January Event: Fade to Black

[lifeaftr_mods]

JANUARY EVENT: FADE TO BLACK

Who: Anyone and everyone!
What: Your true self comes to roost
When: January 21st - 23rd; January 25th - 28th
Where: All over!
Warnings: Dark subjects such as violence and self-destruction are likely to come to the forefront - please mark your content accordingly!

Down in that Darkness

This log is primarily for the Shadow and Light portions of the event, for ease and convenience. Your Shadow can be either the Persona-inspired sort - a "brutal, bitterly honest recreation of a character's worst flaws, darkest fears, and deepest secrets" - or the edgier, more laughable variant. The Lights, on the other hand, will do their utmost to convince their real selves of their best qualities, no matter how little they want to hear them.

Remember that the Shadows will be present from January 21st to January 23rd, and the Lights will be present from January 25th to January 28th.

On January 25th, we will post a separate log for Rejection Rooms!

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Some useful links, for reference:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Post
[ ♆ ] Rejection Room Sign-Ups; remember to note your interest in these as soon as possible!
[ ♆ ] Deaths Page; death penalties have been reduced for the duration of this event, but still do let us know if your character dies regardless!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] January 20th: The monthly Storytelling occurs.
[ ♆ ] January 21st: Shadows of both initial variants appear.
[ ♆ ] January 23rd: Shadows of both initial variants disappear.
[ ♆ ] January 25th Lights and Rejection Rooms appear.
[ ♆ ] January 28th: Lights and Rejection Rooms dissipate. Those still trapped in their Rejection Rooms by the event's end will suffer a character death.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[catpiper]

[It's the third time someone's words have stunned her, in both their simplicity and the way it pierces her heart. Don't underestimate them is-

Guzma said the same thing to her. That she wasn't giving people enough credit, that she was trying to hide from them under the assumption that-

The people that care about her will leave. That some of them won't look at her, won't smile at her, will see all the bad things in her and leave her completely and utterly alone.

But when has that happened-when has anyone ever made her feel alone? The assumption that they will coming from her-as a wall to build around herself to not say anything because she's afraid.

Their words reach her, give her pause and she stares at them for a long second and-

The Drifter has done everything for her, from the very beginning. They have done everything for their world, pulled all their strength to live, tried to do everything in their power to survive and help others do the same.

She really shouldn't underestimate them. And while she doesn't respond with any words, she leans down and-

Tries to give them a hug, if they let her.]

[hyperlit]

[It's good that the attempt is made with this version of them, that does not mind it. In fact, it probably likes it quite a bit - it's unfamiliar, and strange, and new, and it arrests it in a way that it cannot entirely dismiss. The Drifter has spent most of their life dodging contact, based off the presumption that it will almost always be harsh and cruel and intended to hurt.]

[This contact isn't.]

[The Light isn't entirely sure what to do with it. It ends up conceding to...pat the top of her head, awkwardly, weathering the closeness of it with visible uncertainty.]

[catpiper]

[It's okay if they don't know how to hug. She doesn't mind because they aren't pulling away and there's an attempt to do something, with the pat on her head.

She remembers doing the same thing when people would hug her. Pet the top of their head because cats liked it, why wouldn't people? And it makes her smile, for a second, not that they can see with the way she's hiding in their shoulder.

And it only takes a second and she pulls back, freeing them from the physical contact hell.]

I won't 'underestimate' them. If I see them, maybe-

[Not that she's entirely confident they'll come to her. Not with the way things are or how they have been, but-

If she can catch them, if it comes up, if they look into her eyes and look worried-

Maybe it's time to let them know.]

[hyperlit]

"Maybe...?" [It's not quite certain what she's getting at in specificity, but it can conclude that it means something good. Something that hopefully connotes the Light's ultimate goal, as nebulous and unlikely as that may be.]

[If this is the last time it is to meet her, see her face to face, perhaps she out to hear what the Drifter themself is not always aware of - what they could never admit, because they lack the words to say it:]

"They think you are a kind and selfless soul, and there is very little in this world that you could ask them that they would not do."

[catpiper]

[That's-

Unexpected. She takes the opportunity to glance over her shoulder, to see if someone else came up because they saw this relaxed form against the tree, and doesn't see a soul. It's just the two of them and those words are directed at her.

And if feels like cheating, almost, when she's able to shake the shock from her face and-]

Do they know-

[That they're the kind, selfless person around here.]

How pretty they are? How pretty their heart is?

[hyperlit]

"No."

[It's gentle, but it's no less solemn, and it's calm and it's true.]

"They have been told, taught, that their people are a shameful thing. That they are an abomination, and that they are not welcome. They still wander, Ren. They sleep in their hammock in a different place, every night. They never want to grow comfortable in any one place, for fear of losing it."

[catpiper]

[It explains their reluctance when she tries to get them to remember that, even if they don't want to call it a home, there's a place to rest. They can curl up in the warm blankets in the tent-they don't have to worry about losing a place like that because so many people want it to survive. It won't be only them fighting for it.

But they're not shameful. Not an abomination. And it hurts to know that's how people saw them, when she knows their true nature is kind, generous, protective-

It's not a surprise that's how things were. With the way they act, the way they react when she calls them pretty because it's true to her.]

I don't want them to be afraid.

[But it's hard to say that, knowing she lives with a constant, unshakable fear of most things. They shouldn't have to live that way.]

I'll find them.

[hyperlit]

"Nor do I."

[Their life is short, and so temporary, and so ephemeral - too much for them to squander so much of it trapped by their own innate terror of attachment, and all that has become moot, at this point.]

[But there is a solemn difficulty in unlearning something that has ruled one's every instinct for so long.]

[The Light looks at her, and it's impossible to tell what its gaze is meant to communicate - warmth or sadness, gratitude or melancholy. Perhaps both, at once.]

"I know you will."

[catpiper]

[Finding them is going to be a trial, honestly. She immediately resorts to calling them on her iStone, saying hey, hey and hoping they answer. And if they don't, she's going to simply wander around the woods until her feet hurt. Maybe longer. Maybe until the sun goes down and she can't see her hand in front of her face.

But she's going to try.

Try and try and try.

Until something in her heart reaches them.]

[hyperlit]

[The Light settles back down. It's hard to say what the real Drifter is up to. Perhaps they're passed out from the extent of the ample injuries they'd sustained, over the past few days. Perhaps they're steering clear of most everyone else. Either way, they're not answering - not readily.]

[But the Light will wait here. For as long as it must.]