January Undercurrent: Growing Pains

[lifeaftr_mods]

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

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Michael | OTA | cw: mild body horror

[eudaimonikos]

i. stolen (willpower)

[Michael didn't think a great deal about going out to chase the little fox away from his  house. He's done it plenty of times before; he's afraid they eat lorbies, and they definitely have a tendency to carry Potrick off. Even if he's not sure he considers the little walking hotpot strictly alive, watching its little legs flail in the air as it's stolen is just kinda pathetic.

What happened after he confronted the fox is a little blurry. It...maybe jumped him? But he's not hurt, and it's gone, so who cares? Who cares about anything, really?

Michael's just sort of sitting on the ground against a tree near his home now, staring listlessly at nothing in particular. Potrick the walking hotpot is happily walking into his side.]

ii. tongues of flame (overgrowth)

[Michael wasn't around for the initial outbreak of Overgrowth. People don't talk about it much; he only hears about it through whispers and rumors when the island, and then the disease, start to return.

At first, he figures he's fine. It would've killed him a year or two ago, but these days he doesn't lie half so much. He's not even hiding from the authorities anymore! People already know about his dark past; they know what he's done and who he is. There's nothing more he's holding back, right?

For a while, this holds true. But eventually, at some point, a coughing fit does strike him, too. When it's finished, Michael stares at the large red petal in his palm.]

...well, shit.

iii. psychiatric help (5 cents)

[Despite everything, Michael doesn't feel all that bad. He doesn't have all that many secrets, after all! The one thing he hasn't told any of his new friends - well, that's not such a big deal, is it? It's just one secret. Doesn't he deserve just that much?

So forget that. It's fine. He's fine.

It's everyone else who clearly isn't fine. A lot of people have already offered themselves up for confessions, so Michael doesn't see a need to put up another network post or anything. But during some of his regular time hanging out in Denny, he does put up a quick sign:]

DEMON CONFESSIONAL

Something to get off your chest? I literally have no room to judge!

[It's true enough. He can't condemn anybody else for doing bad shit - better they confide it in him than slowly become a flower zombie.]

the doctor is IN

[motherfucking_ghost]

...So, this goes for you, too?

[Denny's become a weird spot given the flower growing disease lying thing, and the ghost sharks making it near impossible for people to drink. So, perfect place to end up during the times he doesn't feel like just laying on the ground or in bed not moving feeling gross. His right arm's kinda borked, though. He can kinda swing it, the shoulder's still got moving gears, but the rest of it just feels like...grinding to a halt. And kinda staticky.]

Like, you're obviously doing the thing, too. With the flowers. Shouldn't we all just get in a big kumbaya circle and share our feelings?

[eudaimonikos]

I don't really know why it's happening to me. I don't -

[Michael breaks off his lying to hack up a few more petals.]

Ugh, is this what human illnesses are like? I don't have a lot of secrets anymore, but I guess it's not like I tell everyone my life story either.

[motherfucking_ghost]

No, human illnesses are--I mean, actually, kind of? Minus...flowers. This is basically a ridiculously bad flu. With flowers.

So. Eh. It sucks either way.

[He's so fucking tired.]

Okay but here's the thing. The honesty thing. You don't blab your whole life story to everyone, right? That's not a thing. Nobody does that. 's not healthy. I could say some deep dark secrets to you I guess, but is that the catharsis the flowers are looking for? Secrets are healthy! To a degree!

[eudaimonikos]

I don't know what the flowers want. I wasn't around when this all happened before.

[...]

Sounded like a lot of people died.

[motherfucking_ghost]

...Yeah, I. Yeah. People don't like to talk about it, but I've seen some flyers, or, warnings, whatever. People who know the cure telling us.

Everything on all these islands are so full of bullshit. Did you go to duality island? Fuck that place.

I

[salutosinedelectat]

[ A couple of months in and Aziraphale has mostly accepted that this is his life now. Complete lack of consistence except for the fact that anything can happen at any time, any place, with anything. Whether it is creatures he’s never even imagined, or islands popping into existence, or people acting strange. It’s fine. It’s absolutely fine. So fine.

At least this day seems to be fairly....calm. Mostly. He’s really just going about the islet, stretching his legs, having a walk and a think.

Until he spots Michael sat by the base of the tree. He hasn’t really seen the demon in a while now, usually just spotting him here and there around Enso. The angel glances at him a few times before he actually stops, wondering if it’s his impression or if there’s something a bit... off.

He decides to step over. ]

Well, good morning, Michael.

[eudaimonikos]

[...

.....

Oh, he's being addressed. Michael's not interested in a conversation - even the thought of replying seems sort of exhausting - but Aziraphale probably won't just leave if he doesn't. Not that he wants the angel to leave, exactly? He really doesn't care.]

Hey.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Well, that was certainly a delayed response. ]

Are you doing alright?

[eudaimonikos]

Mmmmmh.

[Michael makes a sort of non-committal noise. Next to him, Potrick the walking hotpot shoves his way underneath Michael's arm, which just sort of drapes awkwardly and limply over it.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Azirphale finally looks at Potrick, and for a moment he's not sure of anything at all, ever.

That's. That's a thing. That seems to be alive. Yes.

Still, Michael's despondence is quite blatant at this point, so he can't help but to wonder. ]

Did something happen?

II

[semistableman]

[So much happens here on a regular basis, in the year since Bucky has arrived, the idea of some sort of fatal disease showing up out of the blue doesn't alarm him nearly as much as it would have when he first arrived.

Even losing Steve has left him... well, he'd be lying if he said it hasn't left him feeling hollow, but it's not the disaster it could be. He has other things to occupy his mind.

Especially not when he sees Michael coughing up a flower pedal.]

What the hell?

[eudaimonikos]

That is so gross!

[Michael holds the petal delicately between two fingers, as if it's something vile. Really, it's...surprisingly dry? Sure, he lacks most human bodily fluids, but as far as he's aware he also lacks lungs for flowers to grow in.]

Ugh... [Examination done, he drops it on the ground.] Did you not hear about all this?

[semistableman]

[Bucky continues to stare at the petal with no little horror.]

I've been a little... preoccupied.

[Because what is talking about feelings?]

That doesn't look good.

[eudaimonikos]

There's some sort of flower disease going around. I didn't think I'd get it...

[But here he is, fucking great.]

Do I have lungs now?

[semistableman]

That... definitely isn't good.

[Seriously, what the hell?]

I'm guessin' the flower disease is caused by something magical?

iii. lol

[agathokakological]

[Crowley himself has been hit with a similarly mild case of overgrowth himself, but it's the sign emblazoned with DEMON CONFESSIONAL that drew his curiosity.]

Alright. I'll bite. What's the sign for?

[eudaimonikos]

Basically what it says.

[Michael shrugs, leaning back a little in his chair.]

I'm really not equipped for this on a regular day, but if it could help someone not die of flower poisoning? I don't mind hearing people out. Figured it might be easier talking about certain things to someone who's almost definitely done worse.

[agathokakological]

Ohhh...

[When Crowley read demon confessional, he took it a slightly different way. But this is fine. This is good. This helps him understand this whole... flower poisoning thing.]

So I tell you my sins. And you do... what? Tell me to sacrifice a number of goats?

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael shrugs, spreading his hands.]

Don't think that's part of the flower disease.

[agathokakological]

Isn't that how a confessional works? 

[Crowley asks this but he's never witnessed one himself. Consecrated ground is usually involved. He's only heard stories, seen films, you know the deal.]

If not, then what?

ii!

[deathfindsaway]

[Kravitz remembers how suddenly the plague swept everyone, before they knew what it was. The last time the Overgrowth came through, they didn't know how to cure it from the jump; everything got rather bad before it got better for anyone, and it didn't get better for him. He's also expecting to be looking for red flowers when he realizes what's going on, but instead, much thicker bloom is creeping through his hair, the weight of the bulbs drooping like weeping willows.

It's not what he's intending to broadcast; moreso, they seem to appear more when he's worried, and this certainly clarifies as worried when people are hacking up more petals.]

Unfortunately, this disease was not much for exemption. If you have the capacity for feelings, it will come.

[eudaimonikos]

Used to think demons only had anger and confusion.

[He peers at the petal, grimacing in disgust, and drops it on the ground.]

A lot of things were easier back then. But really, I don't have that many secrets anymore!

[deathfindsaway]

It's not always strictly about secrets, in the traditional sense.

[Lies were certainly not his death knell before; it was about the lies he told himself, the parts of him he didn't know how to clarify, the identity and self reflection that he'd trained out of himself not to feel so alone.]

You also must know yourself. The truths of your identity to your selfhood. Lies we tell to ourselves to keep us going. There is... little margin for error.

[eudaimonikos]

[..........]

What the hell does that mean?

[On one hand, demons are really not ones for emotional intelligence. On the other...he doesn't want to think about that.]