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

d.

[agathokakological]

[Oh good. It's his favorite mimic... crashing and falling out of the air. Luckily, it doesn't seem like she's gotten very high off the ground to begin with. Crowley could sit and watch this failure all day, he thinks. If only he had some popcorn.

That is, several minutes go by and he feels worse and worse. Fuck. Why does he have to have a heart?

Groaning, he approaches before she attempts another take-off and clears his throat.]

We're going to have to get you to higher ground if you want this to work.

[mockiri]

[She squawks in surprise, turning and glancing up at him with wide eyes. She glances between him and the glider, confused, then points down to it.]

Fuck!

[That's about how she feels about it in this moment. Can he make it fly?]

[agathokakological]

[Oh wow. That's what Crowley's expression says in the moment: Oh wow. He thinks, for a minute, that he would die for this bird. And then he realizes that is really dramatic and ridiculous of him. Get it together, Crowley.

Moving forward, he picks it off of the ground and inspects it. It seems pretty solid... just needs to get higher off of the ground so that Kiri can actually glide down.]

Yeah, fuck.

[He gives her a sympathetic little smile and then hands it back to her, taking a step or two back himself.]

Go ahead and get yourself comfortable on that thing. I'll handle the rest. 

[mockiri]

[He doesn't need to tell her twice. Whatever he does has to be better than what she's been managing so far. She scampers back to the glider, squishing herself into position, and offers a feathered thumbs-up once she's ready. This'll have to do.]

[agathokakological]

[Now that he's out of the way and she's properly mounted the glider, Crowley lets his wings pop into sight, opening with a whooshing sound, spreading huge and black around him. They stretch like one might stretch their legs after an overly long car ride, having been cramped away in their pocket dimension for quite a while.]

I'll get you in the air, are you confident you can land?

[mockiri]

[........uh.]

I don’t know if it’s smart!

[She can't land much with skill, she's four. Does crashing count as landing??]

[agathokakological]

[Crowley will just have to hover like any good helicopter mom, he supposes.]

Well... they're made to glide, right? So it's safe enough. Probably.

[A beat.]

Ready, then?

[mockiri]

[She'll do her best not to eat shit in the dirt. Thanks, snakeman friend.]

Okay!

[Whether or not she's ready for the glider, she is definitely ready to fly.]

[agathokakological]

Hang on tight.

[Crowley moves around the glider, wings flapping behind him as he approaches, firmly grabbing the back of it as his feet leave the ground. Luckily, Kiri isn't very heavy, so there's only a little unease as he takes off, lifting her off of the ground with it. He flies forward, climbing in height with the goal to eventually turn her around so that she can land where she's started, but he doesn't want to go too high, at least not for the first drop. One thing at a time, though...]

You alright?

[mockiri]

...I’m okay.

[Her answer is a little hesitant this time, because actually flying when you've never done it before is daunting. Hesitant doesn't mean unsafe though, it just means she's gripping the handle extra tightly and staring around herself with wide eyes.

The longer they fly, the more relaxed she'll become.]

[agathokakological]

Good, good. I'm  gonna let go now, and the wind will carry you down.

[And he does, making sure to trail closely behind like a parent does when their kid's first trying to bike without training wheels.]

[mockiri]

[What, what!? Let go? She squawks, cautious and a little nervous, and looks around. Is it okay? Is it really okay? Oh, he's already done it.

...Okay. Okay, she just needs to... not screw this up. It can't be that hard! She keeps her grip firm and leans into it, trying not to bank too hard. There's a bit of a learning curve to this, but she's already failed a few times, so at least she knows what not to do. Mostly.]

[agathokakological]

You're doing fine. [Helicopter mom, much?]

I'm right here!

[mockiri]

[There's a soft trilling in the wind as she acknowledges his words, and something in her posture changes, relief and calm. She flies down... down... down...

...and lands! With a bit of a tumble, but gently enough that when she crawls free of the glider, she's able to lift both arms in the air, looking victorious and speaking in an old man's voice,]

She’s a mighty big bird!

[She flew! How cool was that!?]

[agathokakological]

[Crowley flutters down, laughing as she tumbles, sits up quickly, arms in the air and exclaiming her success. He doesn't know why he feels proud, but he does. And considering this is the first selfless thing he's done for someone on the island other than Aziraphale, he doesn't understand that feeling at all and it sits weird in his stomach.]

Yeah, she is. Want to go again?

[mockiri]

[Again!! She can go again!? The excitement contained in her trilling and clapping ought to convey how down she is to do that, and if he doesn't get the message he sure will when she scampers back into the glider. Fly! She wants to fly!]

[agathokakological]

[Again it is. Crowley laughs, following her back to the glider. He's afraid to say it, but there's definitely something enjoyable about bringing joy to Kiri- something he hadn't felt quite this way since caring for what he assumed would have grown into the antichrist one day.]

Alright, ready?

[mockiri]

[She's bouncing. Look at her bounce. She's so excited.]

Okay! Okay!

[agathokakological]

[After she settles in, he takes off again, this time giving her a little more height to play with. He doesn't feel it's necessary to follow so closely once he lets go now, knowing she can handle it.]

Hold tight, little bird. I'm letting go now.

[mockiri]

[Oh, but the noises she's making as she flies solo again. This is one happy goddamn bird. It doesn't even matter if she's just flying in one direction, nothing fancy or especially long. She's in the air, and that's enough.]

She’s a mighty big bird!

[agathokakological]

[Crowley finds himself cackling. There's something very amusing about this small creature flying for the first time... something he himself has surely taken for granted. He swoops down to the ground to watch her land, a genuine smile on his face. Don't tell anyone he smiles. That's confidential information.]

[mockiri]

[Another flight, another landing, and once she's extracted herself from the glider Kiri just kind of flops on the ground, rolling back and forth, legs kicking into the air and arms spread wide, making incoherent little cackling noises. This is one damn happy bird, Crowley. Well done.]

[agathokakological]

[Bless him, this is adorable. And a shame, really, because he'll never tell anyone it happened, never admit to being kind to a small bird, let alone anyone. He watches her, still cackling, amused by her joy.]

Alright, mighty bird... I can't stick around, but if you can manage to get this to higher ground, you'll achieve the same effects.