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

[ The angel flattens his lips, trying not to take any of this too personally. The man is clearly not alright, and he's certainly not the first one Aziraphale has seen acting strange as of late. ]

Well- [ How to put this in a way that doesn't anger him more? ] It sounded like you were having some trouble with that tree over there.

[ Okay. Not a great start. ]

Perhaps it might be wise to step away for a moment? Maybe have some tea at the Denny? It's quite good for the nerves.

I'm not having trouble.

[What about him suggests that he's having trouble with anything, with anything at all but himself, himself, god, and the shit that he is at everything and the way he can't do anything fucking right, including this, including now, including an exchange with someone he only barely knows - ]

Just wondering why you think this is any of your goddamn business.

[ Well, this is certainly going all wrong.

The true answer, which Tim would possibly not be too keen on in his current state, is that Aziraphale is not a human, and angels, when given to it, have certain ways of feeling things beyond what is seen. Although, in this case, what is seen is pretty damned obvious as it is. ]

It might well not be, my dear fellow- [ The angel keeps his tone level, although this may be a little more difficult than it used to be, specially without his powers. ] But it looks like you might need a friendly ear.

[There's no reason that this should be getting under his skin. There's no reason at all that this should be getting to him but it is because he can't think through the teeming, seething, bloody mass of rage that's teeming through his very veins and into his very fucking soul that he knows he has because he's seen it now, he's seen it, he saw it when it was pulled out of him and it was red, red, so very fucking red just like he's feeling red now.]

[His vision swarms out in a snowy white static fade. He blinks, and it's back.]

A friendly ear. [His anger is never icy. It's never contained. It's always too raw and too uneven, and it always fractures what little control he has. He hates it. God he hates it.]

You just figured I needed your help? Figured I needed fixing?

[ Aziraphale makes the active decision of staying where he is and avoid approaching the man, as it doesn’t seem like he’s getting any furious just yet. It’s a bit intimidating, to be sure, but mostly due to the fact that the angel has yet to perceive where the limits of his powers really lie. He may not be able to simply stop Tim if he decides Aziraphale is a more entertaining target than the tree.]

Ah, no. But it does look like something’s gotten you rather...upset.

[ Sounding very polite, and very british.]

I don’t mean to make any judgement over your situation, dear fellow, merely to offer help if you need it.

[ He glances at Tim’s hands.]

What if I don't want your help?

[He probably does. He probably needs help, he's always needed help, he's always needed people to dig into him and figure out what's wrong and fucking fix it and the stilted politeness being leveraged in his direction just feels like a lie. He seems upset, does he?]

[He advances a few steps, his eyes dark and glowering.]

What if I want you to fuck off?

[ Oh. Well, that's definitely not a friendly face, or friendly posture, and it's beginning to look like this might go pear shaped real fast. ]

Now now- [ With a hint of vague alarm, less so of any actual condescension. ] If you truly want me to leave, I will happily abide to your wishes.

But are you sure you don't want some help with that? [ Hands daintily held up in loose fists, he point vaguely in the direction of Tim's hands. ]

I didn't ask for your fucking help!

[The words tear in his throat as he shouts. Can't, for the life of him, say what about this has him so angry. Can't say why he's so fucking pissed about all of this, except that he can't contain the swirl of hot, poisonous rage that's eaten away at his heart and keeps stripping away the pieces of him until all he can think about is how much he wants to hurt.]

[Himself. Or someone else. Doesn't matter.]

I don't want it!

[He charges, just about ready to take a swipe at Aziraphale's face.]

[He's got a hell of a right hook, but rage makes him unsteady, and not nearly as accurate as he would be under normal circumstances.]

[ In different circumstances, Aziraphale would just snap his fingers and Tim would either be suddenly entirely frozen on the spot, with no awareness of the situation, or maybe he could be transported somewhere even the angel was not aware of.

But, as things stand, most of Aziraphale's usual abilities are not within his reach. Which means all he can do is freeze up as the man changes at him in blinding rage.

--Except, well, there is something he can do, and he's not very intent on being punched in the face or any part of his body, so, without thinking, he ends up teleporting himself a good few feet forward and behind Tim.

Better luck next time, old sport. ]

[Tim stumbles. He's not what you'd call a fantastic brawler even when he's not being driven out of his head with mindless, directionless rage, and his forward momentum nearly has him sprawling on the fucking ground. He spins on his heel, glowering.]

What? You scared?

[His knuckles still sting. He still doesn't fucking care.]

[ Aziraphale, for a moment, has no idea what happened. He feels at his chest and stomach like checking for injures, then perks up and turns around to look at Tim.

Right. So he can do that. That's good to know. ]

My good fellow, I have no intention to fight you! [ Last thing he wants to do is fight a human. Or anything, really. ]

I'm sure we can talk about this like civilized people!

I'm not a fucking civilized person, all right?

[Wasn't that obvious? He's got blood running down his knuckles because he bruised them on tree trunks because he's exactly the kind of person that he used to be - the kind of kid who screamed and clawed at the walls and struggled against walls that would always, always hold him in.]

[He rushes him again.]

I'm a fucking freak.

[ Aziraphale has watched humans ever since they were first created. He's seen all kinds of people, from all kinds of times and places. To him, Tim looks nothing more like a particularly frenzied human being.]

Stop this at onc-- oh!![Knowing he can change his position but acting more on impulse than rational thought, Aziraphale attempts to give out of the way. ]

[Tim's a rage-blinded wreck. He doesn't think, doesn't focus on things like space or momentum or what's advisable. He just barrels forward, tries to more or less tackle Aziraphale to the ground. He hits the floor, rolls back to his feet, and shakes dead leaves from his hair with a snarl.]

Make me.

[ The angel stumbles a few steps to the side, nearly ending on the ground himself. He quickly gets back on his feet and takes another few steps back.

He's had a few confrontations with humans in the past, as much as he tried to avoid them. But not everyone can be reasoned with. He'd either find a way to exit the scene, or would use of his miracles to stop what was happening (or, sometimes, Crowley would. It was mostly Crowley, when things were a bit more severe). ]

I have no intention to fight you! [ His voice, while flustered and agitated, is hardly menacing. ]

This is quite ridiculous, if you refuse to receive any help, I'll make my leave.

[ And he begins to quickstep away, cautiously keeping his eyes on the man, should he be chased. ] Good day!

[Tim doesn't answer. He just utters a loud, wordless snarl and charges the bastard with his fists up. He's not acting very much like Tim at all, at this point - even at his most furious, even at his most apoplectic, even at his most broken, Tim's capable of trying to talk someone else down. He's capable of trying, at least.]

[Not anymore.]

[He's got adrenaline burning in his blood and a desire to make Aziraphale hurt, no matter what.]

[ When he first met Tim, Aziraphale couldn't have even begun to suspect that anything like this would come to pass. The man had been so calm and genuinely helpful, and the angel does understand that there's strange things going on, but he didn't imagine he'd find himself trying not to get physically assaulted by someone today.

As Tim snarls and changes at him, Aziraphale freezes for barely a moment, uttering some startled expletive, and trying to summon up what he did on impulse before. Teleporting himself across a limited area only means play-bullfighting the enraged man, but, still, he tries.

This time he gets himself farther away, past some trees, but visible. He can't seem to take himself any further than what he can see, and a jungle makes that much harder. But he doesn't stick around when he ends up on the other side - he stops for only a moment, with the feeling that some of the wind was knocked out of him, mostly figuratively - before he spots Tim again, and turns to start running.

There were more graceful ways to deal with this, but he was never much of a fan of physical confrontation. ]

[Aziraphale has the advantage here. A lifetime of respiratory issues means that Tim's riding off of rage and adrenaline alone, and that's not going to keep him going forever. He keeps more or less bulling toward Aziraphale with everything he has, but eventually he starts to tire out and his stamina starts to flag.]

[He won't keep up the chase forever. Inevitably, he sinks against the trunk of the nearest tree, shoulders heaving as he coughs away the burning in his lungs.]

[ The angel doesn't hold that much of an advantage, his corporation being in no particularly good shape. It was hard enough to keep up physical effort of this kind before, and much more nowadays. Plus he's definitely not dressed to job.

So his breath is already running ragged just a bit ahead. Not hearing Tim behind him, he glances over his shoulder a few times before he clumsily slows into a stop, panting deeply and leaning on his knees.

Perhaps he should start thinking about exercising. But if it's anything like this, he wouldn't survive the first hour.

Eventually, he straightens up and looks back at the man and watches him. He knows he should leave. He *knows* he's just inviting another attack. He knows he should leave him alone.

...oh, blast it all.

He steps back over, taking care to keep a good few feet away. Still panting slightly. ]

--Well? Are you quite ready to stop?

[There's a nasty rasp to Tim's breath has he struggles to regain it. It's not just being a lifelong and recently-quit smoker that's doing this to him; it's also the fact that, for a long time, he's had problems with those lungs of his. He just made it actively worse for a time.]

[Like now.]

[He fixes Aziraphale with a positively nuclear glower.]

Fuck... [pant] ...you.

Edited 2020-01-26 03:23 (UTC)

[ Watching him, the angel sighs and rolls his eyes, the whole patient angel shtick seemingly gone for at least that moment.

He thinks about leaving, again. But it hardly looks like the man can actually do anything to him now, at least while he's out of breath.

Lips flattened, he raises a hand and twirls his wrist Tim's general direction. He can't do anything about his breathing issues, but he can certainly do something about his wounded hands.

And, as soon as he does, some part of him seems to hit some sort of mark. It's not visible in how he acts, but he suddenly feels rather tired and a bit depleted.

That's that, he supposes. ]

There you are. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be where I won't be threatened for no good reason.

Get away from me.

[He twitches on the spot, like he's going to charge forward again, but he's simply at his limit and can't very well afford to. The fact that the pain on his knuckles is suddenly and abruptly gone seems to do nothing to smooth away his frustration. In fact, that just seems to make him angrier.]

Don't fucking - touch me -

[Which isn't entirely what he meant, considering that Aziraphale didn't lay a hand on him, but maybe the meaning will be obvious nonetheless.]

[ Indeed it is. In fact, the angel's coming to terms that there really might be no way to reach the man and help him settle down. Some people just can't be reasoned with at times. ]

I will not meddle in your business any further, I assure you. [ Now he's just being a little bit of an ass about it, but, he did just get attacked. ]

I would advise you, however, to avoid taking out any lingering anger on something as solid as a tree.

[ Now now, Aziraphale. Let him be.

He straightens his waistcoat. Then begins to cautiously step away, but keeping an eye on him, just in case. ]

I said fuck you!

[The words don't have as much bite when he's still trying to catch his breath, but he definitely doesn't seem to be taking much of the unsolicited advice very well.]

Just - just fuck off, all right? [He can't get him to leave. Charging him didn't work, and yelling at him won't work - so what will?]

[ Tim won't have to worry about that anymore, because the angel is finally stepping away. He's just making sure he doesn't get rushed when his back is turned, because he's pretty sure he can't do that teleportation trick a third time.

He scoffs at the last bit of swearing and quickens his pace. Whatever is happening, he hopes it'll end soon, as these odd behaviors are really becoming a bit much. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

December Undercurrent: Opposing Viewpoints

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject