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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 )
yakyuuman: (291 homeruns)

[personal profile] yakyuuman 2020-04-08 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
With a chuckle, Jyushimatsu settles himself next to Ginko, under the shading tree, watching the guy take swigs at the water and seemingly feeling better. That's what he wanted. Even though he's hardly helpful at times, he did something useful today! He's not really hopeless after all.

"How are you now?" he asks after Ginko is done drinking, nudging him with an elbow.
suspecteverything: (oh yeah?)

[personal profile] suspecteverything 2020-04-09 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
Right. I'll do that.

[Or not. Probably not.]
onegreeneye: (sounds fake but ok)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-09 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't apologize." He drapes the blanket somewhat clumsily over Yukio's shoulders, then, with both hands free, opens up the water jug. He passes it to Yukio and sits down, watching him carefully.

"You couldn't give an answer, and that's not your fault. I'm just sorry I pushed as long as I did. Wasn't helping anything at that point."
forwearemany: (Cute)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-04-09 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
All arrivals appear where they shouldn't be.
reflash: (*sees spider*)

[personal profile] reflash 2020-04-11 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
He tries to take the jug but his hands are... they won't close properly, they're weak, the flowers have torn through the skin of his arms and wound their roots deeper. He holds it, but it takes both hands to do so, and he can't raise it to his mouth.

Ginko is apologizing. Yukio hears it, stores it away, but can't do anything about it right now. Right now, he looks down at the water jug in his hands, does not drop it, and tries to breathe.
salutosinedelectat: Talking, drunk, serious (Wine is my only friend)

[personal profile] salutosinedelectat 2020-04-12 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
Well- yes. But I was rather thinking of creatures that seem to have originated here.
ichininyaanshi: (i'm in trouble again)

[personal profile] ichininyaanshi 2020-04-13 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[He's been okay so far. He's been holding it together, as best as someone as fragile as Ichimatsu can. Wanting to be strong for his younger siblings one of the few, actual honest parts of him - he has a little bit of that older brother pride, they all do, even if they act like it doesn't mean anything. For Jyushimatsu and Todomatsu... he always tries a little harder.]

[But he's run out of rope.]

[He bites his lip hard, and that makes his next shuddering breath less obnoxiously loud than it could be, but the sound of his voice choking up in a sob is unmistakable. It's so damn embarrassing. Having to confide in and be strong for the same person... this is more painful than he'd even imagined it would be. He really did just take the easy way out last time.]

[But he's not finished. For Jyushimatsu's sake, he reminds himself, pushing off the instinct to wipe his tears and letting them drip and tangle into his brother's hair. He has to show his brother that he's trying... and even more importantly, he has to prove Jyushimatsu right. Show him that he's doing the right thing. Even if Ichimatsu is resisting him.]

[That's why he's bringing up Karamatsu again. All three of them, from back then. Because....]


Back then... you and me were the liars. Right? We were so full of bullshit. But Shi- ... Karamatsu was honest. A crybaby who was way too timid to do anything, b-but that was just... how he was.

[The way he still is, underneath all that glitter.]

I'm still the same way as ever. But now Karamatsu is a liar, too. You're the only one who turned into someone honest, Jyushimatsu. I - I look at all of those idiot older brothers, and they're all hopeless, but whenever I think about how you started being yourself like it was so easy...

[He trails off. Squeezes his brother's hand again; hard, this time.]

... I hate it. 'Cause... i-it makes me want to try, too.
lesbeau: (« [Notice] actually thinking things thro)

[personal profile] lesbeau 2020-04-14 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
[It's nice to know that Yasha's going to be by her side, not in a way that feels reassuring for any kind of illness but just that she's a known quantity, a factor of trust and a resource that has proven not to fail her. Something about that is romantic, but not in a way Beau knows how to express. All she does with it is hold on as Yasha brings her into their home, directs her towards Beau's space where she has her stuff.]

Just because there's blood out of me when it should be in me doesn't mean I'm gonna die right now.

[Thanks, that's reassuring. But once she gets where she's going she doesn't try to stand, instead lowering herself to sit on her knees while she starts flipping through books. At least nothing's broken out yet, but Beau doesn't know how much time she's going to have before that. There's no good data except for what she collects now.]

So what... do you know. About this stuff, I mean. Pretty sure it's some kind of curse.
onegreeneye: ([troll]now that i think about it)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-14 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
It doesn't take him long to finish; once Ginko gets started on the water, it hits him how thirsty he really was, and he downs the rest so fast he almost spills it.

He pulls in a sharp breath (and almost starts coughing, jeez, he could have been more careful there) when he finishes the water, and passes Jyushimatsu's satchel back to him. "--Better. Sorry you had to deal with that - I'm usually better at keeping out of the sun."
onegreeneye: ([troll]not sure how i feel about that)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-14 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Yukio can't lift the jug any higher. His symptoms are so much further along than Ginko's, and he'd have been weakened by his panic besides-- Ginko should have anticipated this.

He leans over and rests his hands on the bottom of the jug, ready to guide it higher. "Just nod when you want to take a drink, okay?"
Edited 2020-04-14 04:13 (UTC)
barberian: icon by draiol (and they rise from the flames)

[personal profile] barberian 2020-04-15 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
Sure.

(A very ominous statement, also not... necessarily true? Yasha's no cleric but she's pretty sure blood is supposed to be in you at all times and never out no matter what the circumstances, but hey. Apparently they're playing this whole thing cool and not talking about worst case scenarios just yet. Yasha ignores the hammering of her heart. They'll cross the bridge when they get to it.

It does make her feel better to get Beau on the ground and flipping through her books though. Like she'll find the answer soon and later they'll laugh about this and Yasha will tell her, reluctantly, that she was a bit scared. Any second now.)


Well, I... don't know that much, really. Nobody ever talks about it. Kravitz even told me that bringing it up to other people would make them upset, so I shouldn't mention it. (It hit the community hard the last time it came around. Yasha grimaces, and takes a seat next to Beau, watching her progress.) I do know it killed a lot of people.
Edited 2020-04-15 01:30 (UTC)
lesbeau: (« [Shock] hahaha Oh No)

cw: body horror, which like, we knew, but. yeah

[personal profile] lesbeau 2020-04-16 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
[It feels harder to flip the pages than she wants it to, the stiffness in her fingers being acknowledged and then immediately ignored. It's fine. It's fine, she's been through worse than this, she just needs to keep looking. It'll pan out. It has to.]

By the sound of it, killed most of the people in that, uh... the sunken island where we went as fish. That whole place. Pretty sure it started there.

[Finally she relents to the stiffness in her hands and brings them up to crack her knuckles, trying to free some of the tension, but instead of the snap of air in bone it sounds more like the break of twigs underfoot in the forest. Beau hisses a small, sharp noise of pain, looking down at the knuckles in her right hand. Right in the middle, it seems the skin has split open like a cut... and what seems to be a splinter is sticking out, where bone would be if her finger was split off. Beau stares at it, trying to figure out where that could even be, and swallows as hard as she can-- not hard enough, she notes too quickly. Not hard enough.]

Uhhh. Shit.
barberian: (worried)

its yucky

[personal profile] barberian 2020-04-17 12:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe we could go back, (Yasha says fruitlessly, knowing there's no way they're going to make it back to a sunken island with human lung capacity any time soon (and that's assuming the island is even there any more, as they seem to change around a lot when nobody is looking). But she feels like she has to make some kind of suggestion in the face of... all of this.) Or talk to somebody else who was there, see if they know anything about how to fix it? Or slow it down, or...

(She exhales, frustrated. If only Jester were here. Yasha misses her.

Her head snaps up at the sound of splintering bone.)


Beau? (Beau is staring at the back of her newly wounded hand, at something protruding from the sudden split of her skin. Yasha stares along with her. How did she do that?) What did you- I don't think that you should touch that.
forwearemany: (ummm)

[personal profile] forwearemany 2020-04-19 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
...Uncertain.
reflash: (my biggest dream is to calm down)

[personal profile] reflash 2020-04-21 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
He's weak. He's so weak and he's never been able to get stronger, and he selfishly puts the burden of himself on others like he's doing right now. Yukio's breath rasps in his lungs, scratches through his throat and he should drink water but Ginko is... Yukio's taking up so much space, so much time and effort, and... He needs to leave. He needs to get out of here so he doesn't make things even worse than they already are, but he can't move, he can barely even breathe.

He just...

It hurts. It hurts and he's so tired and he can't stop making everything worse for everyone around him and he...

Ginko is so kind, and Yukio just keeps selfishly taking advantage of that kindness again and again and he can't apologize enough...

"Sorry." He says again, because apparently that's the only thing he can say right now, and it's useless. And then, pathetically, he nods, because he is thirsty, he does want a drink of water, and he can't even raise the jug to his mouth right now without making someone else help him.
Edited 2020-04-21 18:12 (UTC)
onegreeneye: (and that's how i told nature to fuck off)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-22 07:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't be." Again, just as gentle as before. He lifts the jug carefully, watching Yukio to make sure that he doesn't end up just dumping water all over him. Poor kid's having a bad enough day already.
reflash: (my biggest dream is to calm down)

[personal profile] reflash 2020-04-22 11:43 am (UTC)(link)
His tongue flicks out, tries to taste the air but gets nothing because he's too sick, his sense of smell is overwhelmed with blood and flowers. But then the water actually gets to him and he drinks desperately, like he hasn't had water in days (maybe he hasn't, he can't remember). Ginko can try not to dump water all over Yukio, but Yukio isn't concerned about that right now.
salutosinedelectat: (Default)

[personal profile] salutosinedelectat 2020-04-22 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah.

[ Well, he's certainly hitting the poor mechanical fellow with a barrage of questions. Hopefully they don't find it rude.]

Well, I hope that's the last we see of them.
onegreeneye: that makes more sense (oh okay)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-22 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Ginko will hold the jug in place, adjusting the angle as necessary, until Yukio seems to be finished. Or until it's empty. Whichever comes first.

He lowers the container carefully, sets it down on the floor. "Better? Do you want more water?"
reflash: (*sees spider*)

[personal profile] reflash 2020-04-22 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"No," he says quietly, not clarifying which question he's answering.
onegreeneye: (sounds fake but ok)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-23 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
For now, Ginko guesses he might as well assume it's both. So he stays where he's sitting, watching Yukio carefully, trying to work out whatever he can of his condition. Besides... generally bad.

"...Well, if you do need anything else, let me know. That includes if you want to talk - or to be left alone."

The last suggestion takes some effort to get out. He doesn't want to leave Yukio alone. He doesn't want to leave him to die - but if he won't talk, he won't, and there's nothing Ginko can do to force him.
reflash: (my biggest dream is to calm down)

[personal profile] reflash 2020-04-23 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
[He doesn't want to talk, he doesn't want to be left alone. He doesn't know what he wants.

He reaches out, a tiny little movement of his hand before pulling back. He's sorry. He doesn't have the solution for this.
]
onegreeneye: (this might as well happen)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-23 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
Ginko sees that little motion, and... he can't be sure what that gesture was going to be. But he shouldn't ignore it.

A moment of hesitation, and he reaches around to pull the blanket up, make sure it's settled on Yukio's shoulders. And he leaves his hand there. It's about the best he can do.
reflash: (*sees spider*)

[personal profile] reflash 2020-04-23 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
He shifts towards that touch, just slightly, just because he wants... he's being selfish. He's being so selfish right now. Ginko's sick, and Yukio's taken up so much of his time, and Yukio shouldn't be here but he's weak and selfish and desperate and he wants to feel better, but nothing will help.
onegreeneye: (i was prepared for this)

[personal profile] onegreeneye 2020-04-23 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
That... seems like it's good. Ginko's not much good with affection - giving or receiving it - but, if this is going to be any comfort to Yukio, and if comfort is all he can give right now...

He shifts his hand over on Yukio's shoulder, and holds onto him a little tighter. He's not a very good hugger.