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

[thankgods]

We are older than you. So much older. I am content to pass on, as I see fit. I have been for some time. All things have an end. We are living on borrowed time as it is.

But if the time must come to make a decision...for whatever purpose...

[The Water looks out into the ocean waves, the cresting foam as it laps up against the beach.]

...choose the younger of us. Choose the Storyteller.

I think that more than anything, they fear what death might mean for them.

I do not fear it. I never have.

[thermalwind]

[He is a young man touched by war and death. He has walked in terrible places but for a moment he looks as young as he really is. He nods, swallowing until he can trust himself to speak.]

Okay. ...it’s been an honor to meet and work with you. I’ll do all I can.

[He looks over the ocean and the taste of salt in the air brands it in his mind. He will always remember this moment with Water.]

Is there anything you can think of that I should know about before...well, whatever comes next.

[thankgods]

Thank you.

[Their breath is like the ghost of easing pressure, a breeze of sea salt and spray tossed over jagged cliffs.]

I do not know. I cannot say what will come of what happens. I am not Fate, after all. I oppose my kin, but they are...still and always, in many ways, little more than a child.

I wish to hold them responsible. I do not wish them pain.

[thermalwind]

[He's always been of the desert, of the cold of space, but now...he's not sure how he'll feel if he can't taste the salt in the air when he's planet side. Keith puts his hands into his pockets.]

I'll do what I can. ...so, let me ask you. How much has our will, the travelers, affected this place? By your observation I mean. I'm not trying to reduce it to numbers, just see the effects.

[thankgods]

The smaller things, largely. Those memories and dreams and faces from your pasts, those unique to you...those are the manifestations from your own mind. The Storyteller is many things, but they are not omniscient.

Mu is far more perceptive than they, in that regard.

[thermalwind]

[Could the reason Shiro kept coming back be because of him? Could he just not let go? No. That has to be wrong.

Everything else though...]

So our own minds have a part to play here. ...Does that mean this world is made by Storyteller and us? It isn't just what it was but what we've done too?

[He isn't arrogant enough to automatically assume it is. His eyes are full of questions, almost too many. He needs to understand, burns with that need.]

[thankgods]

You have visited those islands up above your heads in the sky, yes?

[A roundabout answer, and perhaps an incomplete one - but there is a point here, and it does relate to the question Keith is asking.]

Certainly you have noticed how malleable they are. How susceptible they are to mental suggestion.

[thermalwind]

[Keith thinks about that for a moment, then he nods slowly.]

Okay. That gives me something I can pass around. If we all focus our collective will together...we can change something.

No matter how small. [He closes his eyes. It's like Voltron. A united will pushing through the darkness and bringing light where once there was no hope at all.]

I think I have some ideas now. When the time comes, I'm going to ask for your help. If we're to save Storyteller and change things, we'll need you.

[thankgods]

You are...so optimistic.

[The words are dismissive, but their tone is merely tired.]

What makes you so certain that you will be capable of such a thing? What makes you willing to take that risk?

[thermalwind]

[Is it optimism? He stares out at the ocean and wonders about that. No. It's not optimism at all. He's just...wired one way.

His lips move, his voice is tired too.] I don't know if we'll succeed. But, I can't let things go. No matter what I have to try. But you said we effect things in small ways. Small things banding together can be something bigger.

It's not much, I know it's not. But, it's a shot and I'll take it.

[thankgods]

I suppose...I cannot stop you there. Nor do I think I could change your mind. Could I?

[They don't wait for an answer to that question. It was purely rhetorical.]

Is that all you need? A mere sliver of a chance to believe that a thing like that might be possible?

[thermalwind]

[More silence. It's been so long since he piloted a lion but the sense of responsibility settles over him as he were back in the cockpit. Lives hang in the balance. One slim shot could save them all. But it could just as easily damn them.

But...] When we don't have much else? Yeah. I'll believe in that chance because...the other way is just accepting what will happen.

[thankgods]

Is acceptance such a terrible thing?

Perhaps it is not something that a god is meant to understand.

[thermalwind]

It depends on what I have to accept. [He gestures to the world around them and says with quietly.]

This isn't one of those things on that list. I don't know if it's a god can't understand thing or just... I don't know.

[Keith sighs and drops his gaze to the sand. In his mind's eye is the empty cockpit of the Black Lion. A tombstone that he dusts every time he sees it. A statue of a girl who changed a city. He's so tired in his own way.]

I'm not very good with this sort of talk. Never have been. Sorry, Water.

[thankgods]

Oh, I am hardly very good at talk myself. I was the never diplomat of my kin. Neither was Mnerim. I'm sure that much is readily apparent.

I think the fact that you are willing to try means more than you know.

[thermalwind]

Thanks...I just have to try. I wouldn't be where I was if someone didn't give me a chance. [All it takes is one look at his darker side to know where he would have been. Saluting Zarkon and opposing the light of hope. Then he sighs and covers his face with his hands for a moment.

The weight of everything feels so damn heavy these days.]

...you still try too. Maybe we're a little better at this than we think we are. Or good at pretending, [He says as he drops his hands and smiles just a bit.] Maybe when I'm past my second century I'll be better yet.

[thankgods]

[There's a shivery rumble, almost like a laugh. It's the closest that the Water gets to it, at any rate.]

That wasn't my intention when I made landfall here. But as long as I'm here, what other way is there to pass the time?

[thermalwind]

[Keith grins and crosses his arms over his chest.] Yeah. There's all the other weird things going on but, you're right. Not much else to pass the time but get better at talking.

Who knew it was that easy to get better at it.

[thankgods]

I never interacted much with mortals. It was not my strength, nor my interest.

But if everything here is changing, perhaps this can too.