March Undercurrent: Lost Connections

[lifeaftr_mods]

MARCH UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: We remember those lost, and connect with one another
When: March 3rd to March 19th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: Please mark anything as it comes up!

From Stardust to God

Those months since the Water's introduction to you all have been...tumultuous, haven't they? These two gods have more or less been trying to consistently undermine each other, and you all have been caught in the middle of it - whether or not you wanted to be! Kind of a miserable state of being to be stuck in, right?

All that is going to change.

For the duration of this particular month, both the Storyteller and the Water will be operating under a tentative ceasefire as they commit their efforts to one singular, joint goal:

They wish to remember those who have been lost. Those who have left the archipelago, those who have died, those who have come and gone, those who you lost in your homes...and these gods will be, also, commemorating those who they have lost. This commemoration will be facilitated with the use of memorials and offerings to those long past.

The Storyteller will provide you with materials to craft paper lanterns that can be illuminated and sent sailing into the ocean waters. They can be decorated with colorful paper, cut designs, and so forth. The Water will guide the currents to allow the lanterns to drift to...wherever it is they need to go. You can send as many lanterns as you like, and as many nights as you like. The skies will always be clear, and the water will always guide them to the horizon, where they eventually fade from view...

Both the Storyteller and the Water will be available for discussion for the duration of this event.

The Highs We Trade for the Lows

This month isn't only about remembering what's been past. To conjure Ai'tuoh back to the archipelago, it will also entail that all of you do some reflecting on what has been lost in your lives, and sharing in that pain together. This may be a somber month for some of you, or it may be an introspective one.

At any point during this event, your character may wake to discover that one or more thin threads of colorful light appears to be emanating from their chest and trailing through the empty air. These threads cannot be removed or influenced in any fashion; attempting to grab at them will simply cause one's hands to phase uselessly through them, as though they are ethereal constructs of some sort.

The purpose of these strands of light might not immediately be apparent, but if you spend enough time observing your fellow islanders, it might get a bit clearer. Each tether connects you to someone else - someone who has a pain similar to your own. Should you follow your tether to whoever it has linked you to, you may find yourself compelled to comfort or relate to the other party. This compulsion can honestly vary, from a gentle nudge to a sudden impulse and anything in between. There may or may not be a subtle pressure on your thoughts that may help you discern what you might have in common with this other person, whoever they might be. This facet of this event is completely opt-in, naturally, and we encourage you to interpret this however you like. What counts as shared pain? It can be as literal or as figurative as you like. Whether characters underwent the same events in this game or another, or whether there are certain parallels you wish to explore within certain canons or across multiple ones...or if you just want your character to have a nice sit down and talk about their problems for once, the choice is yours. Your character can be connected to as many others as you like - there is no limit to how many characters you can share any related trauma with!

Should you choose to reflect on that which you have endured, and the shared pain of others, what follows is fairly intuitive. The tether binding you together will fade, though hopefully a stronger bond will be forged, and ideally you'll all feel better afterward...but that's not necessarily a given, now, is it?

This is No Place Like Home

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 February'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 Monthly Rundown post!

March Timeline

[ ♆ ] March 1st: "The Return of Your Special Lifting Friend" begins and lasts until March 10th
[ ♆ ] March 3rd: "Lost Connections" begins and lasts until March 19th
[ ♆ ] March 12th: "Spring Forth" begins and lasts until March 21st
[ ♆ ] March 20th: Ai'tuoh returns to the archipelago
[ ♆ ] March 22nd: "The Happy Hang Glider Vacation Society" begins and lasts until March 31st

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[hyperlit]

[Perhaps...]

[It's less of an immediate sensation and more of a vague feeling. The Drifter cups a hand around their chest, as though that might keep them from spilling the contents of their heart.]

you are
lonely?

[vagabone]

[Alone. Aching to be reunited in death with family. Hurting in many ways. A strange sensation he's looking into a mirror...]

You could say that. Are you... how are you holding up?

[hyperlit]

also lonely

[The words emerge before they can consider them and whether or not they wish to issue them - or even whether they wish to acknowledge that they might have even a kernel of truth to them.]

[vagabone]

Oh. [Not really surprising.] ...do you want to sit down a while?

[They don't seem the type to complain about sitting around on the ground, like he is. Dirt shmirt. He doesn't feel like walking inside.]

[hyperlit]

[They don't want to, perhaps - it is not their nature to sit around and wait - but nonetheless some part of them feels as though they need to. And so they nod, and they sit down.]

ok

[vagabone]

[Sit around, be still, maybe have a decent conversation... it's the best he can offer.]

Could play a game of cards, if you want.

[hyperlit]

do not know how

[They realize a bit late that this sounds like a dismissal, so they hasten to add:]

can learn?

[vagabone]

No? Shame on me, I should've taught you.

[Though he's not really ashamed, just friendly.] But you're kind of hard to track down. Do you want to learn?

[hyperlit]

[They used to be, certainly. Not so much anymore. But they're not about to contest that when they're in deep denial about that as it is.]

ok

[vagabone]

[To be fair, he doesn't wander nearly as much as he used to. He's been burned too many times. Rarely has he found anything nice while away from the safer areas, only black holes and deadly flower plagues and crystal monsters.

His deck of cards is almost always with him, and of course it would have skeleton faces on it.]

Okay. Have you heard of any games before?

[hyperlit]

no

[Their shoulders twitch slightly in a shrug.]

had no one to teach them
not wanted

[Again, more than they would say typically, but the pressure of words left unspoken is, for once, stifling.]

[vagabone]

Neither am I most of the time, to tell you the truth. Back home.

[Yes, he and they have something in common--he's so sure about it that he's wondering how he never realized it before.]

Too much of a troublemaker, on top of being forgotten.

[hyperlit]

to be forgotten
somber fate

[One that they suspect will be their own, soon enough. The only person who seemed to even remotely care about them perished before they did. Everyone else...they weren't particularly wanted, wherever they roamed.]

[vagabone]

[He simply nods, shuffling through the deck over and over.]

When it happens to my kind of dead guy, we just... disappear. Forever. [Quieter.] Seen a lot of friends and family go over the years. You must have too.

[hyperlit]

not friends
only strangers

[They had not experienced real, genuine loss until that moment in the Barren Hills.]

i am sorry

[vagabone]

Do you have friends on Enso, at least?

[He doesn't know a dang thing about them or their life, not even if they have a name besides Drifter, and that's sad, after two years being here.]

[hyperlit]

some

[A year ago, or perhaps less, they would have hesitated to say as much. Now...well, they can admit that they have made friends, at least.]

you?

[vagabone]

Still some who haven't disappeared. Not that I'm complaining, I'd rather everyone who wants to go home. [Just as long as he's the first to go!! If it comes to actually having a choice.

He goes on, a bit softer.] It's good you've had a chance to get to know people.

[hyperlit]

will be remembered here

[They can hold that to their soul, at least. The fact that...some here will retain memory of them, they hope. It is more than they had at home.]

even when gone

[vagabone]

[He nods, again, a creaky old duct tape mummy. The duct tape is new... and he must have used his entire supply.

Owie.] Good. That's good. Because where I'm from... we keep going after death, if the living remember us.

...and it's nice to be remembered either way.

[hyperlit]

yes
not at home
but maybe here

[They have...friends here. Real friends.]

[Ones that will remember.]

[vagabone]

[He lets the silence hold a little longer than usual. Quiet, still.]

I noticed you. I'll remember, for what it's worth.

[hyperlit]

will remember you too

[Not that that's worth much, they'd think. Considering that they don't think they'll be long for very much of this world, or any other.]

[vagabone]

[They'll do the best they can, and that's enough.]

...Hey. Do you have a name besides Drifter?

[hyperlit]

[A shake of their head. It is immediate and it is wholly truthful.]

only title
never had any other