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

[vagabone]

A little better.

[As he said yesterday and the day before, being healed one bone at a time. It's a slow process, and he's still longing for some sort of painkillers. Even to get absolutely fucked wasted would help, if he had a stomach. If he could eat and drink normal solid things.

Alas.] How are you?

[onegreeneye]

A little better.

[About as honest as Hector's answer. He heals easier now than he did as a human, and Yukio's magic has it moving along quicker. The amputation site still hurts like hell (sometimes into his shoulder, sometimes out to fingers he doesn't have anymore), but he knows it's moving along, a little at a time.

He takes the moment to sit down - very, very carefully. Harder to balance on the way down with just one arm, but he's already reaching his limit for standing upright at a stretch.] I hope it's all... settling together the way it's supposed to.

[You know. "It" meaning the bones.]

[vagabone]

[One or both of them are almost definitely going to end up snoozing in the sand, right here, and that's fine. Sand's not the most uncomfortable thing to sleep on. Soft, in its own way.]

Suppose it is. I've never broken more than one or two at a time... at least Asgore's still with us. [Otherwise, well. This would be his unlife for good.] ...And I can always ask for more duct tape. Should do that.

[Yeah. He's on his way to becoming a mummy, ghost, and skeleton simultaneously. Little hit funny.] You need anything?

[onegreeneye]

[Unfortunately, Ginko is pretty sure he'd get in trouble with Epsilon and Yukio if he tried that. Can't be good for a healing wound, covered though it may be.]

Go for it, if it'd help.

[He shrugs lopsidedly, staring out over the water.] Maybe painkillers. Clinic could use some, anyway.

...It might be a stretch, but maybe there's some way we could help you out there.

[vagabone]

And painkillers, okay. [The final touches are being drawn onto his latest paper lantern--it's a skeleton's face, same as all the rest, with a few blue markings on her face. So many faces to remember.]

I don't think so. I can ask for all the needles or pills in the world, but they're not going to work on me. Can't swallow without a throat and I obviously don't have veins.

[onegreeneye]

We have magic, too.

[Yukio has magic, that is.]

It could be worth a try.

[vagabone]

No, don't worry about it. [It's fine. He's fine.]

Who's left at the clinic, anyway? Yukio? I think I've annoyed that guy enough as it is.

[onegreeneye]

Just Yukio and me. [He'd think that'd be a good thing from Hector's perspective, seeing how he and Faust got along. Or, you know, didn't. But Hector's reply leaves... a few questions.]

Annoyed him? What makes you think that?

[vagabone]

My general personality, mostly. [Some humor in his tone. Not much. He doesn't have the energy.] Too loud, too pushy, too silly. Not like he's the first person I've ever annoyed.

[onegreeneye]

I... can see that not meshing well with Yukio, true. I guess it's just hard to imagine him annoyed. If he doesn't like something, he usually seems to just... withdraw from it.

[Easy to pick up on, since it's a pretty damn familiar behavior.]

[vagabone]

[He shrugs and sets the lantern aside, easing himself back into the sand.] Bothered. Same thing. If he doesn't like me, he doesn't like me.

[onegreeneye]

Well, I think he'll understand if you come by for medical help. Yukio is a good kid, and a good doctor; he's not going to want someone to hold off on getting help if he doesn't get along with them.

[Oof, that was a lot to say at once right now. He pauses to take a breath before adding,] And, if I go with you, and I keep you from saying anything to bother him.

[vagabone]

No. No, you shouldn't have to... ah, babysit me. I think I can manage to keep my mouth shut for half an hour.

[On to the next lantern, folding paper to start...] It doesn't have to be right this minute. Let's sit here a little longer.

[onegreeneye]

I might as well be there, anyway. I do technically work there.

[Even if he's not in any shape to be much help at the moment, he might as well try.

Ginko nods slightly, watching Hector start on that lantern.] ...How many of those have you made?

[vagabone]

You probably should be sleeping there, looks like.

[No offense! But! He pauses, vaguely staring.] ...Not sure. Lost count. I've known a lot of people. I'm... probably the last person in any world who remembers most of these old guys.

[onegreeneye]

I did, for a while. [As if that has any bearing on whether he should be now.

That matters a lot less than what Hector says, anyway. He can only imagine how much it must have hurt, watching so many others fade away in all the time Hector has been around.] ...At least you do. I'm glad you can do this for them.

[vagabone]

[He doesn't have a clue how many he's made. Doesn't care. They're people, not numbers. 'A lot' is good enough.]

It's nice, isn't it? They're here in another world too, sort of. At least their faces will be, for a little while.

[onegreeneye]

Yeah. That's better than nothing.

[There's something to be said even for just the act of remembering - but he knows he doesn't need to tell Hector that.

He wonders, for a moment, if he should join Hector in making those lanterns, but-- well, he's not much of an artist to begin with, and he doesn't know that he's quite adapted enough to working with one hand to be trying to do craft projects just yet. So, he'll just watch until Hector is ready to go.]

[vagabone]

[He could keep right on going until his cracked fingers wear out... but he does eventually run out of paper. So he sets the lanterns off on their journey, all together, and lies back down into the sand to watch them go, hands behind his head.]

You still want to go now?

[onegreeneye]

Now as in tonight, or now as in now? [Not that there's much difference in the answers.] I'm alright with waiting here a bit longer, but we should go to the clinic soon.

[The sooner they know if Yukio can help Hector, the better.]

[vagabone]

[He's looking at the drifting lanterns... and shaking his head.]

Let's go. I'm done here for today. Either the clinic or I go lay on a cat.

[Good ol' Pepe the cat-bed! Can't go wrong with that.]

[onegreeneye]

And the sooner we do the first, the sooner you can do the second.

[He's not gonna lie, lying on a cat sounds pretty appealing right now, assuming Tanpo is willing to accept that it is not play time for a few minutes. But this has to come first.

He braces his hand in the sand and pushes himself to his feet, wincing as he adjusts his balance.] Not... used to that yet, give me a second.

[vagabone]

[He reaches out and catches himself, still having to remind himself everyone he knows is heavier than a skeleton. Too heavy for him to haul up and help along. So frustrating, why must living people be this way.]

No rush. I'm not too much faster myself.

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko hums quietly in acknowledgement as he straightens up, glancing over at Hector. There's just a moment's pause before he speaks again.]

...We both must look pretty pathetic, huh.

[vagabone]

[He smiles in a hollow way, pain shooting through his whole body with every step. Yeah.]

I've always looked pathetic, let's face it. For a skeleton. Any dead guy would be able to tell I'm on my last legs.