lifeaftr | December Undercurrent: Opposing Viewpoints

December Undercurrent: Opposing Viewpoints

DECEMBER UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: Oh, inverted world...
When: December 3rd to December 20th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: Nothing of note; please mark if anything comes up!

I Wish You Could See the Wicked Truth

The island of Monsun is known for the split down its middle, and how it tends to bring out people's best and worst sides, depending on which side you're on. Some might remember it from previous appearances, but if you've never been, you can read up on the island's details on our Locations page and get yourself caught up to speed! Just like with the previous month, the Water is taking it upon themself to summon the island to the archipelago. And just like with the previous month, this will entail some effects upon the local populace: you.

Given that Monsun hosts the avatar of Balance, don't be surprised if things start to get a little inverted, a little out of balance, a little flipped, a little turned upside down. What do we mean by that, exactly? Well, it can mean all sorts of things. And you get to pick how many of these inversions if any, are going to be affecting you and yours for the duration of the month, at least until Monsun surfaces...and how much each one affects you.

Starting on December 3rd, adventurers may find themselves influenced by any of the effects listed below. You are free to vary the intensity and level of each, as well as how many end up being relevant to you. They can start as a slow build and ramp up gradually through the month, or emerge at full force right out the gate. You can be affected by multiple at once, or one every few days, and so on. The only limit is what you're willing to do!

[ ♆ ] Friendflipped: Do you have someone that you love in your life? Perhaps a best friend, a significant other, a member of your family? They might even be on the island with you. That just makes what's about to happen even more unfortunate, if that's the case, because all of a sudden, you're going to learn that you can't stand the sight of them. That's right: your best friends become your most hated foes. You'll find yourself positively despising those you would ordinarily get along with, all with a vicious, unchecked enthusiasm. Perhaps even more unfortunately, that goes the other way, too: your worst enemies are now your best friends.

[ ♆ ] Casual Obsession: One of the critical aspects of having any sort of hobby or preference is balance. It's always good to not go overboard! Which is why you might find yourself losing all inhibition. Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, desires, and so on will become utterly stripped of any balance the might have had. Do you have a mild sweet tooth? Well, now it's a full on sugar obsession. Do you dislike golf as a sport? Now you hate it with a fiery passion - and all those jerks who play golf, they can go to hell too!

[ ♆ ] One or Nothing: Most people will agree that emotional balance is something we should all strive for. That's about to get a lot more difficult. You might find yourself experiencing only one emotion for an extended amount of time, with only varying degrees of intensity to indicate any actual shift. Alternatively, you find yourself experiencing no emotions at all: a complete, deadened shutoff of any emotional instincts you have.

[ ♆ ] Skill Swap: Hobbies are one thing. But what about your personal skill-sets? Well, those are about to get some serious remodeling. Are you a talented musician? Now you can't read music, much less play it. Are you good in a fight? Not anymore, you're not! Now you can barely throw a punch without bowling yourself over. You'll find that your abilities have become seriously scrambled, to the point where you've lost any natural or trained skill you might have in certain areas. This can extend to magical knowledge, technological know-how, or even basic proclivities like stealth or how light you might be on your feet. The flip side of this is that you might find yourself preternaturally skilled in other areas that you've never so much as touched before. Maybe now you're a pro at climbing, or intensely good with social charisma and persuasion. In general, these swaps will work with a one-to-one ratio; one skill will suffer and another will be boosted as if in compensation, but you're welcome to experiment! Maybe you just want to make your character a completely useless loser for a few weeks. You're certainly free to do just that!

[ ♆ ] Interface Screw: In case it wasn't opposite day enough, you've also got the chance to have your personal orientation of the world completely reversed. By which we mean: left is right, right is left, up is down, down is up, and so on. This might manifest in varying ways. Maybe the sky looks like the sea, and the ground is so far above your head...and you feel like you're walking on thin air, even if to everyone else, the world appears more or less normal. Maybe this isn't even a purely perceptual thing as opposed to a literal one, and to everyone else, you're actually walking upside down. How this manifests is ultimately up to you, but you can interpret it as you like.

These effects will all die down by the time December 20th rolls around. Again, you can choose the rate at which this occurs, and whether it's a slow and steady decrease or a complete shut-off all at once. Either way, by the 20th, you'll all have been restored to whatever passes for your mental and emotional equilibriums, and Monsun will resurface on the archipelago!

But I Settle For a Ghost

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 December's Undercurrent Event, as well as any of the other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. You are very, very free to let your dreams about magical mistletoe and snowgoons 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 the Questions header on our Monthly Rundown post!

December Timeline

[ ♆ ] December 1st: "Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snowgoons" begins and lasts until December 31st
[ ♆ ] December 3rd: "Opposing Viewpoints" begins and lasts until December 20th
[ ♆ ] December 10th: "Mistledon't" begins and lasts until December 22nd
[ ♆ ] December 20th: Monsun returns to the archipelago
[ ♆ ] December 21st: "Breath of Cold Air" begins and lasts until December 31st

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i. skill swap ; and if we're all just drifting by (you've got to pull yourself out)
[The Drifter seldom wastes time, most days. They have begun to establish a tentative sort of routine - a thing they never had prior to moving into the Knight's old abode and setting about keeping the place tidy for a return that may never come to pass. They clear detritus from the garden, ensure that the flowers are all growing well. They check in on the bees, and ensure that they are in good health and good number.]

[With those necessities squared away, they set off at a brisk jog along the islets and transport themself to Ensō, where they generally spend much of the day categorizing and studying the local flora and fauna. They check on natural food sources, make note of any dwindling populations of prey or predator animals, and in general try to take stock of the island's resources. There aren't very many left to do the work. It's useful, and it's something they can do continuously.]

[They're used to being slowed by their inability to chain-dash as frequently as they'd like, but at least it's still something of which they've always been capable. Nearly always, in any case.]

[Not so now.]

[The Drifter's first attempt to go sprinting out across the sands causes them to topple and slam face-first into the ground.]

[This is, already, not going well. They pick themself up slowly, swaying to their feet unevenly. It takes them a moment longer to realign themself than it would ordinarily; they blink and shake their head firmly, the sole sign that they're at all taken aback by this. Then, almost experimentally, they try and dash forward again.]

[This time, it's a loss of reflex that halts them. They crash into the trunk of a tree with considerably less force than they're used to and rolls end over end in the dust. Again, they get to their feet.]

[They have their sprite run a quick diagnostic. It responds easily. The issue isn't there...]

[The Drifter tests each of their limbs in turn: placing weight on each leg, bending each knee, rolling their shoulders, drawing their fingers in and out of fists. The pain that sits in the frayed webbing of their nerves is all-encompassing and unending, but it always has been. It doesn't feel especially different from the chronic ache that has defined their existence for so long, now.]

[So what's wrong with them? What, aside from the usual, is wrong with them?]

[The Drifter tries to run several times over, and each time it ends catastrophically wrong. They slam into boulders, trip over roots, go rolling into the grass. They possess none of their usual grace and agility and finesse.]

[And, worst of all, they can't seem to figure out why.]

ii. attack of the snowgoons ; face to the sky (you’re gonna burn yourself out)
[The problem here is that the Drifter really only has the one combat strategy, and that strategy entails being faster and nimbler than their opponent. They cannot take hits. They cannot afford to slip up. They do so, and they're dead. They're unused to acclimating to any other kind of strategy. They've simply never had to.]

[Gone is their preternatural speed. No longer can they chain dashes. Their ability to aim a gun, their skill in swinging a sword - that all seems untouched and well and good. But their agility, their speed, those capabilities they have always leaned heavily on to make it through any combat situation...those are gone, seemingly up and vanished overnight.]

[This hasn't stopped the Drifter from trying to fight the snowgoons menacing the mountaintop temple on Ensō anyway. They've learned that their deftness with the blade hasn't suffered, and what's more is that they seem to have gained an additional function that they most certainly never boasted before now:]

[The ability to throw their sword with devastating accuracy. It boomerangs easily back to them, cutting a wide, spinning arc through the air with a deadly hum. Almost without thinking, the Drifter hurls their blade at a trio of snowbeasts that go lurching through the ice for them. The blade whizzes through each of them, separating heads from two and bisecting the third.]

[For once, the Drifter cannot fight in close quarters. They fight at a distance. As long as they don't try to run and dodge as they usually do, this almost even seems like it could work.]

[It's hard to keep up with the waves of the things, though - especially since the Drifter has no way to run anywhere with very much efficiency. And the more snowgoons there are, the closer they draw, and the harder the Drifter has to work to keep them at bay.]

[If they keep at this too long without aid, they may very well get to be overwhelmed.]

iii. white mistletoe ; (you can't stop yourself from being you)
[They didn't notice the mistletoe suspended in the branches of the tree far above their head. And even if they did - why would they think anything of it? It's not a cultural phenomenon they've ever encountered before. It simply does not occur to them that it should be something they would have to be concerned over.]

[Only now it feels as though everything is too loud and too present and too immediate - like there are things watching them, stalking their every step. A crack of a twig nearby, and the Drifter whirls around with their blade out, their dark eyes wide and glistening. A breeze through the leaves, and their gun is out, pointed at the offending sound.]

[They're shaking. Subtly, but they're shaking.]

[What's out there?]

[Something is. Something has to be.]

[Something is watching them. Someone? Something. Judgement?]

[It's not nearby. It's not nearby. They can't feel it and they always feel it but it never takes its time like this - it is always brutal in its immediacy and it does not hesitate.]

[But something is.]

[Something is.]

[Where is it? Why hasn't it made its move?]

[What's after them?]

iv. wildcard ; and please don't go, drifter
[if you want a closed starter or something more specific, just let me know! you can contact me over at

arrpee or zero#8942 on discord if you need anything! i will match prose or brackets, so just tag with whatever's comfortable and i'll match you!]

Edited 2019-12-09 06:30 (UTC)

[ Maybe he shouldn't have come up to them so suddenly, announcing himself loudly as his usual. He still doesn't know Drifter well, but he feels some kind of trust going on between them thanks to Ichimatsu. However, he didn't expect them to suddenly flash their blade at him, like he's a creeper or... worse. Actually, there's nothing worse than creepers? Except lorbies, probably. Nah, lorbies are definitely worse. ]

Uwah! Sorry?! I'm not gonna fight you or anything, I just wanted to say hi!

[ He flails, agitating his long sleeves. At least it's a good scalding exercise for his chill muscles. ]

[The Drifter's tense, frayed nerves shot and bristling and leaving them brandishing their weapon and mist and shadows. Mere shadows. This isn't an enemy. This is someone they know, if vaguely, and they have to repeatedly reassure themself of this fact. It's nothing. Nothing is wrong.]

[Slowly, they lower their blade.]

apologies

heard something

Something? Was it me?

[ Jyushimatsu likewise lowers his arms, quickly rubbing his sleeves together for a bit of warmth. ]

I didn't catch any outstanding noise around here!

possible

[He's not a threat. He's not. He's...he has demonstrated no compulsion to harm them. There is no reason to regard him as a threat. There is no reason to look at him as though he might hurt them.]

[But their sword is still out. They do not deactivate it.]

saw nothing?

[ For lack of a reliable heat source, he just opts to cross his arms and squash his hands into his armpits for as much as possible.

The sword makes him a bit antsy, but unless Drifter decides to stab him out of the blue, he's not that afraid for his life. ]

Nope, there's only white and trees and some small animals? But nothing larger than that - just you and me.

[They're not quite sure they believe that.]

[It doesn't seem right. Their senses aren't compromised, are they? They can't be. Everything feels the same, except now everything feels intensely hostile, and there has to be a reason for it. It's like they can see something, constantly, in their periphery, ready to leap out.]

no
there is something else

[There has to be.]

[ A frown. He's not sure whether they've actually found something Jyushimatsu didn't track down with his ears or nose, or they're just being paranoid. Considering the speed with which they drew their blade at him, he might consider the latter possibility as more likely than the former.

However, it's never too painful to be careful in hell island, so for now he'll follow behind Drifter's assumption. ]

If there's something around here spying on us, if we make enough noise and shout them down, they might go away?

or attack

[Their grip on their sword tightens very slightly. Not that they're opposed to engaging in combat, but with a potentially untrained person who might not have any idea how to fight...that's not very wise.]

can fight?

[ He stays silent and immobile for a while three seconds, like the smallest gesture can cause the Drifter to get scared and attack him, but he's actually considering his options. And then he feels the weight of his hatchet strapped behind his back, backed up by his hands not yet frozen from within his sleeves, and confidence flares in him quickly. ]

I can axe them down or punch and kick them! I also know lots of wrestling holds if you just wanna capture them!

[ Because the option of killing them was actually the first that popped in his mind. ]

[They've seen Ichimatsu fight before. Perhaps calling it "fighting" would be charitable - he more or less threw himself at people and then battered them unrelentingly until they gave in or killed him. The last time they had seen him...]

[They're not thinking about the last time they saw him. It is best not to dwell on things that cannot be changed.]

[Jyushimatsu is armed. He is likely...capable? They haven't seen him fight.]

good

[They twitch slightly, their gaze settling on something beyond his shoulder before their eyes flick away again.]

[A powerful gust of something inexplicable tenses their shoulders, and their eyes swivel sharply to meet his. He came armed. Did he come for them? Did he come to fight them? For some reason, it seems more likely.]

cannot win against a drifter

[ His friend really seems jumpy today, as another nothing seems to have stiffened them and next thing he knows there are eyes on him, and the stare is sharp and oddly aggressive in a way that makes Jyushimatsu want to take a step back. He doesn't. There's nothing he did or say just now that would give Drifter the wrong idea, is there?

The text is overly confident, which is something he didn't expect would come out of someone so kind like Drifter, so they get an odd look in response. ]

Really? I never saw you fight! What are your abilities?

[ He's curious now! If there's actually something spying on them he might just sit back and watch them take the enemy down. ]

[The Drifter spins their sword in a complicated little symbol and slams it into the ground in a bold display. He doesn't seem like a threat to them, but not everything seems like a threat at first. They have to make sure that they don't express weakness. They have to make sure that no one thinks them vulnerable. Even Jyushimatsu.]

best swordsmanship in buried time
best marksmanship in buried time
built to be a soldier

[They say "built" because they were, in essence, built - they were fabricated, like all others of their kind.]

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(Legion is dealing with their own problems, namely some serious screwiness with their ability to move and process movement: they're in no position to help. And yet, that's exactly what they do when they discover their ally battling snowgoons.

Their combat drone pops into existence, an orb of holographic light, and begins to weave among the snowgoons, obscuring vision, diverting attention, and delivering electric shocks.

Legion themselves hangs back. Much like the Drifter, with their current difficulties, there is a concern they will be unable to effectively fight in close quarters.)

[At least they're not fighting blind - and not fighting alone, either. Fortunate, really. The Drifter glances Legion's way with a tilt of their head as they track the drone buzzing along through the combat zone.]

your companion?

[They can think of no other word for it that might be suitable.]

(Normally, they might approach their ally, but not today: too close and they risk accidentally striking the Drifter due to movement troubles, which could really hurt them.

Such difficulties are likely obvious, they stumble and occasionally make sudden jolting movements in random directions, typically the opposite of the direction they were intending to move in.)

It is a projection of our omnitool, controlled by a combat program.

(So kind of like an extension of themselves, though clearly without their current issues.

After a few more seconds of fighting, it vanishes. 30 seconds later, they send it out again.)

limited use?

[They have to gather as much. It's fortunate that it's still capable of combat, despite the fact that Legion is staying clear from the carnage in the same way that the Drifter is. Perhaps, like them, they have been afflicted by something beyond their control. Further study indicates such; they're moving erratically.]

injured?

Ye-

(They attempt to adjust their balance, but shift their right foot instead of their left, and topple to the ground.

Their combat drone continues fighting until it disappears again.)

Spatial orientation compromised.

[Spatial orientation. There isn't an obvious injury that they can readily discern. Is it internal?]

[Or, more likely - it is connected to the Drifter's own altered state of being. There must be something at work in the grander scope of things, affecting everyone, or multiple others.]

require aid?

Capacity to assist is limited.

(They'll get up soon enough. It's not like the Drifter has the strength to help them stand.)

Recommendation: snow is readily destroyed via heat.

yes

[They don't have any particular plan for how best to generate heat in a relative expeditious manner.]

have access to high quantity of heat?

(They chatter, and try to get up.)

Our Omni-tool is capable of producing it.

(Or rather, their omni-blade, which is a function of their omni-tool, is composed of superheated material. The problem? It's built into their arm.)

can defend

[The Drifter isn't capable of generating any vast quantities of heat, but they can move around more reliably than Legion at the moment. They can fling their sword with a relative degree of accuracy and keep any snowgoons from getting too close. They simply can't move very quickly while doing so.]

Yes.

(They consider this. They do not doubt the Drifter's capabilities, but the Omni-Blade is small, intended for melee use. If the snowgoons can't even get close, it probably won't be of much use.)

If possible, it may be more efficient to use our omni-blade to start a fire.

will require flammable materials

[Which this region doesn't particularly have in spades.]

the drifter | ota | i'll match your format!

iii.

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