April Undercurrent: Breaking Barriers

[lifeaftr_mods]

APRIL UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: Normal boundaries are made malleable, for a time
When: April 3rd to April 19th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: Please mark anything as it comes up!

Keep Me In Your Clouded Mind

As days pass, and the Water begins to exert their pull, your surroundings will begin to grow hazy, almost dreamlike. Though some might find this sensation to be unpleasant, the feeling will soon pass, and the world will seemingly right itself. Perhaps a fit of vertigo, and nothing more...?

But come the morning of April 3rd, the island's skies and seas will paint themselves anew in faded guises - every colour it's possible for a sky and sea to be, from sunrise to sunset - bleeding into each other like ink in water, until the horizon vanishes. And from that vanishing point, where sky and sea meet, you will begin to see...rafts. Rafts bearing familiar paper lanterns - some crumpled, some stained from their crash into the water, but recognizable all the same.

Remember those lanterns that you made last month? It turns out that they've actually served as beacons. And, as those rafts drift closer, you might find that the lights you set free, forged in your grief and longing, have managed to guide the subjects of that longing to you...at least for a time. Of course, it's not all people you know. Those on the rafts are just as likely to be strangers, people who have simply drifted in on the tides of dream. Or they may be both familiar and not - the people you knew, who have changed in your absence or theirs.

They might even be you, though not as the island has made you. Perhaps they're the person you once were, or the person you will be. Who knows what the tides may bring?

To distinguish such temporary visitors from those making a more permanent stay, those brought in by these strange waters often look faded or filled with an ethereal light. They may also have a strange translucency to them, though this will not affect their ability for physical contact, interaction, or their solidity.

This month, no special tasks are required of you other than to interact with these new visitors, whether they bring you joy, grief, or the mutual, fleeting bond of a first meeting. The more you accept them as part of your lives - temporary as they are - the more power you produce.

Their stay might be short, but their impact is no lesser, and recognition of that is necessary to pave the way for Elytlan's arrival.

---

♆ FOURTH WALL EVENT ♆

We'd like to welcome anyone and everyone to LifeAftr's Fourth Wall Event! We'd like to start things off with a few points of clarification, if necessary:

[ ♆ ] This is an IC event. All characters will remember the fourth wall event and any characters that pass through it.

[ ♆ ] You are free to enable and post with absolutely anyone! For this event only, all rules regarding doubles and duplicates are to be considered null and void. Doubles, CRAUs, player-made AUs, original characters, whoever you like who can be brought to interact with the islands is free to do so! Characters who might be re-visiting from their past experiences in LifeAftr can recall as much or as little of their time in game as you like.

[ ♆ ] Please be aware that visiting characters will likely notice that their powers have been slightly or greatly dampened. While they will probably still be capable of smaller or more ordinary things, any game-breaking or world-ending powers will have no effect on these shores. You are free to nerf them even more if you want, though! We certainly won't stop you.

[ ♆ ] Only members of LifeAftr will have posting access, but all characters and players outside of the game are welcome to comment anywhere in this log, unless a player wishes to opt out of the event entirely.

[ ♆ ] This does include posting to the network, over at lifenet! Newly arriving characters will have access to the Stones of Farspeech that enable long-distance communication, but they will not be able to make their own posts - only comment to the posts of others.

[ ♆ ] We ask that any visitors be mindful of our game rules. Most characters will likely be arriving on the island of Ensō or the islets just off of its coast - feel free to read up on those pages for more information, and don't be afraid to ask questions!

[ ♆ ] This event will only last up until April 19th. At that point, all characters who have been brought to the Fourth Wall event and are not currently in game will fade away. Due to the ethereal quality to them while on the islands, the temporary nature of their stay will likely be apparent. That being said, this log will remain open once the event itself is complete - backtagging is both welcome and encouraged.

[ ♆ ] As the game will be entering endgame shortly after this event, we will not be opening Applications after the event unless you are a returning player who would like to be present for endgame.

[ ♆ ] If anyone has any questions about this event, please ask them HERE!

Color in My Sheltered Mind

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 April'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!

April Timeline

[ ♆ ] April 1st: "Make Libations" begins and lasts until April 10th
[ ♆ ] April 3rd: "Breaking Barriers" begins and lasts until April 19th
[ ♆ ] April 12th: "Isn't It Dreamy?" begins and lasts until April 21st
[ ♆ ] April 20th: Elytlan arrives at the archipelago
[ ♆ ] April 22nd: "Got Your Goat" begins and lasts until March 31st

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Ardyn [insert last name here] | FFXV+Airlocked CRAU

[burninglight]

[i; around]

[It was going to take a while to get all the saltwater out of his hair. That was what he chose to focus on for a moment, once he'd taken a general inventory of the situation. So he was here, Church was here, and 'here' was definitely...somewhere. VR seemed unlikely but not impossible, though he wouldn't have even begun to guess the who, what, or how of such a thing happening again.]

[Ardyn paused in the middle of his careful wandering, hands coming to rest on his hips with a heavy sigh. What a predicament, how did they keep ending up in these situations? At least it was never boring.]

[ii; storyteller's temple]

[He chose not to approach the structure itself, opting instead to sit in a tree a fair distance away. Ruins were nothing new to him, but he'd had quite enough of them for several lifetimes. And just in case there was some force inhabiting it...well, he'd be the last person to call divine attention to himself. Observing from this far out seemed like the safer choice right now.]

[iii; wildcard]

[impressions updated for CRAU development]

yeet.

[deathcured]

[ Well, this is... it sure is a temple. Noctis is standing not too far away from it, but he would recognize that red hair literally anywhere. Immediately, he knows what's bugging Ardyn. ]

Hell of a place to meet again, right?

yote

[burninglight]

I'd call it 'poetic', but this is once again bordering on 'cosmic joke' instead.

[Ardyn shook his head, running a hand back through his hair.]

What do you make of all this? It can't be VR again--well, it could, but that strikes me as unlikely.

temple, def

[piercetheheart]

[At least out here by the temple there were... well a number of dangling ceramic bell wind chimes, they'd been here for a long while and had certainly seen better days but here they were. Gladio actually flicks the string of one as he walks past. Well, sinew not string. String would have rotted away by now.]

Ardyn~

[Maybe even obnoxiously cheerful because of the good mood he was in. He was going to get snapped at either way. But then he gets closer, tilting his head, amber eyes narrowing a little. Hair too long, outfit too different, and were those tattoos?]

Or... not?

[burninglight]

Huh--oh, shit-

[That was definitely Ardyn's voice, if not his precise words. He fumbled for a second or two, barely managing to recover before falling out of the tree he was in.]

[The end result was, unfortunately, Ardyn hanging upside down from a tree branch with his legs wrapped around it. He remembered he could warp, honest.]

...I can definitely explain this.

[piercetheheart]

[Uhh...

Gladio kind of tilts his head, more than a little confused. That... is definitely way too flustered and out of sorts for Ardyn. Never mind the long hair. Which just has him stepping a little closer, until he's just about under the other man.]

Explaining what, exactly.

.... do you need help?

[burninglight]

...You're not going to punch me?

[???]

[piercetheheart]

[Okay he's really confused and this is weird and being back here is weird and he's been actively trying to hold his tongue but that?

That just gets an immediate, thoughtless response.]

Babe, what??

[And then a wince, and a sigh.]

Sorry. Ardyn. Can we... not do this with you upside down?

[burninglight]

[?????????]

[He pulled himself up only to hop out of the tree and land lightly on his feet, putting his back to it uneasily.]

I don't...know what you're getting at, Gladiolus, but as much as I deserve it I would really rather not fight you.

[piercetheheart]

[Gladio snorts at that, amused for a moment.]

Come on, all you ever want to do is fight.

[Except now that he was upright the differences were even more obvious. Which just has him sighing, arms crossed and looking amused if exasperated.]

Shit, you're really not our firestarter, are you?

[And if that doesn't get a tirade that'll be proof.]

[burninglight]

Firestarter-?!

[His voice practically cracked, Ardyn struggling not to laugh at the sheer absurdity.]

I-I don't have the faintest clue what you're on about. [He made a confused gesture with one scarred hand, the black and sapphire ring he wore briefly catching the sunlight.] You must be from one hell of a weird universe.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Hey, okay, stupid fucking question, have--

Oh, shit, you're one of them. The uh, the new guys, huh.

[Hi Ardyn you're dealing with this now, too. There's the impression of squinting. But then:]

Wait, then maybe you have! So, less stupid question! Have you seen a guy who's got my voice? Can't miss him, sounds just like me, so, y'know, loud but very, extremely, incredibly pleasant to have a conversation with because of how smart and insightful he is.

[burninglight]

Leonard, what the hell are you talking abou-

[. . .]

Oh.

[motherfucking_ghost]

...Oh. So. You know him. Uh. Cool.

[burninglight]

I'm....familiar, yes.

[motherfucking_ghost]

So. Uh. So you've seen him. Mostly I was gonna--actually, it doesn't matter what I was--are--

Arrrrrrrrrdyn?

[burninglight]

...Oh fuck me, you know the other one, don't you. Shorter hair, probably in a hat, hates sunlight?

[motherfucking_ghost]

Walking fashion disaster and immortal somethingorother? Yeah, we know each other. Is this what the fuck he'd look like as a normal god damn person?

that one vine of the dude doing a rafiki impression in a tree and then the branch snaps

[schoollifecub]

[ did you really think you would get PRIVACY?? in a TREE??? well, that's reasonable, but unfortunately: Ruu Is Here! ]

Aw, crap! [ AUDIBLE SNAPPING OF BRANCHES as Ruu hastily reorients her tree climbing trajectory to an adjacent branch instead of running right into him. ] Hold up, sorry, I didn't think anybody else would–

[ She heaves herself up onto a sturdy enough branch so that she can stop climbing and start sitting and then realizes– oh wait, she knows this fellow tree-climbing lunatic. ]

Oh, whoa, it's Ojii-san! [ she beams at him. ] Um, I guess this makes two of us, huh?

[burninglight]

[his BABY is ALL GROWN UP and CLIMBING TREES-]

It certainly does look that way, doesn't it?

[schoollifecub]

Uh-huh. [ She sounds SO EXHASPERATED. ] I already looked around on the beach a little, but I couldn't spot Nee-san and she'd be like, the first one here, and Iiii...

[ She trails off as she speaks and then her smile turns into a squint of... suspicion? Confusion? Probably both. ]

Yyyyou look. Different. I mean, apart from the glowing. Am I going crazy? Something's weird.

[burninglight]

Oh, I think it's just an odd little timeline discrepancy.

[you know, normal things.]

You look a fair few years older than I'd expect.

[schoollifecub]

[ JUST NORMAL THINGS ]

Oh– wait, for real?! [ she splutters out a disbelieving laugh, but given literally everything her family is, she completely believes it. ] What the heck! I'm sixteen right now, so how many years is that? I wanna know how many birthday gifts you owe me.

[ she's... probably kidding. ]

[burninglight]

Oh, several. You shouldn't be so mean to me, you know I've no great handle on time as it is.

[schoollifecub]

Several, huh? So I'm basically still a baby for you? That's wild.

[ 'Nine years old' is 'a baby' to Ruu at the ancient, enfeebled age of sixteen. ]

Are we okay to hang out, then? Can I tell you cool future stuff or will that make the timeline explode? I dunno what the rules are. Are spoilers allowed?