June Intro: Playing With Your Mind

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: JUNE

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: June 4th and onward
Where: Primarily Io
Warnings: Mark as needed!

New travelers to our shores are in luck, in many ways - they are arriving on the decadent, raucous island of Io, where the local Avatar of Celebration resides. Here, you can bask in enjoyment of basics such as food and drink, as well as more extravagant affairs, such as sweeping bathhouses, sprawling campsites, rich tea gardens, and verdant vineyards.

Spinning Me Around and Around
If you are just arriving on Io, opening your eyes on the shores of LifeAftr for the very first time, it will be to...a potentially very rude awakening. More specifically, it will be to the sound of loud cracks and booms overhead.

You've arrived at Io's campsite, which has come fully stocked with all sorts of cooked meats, roasted vegetables, colorful tents, drinks of every sort, and, most importantly, fireworks. It seems Io is thrilled to welcome you to LifeAftr in the form of multi-colored starbursts, exploding out across the sky in flares of showering sparks. Particularly once the sun sets, the view will be spectacular. If you go poking around in the containers and sheds where the fireworks are kept, you'll also find all manner of strange and exciting and potentially unfamiliar variants. You can find all kinds of handheld sparklers, in addition to steel wool fireworks, handheld firecrackers, confetti poppers, and little boxes of pop pop snappers for your general use and perusal.

The message here is clear: Io wants you to celebrate your arrival! So relax! Have fun! Make some noise! Watch some colors and explosions of light, and enjoy yourself!

And try not to set anything on fire.

Just Like a Carnival
It isn't all fun and games, however. Unfortunately, it's about to get a lot less fun around here...or a lot more, depending on who you ask.

After a month or so on Io, the local avatar, Eleu, has begun to notice that a great deal of little things are starting to go missing. Bottles of wine, tents, tea leaves...people seem to be lifting whatever they please from the island and bringing it with them back to Ensō. That won't do at all. For the next few days, if any of the bees buzzing lazily about the island catch you stealing, they will approach you and ask you to stop. They will not, however, take any definitive action to stop you - they can only warn you that what you are doing may disrupt things beyond Eleu's control.

Unfortunately, by now, it's already too late. Out of the corner of your eye, regardless of your place in things - whether you were complicit in island theft, whether you are newly arrived and therefore innocent, whether you only watched on the sidelines, or whether you were totally unaware - you'll start to see it. It will peek out from behind trees and the corners of buildings.

Smiling. This...entity probably has a name. For the purposes of the games you've been playing with this island, however, you really only need to call it what it is: the Clown Box. Accompanied almost always by the tinkle of chimes and a soft, sinister chuckling, it is unclear how the Box manages to travel about, much less disappear if you try to approach.

For the first week or so of June, be prepared to find the Clown Box lingering all over Io, particularly near the mana pool. If it looks like you're going to try and lift something off the island, something that does not belong to you - the Clown Box may retaliate. This retaliation largely occurs in the form of a hand that appears to be gloved in silky, glittering material and colorfully polka-dotted cloth, slinking out to beckon at you, eerily. It seems unwilling or unable to actually hurt you directly, but it will grow incredibly persistent if you don't acknowledge it, and stop popping up all over Io with increasing frequency.

The Clown Box can be appeased by giving it a gift. What it's really after are perceived thieves: return something you have stolen, and the Box will vanish as quickly as it appeared. However, the Box is also not terribly discerning in what it is given, as long as it is something that did, at some point, belong to you. And, if you give it enough offerings, you might end up with a gift of your own. Those who give the Clown Box multiple offerings may receive any of the following:

[ ♆ ] Rubber Duck: These novelty toys don't seem to do anything in particular, other than be cute and colorful and utter happy little honks when squeezed. But there's a slight chance you might end up with a toy that seems...oddly relevant to your personal life. It might even be designed after you. Best not to question it. Just back away from the Clown Box, slowly, and be sure to thank it for the gift...

[ ♆ ] Snotgun: What appears to be an ordinary shotgun is anything but, as one will find out by firing it, it only shoots blobs of bright green acid capable of melting just about anything. So be careful not to aim it at any of your friends.

[ ♆ ] Silk Handkerchief: There's nothing particularly special about these tri-colored squares of cloth...except that no matter what you do to them, they will not stain, tear, or fade. They can be used to clean just about anything, or even serve as a delightful party trick.

[ ♆ ] A Very Shiny Nose: A bright red foam nose, easily attached to most human-shaped faces. All this thing does is inspire a general proclivity for causing mischief and trickery, though mostly of the light-hearted kind. However, the longer the nose is left in place, the more some pranks may skew toward the downright dangerous...

You are free to RNG any of the above rewards your character gets, or pick from the list above as you like! Bear in mind that the Clown Box is a stingy creature - it will not give more than one reward to any one person, though nothing is stopping you from trading others for any gifts they may have received. The Clown Box will cease being quite so persistent in tailing characters by June 7th, but it won't go away completely. You can still catch glimpses of it from time to time, waiting, watching, giggling quietly to itself. Even if you try to attack it, enchant it, set it on fire, you'll find that these attacks are essentially useless; it will vanish before any of them connect, and when it returns, it will certainly be to menace you further.

It isn't doing anything other than scaring you, though.

Yet.

---

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can all be found in your acceptance notices!

As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that those threads, if all parties involved would like, can be game canon in the form of dream-like memories involving a place very much like this one, though the layout is considerably different.

---

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

THE CAT IS BACK BAYBEEEE

[taxusbacatta]

What the Cat Dragged In

"What is this Twoleg nonsense..." Yellowfang could be heard muttering to herself as she wrestled with objects in her backpack as she sat on the temple's flagstones. If it wasn't enough to have her thoughts and dreams scrambled up like a kit running through her herbal stores, now someone had gone and put a bunch of JUNK in her bundle.

Yes, it had been quite some time since she had set foot on the islands, but she was here now and she was frustrated and if she was frustrated she couldn't be afraid.

She fumbled the hand drill and the sewing kit out, spared them each a sniff, and scrunched up her already scrunched face. She also tossed the baking soda and the razor. Fleadirt! It was all fleadirt!

"Where are my star-blasted herbs!" She had worked so hard to gather them all and now they had been replaced by some theif or that fool Hare in the night. It was then that the Stone of Farspeech, aka the iStone tumbled out. Its flat surface caught the light and Yellowfang paused in giving it a swift kick off into the vines. She was no stranger to her own reflection, having grown up in the marshes and bogs of ShadowClan's territory, but she had never caught sight of herself in an object.

She sighed as she stared down at her scarred face and bent whiskers. Her rheumy eyes were tired and she could see that she wasn't hiding her anxiety as well as she'd hoped.

Welp, when in doubt, furiously groom yourself.

Fire in the Sky

Yellowfang slunk through the underbrush of the vinyard. She'd spotted a mouse chewing away at some grape seeds and was moving as quietly as she could. Suddenly, the sky burst into pulsing embers of blue and green, illuminating her and her prey, and startling both of them. She drew her head up with a hiss and stared, wide-eyed, at the explosion overhead.

It was as thought all of StarClan were raining down on them. She'd never seen such a thing. Abandoning her hunt, the old medicine cat went flying through the weeds and brambles, struggling with her backpack against the sharp thorns and blind to her path with her memories swirling with the fire that took the TunderClan camp--and her own life. She paid no mind to whose feet she darted between or whose balance she upset. She had to get away!

WILDCARD: anything you like!

When fireworks aren't making her think it's the end of the world, Yellowfang can be found hunting or lounging in the sun.

dragged in

[motherfucking_ghost]

Animals are in no way a strange thing to find. There's just...there's always something weird about them. Rabbits that savagely attack. Or the plant monster creature things! There'd been attacking monkeys at some point, and he's glad to have missed it.

Here, there are bees. But there hadn't been, to his knowledge, much else.

So there's this cat sitting around licking itself. And Church, well, he might be a robot, but he's got the brain of a (heavily traumatized and blessedly amnesic) human person. Which means there's only one way to respond.

"Kitty! Here kitty, who's a good kitty, do you belong to someone?"

fire in the sky

[postictal]

Tim is, for once, not the guy setting off these fireworks. He's not spooked by them, necessarily, not once he figures out what's going on. It's fine. It's better when it's his idea to shoot these things off. Loud noises popping in the sky overhead? That's less fun.

He nearly trips over a dark gray streak that goes rocketing through the greenery of the vineyard, staggers to keep himself from falling flat on his ass, and ends up on his hands and knees anyway.

"Shit - " Didn't realize there were any cats here, god damn.

Fire in the sky

[forwearemany]

They are wandering through the vinyard, and it is only their own quick reflexes and ability to see in the dark that prevent them from accidentally kicking Yellowfang while they walk. They freeze, foot in the air, and watch as she darts past.

"Yellowfang?"

They turn to follow her. They haven't seen her in a long time.

What the Cat Dragged In

[petrifiedshadow]

Starflight had never seen a cat before. At least, never in person, he had read about them, but every cat he had ever read about had been much, much larger. So when he saw a small black furry creature with a long tail rummaging through one of the backpacks all the islanders had, he figured it must be some sort of weird squirrel looking for food. He rushed over and grabbed the bag, intending to salvage whatever he could for its owner.

"Hey! Go away, that's not y-" He stopped just before pushing her away with a talon, noticing the small stone of farspeech. He took a closer look at the bag, and the name tag on it. It didn't look like a human name...

He sat back abruptly, looking down at her with a look of confusion.

"Ok, um. If this is in fact your- your bag, I apologize. I know this is a rude question, but can you, um, talk?"

He tensed slightly, ready to be yelled at for being impolite. Again.

"...if not I probably sound really dumb right now."

Fire in the sky

[atailoftwoworlds]

Yellowfang knocked into Zidane right from behind and the young thief gave a yelp as he almost lost his balance and turned around. "What the he-?!"

And his eyes immediately scanned down considering the size of whatever bumped into him. And then he breathes a sigh of relief.

"Oh....it's just a cat....." And then it hit him. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen one on these islands before."

dragged in!

[deathfindsaway]

[See, Kravitz loves cats. He's been here almost a year and thought he saw one at one point, but could never find it again- it must've just been his imagination. But now, on Io, there's-- yes. Clearly a cat licking itself out on the grass, and the stars in his eyes are almost palpable. Does it count as stealing if you're adopting? He doesn't think so. Surely one cat can get along with his bird, right...?

He approaches crouched down, hand out, rubbing his fingers together and making a few clicking noises.]

Hi, hello, you're-- you look very soft, there's no need to be afraid of me...

[Weenie.]

dragged in!

[onegreeneye]

Yyyep, that voice was… was coming from that cat. That was a hell of a surprise for a couple seconds, but, in the end, a talking cat was far from the more ridiculous thing he’d been exposed to, so-- it’s fine. This is fine, actually.

He stepped just into sight and crouched down so he wouldn’t be towering quite so much, lifting his ears slightly. “What herbs are you missing?”

[sonsofhorus]

Arrival

The shape on the evening shore is something like a human, but has more about it of a pile of shabby rags, or a farmer's old weather-beaten scarecrow finally thrown away, than something that could possibly be alive. For one thing, it isn't breathing.

But he wakes up just the same, with a sound that is equal parts a person's groan and the crackle of static, and then his sensors come online - and to him it isn't the charming sound of pretty fireworks in the evening, but the kind of pop pop BOOM that one never wants to hear in a world of unexploded ordnance, creaking old machinery left dangerously unmaintained, and armed raiders in the dunes. He is old and not prone to panic, but even so he is disoriented scrambling to his feet in the sand (why is it dark? how did he lose the afternoon? why does he think he remembers meeting a robot bizarrely wrapped in thick fuzzy cloth? is he having some kind of fit in the junk pile even now?) and still the weapons are going off all around him and-

Wait. What?

The largely featureless surface of Horatio's weathered faceplate tilts upwards, the blue lights of his optic sensors squinting beneath his hood as his processor starts to catch up with the rest of him. Okay. That's...different.

(pop pop BOOM)

Especially now, after everything, the beauty of it is still sadly lost on him.

"Ugh," he manages to say out loud to no one in particular, in a voice that sounds the way a rusted-out old car looks: rough, heavy, and tired. "Is someone doing that on purpose?"


Mysterious objects

Horatio has a backpack. He has nothing against backpacks - great thing to find, backpacks, he'd had one for a while until it finally fell apart and he'd used some of its scraps to sew even more pockets into his coat - except that he has no memory of digging this one up from anywhere. Or of putting things into it. Certainly not these particular things, which not only don't belong to him (though he won't say no if someone gave him a free hammer) but are in some cases unrecognizable.

And that is why someone passing by this particular large tent (shelter from the explosions, he's still not a fan) at this particular hour of the night is going to see an android in a dusty old coat and equally dusty boots sitting on a couch with an open backpack in front of him, struggling to identify the perfectly unremarkable package of jerky in his skeletal metal fingers. What in the world is this supposed to be? He's not sure if he should actually touch the stuff inside the package; for all he knows it's corrosive or will unpleasantly get in his joints. Does it have a use? Surely it has a use. Someone please assist him.


Dreams of green

The sky is growing light, the real light of dawn this time, and Horatio doesn't have the night-vision to have quite noticed the island's plant life before now with only the night sky and mere fire-light to see by. Why would he assume the random shapes off in the night were anything but normal junk and clutter? But he's noticed it now, oh, and here he stands motionless in the sand in sight of the nearby tea gardens like he's blown a fuse, paying no more mind to the sun in its slow crawl towards day.

It's green. Nothing is this green. There isn't this much green in the whole world. The only song he knows hovers uneasily at the back of his thoughts. Crispin had...had told him many times before that he was a crazy person, but this, it-

I didn't just have a memory problem and get lost. I have actually gone insane.

He doesn't move. Not for a long while.

Dreams of Green

[forwearemany]

Legion, on the other hand, sees organic flora every single day, and is thus completely unsurprised and uninterested.

More unusual, is the robot. There are few of their kind here, and even fewer so obviously mechanical. That this one appears to be suffering a malfunction is an immediate source of concern: there is little with which to repair that which is broken.

"You are experiencing difficulties?" They get, perhaps, uncomfortably close in their attempt to suss out whether this other requires immediate assistance.

arrival

[motherfucking_ghost]

"Yeah, dude. They're fireworks."

Church very much looks like he could be a robot. Mostly because he is! Just one contained inside some space-age suit of armor. He doesn't have a person face, anyway, just a reflective orange-gold surface.

"Ahhh, I know that look." Church his face is almost as blank as yours. "Lemmie guess, you were just out doing whatever it is you normally do, then suddenly you have a weird dream about a rabbit storyteller, and you washed up on shore? Huh, this must be a regular thing..."

dreams of green

[journalname]

[Asgore, despite his guilt over what the bees had to say, is still frequenting the tea gardens. It's just so pleasant, and he is probably less likely to bother Toriel or anyone here, where anyone might expect him to go, than in someplace like Denny. There's only so long he can stay cooped up at home.

He initially passes the robot by with a smile. They're no one he recognizes, so possibly a newcomer, but they don't seem to be in any distress; just enjoying the scenery. Glancing out again while his tea steeps, though, he realizes they're still there. Hm. Maybe he should approach.]

Good morning.

mysterious objects

[hyperlit]

The Drifter is in need of a place to hunker down for the night, and the campsite is rather more crowded than would be ideal. But it's worth combing through the area in search of something of use, as always, and this is how they happen upon a tent that is occupied.

It is not the fact that the tent is occupied that arrests them. It is who is inside it.

The Drifter stares at the shape that looks very much like a sort of automaton, utterly unfamiliar.

They step, slowly, hesitantly, apprehensively - closer.

arrival

[bitch4bitch]

"Unfortunately."

Guess who is actually on her way right the fuck out of here, it's this lady. Erika scowls briefly at Horatio, though her expression isn't in reaction to him so much as it is to the agonizingly loud booming from overhead. Fireworks are a lot less fun when you've got a particularly acute sense of hearing - like, say, if you're a werewolf.

"It'll probably be going for hours now, and it won't get any less annoying; I'd suggest getting out of here 'til they're done."

Agent Carolina | RvB | ota | arrival

[uptightness]

[The boom does have her eyes opening quickly as she jerks in to a seated position, confused. Of course that is hard to tell that, given that she is covered head to toe in her cyan armor suit, although the sudden motion might come as a surprise. She sits there a moment, trying to remember what the heck she was doing, but it doesn't fit well. Had something happened? No, she had been- it takes her a moment though to shift through her memories, a nauseous feeling settling in her stomach as she glances to one side, then the other.

The knapsack has perplexed her, given that she should have hers back at their place, but here it is, with her name, and more items it seems. Is this something that she hadn't known about? Surprise, you get a new stinking bag every few months? Has something happened to have her end up back here? She rises to a crouch, realizing that there seems to be some form of celebration going on, as she picks up the items. Carolina doesn't remember anything out of the ordinary. She'd been talking with CT, who had been debating making a garden.

Which is not where she is now.]

Great.

[It's a crisp sound that clearly states that it isn't great as she rises, deciding to head towards where the celebration seems to be going on. It's the question of where is she? She knows that there are multiple places that she could be, although she can't explain why she is here, or why the Storyteller had greeted her again... There is no rhyme or reason to this place, she has already figured out, still thinking of it like something out of Caboose's head. It doesn't make sense to her, but maybe it makes sense to someone else.

With one of the straps over her armoured shoulder, Carolina sets out. She may be a sight for anyone not familiar with technology, but for the most part, she is minding her own business. It's only if someone is looking too long or too hard that her helmeted head swings in that direction.]

Can I help you with something?

[The tone does suggest otherwise as she is irritated to find herself deposited who knew where.

There is that antsy air to her when she continues on, on alert. It is frustration more than anything else that has her curt again. She doesn't like surprises. Never has, never will. She knows that sometimes missions might not go as planned, but that type of on the fly is better than this. At least she knows her mission parameters and a goal. Ultimately, the goal right now is to figure out where everyone else is, and whether they've found themselves here as well.

Now and again, when she comes across someone, she might give a nod in their direction, ]

Hey. Seen anyone in armour like this?

[She does continue onwards though, until she reaches where the party seems to be, scanning.]

Where are we?

[It's her usual abrupt nature. No hello, how are you, or formalities like that. Rather, she gets to the point of trying to make sense of the situation. Carolina can't recall any mention of a party, although she's not always on top of such things. It used to be York that would drag her along, and with the Reds and the Blues, she tends to just end up in the middle of things no matter what anyway.]


[ooc; will match any format]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Boy howdy there sure are people in armor like this! One of them happens to look like Epsilon, when Epsilon used to have a physical body instead of a smol holographic representation for Caboose to feed crackers to.

He is not, blessedly, setting any fireworks off. Merely standing about and cheering at really big ones, like some 4th of July doofus.]

Do a blue one! Hey! You got any big blue ones? You should light those!

[Who is he yelling to? /shrug! Maybe it's the island. Maybe the bees are setting them off. Whatever, it's not his problem, he's just here to enjoy the show.]

tim wright | ota | i'll match your formatting

[postictal]

i. fireworks ; 'cause baby you're a plastic bag

[There's the fucking sparklers. He was looking for those.]

[The clamor overhead doesn't seem to bother Tim all that much, once he adjusts to it. The loud noises, the bangs, the explosions and crackles and fizzles of color, he could take or leave, but once he knows it's just fireworks, that's when it stops being a problem.]

[More importantly, Tim has a box of sparklers, and he's lighting them up with a soft hiss, holding them up into the surrounding dark.]

[He doesn't quite look happy, because he never does. But he looks...less tense, than usual.]

ii. clown box ; vomit in the ball pit

[At least it's not Mothman. That's really the only point he can say in this thing's favor.]

Seriously. Seriously, can you just - leave me alone?

[The Box leers at him from behind the exterior wall of one of the bathhouses, chuckling happily. Tim walks a bit faster to compensate, only to turn around and immediately come nose-to-nose with the thing. He hastily starts moving backward just in time to avoid the hand, gloved and glittering, that comes snaking out from the cloth-covered hole and beckons at him.]

I don't have anything for you. Okay?

[He did steal a few things, but no one can prove that. Someone tell him to give the damn thing something so he doesn't try setting it on fire next.]

i.

[barnaculled]

So that's what those do.

[ Murmurs a deep voice from the aforementioned dark. ]

They seem to make a pretty poor torch.

[ Standing a good ten or so feet from Tim is a man on the taller side of average in what appears to be a leather breastplate, boots, and tights. In the dark and shades of grey, he looks human enough aside from the point to his ears and maybe a skin condition akin to vitiligo that makes the skin from his cheekbones down to his throat a paler color. A pop of the fireworks overhead or the sparkler being swung closer reveals the skin condition actually extends to being green as well.

The half-orc begins digging boxes upon boxes of sparklers out of the duffle-sized bag he has on his hip, tossing them in handfuls back towards the fireworks shed. ]

How'd you light that thing up?

yuri egin | blue exorcist | ota

[egin]

— arrival.

( she awakens with a heaving cough and the taste of salt in her mouth. it takes only a moment of weary blinking before yuri sits up suddenly with a gasp, clearly on the defensive as she pats herself down and takes in her surroundings. what in the world...? one moment, she had been talking with shiro and the next thing she remembers was... nothing. nothing to explain how she ended up on this beach anyway and the more she thinks, the worse her headache starts to become and she ultimately lets the how in this equation drop for now.

for what it was worth, she was fine. same as always although the bag with her name stitched into the side leaves little to help her. in fact the device is regarded with right confusion (she's from the early 90s my dudes) before it comes to life in her hand and she promptly drops it back into the sack with her other assortment of random supplies.

just what was going on? )

— campsite.

( it isn't long after she awakens on the beach that the first crack and boom of a firework goes off overhead. for a long time, yuri sits in the waves and just watches the display of color over her play out with a look of near sadness. it's only after sometime sitting there that the young woman finally gathers her belongings and heads out with her direction set by where the fireworks seem to be launching from and also where the smell of food seems to be wafting in from. after all, she can't deny that all this sitting and worrying has certainly worked up something of an appetite.

needless to say, yuri is surprised when she comes across the campsite and the sight of people seemingly having fun without a care in the world. where these people like her or perhaps native to this place? either way she grips her bag and steps out of the wooded area surrounding the campsite with careful movements. worst case scenario? this could be the work of a very powerful demon. )

— temple.

( by the time she reaches the temple, yuri is tired. it likely shows in her sluggish posture not to mention the way her damp, mess of black hair falls around and sticks to her features. although she doesn't enter the temple (too many questions and far to many thoughts of demons) she does make use of the steps leading up to it as she drops her bag and settles into a seat. leaning back she covers her face with her hands, heaving out a sigh and seemingly speaking to the night sky. )

What should I do, Shiro?

— wildcard.

( for anything not mentioned above! feel free to hit me up at kaldwin if you'd like to set something up. )

campsite

[reflash]

[Yukio is taking a break, since isn't that the whole point of this island?

He has a mug of strong, spiced chai tea, sweetened to within an inch of its life and with probably too much cream. He's sitting off to the side, not getting too involved but also not avoiding everyone. The weather is perfect, and the fireworks are beautiful, and of course Yukio gets about fifteen seconds to just start to unwind in a beanbag chair near a fire when he sees a figure out of... the corner of his eye isn't quite right, not anymore, but that's the general feeling. He sees the figure in Exorcist's robes coming out of the forest with one of his extra eyes, and turns to look at her better. And then instantly turns away, sinking into his beanbag chair and kind of hoping she didn't see him.

The problem with that, of course, is that Yukio is extremely distinctive. Even if he didn't have the eyes and the tail and the fangs and the fae-mark across his face, he still glows in the dark. It's not too bright, but the blue glow of his blood just seeps through his skin and lights him up from within like he's the one who inherited blue flames.]

RIN OKUMURA! HE's new! He's lost! he DOESNT TRUST PARTIES

[flashover]

a. arrival
[Rin awakens with a start on he beach, his clothes damp and salty from the sea, to the sound of explosions overhead. There’s a brief moment of panic as he scrambles into the nearest shelter, which happens to be a tent. Maybe it’s empty… or maybe someone is inside?

If there is someone, Rin doesn’t notice at first — he’s peeking out the tent at the fireworks. Which means he hasn’t bothered to apply his glamour magic, yet. You might actually get a glimpse of his fully fae form, resembling a humanoid dragon with blue markings on his skin, blue-white ombre hair, spindly-fingered “wings”, and a long whippy lion-like tail covered in the same white-blue fur.]

Fireworks… in the middle of the day? Geez….


b. relaxing
[Once Rin has figured out nothing bad is going to happen right away, he’s found himself a campfire, some drinks, and a few skewers on a large banana-leaf plate. He’s looking more human— with black hair and black fur on his tail, as well as pointed ears, but otherwise normal.

Unless you can see through illusions, that is….

Sitting next to him is a large… dragon?. It has on an ornate leather saddle embossed with roses, which it scratches at uncomfortably]

I’m sorry, Nosh, but I don’t have anywhere to put it. I mean… I guess we could use one of these tents, but…

[Rin looks at them, unsettled] This all seems too convenient, huh? [he holds out a cooked meat and veggie skewer] Smells alright, yeah? [The dragon - Nosh - sniffs the food. Then eats the entire thing in one bite, spitting out the stick]

…. You didn’t have to eat the entire thing!!


c. tasty tea
[Later, Rin can be found in the tea gardens. He plucks a tea leaf and puts it in his mouth]

This is weird… it’s just like that dream I had! I wonder… was that some kind of premonition?

[Later he can be found at the teahouse, enjoying a cup of hot black tea with honey]

Hopefully this isn’t like the dream tea… It sure is good, though!


d. wildcard
[want to do something different? Hit me up!]


[[A NOTE: Except for the first prompt, Rin will be glamored to look like his normal canon self! However, he is very new to this magic, and his disguise is less than perfect — especially to those with a strong sense for magic and illusions. Characters may see flickers of his true appearance or they may see through the glamor completely, it’s up to you! But if your character is totally mundane, his magic is good enough to hide his true appearance, so keep that in mind. If you need to plot with me, I am on Fishbone#3416 on Discord and DrFishbone]]

c

[egin]

( okay, she's not going to freak out. she's not going to freak out. she's not going to—

okay, it was definitely harder said than done. rin looks so much like shiro, so much like satan that it's almost scary. aside from his hair and the fact that those are her eyes, she tries to focus on that factor instead, approaching with a smile. )

Hehe! Paladin Rin, we meet again!

Amaterasu | OTA

[mamaterasu]

i. Celebrate (One More Time)

[By far, this island has been Ammy's favorite, aside from Enso where she called home. Delicious foods, a relaxing tea garden, warm fires, comfortable cushions and pillows...it was perfect - a true celebration. It reminds her a little of the time spent at new year, and all the work she put in for a truly explosive event. It wasn't much in the ways of food, but the fireworks were...something spectacular, if she had to say so herself, heh.

This also...it's quite impressive as well, and as the wolf lays on a small pile of pillow she gathered into a little nest or sorts, she watches the fireworks display with a calm smile playing on her face, tail sweeping back and forth slowly. She looks perfectly relaxed, her ears flicking out of sheer reflex when a stay bee buzzes past, though she doesn't do anything to disturb them, especially when one lands on her nose for but a second, just to check in. Haha, seems she's grown accustom to small creatures standing there...

Once the tiny god flits away, she yawns, rolls over, and stretches out, beginning to take a nap with her stomach up. I anyone wants to come by and pet her, she certainly won't complain...this is the most relaxed this lazy mutt has been in...maybe a week?

Listen. Every goddess needs their R&R. Some more than others.]
---

ii. A Circus Affair

[Now, Ammy is not a stranger to some petty crimes. She, like many others, has been spiriting away...erm, spirits, back to her many dens on Enso. It was only when she was found out and politely asked to stop that Ammy decided to heed the request of her fellow god and stop her thieving ways, despite being a total and complete lush. I mean, there's no end to her stomach, and Ammy could drink all of Enso under the table and then some, so here or there makes no difference to her.

Even so, her crimes seem to have still been remembered by...whatever the hell the thing following her around is. Her relaxing time has been greatly hindered by the dark chuckling and her own low growls and barks at the...god, what even is it? Her curiosity wins over her fear in little to no time, and she can't help herself as she curiously sniffs about the Clown Box, only jumping back with a startled bark and growl when that gloved hand emerges...beckoning with its five fingers.

Um.

Should...sh-should she...lick it?







Somehow, that feels like the wrong choice.]

i

[bloodbathing]

[ That is an extremely happy-looking dog. (At least, Maine thinks she's a dog.) The big Freelancer spots her while walking towards one of the tents, and a smile immediately breaks out on his face. When's the last time he saw a dog that comfortable? Hell, when's the last time he saw a dog at all?

The seven-foot-tall wall of muscle that is Maine kneels down a short distance away. He calls out softly, his voice friendly in spite of its low and gravelly nature: ]

Hey.

[ And he extends a big hand for the "dog" to approach and sniff if she chooses. ]

Zidane Tribal | OTA

[atailoftwoworlds]

Network post – 4th June

[Welcome, newcomers to Life After! Are you having a good time? Are you using the new Farspeech text functions yet? Because a certain thief has just decided to play around with them a little bit.]

hello beautiful ladies! this is zidane tribal, the greatest and most amazing and handsome thief on all of gaia and enso. how are you all today?

[Okay how does he capitalise? There's got to be a button, right? Let's try this one.]




[And a few seconds later this appears.]

wait that's not what i wanted.


Clown box – 5th June

[Okay clowns are not the scariest thing in the world to Zidane but good god this box creepy laughing box thing is unnerving him. Is this what the bees warned everyone about?
However, to his shock, that weird stick he got when he arrived here seemed to work get the weird creature to go away. And he seemed to get an unusual present in return.]

Hmm….is this like that ink gun I found when I woke up here?

[And he points to a random rock and fires! And, to his complete astonishment, the rock suddenly melts.]

What the frickin’ heeeeeeeeeeeeell?!

network

[bitch4bitch]

[Holy shit this is delightful. She can't really be surprised that this kinda thing is starting up as soon as they have text, but it's no less hilarious for it!]

You havin some trouble there dude?

Maximilien | ota

[laundering]

Arrival

[ Maximilien sticks out like a sore thumb, given what he is. His metallic skin and bright glowing red eyes are easy to distinguish among the other arrivals. However he seems to be...human with the way he peruses the fireworks left out a hand to his chin as he walks, lifting up boxes to see what types are displayed. ]

Interesting. [ Though he doesn't make a move to take any but he will enjoy the spectacular views once the firework shows starts. ] Is there a reason for the occasion or simply a welcoming?

[ Either way it's a rather grand way to welcome new guests. ]

Temple

[ He's more or less getting his footing on the tiny island of Io. Having arrived only a few days ago he's starting to feel the effects of energy loss. But he's made great care to try and conserve his energy, powering down at night and running steady diagnostics on himself. It's only when he arrives at the temple of the avatar of celebration that he feels...reinvigorated. The interior is only that which he's seen in Oasis and it's a rather thrilling look, if he had to be succinct on how he felt. It was definitely a place befitting of a god. And as such he'd leave an offering of one of the items he awoke with, not that he had much use for any of them. After all what does an omnic due with any of these items aside from trading? But there's not much here to trade for, still he'll sit quietly by the mana pool to recharge himself with a small contented sigh. ]

It is quite a magnificent place, is it not? [ Spoken to whoever else decided to wander in. ]

Honeycomb

[ The structures here do not fall short to amaze. Max doesn't wander in just yet but if you're thinking about it too he might gesture with a hand towards the honeycomb, red optics ticking towards your person. ]

Would you like to descend inside? I have been considering it for some time, but to enter alone and see it's working by oneself seems to be a waste. A beautiful structure like this shouldn't be viewed alone.

Winery

[ This was more of his pace and comfort. Winery, distilleries, he knew all the mechanization of them and what to really expect when within one. He wanders through the grape groves, metallic hands lightly touching and examining the ripe grapes, perfect for making some fine wine, he's sure. But he will head over to the mansion next opting to observe and even try to of the wine there. ] Rather exceptional, really.

[ But what here isn't is the real question? ]

honeycomb

[counterblows]

[Wash is armored up and armed in general, per usual, though he only intended to pass by the place en route to the mana pool. The presence of what is very clearly a robot makes him pause.]

[One he doesn't recognize, no less.]

...you new?

beau | ota | ill match format!

[lesbeau]

[Here's the thing. Beau kind of expected there to be some consequences before this point if the local god didn't want her taking anything. She's been taking stuff since day one, and when there wasn't an immediate force designed to stop her, maybe she got a bit lax with it. Her first crime ever was smuggling wine- sometimes you fall back on old habits, and sometimes you just wanna fill your house with free shit.

But that said, the consequences she expected was not this absolute fuckery.

Beau has fought a lot of things in her life, but the Clown Box is not one of them. She knows she's being followed as she heads for the mana pool, another bottle of wine in her backpack, but by how her staff is out and whirling around, trying to catch a glimpse of what the fuck is laughing at her.

Finally, she just outright yells.]

Alright, fucker! Who is it, huh! Who thinks they're playing some kind of trick! Come out and fight me you coward!

[Better hope you're not lurking nearby, or she might leap on you first.]

[ooc: Feel free to reach out to me at cancerously if you'd like additional prompts or something else!]

[semistableman]

[It's probably a good thing that Bucky doesn't really lurk, not around Beau. She's easily stronger than any other un-enhanced person he's ever met,and a warrior to boot. Which is why when he approaches her, he consciously makes noise walking up to her.

He's needed to recharge near the mana pool anyway, his left arm slowing in how easily it is to move.]

Who the hell are you yelling at?

fjord | critical role | will match format

[barnaculled]

arrival;

[ It isn't the first time Fjord's woken up alone and confused on a shore, waves lapping up his back. It isn't even the first time he's been around a great explosion. Nevertheless, it's the pop of the fireworks overhead that finally manages to rouse him. For a brief moment, he's back on the Tide's Breath, a ship he hadn't been on in months. But dreams and memories can be funny things, contorting time to its whim. Memory makes him dream of being flung overboard again, and when his back slaps the water, he wakes up gasping and sputtering out salt water.

It's dark when he opens his eyes, but they adjust swiftly to the night. Another round of fireworks gets him frightfully looking up to the sky before he recognizes their colors and fanciful patterns for what they are. What the fuck?

For a good couple of minutes, Fjord just keeps his ass sat in the sand, taking stock of his surroundings and then his inventory. He's got an extra bag than he remembers on him, but other than the nuts inside, it holds no interest for him. He throws a handful of the aforementioned morsels in his mouth - he's starving, not to mention achy all over. If someone wants to approach a green-skinned dude on the shore just letting waves hit him despite being in armor and boots, that's on you. Fjord's less liable to approach anyone out here unless they look like they're actively struggling.

Eventually, the smell of cooked food draws him up to stumble towards the tents. He takes stock of the people that are already there before he decides to look just like he is, if drier, before approaching what amounts to a buffet of free food. ]

D'you know if this is, uh, complimentary?

[ He might ask someone in the line before he helps himself and makes his way to sit close to the bonfire. He practically inhales his plate, all the while keeping a wary eye out like someone who's afraid they might have it taken from him or else be suddenly charged with some unseen fee.

After he's somewhat fed and feeling more like himself, he might address someone near him at the fire: ]

I understand this might come as an uh... odd question, but did you happen to dream about a white rabbit lately?


creepy ain't a crime ( but stealing sure is );

[ In Fjord's mind, it's not stealing to take a bunch of shit that was offered up as free. After his meal and observation, the half-orc makes his way over to the refreshment table. There, an observer may be able to witness the tall, green man performing a curious magic trick.

He picks up a few of the extra dishes - making sure there's still some left over for others - and dumps the contents into the bag settled against his hip. A couple whole rotisserie chickens ( or similar animals ) go in there. And when he gets to the wine, he takes a good half-dozen bottles and slips them right in. While he's not being noticeably sneaky, he's not making a big production of what he's doing either, just going about things as if he completely deserves to be doing this. Which he thinks he does.

The curious part comes in with the fact that no matter how much the green man seems to put in the bag, it never seems to look any heavier, never seems to bulge. It just keeps taking in more and more. The most obvious feat comes when Fjord goes over to the fireworks shed and takes a good dozen of each thing in there to push into the bag. No issue whatsoever; it sits just at the same height against his hip as it always has.


After stocking up, Fjord begins his trek across Io to where he's heard the mana pools are, taking the most direct path around the arena. It's then he gets confronted by a few bees that ask him not to steal. In response, Fjord opens the bag on his hip, showing the insect that it is apparently empty. He goes on, remembering how the arena featured in his dreams. He passes along the outskirts of the bath house, which puts him between thoughts of my dreams were real and I must still be dreaming.

That's when he spots it: Shia LeBeof what looks like a wooden box with a very well-off jester painted on the front; normally those entertainers can't afford that level of make-up where he's from. It gives Fjord a start, having not seen it in the place it appeared before. He stops dead in his tracks about ten feet away from the thing. ]

Hello?

[ There's a jingle and a chuckle. In the bare starlight, it reaches a gloved hand out that glitters from what he perceives as tiny metal fragments all over it. Fjord grew up in a port city, full of tourists, merchants, and buskers alike. The set-up reminds him of his childhood and the type of players that put on puppet shows for a fee. Seeing the hand beckon to him, he gives a little puff, presuming this is some sort of begging or demand for an offering to put on its set production. ]

Ah, sorry, but I've got somewhere to be. Perhaps another time.

[ Is what he says at first. It does nothing but give a jingling shake of its hand. Fjord walks on, giving it a wide berth, into the dark. That's the start of the horror.

It follows him to the mana pools. He almost never sees it except out of the corner of his eye, but he hears it. Fjord has fought demons and a multitude of monsters in his life, but this? This creepy laughter, the ominous jingling... this is fucking psychological warfare, and he has no real defenses against that. He tries to change his appearance over the walk to try and confuse the thing, one of his working theories being that this is someone who is just waiting for the chance to mug a loner on this island. He goes from a muscle-bound, full-blooded orc to an impressively-horned tiefling to an elderly priest-looking man in bee-themed robes. It doesn't matter. It keeps following him, never getting too close.

He can't even afford to be impressed by the glowing of the mana pools when he reaches them because he spots the thing among the trees. ]

ELDRITCH BLAST!

[ He shoots a beam of green light out of his pistol-shaped finger... one of them. Finding out he can only shoot one beam instead of two puts Fjord into a minor panic attack when combined with the fact the fucking box disappeared before the blast could hit it. Just blinked out of existence! ]

The fuck do you WANT?!

[ Fjord shouts at his surroundings. Hearing another sound, he pivots and aims his finger-gun towards where it comes from. ]

arrival :V

[lesbeau]

[Of course, if there's anywhere providing free meat, Beau is there. Really, anything providing free anything is what's getting her interested, seeing as half the time it's work to get food and shit on the main island. Io has been incredibly gracious, and Beau intends on eating more than her fill as it's presented to her.

What she doesn't expect is the sound of a voice she hasn't heard in a while asking someone about a rabbit. She's behind him at this point, having only just arrived, but as soon as she whips her head around and registers that she's pretty sure that's Fjord she just bolts at him at the campfire.]

HEY!

[At least he gets that warning that someone is coming before Beau ends up right behind him, forcibly turning him around to see his face and confirm her suspicions.]

Oh shit, when did you get here?

steve rogers | open

[indomitables]

Arrival

[ It's the noise that first alerts Steve to something in his environs being not quite right — the booms and crackles firing somewhere above his head. Without even being fully awake, his instincts spring into action, a hand reaches out blindly to the side of where he's curled up on the ground, searching in some small manner of desperation until his fingers brush against the edge of a round shield. They slip underneath and drag the disc toward him, already delving further along the radius until they find the straps. Heart pounding, and flooding the rest of him with a surge of adrenhalin, Steve rolls over onto his side, with the shield braced above his head.

He's still half asleep and the noises sound eerily like those of a battlefield, somewhere no sane person really wants to be.

There's a blessed cessation of explosions right about then, allowing Steve to peer out from beneath his shelter at the sky, and then at the area immediately around him, looking for signs of fighting. Of troops, of weapons, of the dead and dying. It's only when he doesn't see them — and does note the knapsack that got pushed to one side during his roll for cover — that he finally realizes the flashes of light above are fireworks. He lowers the shield, but doesn't let it go, and gives himself a moment to get his bearings before slowly climbing to his feet. ]

What the hell? [ Welcome to Io, Captain America.

Later on, once he's reasonably sure there won't be a volley of gun or canon or airplane fire coming at the little camping site, he's more willing to poke around and figure out where he is. Probably even talk to anyone who wanders by. ]


Box Stalk

[ Only a few days into his stay, after his intial roam across the area in an attempt to find out how large the islands are, and what kind of supplies are available to the newer arrivals, Steve realizes he's being stalked. Not by a normal person, though. Or a psychpath. Because that would make his life too easy. No, he's being stalked by a goddamn box. And that isn't even the creepiest part. (Of an admittedly creepy encounter.) The creepy part is that there's a clown painted on the side. Or maybe it's multiple clowns - one for each side. He can't quite tell, because whatever is inhabiting the box is pretty good at not being where it was when Steve first notices it.

And after the third encounter, catching movement from the corner of his eye, he starts stalking them back. Fair is fair, isn't it? Might even get some information out of one, provided it communicates, if he plays his cards right. ]


Wildcard

[ Want to encounter Steve somewhere else? Toss it here. Feel free to ping me on plurk to chat or plot. ]

Re: steve rogers | open

[semistableman]

[Have there been fireworks? He's not so sure, right now. He's been through a lot since coming to this set of islands, and he's not so sure he wants to relive most of what he's already experienced here.

...Well. Petunia can stay. He likes her, meeting her again would be all right.

Since seeing Steve in that shared dream island, he's been feeling off. It's not like it means anything, he's still not sure how much of it could even be considered real, since it didn't really happen, and all he has are the memories, and the vague notion that at least he was able to talk to the one person he's really been missing. It's shockingly easy for him to forget that until showing up on the island, he'd been living in hiding in Romania.

Maybe that's why the noises startle him more than they probably should, flashing him back to the war, to HYDRA, to the fearful near-misses he's had with international authorities that might just have heard of the Winter Soldier until now.

He's only at the shoreline to see how easy it would be to fish, he doesn't want to be out here and exposed. He can already feel his heart racing, the blood rushing in his ear, and then he hears that voice, that voice he could recognize in the dead of sleep. That voice he would know even if he were nearly deaf.]

Steve?