No, she didn't have the answer to one of those questions, and introductions were a little hard to do when you couldn't actually talk.

Bella Swan | Twilight

[littlelesshelpless]

I - Arrival

[You'd think by this point that she'd be comfortable with weird things. The last eighteen months have definitely had enough bizarre happenings for a million lifetimes. But even still, waking up in a strange bed after fretting herself to sleep is...out there.

Bella pulls her jacket tighter around herself as she wanders outside, arms curled around her body in an unconscious effort to keep people's notice off of her. The town is like something out of a book -- one of the creepy ones she read way too young that stuck in her brain. All the strange people, all the unfriendly glares, under a mask of something innocently kitschy and charming.

It's only a matter of time before, in an effort to avoid one of the Bettys and their judgmental gaze, the teenage girl ducks away, trips over absolutely nothing and stumbles right into someone. She's already pushing herself away, blushing and stammering out:] S-Sorry, I'm a big klutz, I didn't-- I'm so sorry.


II - Uncultured Swine

[Bella isn't a huge fan of meat anyways -- she likes spaghetti and occasionally hamburgers, and she knows that eventually she's going to need to get accustomed to very rare meat (hah) -- so she sort of avoids all the specials being offered to her. Besides, she's read enough to know that random food being offered by strangers? For discount prices? Definitely bad news.

However, if she sees any pigs running around, she will deliberately put Misery (the Stephen King book, not the feeling) out of her head and crouch down, offering an "I'm a city girl but I can get down with the farm critters" sort of smile.] Hey. Hey, there. Better watch out, I think there's a biiiiig pork craze happening. You're probably not too kosher with that, huh?


III - Good Endures/Spinning Wheels

[In Bella's defense, she's never actually seen a real spinning wheel up close. It doesn't look like it had in the cartoon, all splinters and artistic shadows. It looks normal. Like just another piece of weird furniture in the weird house she had woken up with. Bella doesn't even think before looking at it sideways, then reaching out to touch the oddly glimmering point.]

Ow. [Stupid, chastises the soft, velvety inner voice that's become louder in her head as of late. Bella makes a face, pulling her sleeve up to cover the wound, which is tiny, but bleeding waaaay too much. It's a strange parallel to her 18th birthday, and she half-expects to be attacked by an overwhelmed vampire as she makes her way out to the street.

The first person she sees prompts a sigh of relief, and the girl hurries over, holding up her hand, bloodied finger starting to soak through the fabric still held over it.] Uhm. Do you...have a first aid kit? Maybe?

I.

[lightthedarkness]

[Unfortunately for Bella, and Usagi too for that matter, Usagi is just as massive a klutz. So someone falling into her? Well, that means what little balance she has is gone and she is now on the ground.]

Did anyone see the wall that ran into me? [She rubbed her hips and looked up, blushing at the cute girl blushing in front of her.] Oh um, hey, hi.

Usagi Tsukino || Sailor Moon

[lightthedarkness]

A: Arrival

[Usagi covered her yawning mouth, having read but not really having comprehended what she was supposed to be doing in this place. What WAS she supposed to be doing anyway? She popped another strawberry into her mouth from the bottle in her basket. The fact that her license had her blood in it and said: Lunarian on it... she frowned. Well, not like anyone had to SEE her license, right? And then there was that PAIN in the back of her neck and shoulders. She kept rolling her shoulders.]

For a dream it sure hurts like hell... [She mumbled, the antler basket still on her arm. She had woken up in... someone's house, she wasn't sure. At least the basket was cute. She popped another strawberry in her mouth and frowned. She was dreaming. Okaaay sure, she's had... well actually she's had plenty of vivid dreams before, magical or otherwise. So this was what, a new enemy?

She placed a hand on the back of her neck and rubbed it with a sigh.]

At least the food is good. [Did she have money? Who was a dreamer or... visitor, and who was a citizen?] How am I supposed to tell anyone apart? [Did she have the ability to wake herself up? Maybe if she pinched herself? Or maybe she could find some way to have Mamoru try and wake her up back home?]

Maybe I should ask someone here to pinch me, does that count? [She was mostly talking to herself as she looked into a store window. She paused as she stood in front of a series of shop windows where she saw a really cute floral dress. This place didn't FEEL dangerous... Not with such pretty dress patterns! But maybe that was the point?] Geeze, figures that someplace evil would have a gorgeous sense of fashion.

[She lightly fixed the back of her hair while looking at her reflection in the window. When she saw someone looking at her, she spun around, finally! Someone else! Time to put her plan into action!]

HEY! Oh uh, that was loud... Uh, hi, sorry. Anyway hello, my name is Usagi Tsukino! [She gave a small bow.] This is gonna sound like, super crazy but could you pinch me, cause apparently I'm asleep? [She couldn't pinch HERSELF awake but maybe someone else could?] Anyway, that would be super helpful cause I need to get home. [And deal with this new enemy, apparently. Could she have ONE enemy not invade her dreams in some fashion, just ONE?]

B: With hair that long you should be Rapunzel, not Sleeping Beauty

This is... probably, actually no, definitely not good. [She kept staring at the spinning wheel and then back to her hand where a small drop of blood was seeping out of the place she had pricked herself. She put her finger in her mouth to ease the pain.

She hadn't WANTED to touch the damn thing, but she had literally turned the corner and ran smack into it. Just her luck. She then pricked her finger and... well, now she was chilling on a bench her finger in her mouth and her chin in her other palm.]

Geeze, I may be asleep but I'm exhausted from this place. [She looked up and then locked eyes with someone, suddenly, she found herself standing and heading towards them. Well, that... was new.] Er... hi! [She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head as she was now standing very close to the other.]

C: Not the most tech-savvy [Video]

[Usagi was futzing around with the phone, taking it on and off and trying to figure out the best way to wear it after she fiddled with all the fun little apps. She turned it on and opened up the camera and video function, starting up deerFeed instantly.]

Deerfeed? Sounds cute.

[She is completely unaware she's posting to it. She leaned back against the bench in the park she was sitting in.]

Okay Usagi, what do we know? [She rubbed her neck and rolled her shoulders.] Besides the fact that you seriously need to see a doctor about the pain between your shoulders. [She eyed the camera again.] Well, little bracelet.. phone thing, if you've got any ideas on what I'm supposed to do, I'm all ears.

D: A wild deer appears!

[OOC: Feel free to come up with a separate prompt if none of these are something you want to do!]

C: voice; un: bodyguard

[wolverinesbodyguard]

[She chuckles as the girl shows herself on the video. With a smile she stops and watches for a bit, then hits voice, to talk back from the phone. Thick Japanese accent came clear on the Fluid:]

I am full of ideas, but it depends on what you want to do next.

Isabelle Lightwood | Shadowhunters | ota

[sororis]

Hey look, I'm Picasso!
cw: potential body horror

Don't eat the food the fae offer you keeps running through her head, because if anything, this place reminds her of the Seelie realm. Real enough but off. But she can only go so long without eating, and there's something to be said for the siren song of bacon. She doesn't trust the restaurants just yet, mostly because they don't seem used to one small woman ordering so much food and eating it all herself, so she goes shopping, buying whatever catches her eyes, and yeah. It's a lot of pork. Pork wrapped in bacon topped with more bacon, and it's all on sale, so, at least there's that. Not that it would have cost her anything anyway, but a deal's still a deal, right?

It takes three days for the tail to show up, easily hidden beneath her tight pants at first and then unbearable, so she switches back to skirts. It's another day before her nose transforms, and she'd think it was cute if it wasn't, you know, on her face. The panic begins to set in when yet another day later, there are ears. So she turns to her fellow Sleepers for help.

While she can.

a. “Can you see this? On my face? Is this normal here?”

b. The full pigness. Feel free to assume a previous a. conversation or not! She may or may not be able to speak still, depending on how we want to play this.

c. If/When healed from the piggening, she can be the one to help someone else! If you can withstand her singing.

Good Endures
cw: small pricks, light blood, magic mind alterations

a. Spinning Wheels

There's a tale in the back of her mind, a princess pricking her finger on a needle like an idiot and taking a nap, and Izzy can remember vividly how she never understood how it could have sounded like a good idea, how she couldn't have seen through that magical pull. It was even less realistic than being happy a kiss from a stranger woke you up.

But here she is, manicured finger outstretched, just meaning to carefully test the tip of the spindle, and clearly misjudging her own strength, as it not only pricks, but she bleeds. She shoves her finger in her mouth automatically, casting a glance around to make sure no one saw her.

b. Mirrors

As vain as she is known to be, Isabelle still finds the abundance of mirrors a little unsettling, not to mention the fact that there are more in her house than she remembers. More reminders that she shouldn't get comfortable. But there doesn't seem to be anything sinister about them, no alterations when she looks in them, and she breathes a sigh. Maybe it's supposed to be some sort of introspective exercise. Maybe the fact that she's settled on that says more about her than she'd like.

So she pushes the mirrors from her mind and heads out for a run, or to go shopping, or to see if what she's heard about this forest is true...

Write Your Own Happy Ending Fairytale

[Feel free to find Izzy all about town, assumed CR is absolutely fine for some of these, or at least a passing acquaintance if we'd like to skip the awkward introductions. Unless that is your jam and we can have total strangers singing to each other's pig selves, because I'm here for it if you are!

You can catch me at Isonen or PM this journal if you'd like to discuss things first!

I will match brackets or prose to your preference ♥]

oh hi

[hedon]

Magnus stopped looking for familiar faces the moment he'd realized that Alec had woken up and was continuing on without him. However consciousness worked while being suspended within the subconscious he knew that he wasn't a part of Alec's anymore. The differences between what he could recall and what Alec had experienced were glaringly different. It hadn't been long since he left and Magnus was still considering whether or not it had all been another elaborate scheme.

It's difficult to mistake someone for Isabelle Lightwood, she's always been statuesque and confident. Hard to miss, really, compared to the likes of who he'd met while bound here. If the runes didn't give her away her long flowing locks and the practiced walk would.

At first he considers leaving the way he came, but curiosity and matters of the heart had always been the chink in his armor. So, he hesitates just long enough for Izzy to self-inflict.

"Usually you know your way around sharp objects better than most. I think it goes without saying here that seamstry isn't in your future."

sunny holiday ( original )

[vatical]

( good endures )

[ he has just enough time to think oh god, i'm in a twisted disney movie when he sees the spinning wheel before his mind just goes weirdly blank. for sunny, that's a very strange feeling, with his head full fit to burst at literally any time of the day. beneath his flesh and bones, after all, the core of him is the creator of the universe, and what he was is sort of hard to deal with even on his best days.

it would have been nice, the blankness, only it lasts just long enough for sunny to realize it's there. then there's a sharp pain in his finger, and sunny yelps, yanking his hand away, blood already trailing down his fingertip and dripping to the ground. immediately, he jams his finger in his mouth, trying to stem the bleeding, glancing around to try to find something to wrap it with until he can get a bandaid on it.

and then he spots.. someone. sunny is sort of awkward and dreamy at the best of times, but the expression that crosses his face goes downright dazed. his hand falls away from his mouth, forgotten, and not at all sure why, he steps forward to trot toward them.

ah. ]

( wildcard )

[ somewhere, somehow, sunny's managed to get his hands on some colored chalk, and now he appears to be intensely, almost unnaturally focused on the random wall he's drawing on. the sketching is almost frantic, full of what appears to be a slowly-forming garden. his hands are covered in chalk, and he's probably not supposed to be drawing on this wall or any wall, but he also looks..

distressed, maybe. like he wants to stop, but he can't. ]

( network | text | un: 🌞 )

does anyone know what happens at home when we don't wake up like normal???
i have a very protective angel that might get smite-y if he thinks someone's hurt me and i'd really rather not wake up to a smoldering ruin where earth was :(

[ ooc; some info here! anyone that can sense holiness probably gets definite, particular whiffs from this guy. ]

wildcard;

[magija]

[ her feet stop, eyes locked upon the sketched lines that come together to form the picture, swirls of rushed but detailed imagery that draw her in enough to stare as she follows the formulating garden upon the wall.

but then her gaze draws on towards the artist, a sense of discomfort in his posture, and her stare shifts more into concern as she steps slowly closer. ]

Are you ... alright?

barry allen | the flash

[accelerate]

SPINNING WHEELS

[ you know what's really, really not as unusual as it should be? having someone follow him around. it doesn't matter what barry does, he has a permanent shadow. he's pretty sure the person behind him doesn't want to really go into a bakery for the third time or go to a shoe store and check out the same converse shoes he's a little unsure of buying…

but they do. and, you know what? he really wants that pair of converse shoes.

when barry thinks it's time for lunch, he's on his way to the closest burger shop… with his shadow. safely crossing the road, he takes a few steps before he abruptly stops and turns around on the sidewalk. ]

Hey, dude. What's up?

[ there's no aggression or irritation in his voice. he genuinely wants to know what's up. ]

APPLES

[ so another thing you want to know? having an incredibly fast metabolism is both a blessing and a curse. it means barry can't get drunk, even when he tries really, really hard, and it also means that when he eats a few apples in an hour, he may or may not be as affected as everyone else. after all, barry isn't a muggle.

wherever you are, barry's near them, casually eating an apple like it's the coolest thing to do. it's a nice deep red, sort of like the shade of his first flash suit. he eats and eats, and there might be a grey hair forming in on his head… or a wrinkle to his brow.

when he glances down at his hands and notices that they're a little more wrinkly than usual, he turns to the person nearest him. ]

Weird question, but do my hands look old?

[ he thrusts his free hand out and turns it palm up and palm down. tell him his hands are beautiful. ]

FLASH PIG

[ although barry eats everything, even the vegetables on his plate, he doesn't eat the pork. for some reason, he's just not feeling it like everyone else is, which seems to be okay given that there's a few pigs running around.

good thing he catches one, right? it's kind of easy to—he's the freaking flash. dressed in his vibrant red suit, he's impossibly fast and scoops up his pig within a blink of an eye.

believing in some of the whispers locals are saying, flash speed runs his pig up that long walk to the mountain and takes his pig friend to the stream.

while his pig drinks, barry, of course, sings: ] Mum mum mum mum

NETWORK

un: bear

What do you call a deer with no eyes?
No-eye-deer.

Icebreaker over. I know, sad. I have a few more if you want to hear them?

But I have a really important question to ask all of you deer folk to fawn over.

What's one thing you can live without and one thing you can't?

WILDCARD

[ feel free to wildcard me! ]

( ooc notes: Barry is from 5x01. Please don't fourthwall him or tell him he's fictional, or give him any spoilers for now! c: )

spinning wheels

[magija]

[ the day begins to feel strangely dreamlike, in the sense that after a time, wanda finds she has no real recollection of how and why she'd moved around to different parts of the town quite as frequently as she has been. despite that she doesn't have a shift at the bakery today, she finds herself returning there quite frequently in the day, only to venture out and be carried by her own feet without a sense of where she's even intending on going.

by the time she's making a bee line for a burger shop, the realization hits her that she might not have full control of her body right now — considering she's a practicing vegetarian.

her gaze squints up at the sign, distracted for a moment before a body in front of her suddenly halts and turns to her, her own freezing in a jolt. ]

What ... ? [ she blinks at him, eyes momentarily drifting around her before they return, looking to him with confusion. ] I don't — what do you mean?

Maria Renard | Castlevania

[holybeasts]

SPINNING WHEELS

[Spinning wheels aren't exactly a foreign sight to Maria but she's never used them herself. She wasn't what one would call a patient enough person to be able to sit and legitimately spin well.

She does however stop to examine one of these spinning wheels popping up all over the place, chiefly because it's not there one moment and then suddenly there the next. Things just appearing out of thin air is always worrisome and she's one prone to investigating anyhow.

There isn't much more thinking between her deciding to examine it and then pricking her finger. It's like she manages to blank out in those seconds and it's with a sharp hiss that she has to press on the tip of her index finger.]

It even went through my glove!

MIRRORS

[The spinning wheels were one thing. Those had popped up unexpected in seemingly odd places like the one Maria had come across on a street corner. Mirrors though, they were at least somewhat expected within a building.

So it's not so strange to find one in the current shop she's exploring and being ever inquisitive Maria takes the time to check it out, momentarily prodding at her face with her fingertips.

Even to her untrained eye she can see the faint tug of too little sleep. Or too much? There was so much she still didn't understand here...]

WILDCARD

[Feel free to hit me up with any of the other prompts. PM with any questions!]

Spinning wheels

[finaletea]

Ah are you hurt?

[ Mami gently takes Maria's hand into her own to check on it. Without thinking, she tries to slip the glove off for a better look. ]

It doesn't seem to be bleeding much...

jean grey | x-men movieverse

[redheat]

sweet dreams aren't made of these ( arrival )

[ She wonders if she's dead.

The sound of her boots squish against the ground as she makes her way through the streets, water dripping behind her as she goes. Dressed in her black X-Men uniform, hair plastered to her face, cheeks flushed and skin cold, she's entirely soaked, Alkali Lake being what she last remembers before waking here. A gloved hand smoothing over her arm, a chill runs through her, steps slow... uncertain... until she stops completely then. She stands there, looking distraught, before she lets her eyes close and attempts to reach out with her mind, searching for familiar pings.

Scott, Professor, Ororo, Logan...

Names of those she searches for with her mind, completely unaware of how she's started to slowly begun to walk again... entirely unaware of just who or what she might be walking into. That of course? Includes the possibility of a car. ]

spinning wheels ( a )

[ Something doesn't feel right as she moves about the streets. Something she can't quite place her finger on, but when she catches sight of someone else meaning to place their finger on something sharp and pointy, she finds her chest tightening - is this the bad feling? - and hurries her way over.

Anyone looking to prick themselves on the spindle of a spinning wheel might find their wrist reached for suddenly then and a distraught Jean Grey being the one on the other end of that hand. ]

Wait!

spinning wheels ( b )

cw: blood
[ Jean shoulders the door open of whatever shop is closest to her, fingers of one hand wrapped around the finger of another, blood dripping down her wrist with her glove having been removed. She's in disbelief with herself that she actually did such a thing as prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. But she'll chide herself later because she can't seem to stop the bleeding despite the pressure she places on it and so she quickly makes her way thorugh the aisles of the shop she's pushed herself into, eyes scanning for any sort of antibiotic oitnment and bandages for her finger.

When she's unable to find any, either from the panic she tries to ignore creeping up on her, or the fact that this place really doesn't have the things she's looking for, she mutters a quiet word of displeasure under her breath and presses her head against the shelf she had been searching.

Deep breaths. Just... deep breaths. The last thing she needs is for her emotions to get the better of her.... even if the shelves might have started shaking by now. ]

wildcard

(( wildcard option! feel free to shoot me a PM for something more personally tailored if you'd like! ))

sweet dreams aren't made of these ( arrival )

[howlett]

He avoids the town when he can. Save for trips from the cabin to check on Kurt or Wes at work. Jean-Paul at his apartment. Mostly his avoidance is that mistrust of the townsfolk. They're weird on the best of days and plainly dangerous on the worst. So he's gotten in the habit of keeping his eye out in town. You never know when you'll find a Sleeper in distress.

Then his headlights flicker past a familiar face, and his heart skips a beat. Shit. Maybe he's the one living a nightmare right now.

He stomps the brakes with a little more than necessary vigour hops out into the street, looking back at the sidewalk barely illuminated by the street lights.

"Jeannie?"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Miraculous Ladybug | Melodies of Eternity CRAU

[doodlebuginette]

Uncultured Swine

Growing up the way she has, Marinette doesn't have any particularly strong opinions of pork in either direction. One of the first things she notices about this place is the fact that it seems to be on sale everywhere. Is it just her or do the natives seem to be trying to push it on people? She has no idea... and she's not entirely sure she wants to find out.

For a while, she's even able to resist the urge in spite of how tempting it is. But in the end, it's the pork buns that get her. Marinette has never been able to resist a lovingly-prepared pork bun, and the ones on sale at the Hot Pot are exactly that. In spite of Tikki's warnings to be on her guard, Marinette can be found seated alone, enjoying a single order of tasty porky goodness.

Good Endures

Of course, she's seen the spinning wheels around, and she's been giving them a wide berth. It's possible that they're just spinning wheels, but it's also just as possible that there's something wrong with them. In a place like this, who can say for sure?

Which means, of course, that it's when she's in the process of carefully avoiding one that she somehow manages to trip over her own feet, go stumbling forward, and has to catch herself. On a spinning wheel. And now her hand is bleeding.

"Ah!"

Catch her flailing around and immediately popping the offending finger in her mouth as though that's going to help. It does lessen the sting a little, but that's about it.

Etc.

[The obligatory wildcard option! Feel free to catch her at any point during those two prompts or hit me with something else entirely if none of the above catch your fancy. I'll match whichever style.]

Spinning wheel for the Spinnerette

[threelayers]

Well, that was less than professional wasn't it? What in the world was this girl doing, seemingly lunging right into that thing and getting herself pricked? Eh, maybe she was just clumsy.

Neopolitan raised an eyebrow and stared at her a little curiously for a second, trying to gauge what was up with this one. It left her pretty obvious in case Marinette happened to look her way. Kind of hard to miss someone with multi-colored eyes, wearing a bowler hat, after all. She didn't say anything, though. Just kind of watched, curious.

Higgs Monaghan | Death Stranding

[finalrequest]

I
[Well… this is new.

He’s woken up somewhere he didn’t recognize once or twice before, when he was younger and more prone to accidents and self-destructive behavior than he is now. And that’s not saying much; he’s still prone to all of that.

But in a structure above ground, with windows, like something out of the old, pre-Stranding world? Well. That’s new. That’s very new.

It’s not long before he leave, dressed like some sort of comic book character, his hood up, and walking around in a way that makes it clear he’s very, very lost, and very confused.]

Why hasn’t timefall taken this whole place down…?


II
[An entire town, above ground. How… remarkable. It’s intriguing, and Higgs is not the sort of man to turn down a curiosity, even if it does… interrupt things.

But he’s not going to eat food offered to him; call it a bit of paranoia, but a man can never be too safe. The little fruits in the basket had been different; he’s familiar with the story of Hades and Persephone, after all. Rules are rules, and Higgs is just the man to abide by them, so long as they suit him.

That doesn’t stop him from trying to have other people eat the food, though.]

Hey, have you seen those advertisements about the pork sausages?


III
[One of the advantages of living a large part of your life underground is the sheer amount of time that comes with it. He’s read more than anything else. Dystopias, science manuals, old high school textbooks. Fairy tales.

It means, upon coming face-to-face with a random fucking spinning wheel, he really should have known what it was all about, but he’s too compelled to approach it to think about it too carefully, reaching out with one hand ungloved.]

Ow, shit!

[That’s… a lot of blood. He’s never seen that from a small cut before.]

I

[wolverinesbodyguard]

[She had just got here a well so some questions were also on her mind. The red haired asian girl walked not far from the other, a sword at her hip, still in it's home. All black attire off short skirt and long sleeved shirt made her red hair stand out more. So she wasn't hard to see and she wasn't hiding at all.]

[Just cautiously walking along, one foot before the other, and spotted the man. Her hand rested on the butt of the blade but she made no move with it. Instead her head tilted, hearing the man.]

What is timefall? [she asked, leaning forward a bit to look at the man's curiously masked face.] Sorry, I overheard you speaking to yourself. I take it you don't know where this place is either...

Peter Quill | MCU/GOTG | OTA

[zunesareawesome]

[Note: Peter's canonpoint is right after Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but feel free to 4th wall him at any time if you'd like!]

a. Straw Houses cw: body horror

[Look, there's free food. And Peter hasn't eaten earth food in years, so yeah, the moment he's got the opportunity to? He's chowing down. So much. Bacon? Hell yeah!

...look, the fact that he's somehow gotten a pig nose and pig ears afterwards is...maybe kinda almost worth it. Almost.

It sucks that it's getting worse, though. Probably he should worry about it? Once his hands turn to hooves that's when he starts running around, trying to get someone to help him.]

Hey! Hey, you! I need some serious help! [A pig-faced Peter runs after you, waving his hoofs. Hooves? The tusks in his mouth make it a little hard to talk, but he should still be fairly understandable.] I swear I'm cuter than this!

b. Apple a Day cw: ageism likely

[So Peter ate an apple and now he looks really, really, really old. This sucks for obvious reasons, many of them being he was also, once again, not his normal action hero self. He stares at himself in a window, mouth agape.

No, he was freaking out because he kind of looked like his dad. He doesn't look like his dad, does he?

He looks worse than his dad. He rubs his face.]

I guess I could make it work by being the old wise sage of the group. Like Gandalf or something...

c. Network, Video; Un: Star-Lord

Hey, so like, is there anything you can eat in this stupid place that won't, I don't know, warp your face? It's just a little weird...

d. Wildcard:

Anything goes! PM or plot with me at indymica!

a. Straw Houses

[wolverinesbodyguard]

[She had been wandering the area looking for food as well. Something simple, and not something that kept getting shoved t her for SALE. Good pork is never on sale.]

[That's when the pig faced man came into view, and she couldn't help but draw back, her hand dropping to her sword. She didn't draw it, but it was there at the ready. Her other hand lifted, holding her palm out to him.]

Whoa, slow down there. [Was that a set of tusks? What the HECK?]

You're not looking so alright.

robin buckley | tranger-say ings-thay

[yourule]

wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! cw: drugs and nausea mention, body horror to come.

[ robin arrives in deerington, maine hung over and hungry. she's also firmly of the belief that this is more than a mere dream -- it's a drug-induced hallucination, concocted by the evil, secretive russians working underneath her flashy midwestern mall. robin's starting to doubt that she even made it out of that base -- maybe she never had that talk with steve, maybe she never helped bring down that big, slimy tentacle-thing. maybe the drug is still in her system.

but she's gotta keep calm and think rationally. and what do you do to cure a hangover? have some breakfast. even better when it's free!

so robin, still in her now-dirty scoops ahoy uniform, scarfs down one of the free bacon-and-egg breakfasts from the diner. shortly after that, her stomach starts to gurgle, and practically distend. robin feels a roll of nausea and turns to the person sitting next to her. ]

Hey -- uh -- what's in this? I don't feel too good.

network; un: robin

hey if you see a guy with big hair or any evil russians could you let me know? thanks

network.

[micycle]

how big are we talking

[Hair? Russians? Robin? He's connecting the dots.]

reed westergard-holmen | original character

[entered]

spinning wheels.
[ There's a dude who, frankly, sort of looks like a History professor. He has all the makings of it: tweet jacket, elbow patches, soft green sweater underneath that. There's an ease to the way he's been strolling around town -- hands in his pockets, taking in the sights.

He's also been following you for the last ten minutes.

From afar, sure. There's been some attempts at not being too obvious. Peering at you between cans of corn stacked on the shelves, or from two aisles over while he's browsing the magazine stand. But it's not too hard to catch him in the act. (One spinning wheel later and, well. The compulsion to follow had made his heels itch. Reed hadn't seen much point to resist.)

So here he is. Following you out of the Hart Mart, jogging lightly so that he falls into line right beside. ]

Where are we off to, exactly?

[ He grins, all charm. ]

arrival/misc.
[ Cut to: The Laundromat.

Reed, once again, has his hands in his pockets. He's just standing there, eyeballing one of the empty machines, its perfectly circular door squeaking slightly open. ]

I have— [ Reed sounds a little surprised at himself. ] —no idea when I last used one of these.

[ He looks pretty clean, though. ]

the laundromat

[redheat]

[ Well there's something you don't hear every day.

Jean's finishing up with stuffing a couple things into a laundry bag for herself when she overhears his surprise and she can't help but glance over with a rather curious expression on her face. One which, rather gently, turns to that of amusement. ]

In general or this particular type?

Sae Kurosawa | Fatal Frame II

[shinkunochou]

[A. Arrival]

[To say she was horribly lost and confused would be a gross understatement. There’s a shocking clarity of mind that she hasn’t felt in hundreds of years, and the modernness of the world and her new...home?? Thing? Are frightening, driving her to quickly wander into unfamiliar streets.

Was this how it felt for the people she’d spirited away before? Except the place is a little too bright and upon stepping outside the sunlight is so bright to Sae that she actually takes a tumble down the front step of her house and lands heavily on the ground. If her knees are skinned she hardly notices—there’s blood splattered all over the front of her usually pure-white kimono, and a rope-like bruising around her throat, so really, what’s a little more pain and blood?

She reaches up and covers her eyes with a whimper, just trying to adjust to that alone. She struggles to stand up, eyes still closed, and stumbles about blindly, trying to grab onto things to help her find her way.

Or...maybe someone by accident.]

[B. Around Town]

[One she’s finally adjusted to the light of day, Sae spends her time just trying to orientate herself to the surrounding town. She says away from people, taking small steps on bare feet as she stares at the shops and the people and the everything.

It’s all so much. Feeling herself becoming quickly fatigued, Sae takes a few stumbling steps away from a particularly crowded sidewalk, trendies of what looks like...smoke? Maybe? Beginning to curl around her wrist and ankles, drifting out from beneath her clothes. It’s gray and winding around like it has a mind of its own, Sae’s breathing becoming a little short as she struggles for control.

Ducking away into a near-by alleyway seems to help a little though, clutching at her arms and hugging herself tightly as she breathes.]

Are there always so many people...?

[C. Spinning Wheels]

[Spinning wheels aren’t entirely new to Sae, but the ones presented around town at random are of an entirely different design from what she’s used to. So approaching one doesn’t seem out of the ordinary or strange, nor does the desire to touch one... But when she pricks her finger there’s a warning bell in her mind that tells her that it’s weird. Something is off. Why would she randomly want to prick her finger?

The blood is a marvel though. When was the last time she bled? She stares at it, transfixed and rubbing it between her fingers in fascination before realizing that’s kind of weird and she should maybe Not Do That.

So with a shiver she turns away and just. Wipes her bloody fingers off on her kimono (look its already got blood on it, who cares about a little more at this point right?) and washes off the rest.

She’s not immune to the effects though. Shortly after she finishes taking care of the blood, the next person she looks at upon wandering about on the street will find themselves with a little shadow, Sae compelled to follow without even thinking about it. But since she can’t take very long strides in the kimono, she finds herself struggling to keep up sometimes, so the person in question might find their sleeve or the back of their shirt suddenly grasped in Sae’s hands, an anxious, pleading sort of look on her face. She doesn’t say anything, but it’s a look of quiet, ‘please don’t go so far!’ Sort of look.]

arrival

[inwhite]

[xiao xingchen is the last person who's going to fault someone for stumbling around blindly, even though, ironically, he's normally able to walk straight and avoid collisions. it's not the case this time. he stops when he feels the bump, followed by the grip of smaller fingers.

there's a sort of bittersweet deja vu...no, he's definitely experienced this sort of thing once before.

his serene expression quickly turns to one of concern though. he smells blood.]

You're hurt.

Hanzo Shimada | Overwatch

[nockturnal]

YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

When waking up unexpectedly in a strange town, perhaps sampling of the local fare is not the first thing one should do. But there's only so much in the way of quiet observation and exploration a former assassin can do before one's stomach gets the better of them. Hunger is a vicious beast, and it will not remain ignored for long.

Hot Pot seems to be running a special, as it happens. The pot stickers are familiar enough, similar to the gyoza he might have partaken of at home. So suspicion and caution relent just long enough to purchase a quiet, solitary meal in a corner booth. It's a small comfort in the midst of so much that is strange and mysterious, and he lets his guard down just long enough to enjoy the savoury taste of a warm meal.

It's not until he gets up to leave that he starts to feel...strange. There's a tingling in his fingertips that wasn't present before, and a strange pressure in his mouth, jaw suddenly aching. Hanzo manages to slip out of the restaurant before a hand instinctively reaches up to rub at his face and...

Wait. Have his bottom canines started to...grow? He definitely doesn't recall them curling up past his lip like this, before. Swiftly he turns, staring into his reflection in the building's windows. Yes, they are definitely larger now.

This is a dream. Surely, it must be. But a strangely fascinated horror still settles over his face as he tries to reconcile what it is that he's seeing.

GOOD ENDURES - spinning wheels

Oh, you thought he was going to prick his finger on the spinning wheel? No no no. Hanzo's keeping his distance from the strange wooden wheels, no matter how many of them pop up.

It's a little disconcerting, certainly. They seem to turn up all over the place, without warning, in places no one would expect. It's especially alarming when one shows up on a rooftop Hanzo had taken residence on in order to observe the goings on of the town below. Hanzo levels a disapproving stare at the device, eyes narrowing, before turning and dropping down silently into the alley between the two buildings.

It defies reason or explanation. All the more reason to avoid them at all costs, stepping around one at a quickened pace as he moves towards the mouth of the alley and the main street beyond. This manner of ridiculousness, he refues to have anything to do with. But he does seem to be running across them everywhere he goes...and it's entirely possible the people he encounters along the way aren't quite as paranoid.

In which case, there is somewhere close at hand to make eye contact with.

WILDCARD

Got a starter for something else? Hit me.

YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

The people this month had gone back to being surly and disliking theme, except the restaurant barkers, selling samples of offers of pork on sale. Even the store had pork at drastic price drops. No more white gowns in sight. No more tables in the streets full of food. He'd have to cook again.

Thus he had a large bag of pork and veggies, with some sweets just for the fun of it. A nice healthy bag except for the candies. He was thinking of what to do with all of this, and who he'd share it with, when he saw a figure step out of a restaurant.

His first thought was the flee. To take to the roofs and keep under cover. To watch and see what he does and where he goes. His second thought was that there must be some weird event going on, where people you want to see show up and try to kill you. Then again that wouldn't be so far off from the real Hanzo, would it?

He indeed walked closer, standing out completely in his armor still, a sack in one hand, the other hand raising a bit as if he wants to reach out to him, only to stop in mid air.

"Hanzo?" The closer he got the more alarmed he felt, as he saw the teeth sticking out past his lip, like tusks. What in the world?

Lorelei Owens | Original

[mosthexcellent]

[ SPINNING WHEELS ]

The thing about growing up in a place where most families are older than dirt and have the accumulated money to go with it, is that you tend to collect some weird hobbies. So Lorelei is confused by all the spinning wheels, sure: but she also knows what they are, so the curiosity is more 'why is that out here on the sidewalk' rather than 'ooh fairytale object'. (Not to say she isn't still horribly confused about where exactly she is, and how she got here, but that's another worry.)

"There a craft fair going on around here or what?"


[ MIRRORS ]

Lorelei is...no stranger to curses. This might be a detriment or a benefit, depending on how you feel about them, but the longer she feels compelled to follow and mimic somebody she doesn't know, the more she feels like this might be a problem that requires a solution. "Look, uh, hold up. This is weird."

mirrors!

[bardish]

"You're telling me." Jeff makes a face, then adds, "...which is one of those statements that really adds nothing to a conversation, now that I think about it. Like, it's just something we say for the sake of talking, isn't it?" Wait, now is not the time for conversational tangents. Jeff rubs the side of his neck and make a chagrined sort of wince. "Sorry. Ah... yeah. This is really fucking weird."

After all, here they are: two strangers, sort of bound together by a curse of some kind. And everything here is just way different from the brand of magic he's used to, so he doesn't even know where to begin.

Prince Ashitaka | Mononoke Hime

[namelessgod]

↞ YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

[It's a good thing he'd been... awake for some days now, trying fruitlessly to make sense of what the Forest and its Deer want from him. This is a different world from his own, he knows (or at least very, very strongly suspects), and most definitely a different time. But he can't help it if his mind still plays its tricks, still makes his body tense and his curse ache with its constant burn, makes his breath catch in alarm (misplaced, maybe... maybe) every time a boar rushes through the town.

There's many of them, but they're smaller than the soldiers he knows-- the old Lord had warned of that fate already. The boar had warned about their next meeting being Ashitaka's death, too

but

these pigs were confused. They ran here and there, ran up to people without intent to charge or gore them with their tusks. Seeing no need to draw a weapon, Ashitaka goes to step between the next boar and its path, question practically tumbling out of his mouth as he does.] Halt! [Which is rude. But he craves the answer, he needs the answer.] Are you of the tribe which pledged allegiance to Lord Okkoto? Let me help you, even if you are.

↞↞ GOOD ENDURES | cw: rapid aging

[Ashitaka isn't shy; not exactly. He's only been preoccupied, hadn't had the time to socialize. He had been on the brink of war. It wasn't strange to have prioritized finding peace with the fact that the war was far enough to, at the moment, be no concern of his. (Which was a lie, of course Irontown and the Forest and the women and the wolves were a concern of his [and Yakul, and San, and-] but what could he do now?) So no, he'd made no peace with it, but he'd tried to understand. And he'd not seen many other Sleepers, he thinks, because of his own attempts to clear his mind.

All of this to say; what's unusual for this town, besides what's obvious, is lost on him.

He'd seen a bright apple, hadn't thought to fight the hunger, hadn't seen a stand in the market struggling to find their apples or a kid asking about their poor, lost apple. So he'd eaten the apple. Some hours later he'd felt stiff and exhausted. Must be from being in this... house, all day.

Hopefully some neighbor had seen a boy begin to make himself at home there, and can call attention to the fact he's grayer. Frail. Smaller. Actually, it's a struggle to even make it to the open spaces-- his lungs are hurting from the effort, and staying on his feet is damn near growing impossible.]

Uncultured Swine

[threelayers]

[What was odd about this piglet? It didn't say anything. Not an oink. Not a squeal. Nothing. It was almost eerily silent when it came skidding to a halt in front of him, its pig snout snorting softly and its head cocking to stare at him with a look almost...

...

Did that pig just roll its eyes at him? It definitely did. Well, what was he going to do to help her? That's what she was curious about. She'd been hunting for the water way, making a mental note never to eat anything on special in this town ever again, when he'd interrupted. Supposedly someone was supposed to help her, but it wasn't like anyone knew she was a pig. The struggles of communicating when you couldn't talk got even worse when you were a pig, apparently.]

Claudine Saijo | Revue Starlight

[etincelledefierte]

[a; arrival]

[Claudine isn't prone to nightmares normally. Occasionally talking in her sleep, yes, but not nightmares. The dream she had been having felt too real to be a nightmare, though; she doesn't remember ever feeling the kind of pain she had felt as her back scraped against rocks and twigs on the forest floor.

She sits up in bed, instinctively stretching her arms above her head before opening her eyes.]

- this isn't Seisho, where am I?

[She looks around, then stands up. It's then that she grabs her upper right arm, the sudden burning sensation enough to shake her out of her panic. Claudine lets go after a moment, rolling up her sweater enough to get a glimpse of the tattoo.]

Quoi? I wouldn't ever get something like that.

[At least she sees something familiar once she finds the basket - a phone and her revue sword. She takes both of them, just in case, plus the map, and heads out. As she leaves the apartment building, she calls out:]

Hello? Bonjour? I just have a few questions.


---

[b; spinning wheels]

[Every Stage Girl is familiar with the basics of Sleeping Beauty, though the specific details might vary. Claudine herself knows a few different versions - La belle au bois dormant, Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty, and of course, the Disney version. While she would love to dance the part of the Lilac Fairy, she has a soft spot for the Disney film, the story of the princess hidden in the forest, away from any spinning wheels, until she's tricked by an evil fairy.

Claudine thinks about it as she sees the first random spinning wheel, one that's displayed in a store window.

She frowns at the second one she sees, especially when she feels the pull to touch it.

She fails to resist the urge to touch the third one.]

Ouch --

[She didn't realize the finger prick would go that deeply, and puts her finger in her mouth to try and stop it bleeding. That is, until she sees someone passing by. Without thinking about it, she starts to mimic them.]

[c; wildcard]

[Hit me with anything else!]

---

[ooc note: Claudine is from post-chapter 7 of the mobile game, which is a direct sequel to the anime. If there are any questions, hit me up at magentaskies!]

A!

[finaletea]

[ Is that a cry for help? Ah, not exactly, but it's definitely not something she can ignore. Instead, Mami will approach the other blond with a smile and a wave. ]

Ah, hello there. [ Her head tilts. ] You... must be new. I'm Mami Tomoe.

[ That sure is a sword she's carrying. But she doesn't seem like a threat. Not yet anyway. ]

Buffy Summers | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | OTA

[slayertude]

Mirror, Mirror

[ Honestly, this really is just par for the course for Buffy. She's dead, more or less, and she's kind of having a really bad hair day, but- Oh, look, is that a mirror? ]

Your timing couldn't be better.

[ She may be the Slayer, and she may have saved the world a handful of times, but hey. A girl's gotta look her best, right? Right.

It may just be a mirror in a shop, but whatever. A mirror does its job whether it's in a house or a store, and right now, as Buffy pats some flyaway strands back into place, it's doing just that. ]

Much better. [ Satisfied with how she looks, she moves on to browse around, unaware that anything might be amiss. The shop is one of those small quaint ones where there's not a lot of room to maneuver, so it's purely by accident that Buffy turns, takes a step forward, and finds herself walking right into someone. ]

Oh! Hey, I didn't see you there. You okay?

An Apple a Day

[ A little bit later, Buffy finds herself with the munchies, and as luck would have it, there's a shopkeeper selling a bunch of fruit. She bypasses the oranges and the strawberries and goes straight for the apples, because they're bright red and shiny and they just look delicious. ]

How much for an apple?

[ The price is right, so money changes hands and Buffy walks away with an apple in her hand. She polishes it off against her shirt, because while the apple looks pristine, you can't be too careful. Once that's done, she takes a huge bite. ]

Mmm, delicious!

[ She goes on about her day, apple in hand, blissfully unaware that anything's going sideways. It's not until the apple is long gone and she happens to pass by a shop window when she spots something odd about her reflection.

Turning around once or twice, she tries to make sense of what she's seeing. ]

Okay, now I know I didn't wake up this morning looking like Red Riding Hood's grandmother.

[ She stops the first person who passes by and tries to get their attention. ]

Hey, I don't wanna bug you, but I think I'm seeing things. Does my hair look, like, whitish?

Spinning Wheel

[ Buffy's already had a day, but it's not over yet. Aside from the apples and the mirrors that are making all kinds of crazy things happen, now it looks like whenever she turns around, hey presto, there's a spinning wheel! ]

What is this, Sleeping Beauty?

[ Of course Buffy's first thought is to steer clear of anything remotely resembling a spinning wheel, because duh- look what happened to the princess in that fairy tale!

But the second she has that thought, it's gone, and she finds herself moving closer to one of the many wheels that are placed around the streets. It's almost as though an invisible force has taken over Buffy and is moving her hand closer to the spindle of the spinning wheel.

Before she even knows what's happened, she's pricked her finger on it, and blood just starts flowing from the spot. It's then that Buffy's senses seem to return, and she looks around wildly. ]

Um- Where's a band-aid when you need one? Seriously.

Wildcard

[ Got another idea? Go wild! ]

mirror mirror

[earps]

[ Thrifting is a well-honored pastime for any Earp, but as a purveyor of distressed vintage tees and fine leather, Wynonna specifically gets a small thrill out of perusing the racks at Wasteland because chances are she'll stumble across some of the weirdest stuff. There are times she's definitely ended up with clothing that is objectively fugly solely because she had to present a shirt with glitter cactuses (cacti?) on it as a joke to one Peter Parker, or buy Frank a belt that's designed to look like a strip of bacon with an egg-shaped belt buckle. These are honestly treasures that she simply can't allow to go home with anyone else.

But today, she's here for herself, just casually browsing with no real intention of going home with anything unless she stumbles across a must-have, and it's in attempting to cross around one of the racks and start in on another that she finds herself colliding with someone else in the same space. ]

Whoa! Shit, sorry. Yeah, no harm done. [ She shifts back, shoulders hunching reflexively beneath the weight of her jacket. ] Turns out leather absorbs some damage, who knew?

[ She's teasing on that one, mouth quirking to one side in an attempt at a polite smile as she looks over the other woman. ]

richard gansey iii | the raven cycle

[dickthree]

YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

[ Oh no.

The smell of the pork was tantalizing, cooked in so many ways and in so many dishes. And out of all to choose from, he stopped to get pho soup. He sat alone, quietly slurping on noodles and plucking pork belly strips into his mouth.

It isn’t too long before the curse takes into effect.

First, it was his nose. His nose, perfect in any Anglo-Saxon way, was pulled in until it was flat and flush against his face. The wost part - well, one of the worst parts - was when his teeth fell out to give way for long, crooked and dirty ones. Next were his hands and feet, five fingers and toes morphed to three.

Ashamed, Gansey tries to keep himself hidden between the alley’s, lurking in the shadows with a hoodie pulled over his head, hooves stuff into its pockets.

Someone approaches and Gansey grimaces. ] I’m unsightly, [ he manages to say, between his snorting. ]

SPINNING WHEELS

[ It appears out of nowhere, and even though Gansey has seen strange things in his short life, being followed by a spinning wheel is not one of them. The spindle, that is what most concerns him. It grabs all of his attention, actually. Gansey doesn’t know why he did it, touching the spindle. It was like a force, magnetic and alluring.

With his finger nicked, the curse takes into effect almost immediately because with the next person he sees, he is compelled to follow them. ]

Excuse me, [ Gansey starts to say. ] Have spinning wheels been following you, the spinning wool kind.

you uncultured swine;

[zoomering]

[ the best part of all of this is the lack of adults, the freedom she gets to just roam around town on a fresh set of wheels, her feet steadily balanced across the board as she ignores the locals in favor of gliding past them with the wind gusts slapping at her cheeks.

but it isn't as though everything always proves to be smooth for her; eventually, one of the front wheels dips into a crack along the sidewalk, catching and throwing her body forward against the pavement in a small roll.

the fall brings a pang of ache along her arm, but her concern is more for her skateboard, head jolting up from the ground to look around for it — seeing it rolling along into an alley where someone stands there in a hoodie.

that's safe. totally safe.

standing on her feet, ignoring the wince that comes from the pain at her side, she stands at the entry of the alley, squinting tightly at the mysterious figure, a look of disgust on her face as he echoes out a snort. ] Um, okay, can you just ... can you just kick my board over here? [ because she sure as hell doesn't want to go in there. ]

john murphy | the 100

[mofi]

YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

[ As the old saying goes, “you are what you eat.”

Murphy at pork.

So Murphy’s turning into a pig.

The transition is quick, too quick. It’s dizzying by how fast Murphy turned into a pig. The majority of him is pig-like. There are just a few more minutes and he’ll be on the ground, on all four hooves, scrounging around through garbage.

But - luckily he sees someone and doesn’t hesitate to approach them. Trying to ignore the fact he might startle the person more than he intends. He looks hideous, half-animal, half-human. ]

I need help, [ Murphy snorts. ]


SPINNING WHEELS

[ Somone’s been tailing Murphy for the last half hour, it was more than just a little disconcerting. He tries to lose them but at every turn, every dip into an alleyway, they are still there. They’re still following him. ]

What the hell, [ Murphy snarls, finally having enough of this shit. Maybe a confrontation will make the person back up. ]

You Uncultured Swine

[lookattheglass]

[Lindsey probably picked a terrible time to get something to eat. Luckily he hasn't even ordered yet when he's approached by...well. A pig person? He doesn't startle, he's seen enough weird stuff and experienced enough weird stuff that a pig person doesn't even bother him.

He's wearing a jacket with rolled up sleeves but there's just a hint of runic tattoos under his neck and on his arms.

He just looks the other up and down with a shrug.]

Yeah? What's going on?