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The Mods of LifeAftr ([personal profile] lifeaftr_mods) wrote in [community profile] lifeaftr2020-01-02 08:51 pm

January Undercurrent: Growing Pains

JANUARY UNDERCURRENT
Who: Everyone!
What: Hey bud, how's it growing?
When: January 3rd to January 20th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: This event has a potential for body horror and character death; please mark anything as it comes up!

A Notion Growing Inside Me

Those of you who weren't with us the last time Umui entered the archipelago didn't have to contend with the lethal illness known as the Overgrowth personally, but anyone who remembers it probably doesn't remember it fondly. Fortunately, this isn't quite the same strain of the illness that you had to contend with the last time. It's not unrelentingly and uncompromisingly fatal, for one! That's always nice.

For those that need a primer on the Overgrowth, it is best described as a sickness that overcomes you with floral growth both inside and outside your body that can only be cured by expressions of emotional honesty. Expressions of truths, affections, and admissions of things that you have hidden from yourselves or from others were critical in dispensing of the illness. These could be as simple as admissions of past sins or the revealing of secrets, or as grandiose and overt as confessions of guilt or love. That general idea will remain more or less the key means of curing this strain as well, though the stakes fortunately aren't as high this go around! Which is to say, if you fail to have any grand emotional epiphanies by the time this event ends, you aren't doomed to suffer a character death; symptoms will simply dissipate come January 20th.

So what's this sickness going to be like in this particular instance, then? We're so glad you asked!
You can go the standard route, of course. Adventurers' first brush with the illness saw the following afflicted upon them:
[ ♆ ] Stage One: Germination. Initial symptoms involve fever, coughing fits, numbness to nerves and extremities, and general joint stiffness. Difficulty breathing or performing other basic functions will often occur. Fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and intense weakness or dizzy spells are also liable to occur as the flowers begin to harvest nutrients from the body. This will also generate extreme thirst and periods of intense nausea. Tremors and the sensation of something "itching" from inside are also common. The end of Stage One is usually marked by the act of vomiting or coughing up flower petals or spores, along with a not-insignificant amount of blood.

[ ♆ ] Stage Two: Budding. The floral growths spread more completely inside the body, and begin to grow on the skin or exterior. Difficulty performing basic functions will increase as, for example, airways become obstructed and flowers grow around joints and pinch them still. The site of affliction also yields rashes, blisters, and blood sores as the flowers sprout from the skin. The rate of vomiting or coughing up floral growths will increase dramatically. Flowers often bloom quickly, and very painfully. Numbness in affected areas will increase, oftentimes rendering parts of the body completely inert - a pair of legs claimed completely by blooms, for example, will no longer work.
This was followed by Stage Three: Bloom, which resulted in character death. However, this strain will not advance to this style of Stage Three. All symptoms will disperse by the time Umui resurfaces.

This strain is also rather more erratic, which can make emotional repression more of an inconvenience than a horrifying circumstance. For those who would rather not play around with intense sickness (or who have already endured this once before), you have the option to go that route if you like! With this variant of the Overgrowth, one can become, for example, so embarrassed that they hiccup up a flower. A vicious denial of their feelings may cause them to spontaneously erupt into a rash of dandelion puffballs, seemingly immediately. You might end up walking around with a bouquet for an arm for a few hours. Perhaps mortifying, but certainly not fatal! Isn't that nice?

Unless, of course, you want it to be...

I Can't Fight It Much Longer

Now, while the Bloom Stage isn't present in this strain, it has mutated its progression into a rather nasty end stage. Those of you who succumb a little too readily to this illness, who don't fight off the emotional repression quickly, who don't admit those difficult truths to yourself or confess to whatever you're bottling up, you'll be faced with a potentially horrifying transformation. Potentially, because it is your choice whether or not you see fit to commit your character to that fate - as stated above, this option might simply skip over your character entirely, and the worst they'll have to deal with are cartoonishly over-the-top effects that disperse in due time.

But maybe not all of you will be so lucky. Some of you might discover for yourselves how this particular variant of the Overgrowth has mutated.

We call this mutation Stage Three: Outbreak.
In this final Stage, those beautiful blooms wither and harden into a fungus-like carapace as the illness grows into the victim's brain and shuts down virtually all higher functions. This can sometimes render them almost wholly recognizable, but not always - oftentimes, it's very obvious who this person once was. The victim is reduced to a carrier of the virus, which causes them to act the way you'd expect most viruses to act: becoming intent on spreading. Advanced brain functions such as speech, rational thought, and so on tend to shut off and become wholly inaccessible.

Now that the victim's body is no longer fighting the Overgrowth, the illness lends them increased speed, strength, and durability, making them dangerous foes indeed. They will usually seek to infect others by whatever means necessary - usually via biting or exuding breathable spores - but in some cases, they will simply reduce to base instincts, and just outright attempt to attack and kill whoever is closest.

Unfortunately, at this point, there is no hope of a cure; it's hard to make someone be emotionally honest when they're capable of little more than blunt, animal instinct. At this point, you can either wait for the Stage Three symptoms to disperse come Umui's return, or take manners into your own hands. You can probably guess what that might entail.

If you decide to put your Overgrown friends out of their misery, this will count as a character death. If it comes to that, be sure to let us know on the Deaths page! Death penalties, however, will not be reduced for this event.

Try to Get Through It

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 January's Undercurrent Event, as well as any of the other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. And, of course, 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 Rundown post!
January Timeline
[ ♆ ] January 1st: "This Sucks" begins and lasts until January 10th
[ ♆ ] January 3rd: "Growing Pains" begins and lasts until January 20th
[ ♆ ] January 11th: "No Water is Safe" begins and lasts until January 19th
[ ♆ ] January 20th: Umui returns to the archipelago
[ ♆ ] January 21st: "Impawsible Geometries" begins and lasts until January 31st
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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )
hyperlit: (◈ ᴅɪsᴛᴏʀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ʟɪғᴇ ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀɪɴɢ ʙᴏᴅʏ)

[personal profile] hyperlit 2020-01-15 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
[They straighten up almost at once, trying to shake away the cloud of fuzz and static in their skull. Perhaps, if they dismiss it, it will prove to have been nothing more than some brief, hallucinatory interlude. They will open their eyes, and she'll be gone.]

[But she isn't.]

[She's still standing there, hand out, watching them.]

[Slowly, as if to confirm that she is, in fact, real, the Drifter reaches out until their gloved, slightly pointed fingertips brush against hers.]


real
?
counterblows: (} to you)

[personal profile] counterblows 2020-01-15 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
He was probably one of the nicest guys in the program. Well, kind of.

[Kind of. Because he had a tendency to mouth off, to crack jokes at inopportune times, to take things a little too lightly. But in spite of that - well, most people got along with him. Past tense. He needs to stop thinking about these things in past tense.]

He was paired off with Delta, to start with. They worked well together.

[Delta. Probably one of the easier fragments for Church to talk about, he'd guess, considering that they actually met for a time.]

Most of us just knew the Director as...well, the Director.
yakyuuman: (293 homeruns)

[personal profile] yakyuuman 2020-01-15 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ And with that, Ren single handedly saves him from the darkest timeline.

Not because of her strength pulling him back, but her voice. Jyushimatsu hadn't seen Ren around in weeks because he knew she disappeared from the island. It was really hard to deliver the news to Ichimatsu when he also returned. And yet, nothing prepared him for the girl appearing just as he was about to slay a shark!

Some things happen within the next few seconds:

- He turns around, drops the hatchet and tackles Ren out of harm's way.
- The shark eats dirt and seeps away into another puddle.
- And he's hugging her tight, smiling wide as his eyes glisten a bit with tears. ]


REN-CHAN!!! Ren-chan you're back! I can't believe this!

[ He should have, because Ichimatsu also returned, but this soon? Man, talk about shocking events. Ghost sharks are lame in comparison. ]
yakyuuman: (129 homeruns)

[personal profile] yakyuuman 2020-01-15 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ It is, indeed, what he referred to as his "baby boy".

Jyushimatsu didn't expect his animal-loving older brother to recoil like that, but it also shows how he fully recovered from the sickness, so it's nice to see! Nevermind how Ichimatsu doesn't seem too pleased to see Strike One, even despite the friendly wobbledog wagging its long snake-like tail while unfocused eyes keep staring at the purple clad sextuplet. ]


He's not weird! He's Strike One! My new child!

[ He picks the doggo up, and said doggo is seen wriggling his short paws. All six of them. ]
yakyuuman: (114 homeruns)

[personal profile] yakyuuman 2020-01-15 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

[ Jyushimatsu is on a roll. He knew Beau was around and he could have left the duty of punching the shark to her, but after their first talk he's felt inspired to make a swing at the monster instead of running for the trees again. He's helping! Or is he...?

Well, time to find out as he dawns his hatchet onto the shark, thankfully missing his friend-

... it connects, but does pretty much nothing effective. Ah.

What he next feels is the pain of a ghost shark tail whipping him across the face and sending him tumbling across the ground, his weapon forced out of his grasp. ]


BOEH!!!
yakyuuman: (145 homeruns)

[personal profile] yakyuuman 2020-01-15 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ As the village idiot he is, Jyushimatsu ignores the man's remark and keeps screaming until he's in the nearest proximity of the shark-

... and then, surprisingly, he makes a dive to his side, falling into the sand while the monster misses the mark and disappears into thin air. ]


Whoa?!

[ Scrambling back to his feet, he blinks rapidly. ]

I thought it was gonna slam into the ground and die splattered! Where did it go? [ He turns to the man now, an unsettling smile on his face. ] Have you seen that shit?
counterblows: (϶ and your eyes are blocking)

[personal profile] counterblows 2020-01-15 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
Not...

[He sighs.]

Well, it used to be. You could say it used to be.
forwearemany: (Default)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-01-15 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Uncertain.

(They make a motion almost like a shrug.)

Anomalous occurrences are common in this location.
forwearemany: (tiltlook)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-01-15 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
(...Headtilt.)

Elaborate.
yourattention: (but at least there were days)

[personal profile] yourattention 2020-01-15 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
That wasn't the point. You already know almost as much about me as my family did and I didn't have to tell them anything. They know I swim because my dad made me swim.

[His father told him he could swim or he could run and he picked swimming. Then he made the swim team. Then, because he's never been able to keep himself from destroying anything that makes him happy, he quit before the first swim meet.]

Asking me to be less secretive is like asking a snake to walk. I'm physically incapable of it and that's the reason that after I died some guy I didn't even know managed to convince my family he was my friend to date my fucking sister.

[He takes a drink of what he's been holding. He's trying to mask the fact that he's unintentionally eased his symptoms in trying to prove a point, but forgets to use both hands to lift the cup like he was before this point. The problem with keeping your cards incredibly close to your chest is that saying almost anything about yourself makes the Overgrowth ebb and flow. It feels a little bit like a punishment designed specifically for him, but he can't blame it on the Storyteller for once.]
littlemhigan: (ow)

Castor | OTA | CW: Blood, body horror, anxiety attack Very small Shadowbringers Spoilers in prompts

[personal profile] littlemhigan 2020-01-15 05:58 am (UTC)(link)
[1]

[ Castor is seldom ill.

So seldom, in fact, that she completely misses the first symptoms as they creep up on her, attributing her fading appetite and upset stomach to a bit of overwork, blaming her sleeplessness on the island’s muggy heat.

Its not until she wakes to a deep discomfort in her joints and the odd itchy hive dotting her skin does she finally realize something may be wrong. She feels the flush on her cheeks. Her stomach is still upset, and she wonders if she’d finally eaten something off enough to finally do her in.

She tries to work it off, but overheats too quickly and seeks the shade of the tree instead, curling up in the cool loam at it’s base as she sweats through her clothing and heaves as though she’d just run the whole way to Othard and the whole way home. It’s hard to draw in breath. She feels like she’s suffocating, she feels tight and sore, like something’s crawling under her skin and a thrill of fear jolts her back out into the sunlight as she scrambles to inspect herself for…

She begins to hack and wheeze then, her system overtaxed by illness and fear. She coughs and coughs, deep and low and phlegmy, coughs until she can feel something building in her throat that she can’t swallow back down and -

Red and violet splatter against the ground.

She only notices the former. Red. It’s Red not…

Perhaps a smile isn’t the right reaction to this, but Castor can’t help herself.]



[2]

[ Her coughing didn’t stop. The itching under her skin didn’t stop.

As the sun sets, Castor’s laid out on her side the beach, having sought a measure of comfort in the sight of the endless waters around the island. Every inch of her aches to simply lie here, but moving had become almost unbearably painful hours ago. Even her coughing has grown weak and she can’t help the odd whine of pain as more violet hyacinth petals and blood pool below her.

Across her back and shoulders, dark crimson roses have bloomed, some beginning to wind down her arms and tangling with the hyacinths that have begun to sprout along them in a pretty, if not macabre display. Her legs are likewise hobbled - bursts of red and purple at her knees dictating her resting place more than her own will had.
She remembers, even in the haze of fever and pain, painting flowers on trees. Ren’s fear made sense now.

She wishes Emet-Selch had turned that gun on her, instead. ]


[3]
[ Hit me up or BYOP. No zambies plz im baby ; 3; ]
Edited 2020-01-15 06:45 (UTC)
counterblows: +south (϶ i have not asked for much)

[personal profile] counterblows 2020-01-15 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
I was an asshole who betrayed people I used to work with, and I did that a few times over before I learned to stop stabbing people in the back.

[His tone is dry.]

Happy?
forwearemany: (gaze)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-01-15 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
...Acknowledged.

(They observe him, as calm as ever.)
motherfucking_ghost: (really shouldn't add to my confusion)

[personal profile] motherfucking_ghost 2020-01-15 10:53 am (UTC)(link)
Any partner of Delta's can't be all that bad. I liked the little green guy.

[Probably because Delta had been part of himself. Why he always agreed with everything Delta said.]

...Hold on, wait, are you saying you guys didn't actually know the Director's name? Not even as, what, like, Doctor Church or anything?
counterblows: (϶ at the steps to her door)

[personal profile] counterblows 2020-01-15 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Right. Okay. That doesn't bother you, I guess.

[He sighs, mutters something like of course under his breath, and slots his magazine from his gun to inspect it.]
counterblows: (} if home is where the heart is)

[personal profile] counterblows 2020-01-15 02:56 pm (UTC)(link)
It wasn't common knowledge. Some of us figured it out - I did, for obvious reasons. But almost everything about him and the Counselor were kept confidential.

[He shrugs slightly.]

Same reason that almost all of us only ever knew each other's callsigns. I knew maybe...one or two of the other agents' names, if that.
forwearemany: (standing)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-01-15 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
We are more interested in the reason you have done so now.

(Always about motives. Perspectives.

The Geth learn and grow via the sharing of thoughts. It is how they are.)
counterblows: (϶ but a dollar for your insights)

[personal profile] counterblows 2020-01-15 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[He slaps the mag back into his rifle and rolls his shoulders.]

Well, it wasn't because I wanted to, I can tell you that.
forwearemany: (innocent)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-01-15 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Acknowledged. An effect of the islands?

(They suspected, if so.)
counterblows: (϶ i'm the last of my kind)

[personal profile] counterblows 2020-01-15 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Probably. I don't know. Like I said, it wasn't specific to you. I just had it out for everybody for a few days.

[Including, he remembers with a grimace, Carolina.]
forwearemany: (Lookdown)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-01-15 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
...Acknowledged. Being turned against allies is common.

(They look down. At themselves? At the ground? It's not really certain.)
thermalwind: (you'll be okay right?)

[personal profile] thermalwind 2020-01-15 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, if that’s the case it might be something harmless. [The dog could still decide to eat faces. The islands are such a toss up he hasn’t relaxed in quite some time. Keith presents his hands for the dog to sniff.]

Are you thinking to keep it with you? It likes you enough to follow you.

[Again, it seems safe. He can’t see a reason why it would be a bad idea.] If you found it over by the library there might be more of them.
deathfindsaway: (« [Concern] why have i not noticed)

[personal profile] deathfindsaway 2020-01-15 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
... Oh. Uh.

[He really thought this one was gonna be easier. They had the cure now! Just say your feelings and you're golden. But of course, things are always more complicated, and Kravitz hums as he tries to put his thoughts together.]

Well, uhm, you-- you will still need to express your emotions somehow, or that certainly won't go away. Do you know another, er, a nonverbal language, or just... movements?

[He pauses for a moment while he thinks, scratching lightly on his jaw just to have something to do with his hands.]

I suppose I could use a small mind link, if you aren't opposed.
deathfindsaway: (« [Confused] why is this happening)

[personal profile] deathfindsaway 2020-01-15 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[Cravat is good. Just go with that. Better than Cabbages, anyway. Kravitz blinks a moment or two as he surveys the other man, trying to place where he knows his face-- it must just be hard because of the mask, surely.]

Oh, uh-- no, it's. No, I'm not dead. Just a bit... woozy. Er. Sorry if I worried you.

[He forces himself to stand, though it's slower than he'd like, and he uses the desk for a bit of balance. Kravitz tries quite valiantly to pretend he looks like a cool professor with that move, but he gets maybe 20% of the way there.]

C-Can I help you? With the uhm, with the library, that is.
deathfindsaway: (« [Shock] im sorry what now)

[personal profile] deathfindsaway 2020-01-15 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[He's been feeling sick lately. This isn't a surprise, considering the state of the island and the work he's been putting himself through, but it's more than that. It's the fact that even though this camp was built for many people, it's just him returning here day after day. It's the fact that he had to clear out the fridge because Taako's magic wasn't there, it's the fact that the bed is now too big for him instead of too small, it's that the sun wakes him not with the smell of food and the cheerful laughter of his family but to more oppressing, continued silence. It's wearing on him, and the flower plague taking root only makes that more palpable as his heart aches. But he pushes it down. He deals with it, as much as he can. Hoping for them to return is only going to hurt him further when it doesn't happen, and he knows about grief- he needs to let it go.

He needs to. And yet.

Kravitz' sleep has been light, but when his body first feels the smaller girl pressing against him, it just feels normal. He must be dreaming- a nice fantasy made by a lonely mind. But as he rolls his head, blearily opening his eyes, she almost looks solid. It gives him a gentle smile, to reach out and pat her head.

... And she's solid. She's very solid. Is he awake?

Kravitz startles up, rolling over and grasping Ren to make sure she doesn't fall further into the bed or really jostle her.]


I-- Ren?? Ren, are you-- is that you?

[WHAT IS HAPPENING.MP4]