lifeaftr | November Undercurrent: And We Give Thanks

November Undercurrent: And We Give Thanks

NOVEMBER UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: Have you told someone you loved them yet?
When: November 3rd to November 20th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: Nothing of note; please mark if anything comes up!

Take Me Back to the Reasons Why
The Water wishes to demonstrate their power to you, as well as just what they mean, when they suggest that they require your cooperation. They are going to bring back the harvest island of Nuidan, a generally fondly remembered island that explorers have encountered in the past. What's more, they're going to require your help to do it.

Starting November 3rd, characters will discover a simple strip of dark leather among their belongings, meant to be worn around the neck or wrist. They can disregard it, of course, but if they attempt to discard or destroy it, it will always find its way back to them, no matter how improbable this might seem. How strange...

Perhaps even stranger is the sudden appearance of a smooth slab of stone, half-submerged in the waters just off of Ensō's coast. It's an altar, and around its edges are a series of deep notches, as though something is meant to be inserted into them. In its center is a pool of water, though it curiously doesn't seem to reflect anything.

The purpose of this will only really become obvious once the month goes on. Characters will find themselves to compelled to be honest with the people around them as to why they care, why they appreciate them as people, or what they like most about them. This compulsion can vary wildly and at the player's discretion, from a gentle mental pressure to an unstoppable force, and anything in between!

The bottom line is that every time one admits to some feeling of gratitude, no matter how small or big, their little plait of leather will receive a crystal from the interaction. All crystals will be roughly the same shape, but they may vary in color, pattern, and texture. Some might be simple sticks of quartz, while others might be comprised of myriad, ever-changing swirls of color. Again, the only limit here is your imagination.

Now the presence of that strange, altar-shaped stone in the water might make a bit more sense. Those notches in its sides are the perfect size and shape to fit a crystal smoothly into any one of them. The more grateful interactions one has with others, the more crystals they will gather, and the more they can fit into the altar. As more crystals are fed to the altar, it will start to glow. The pool of water at the altar's top will start to reflect the likeness island of Nuidan in increasing clarity, as though one is peering at its likeness in a snowglobe. What's more is that the number of crystals in the altar will very obviously affect Nuidan's state: very few crystals will make the island look as though it is mostly wilderness only a handful of structures in dire need of repair, while a great deal of crystals will cause the island to look as though it is thriving, in full bloom, and in more need of harvest than maintenance.

But, ultimately, the state in which Nuidan returns to you is up to you...and how far you're willing to go to express a little gratitude. Don't worry if you don't know anyone, either - this marks a great opportunity to start doing nice things for people, even if you don't know them! You've got most of the month to get to know each other, after all.

Don't think you can get away with heaping compliments on your closest friends and companions, however; variety is the name of the game here. While you can collect all sorts of crystals for personal use from repeat interactions, you can only feed one crystal to the altar per person. That is to say, Character A can be as grateful to Character B as they like, but only one crystal from each character can be delivered to the altar. If they want to procure more for the altar's purposes, Character A will have to have a positive interaction with Character C, and so on.

Take Me Back to That Big Sky

Of course, there's a lot going on in the background as well. You're free to use this log as a catch-all for the duration of November's Undercurrent Event, as well as the other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. You are very, very free to let your dreams about creepers and baby lorbies become reality, and you are always free to create your own individual logs and posts as needed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them over on our Monthly Rundown post!

November Timeline

[ ♆ ] November 3rd: "And We Give Thanks" begins and lasts until November 20th
[ ♆ ] November 4th: "Aw, Man" begins and lasts until November 12th
[ ♆ ] November 11th: "The Lorblings" begins and lasts until November 25th
[ ♆ ] November 20th: Nuidan returns to the archipelago
[ ♆ ] November 21st: "Return to Your Roots" begins and lasts until November 30th

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[ He purses his lips, giving it some thought.]

How about... [ Wait. He's got it. Yes.

Lord, he's starving and it's very distracting.]

...Ritz?

[ Now that's just a shameful attempt. He's supposed to be the wordsmith here.

But he also may just be thinking about food. ]

[How very like him. Crowley's lips curl in a slightly amused way.]

Sure, whatever you want.

[He spins on his heels again and steps carefully toward the door.]

Shall we, then?

[ It'll do.

It's poetic, he supposes. A beginning and an...no, not an end. End of an act, maybe. ]

Ah, yes.

[ He pulls the knapsack over his shoulder and follows the demon. ]

I suppose we should head to the Denny first?

[Crowley nods, leaving their hut and waiting just outside for the angel to follow.]

Sure, start the day off with a drink?

[ The angel keeps pace. There’s still something rather strange to just walk out into a jungle. He’s lived in cities for so long...]

Well, I was thinking they might have food there. Bit early for a drink.

[ Does that matter? Who knows. He’s trying to keep a modicum of decency, as if that matters.]

Though I suspect it can’t exactly be...above average quality.

Oh right, food. Keep forgetting that's what normal humans do.

[He joins Aziraphale in their journey to Denny.]

We'll suffer through it together.

[ Normal humans...but they're not quite that, are they? Of course not.

Still, he purses his lips in an expression of vague acceptance. ]

I suppose better that way than alone. [ The mortal-like bodily needs? Or this entire thing? Possibly the latter. He may not say it, but there's an underlying understanding that they're stuck together, no matter what happens. Including being tossed into a whole new dimension, it seems.]

[Crowley crunches off the last of his lolly and chews mindlessly on the stick. Nowhere good to dispose of it anyway without littering, and as far as he knows the forest will throw litter back at him if he drops it.]

I would agree with that.

[Crowley doesn't even want to think about how he'd be fairing if he was sent here alone. Best to push it to the back of his mind and lock all of those feelings tightly away. Too vulnerable for his liking.]

[ And rather unnerving to boot. They’re both quite good at not talking about what needs or should be talked about, so the task should prove rather easy.

It doesn’t take long before they’re back in Enso and settling down at Denny with whatever they could scavenge, which isn’t much at all, but it will have to do.

Aziraphale sighs as he sets his bag down and settles onto a seat, trying not to focus too much on how much he misses the nice cafés in London.]

Well, it’s...something,

I do wonder what they do around here all day. When not dealing with the local fauna, I suppose.

[Crowley is rather thankful for what little they've been able to scrounge up. He himself remembers the garden he stumbled upon when they first arrived on the island, and wonders if it would be better worth his time to assist in growing their own food. Cooking itself was not something he bothered learning to do, nor did he have the tools for it, but Crowley did have some hobbies that were transferable to island living.]

Well-- er-- lot of scavenging I suppose. Gardening, farming, that whole thing. Oi- do you think those animals are edible?

[He asks this but makes a rather disgusted face with the idea of it. He doesn't want to be the one to hunt them.]

Not that I, er. Not really into killing. [He makes a different face now. One that says 'I didn't mean to admit to that.' Demons are supposed to love killing, that's part of the job, isn't it?]

[ Aziraphale picks at his food with expected fussiness and hesitancy.

In his case, he doesn’t think there’s particularly much he can contribute to island survival as it is. He can, he supposes, learn some new skills. Maybe enough of his powers retained that there's something he could do. He certainly wasn’t quite able to fix the watch, but maybe there’s something there? How does he begin to explore his limitations when there were never any to consider before?

He glances over at Crowley, but doesn’t seem to be particularly swayed by the comment. The whole demonic thing aside, Crowley not being into actually harming creatures in any significant manner doesn’t come as entirely surprising to him.]

Well, that sounds dreadful. Though I do suppose it’s necessary. [ He says that last part with a sigh.

With a taste of his breakfast, he makes a face.]

[Crowley scoffs as he watches Aziraphale's face change.]

We don't exactly have the luxury to be picky, here.

[He picks at his own breakfast, despite what he's just said. Of course, easier said than done. There's something else though, as the results of the petal pops start to go into effect. An urge to be very honest.]</small Though I suppose there are some minor luxuries. Company, for example.

[ With much effort and a rather noted lack of enjoyment, Aziraphale does eat, and it is awful. Truly the worst part of this insufferable experience.

He's practically pouting at his dish, the true face of a defeated angel, but the comment makes him look up in gentle surprise. He doesn't even suspect anything may be wrong, taking it entirely at face value, smiling somewhat fondly. ]

Oh. [ Coy but flattered. ] Well...I do suppose I can't complain about that, at least.

Angel... [He exhales slowly, picking more at his food.]

If I woke up on that beach alone, I don't know what I'd be doing right now. I don't know that I would have made it.

[He didn't really plan on getting emotional over breakfast, but here they are.]

[ Here they are indeed...

The smile on the angel's face fades a bit, as the seriousness of the moment sinks in a little bit more. This isn't easy for either of them, finding themselves in such a strange place, their powers changed, corporations altered in ways they would never imagine. Right after they thought things were finally over, and they could settle down for a while and just live their lives.

He sets down his spoon. ]

Well...I'm sure you would have found your way around. You're quite the crafty sort. Resourceful.

[ He does actually mean that. Whether that's the petal pop kicking in or just Aziraphale's own brand of gentle honest is up for debate. ]

But we don't have to worry about that. [ There's a soft, fainter smile to him, toward the demon. ] We're both here, and we will...figure things out as we go. One step at a time.

Together. [He mutters this, picking again at his food.]

Resourceful or not, it wouldn't have been worth it. [He had just gotten him back. He had almost lost him a second time. He couldn't take a third.]

I can't lose you again.

[ The angel's smile fades away completely then, taken aback by that last part. The heaviness of the words is unexpected and a little overwhelming, and, for a good few seconds, he has no idea how to respond.

He looks down at his food. Looks at Crowley, glances past them at the building they're in now. Thinks about all that's happened recently, and he thinks about the end of the world.

He looks down at the table again, and speaks quietly. ]

No one's losing anyone. [ He doesn't know this. But he also doesn't know what else to say. It's not a lie, per say, as all it can be is a promise. He looks at Crowley across the table. ]

Like you said, we'll do it together. I may have not- [ He struggles to say it, just for a moment. ] I may have had my failings before...all that happened, but I have no intention of abandoning you again.

[ That last part wasn't quite how he meant to put it. Of running away again, or of leaving your side was more what he was aiming for, and he furrows his brow slightly in confusion. ]

[Crowley hadn't really meant to put his own feelings so out there himself, but what was said was said, and he couldn't really take it back now. Strangely, had no desire to. The honesty that the petal pop was pushing him to embrace was clearly working. Aziraphale's comment grabs his attention in an uncomfortable way, pulling his gaze up from his food and back to the angel.]

Oh, Angel, I don't think that-- [He sighed, maybe he didn't think that Aziraphale had abandoned him. He knew their relationship was complicated, he knew the angel was scared. He couldn't blame Aziraphale for being scared or for wanting to save the planet the two of them so very much loved. If anything, retrospectively, he found the angel very brave for doing so. Brave and brilliant... he just wished Aziraphale hadn't hid it all from him until the end.]

I was the one that wanted to run away. [And it hurts his ego just a bit to admit it. Still, something else is pulling at him. He doesn't want to say it. He really doesn't want to... so why is he??] It's just, you would have been enough, you know, if the world did end. [Fuck, that sounded cheesy. Crowley's hand slides up his forehead and into his hair, partially obscuring his face... which looks mortified by his own words.]

[ Perhaps he didn't just hide it from Crowley. Aziraphale's faults had often centered around inaction, following the rules, not asking questions. He may have bent the rules the longer he'd been on Earth, but in the end he had still hoped it had all been for something. He believed in blind faith and not only did that almost cost the world, it almost cost him his friendship with the only person who ever understood him. Ironically enough, it had been impulse that had brought him back, and yet, something that had been building up for millennia. Funny how that is, and how their actions still barely mattered in the end.

If Crowley's previous words had taken him by surprise, those last ones are absolutely overwhelming. To the world, is what they feel like. They make him think of that lunch. They make him think of all the time they've known each other. They strike him to his core, in a time that feels so uncertain. They bring him...comfort.

He falters, adverting his eyes, back down to his food for a moment. His expression is soft, however, soft and appreciative and at loss for words. But there's a smile to him. Something muted, but there all the same. ]

...I do wonder, sometimes, [ He speaks quietly. ] what would have happened if he did leave.

[ The boy had made his own choices. Humans had once again made their move beyond any rules. What if they had left, that day? What if the angel hadn't put his faith in Heaven one last time? What if they hadn't been there to help Adam face it all in the end?

What if they had abandoned the world they loved?

...not that they're really in it now, are they?]

[What if they had left? Crowley thinks on it a moment, his face still obscured by his arm as his other hand picks at the food in front of him. It's probably for the best that they didn't run. They wouldn't have come across the final prophecy, they wouldn't have saved one another. They may not have needed to, had they run off, but they would have lived in fear. They would have had each other. They have each other now.

Crowley shakes his head, dropping his arm to the table and looking back at the angel expectantly.]

Doesn't matter, does it? That's not how things happened. [He takds a brave bite of a mystery substance on his plate, swallowing back hard.]

Much more important to wonder where we go from here.

[ Questioning the flow of things, at least this openly, is a relatively recent concept. It happened somewhere in his mind, before, but he'd always pushed it back. Although Crowley had a frustratingly effective manner of picking it out of the angel when he wanted to.

The angel watches him for a few more seconds, before picking up his spoon again. ]

I do suppose you're right. [ It's a more productive use of their time, anyway. ] We've certainly been through our fair share of struggles before.

Hopefully it'll serve us in the future. [ Which, while not a lie, is highly improbable. ]

[Crowley is thoroughly disgusted by everything on his plate, which there isn't much of left. He scoops it all up, with the plan to just swallow it all at once and put himself out of his own misery.]

Should, as long as you accept we're a team. [Not that the angel didn't seem to, but it was something Crowley feared Aziraphale hadn't fully accepted. Not yet. Feelings aside.

He shoved the rest of the food in his mouth with a complete lack of eloquence, trying not to gag as he chewed it back.]

[ Eyes back on the demon, he wonders if he's not done enough to show that he does.

He doesn't want to think too deeply into how he would have dealt if he had ended up in this place by himself. Despite all his moaning and fussing at times, he's truly glad that he can count on Crowley's company.]

Of course I do.

I seem to remember something about our side. [ He smiles faintly. ]

[Crowley swallows his food, wincing terribly. He forces a smile hearing Aziraphale's words, wouldn't want to confuse the reaction to the food with that.]

Mn. Yes, well I really believe that. S'always been me and you, hasn't it?

Yes. It has. [ Safe for the few times where it hadn't been, but they don't have to talk about those now.

No point in thinking about What Ifs. Thinking about Whys. They're here now, and they're together, and they'll get through this. Can't be worse than the end of the world. ]

Wouldn't have it any other way. [ Smiling a bit more confidently. ]

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November Undercurrent: And We Give Thanks

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