December Undercurrent: Opposing Viewpoints

[lifeaftr_mods]

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 )

Comments

[hyperlit]

[Loathe as the Drifter is to back away from a fight in progress, they do by now realize that a tactical retreat is, at times, necessary.]

can make it to wooded region
can you?

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(It will be difficult, but they made it all the way out here, didn't they?)

[hyperlit]

go
will cover

[They fling their sword in a calculated arc. It takes off the heads of two snowgoons before boomeranging back to them. It doesn't kill them, as these things seem fully capable of lumbering around while decapitated, but they have disoriented them, which will have to do for now.]

[forwearemany]

Affirmative.

(The Drifter is their ally. When they create the opening, Legion moves. They are not as fast as they could be normally, with stumbling and random movements in the wrong direction, but they manage.)

[hyperlit]

[They catch the sword as it whips back around to them, deftly, before drawing their gun and shooting several times in quick succession. The laser-like blasts keep the worst of the snowgoons at bay, searing away snow and crumbling their forms into half-melted lumps.]

[Mercifully, their marksmanship remains more or less intact.]

[Robbed of their speed, the Drifter has to more or less jog to keep up with Legion as they start backing away. Their breaths are short and sharp, and eventually start emerging as pained wheezes.]

[forwearemany]

(They are preoccupied with controlling their movements, but it doesn't take them long to notice that the Drifter is experiencing difficulties.

They slow their pace.)

[hyperlit]

GO

[They wave their hand to Legion, trying to more or less hurry them along. They can handle difficulties. Practically all they do is handle their own difficulties.]

[forwearemany]

This unit is in motion.

(They are going, just slower.

They know what the Drifter meant, but sometimes Legion is a smartass.)

[hyperlit]

DON'T SLOW DOWN

[Their irritation is, perhaps, palpable by the use of all-caps.]

KEEPING THEM AT BAY

[forwearemany]

(And well, they're right. Still, Legion feels uncomfortable letting the Drifter suffer like that: they have seen the Drifter taken by coughing fits, and for such a thing to occur at this time would be well and truly dangerous.

In an attempt to relieve things, at least a little, they send their combat drone out again.

The Drone operates separately from them, controlled by a single program. They can run and operate it at the same time.)

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter isn't as adept at keeping the snowgoons at bay as they would if they still had possession of all their faculties, but they're not overwhelmed just yet. Their sword is a long-distance weapon now, the same as their guns, and their aim is just as devastating. The problem is that they can't get any meaningful distance between themself and the snowgoons without any of their typical speed and dexterity, absent as it is.]

[The Drone allows them the window, however. They start moving at the expense of further combat while the snowgoons are distracted with it, making for the dark treeline of the wooded areas on Nuidan's southern region.]

[forwearemany]

(And with that, Legion increases their speed, heading for the forest as quickly as possible.)