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

[uptightness]

[Yes, yes she is, as she bends down, almost tripping over her feet in the process, to grab it. Yet she doesn't appear to be the only thing falling apart. Grasping the piece, she glances back to him.]

No one. You never had to accept my apology, Wash. It didn't mean I wasn't sorry.

[counterblows]

I don't care whether or not you're sorry, [he hisses.]

Sorry doesn't fix any of it. Sorry doesn't make any of it better. You just act like it's all in the past - like it's all fine now, because you said so.

[uptightness]

It's not like you ever said anything otherwise!

[As, oops, there goes that redhead temper. Try as she might not to get her hackles up, it's sometimes easier said that done. Her hand rises, as if to pinch the bridge of her nose, but the helmet prevents that.]

[counterblows]

Maybe because all I've ever done my entire life is take orders. Maybe because I'm better at taking orders than anyone else, and as long as you were around, you were just someone else to walk all over me.

[And then, because that's not enough, because he wants to lash out with that additional sting for reasons beyond him - ]

You're just another Director waiting to happen.

[uptightness]

[That...

That was a low blow.

A very low blow.

Everything that Carolina had been trying to do was to make amends, to make certain that she never became anything like the man her father had become. She grinds her teeth together, hands clenched, before exhaling sharply.]

You know what? I'm just going to walk away.

[Although the doubt may well have been planted. Yet... No. She can't trust that this is actually Wash, that this is his true feelings. He may have struck close to home, but there is no one else she would trust to have her back more than him.]

Before we both do something we'll regret.

[She'd have to see... No one else had been acting like him, but with this place, that doesn't mean anything. He doesn't appear to be tripping over his own two feet like her, so it's got to be something else.]

[counterblows]

Yeah. Go on, run away like you always have.

[The words are heavy and poisonous, a taunt sharpened by the uncharacteristic acid in his tone.]

How about you do everyone a favor and stay gone this time? I was doing fine without you. I was doing great, even. And then you had to head right back in and pick up where you left off.

No one asked for you to come back last time.

[uptightness]

There's a difference, Wash, between running, and backing off.

[No, Carolina was going to look in to some things before tracking him down again. Her days of running were long gone, and whatever was up, she would find the root of it.]

[counterblows]

[Wash laughs. It's a cold, mirthless sound, and it doesn't really suit him.]

Fine time for you to decide you're done having a spine, huh?

[uptightness]

[It doesn't suit him.

It isn't him.

That much is clear.

She'd usually ask Wash her questions, as he had been here the longest, but he seems disinclined to be helpful. Rather shoot her in the ass or something, so she's going to have to go about it the hard way. It's clear he's not tripping over his own shadow, but is something else going on? Something different?

Question the rest of the house and see if they noticed anything off.]

I will talk to you later, Wash.

[counterblows]

[She's turning around, leaving, leaving him, leaving him again despite all the warning signs. He knew this would happen, didn't he? He knew it would. He should do something about, should do anything. He shifts his stance. He shifts his grip on his rifle, shuffles back a step, rocks his weight forward, tries to think - ]

No.

[She gets that as a warning. An uncertain one, an unintentional one - but a warning. The word is uncertain.]

[And then his gun snaps back up, and he fires.]

[uptightness]

[He seemed to be escalating, and Carolina had wanted to try to figure out why. She trusts him, which is why she doesn't believe that the words are real. Why she will continue to believe that. She knows she can be a major pain in the ass, but Wash can also call her on that anytime. Ever after being here as long as she had, there is still so much more that she needs to understand, that will always be the case with this realm and it's constantly shifting rules.

The single word is enough to put her on edge, helmet starting to turn as she catches the raised weapon. Usually, she might have been quicker, but the problem with two left feet is that you don't have one right. Still, she manages to turn just enough that it clips her tricep as she ducks in to a roll, coming up on one knee.]

The fuck, Wash!

[counterblows]

You had to know this was coming!

[He powers forward, trying to re-aim and shoot better. If he gets too close, she could kick his ass in C.Q.C., so he's got to do this from a distance while he has the capacity to.]

You had to have seen this coming.

[uptightness]

No, because this isn't you.

[That Carolina knows to be true. She's the biggest fuck up that she knows, letting her team down, casting them aside when she became a dog with a scent. Anger and rage had been her domain, letting it feed and fester within her, letting the guilt burn like bile in her throat.

Her hand shifts, not going for her gun, but for her grappling hook, that trusty grappling hook, and aims- or tries to, because what the fuck to her own body, that seems more intent on betraying her. Like she's drunk or drugged, only she is clear minded. There's just that disconnect between the parts.]

[counterblows]

Maybe it's the most me I've ever been. You ever think of that?

[Clip's empty. He's going to have to give her the opening to reload it, but he doesn't have any choice in the matter. He shucks the spent clip and slaps in a new one. It's all he has left.]

[uptightness]

No, actually, I didn't!

[And going to use the grappling hook aimed towards his leg to hopefully get him down. Fighting Wash is not at all on her list of things that she wanted to do today. Or ever.]

[counterblows]

[The hook snags his leg and he goes down. His aim goes crooked, and his shots streak harmlessly into the sky as he struggles to right himself.]

[Not fast enough. He flips out one of his knives and tries to cut at the hook's cable.]

[uptightness]

[There's a tug, once she realizes what he is trying to do, as breaking her hook is not what Carolina has planned. Although, hell if she knows what she actually has planned. She doesn't want to fight him, but how is she supposed to get him to stop?

Well, she'll let the hook continue to tug as she charges forward. One step at a time. First, see if she can pin him and get him to stop.]

[counterblows]

[Oh lawd, she coming.]

[Wash immediately tries to hurl the knife at her. He can't match her in close quarters. He can't. He knows he can't. He'll get his ass kicked, so he wings the knife straight for her, his aim sloppy and unfocused, and immediately draws another to try and keep her at an arm's distance.]

[uptightness]

[Wash, you're being a pain in her ass!

Her arm rises to deflect with her guard, feeling the knife clang against the metal.]

Seriously.

[The other hand tugging on the hook again, although at least he seems more focused on knifing her than cutting.]

Stop!

[counterblows]

Make me, [he snarls, slashing wildly at her. Maybe he only feels safe issuing that kind of challenge when she's clearly not going for the kill. Or maybe he just wants to goad her into it.]

[Either way, he's definitely not stopping. He's not even slowing down.]

[uptightness]

[An arm twists to block at the slash. She has no intentions of hurting him, but even the best of intentions sometimes don't do as planned. She'd dodging to the side, trying to figure out the best course of action, aiming a punch towards his side as a distraction to buy herself time to think.

He is right that she's not going for the kill.

Get him to stop, of course, but to make him? Bind him, somehow? Let him cool down? She can't say that she exactly wants to leave him out here alone, especially when he's acting like he is, but she's not entirely certain she can drag his ass back either.]

[counterblows]

[She's better at this than he is. She could beat him in a C.Q.C. match - hell, anyone could. He had some of the lowest C.Q.C. scores in his squad. That isn't helping him calm down, though. He's at an advantage. Right now, he wants to fucking eviscerate her, and she's pulling her punches.]

[That doesn't mean her strikes don't still hurt. He gasps, grunts a little at the impact.]

[Maybe he should try going for her head instead. Bust in her visor, scratch it up - anything.]

[uptightness]

[Pin him.

That's what she decides on. Get him down and get him to stop. It may lead to some bumps and bruises, but it's better than the alternative. He might be firing at her with intent, but the feeling isn't mutual. It has to be something with this place.

She sees the aim coming at her helmet, goes to move, but she's too slow, too uncoordinated, her body just not on her side today, and he strikes true. Enough that she's ringing as she grapples to get his feet out from under him with a leg.]

[counterblows]

Better at faking your death than you are at dying, aren't you?

[He grinds it out between gritted teeth. His movements are flailing, uncoordinated, armed with none of the military precision he should have. She catches his legs in a sweep and he lands flat on his ass - hastily tries to flip onto his stomach so she can't pin him on his back.]

[uptightness]

[She has had many close to death experiences, but it is true that Carolina had been better at that. It's not exactly a sore point, as she can't change the past. There would be so many thing that Carolina would change, if given the chance, but she can make amends in the future.

It's an attempt at a knee between his shoulder blades that does come.]

Are you done?

[She doubts it as she seeks to press more of her weight down.]