hugtopia_logs | January Intro Log

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January Intro Log

a town blanketed in snow with the sun rising

January Intro Mingle Log
Welcome to Hugtopia, and to the city of Havenwell. This mingle is meant for new arrivals to get settled and meet the other inhabitants. New characters should be the only top-levels but everyone is free to tag around and make new friends. Who knows, you may find that Perfect Hug in here. You can use the prompts here, or create a wildcard of your own.

ICly, this takes place from the 2nd to around the 10th, with a proper event coming soon after applications are processed. The prompts below are optional, but are a way to get you started if you wish. Some also carry over from the TDM, so you can continue threads officially in-game if you wish! To help you create your own prompts, please take a look through our Settings and FAQ. Click on each prompt's title to see the text.

If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below.

❥ PROMPT I: Awakening

When you awaken, you're in the last outfit you remember wearing, and (up to) three of your belongings are laid nearby or your animal friend curled up beside you, waking up as you do. A stone slab is not the most comfortable place to sleep, but once you're awake, a humanoid-looking robot enters the room and explains that you're in Havenwell, then leads you out of the room and into the main portion of the temple where a welcoming committee of similarly humanoid-looking robots hand over a clear smartphone-sized tablet, some starting funds, and explain their dilemma. Then they release you into Havenwell to pick your new home from free housing in the city and give you the chance to settle. It might be a bit disorienting, but thankfully there seem to be a lot of robots and even some non-robots around. Maybe ask them for help? Strike up a friendly conversation, get to know your neighbours! It seems as if you may be here for the long haul.

❥ PROMPT II: Just Like Glue

two gummi bears fused together, head to side

After you're given an explanation of your situation, as well as your communication device, the priests are busy or shorthanded enough that there is little further guidance offered. Instead you are set loose to explore the city on your own, to take in the sights or find your own lodgings. The city is yours to discover! Go forth, and enjoy!

However, newcomers and current residents should beware: the arrivals are… sticky. Not noticeably so, of course, and they find no trouble moving place to place, but should they brush up against another person, or shake hands, or collide in any way- they will find themselves… stuck. Magically, inexplicably. The hold is not painful unless they pull too hard, but no amount of tugging will release them. However, should the initial point of contact be too awkward, switching areas can release another. Characters attached at the hip can swap for handholding, glued chests can trade to shoulder-to-shoulder. They have to figure that out first, of course, but it may ease some awkwardness out of the encounter.

This effect can last up to half an hour before characters are released for good. There is a cooldown period in the aftermath, a few minutes perhaps, but further contact will repeat the process all over again. Best to duck and run once you're free, unless you're into that sort of thing.

❥ PROMPT III: Get those Creative Juices Flowing

paintbrushes, a set of paints, resting on a painted background

The weather within the city's barrier may be artificial, but that doesn't mean that the culture is fake, too! A full rotation around the sun has concluded, bringing with it their own year-end celebration. And as they've come to know their visiting residents, they have begun to recognize many similarities between seasons, calendars, and even some holidays, too. With your arrival, they know that their world has a chance of recovery, and they want to continue to show their appreciation for your efforts. The changes have been subtle in the months since the gods started to draw in their saviours, but even with such hiccups as the broken wall in recent times, there have been improvements in ways that may not be apparent to the non-natives. A new year will surely bring new changes, recovery, fresh starts.

From within the temples, priests are beginning to march out with various decorations, tassels, lanterns, and fresh new colours to decorate the area with. Not only is it a new year, but something else is coming, something loud and celebratory, though the residents themselves are keeping mum about what, exactly. To incorporate their visitors' cultures and designs at the same time, however, residents are encouraged to visit any temple at their convenience or pleasure and join in the design process. There are craft tables, ranging from basic (for the younger or less skilled, such as kites or papercraft) to intricate and advanced designs (like glass lanterns or embroidery). Those less creatively-inclined are welcome to use their various skills, magics, or just ladder-balancing talents to help with the decoration installations around town. Many hands make light the work, after all.

Come hang out, do some art, form a knitting club! It's a great way for new people to meet their neighbours, perhaps share a little bit of their own culture with this world that is to be, at least for now, their new home.

❥ PROMPT IV: A Delicious Delight

The limited edition drink selection has been so popular (weird side effects and all) that the priests and the scientists of Experiment 73 have carried on serving it, though as the month begins the promo booths around town have mostly been taken down in favour of allowing for the town decorations, hence they are more sparse than they were last month. However, in exchange, these drinks are now temporarily available in the at-home replicators as well! There are five drinks in total to choose from and you should certainly try them. When you take a sip of these exquisitely delicious (honest! For once they're good) beverages, prepare yourself for a little trick with your treat.

Ginger and Honey Tea: A hot, thoroughly warming drink with the bite of ginger and the sweetness of honey. Drink this and you'll be shored up against the cold, but also feel compelled to tell or blurt out the truth. Whether you're asked a question or trying to tell a little white lie, you find you can't say anything but the truth. This effect lasts for up to an hour after drinking the tea.
Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie: A cold sweet treat of vanilla smoothie topped with sweet strawberry pieces and whipped cream. At the bottom, you'll find a layer of sweet sponge cake cut up into pieces. Drink this with its own special thick straw and enjoy the taste of cake; and the effect of a personal miniature snow cloud that appears over your head. The cloud dusts you and your immediate area within a foot of you with beautiful multicolored snow - and that snow leaves splotches of color behind that last for up to an hour after drinking the smoothie.
Hot Cinnamon Apple Cider: A deliciously steamy beverage that tastes of apple and cinnamon and comes with a cinnamon stick stirrer for effect. This beverage smells as delicious as it tastes and the aroma wafts around the area more strongly than the others. Drink this penultimate holiday drink and you'll find yourself heating up so much that you'll want to stay cold by giving your heat away via holding someone else. You'll want to be everyone's personal heater for up to an hour after drinking the cider.
Gingerbread Latte: A nice piping hot latte with the hint of gingerbread threaded through the coffee, topped with whipped cream and dusted with gingerbread spice. Served in a tall red cup that seems to transfer the heat uncannily well through its thin walls, sip this and you'll find yourself painlessly sprouting an animal's appendage at random. You can have one functioning or non-functioning, cosmetic animal appendage like a cat's ears, a dog's tail, a duck's beak or whatever else you can think of for up to an hour after drinking the latte. They can replace your original body part (e.g. your ears become cat ears) or grow superfluously (e.g. you have regular ears AND cat ears). You can move the appendages or talk with them as if they are your own, but they don't confer any special magical powers with them. So you can fly with those griffin wings, sure, but you're going to need to put the effort into it.
Hot Mulled Wine (alcoholic): This one isn't for children - and in fact, under 18 people might find it hard (but not impossible, be industrious, little ones!) to get their hands on this drink. Red wine is heated with spices and citrus fruit over low heat for several hours - or it would if it wasn't all synthetically created. The effect is the same though, a delicious adult beverage that's a nice way to spend an evening with someone special. And you'll want them to be someone special because drinking the hot wine makes you inclined to get a little steamy with people. Kisses, both chaste and passionate, seem to alleviate the urge which you'll be under for up to an hour after drinking the wine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[[Continued from here]]

[Yeah! Okay! That was probably his bad for not warning him that there might be some kind of side-effect, but it's probably the most harmless one of them all, he thinks! Ah, still, that's gotta be pretty shocking, and he does feel a little awful for letting it be a surprise.]

I'm sorry. [Genuinely and sincerely.] It should fade away in a little while, if you want to keep enjoying the drink until then. It shouldn't get worse, or anything.

S-so I won't die...? [ Okay. If it's not going to get any worse than this, then it should be fine...or s Zenitsu hopes. He's calmed down now, and if the snow'll go away after a little while...

He goes to sip on the drink some more. Even with the freaky side effect, the drink is still tasty. ] ...Do the other drinks have side effects too? [ He's gonna have to NOT TASTE THEM he supposes. ]

You won't die. [Not from the snow or smoothie, anyway. Do not worry, please just enjoy your drink Zenitsu.]

Only the ones in the stalls, so the things you can get in your own house won't do anything like that at all.

[ That's good...probably. Shinji's words does let him calm down a little as Zenitsu breaths out a sigh of relief. ] Y-yeah... I guess it would be silly for the robot people to go and kill us if they want us to save this world, huh...?

[ He also perks up a little when he hears about the house stuff. ]

Whoa, we get our own house? That sounds amazing...! Well, I guess it'd be no good if we get sick while sleeping outdoors!

[ why is he such a chatterbox ]

[Amiable chatterbox is at least preferable to yelling and crying over pretty much nothing.]

We do, yeah. They do a pretty good job at trying to make sure we're taken care of, so the houses are free, and equipped with a lot of stuff.

[And no drinks with hidden tricks to them, amazing!]

Wow, that's pretty convenient. I'm gonna have to go take a look at the houses then.

[ Come to think of it, they did mention about a free residence when he woke up, didn't they? He's yet to go pick a place for himself, but he supposes that can wait, if he's free to choose where to live in the housing area.

As he goes to brush off the multi-colored snow that's slowly piling up on his shoulders and head, he realizes something... ]

...By the way, have you met anyone that might be from the same world as I am? They might be in the same uniform as me and have a katana?

Did they not take you to pick one out right away...? [The priests did seem pretty preoccupied around now, but they had at least gone out of their way to show him the free housing when he woke up, rather than just leave him to find his own way about. Weird... They're probably expecting the other offworlders to help out with it. He'll keep that little thought tucked away in the back of his mind for now.

First, friends:] I don't think I have? [He's sure he'd remember seeing another person with a katana!!] I can keep an eye out for you, though, and let them know you're looking for them if I do come across anyone like that.

Huh? Oh... I guess I missed that step. [ Zenitsu didn't think too much about residence during the initial awakening stuff. Not that he's ever had a proper place to call 'home' before, other than Gramps' place, probably.

Either way, Zenitsu feels a little down about the lack of good(?) news. He slumps his shoulders, feeling a little defeated. ]

Oh... I guess they're not here. I guess that's good, especially for Tanjiro... Oh, he's one of my friends! He's got a scar on his forehead and is just as nice as you, Shinji-kun! He's also got a checkered haori over the same uniform. But I'm pretty sure you'd remember a guy like him if you met him, too.

[ dare he talk about Inosuke...maybe. ] The other friend's a weird guy who usually doesn't have a shirt on and wears a boar mask. I'd definitely know if he's here so it's fine.

[It isn't too far-fetched to think that people from the same place all ended up here at the same time - Shinji may not have been so lucky (or maybe he was lucky in that he was the only one? It's. Complicated.) but he knows that other people have the benefit of a familiar face around. So, he listens to Zenitsu's descriptions readily and

dang it why are you calling him 'nice' again?? He'll very politely act like he didn't really catch the comment, but his neutral expression may feel a little more measured for a brief moment for it. Let's just. Move on.]

I'd definitely remember seeing someone like that. [A boar mask? No shirt? In this weather?? What kind of friends do you have, Zenitsu???] If they're here, I hope you can find them quickly, but I'll be sure to let them know you're looking for them if I see either one of them around.

[ They're all weird friends. Even Zenitsu himself is weird, in a way. ] Yeah, Inosuke's super weird. He's got no common sense, really. Well, Tanjiro can be out there too, being a bumpkin and all. It'd really suck for either of them to be here with all these...robots.

[ And can't forget one more person! The most important person! Zenitsu's face turns soft immediately as he starts talking about his favorite person: ] There's also Nezuko-chan! She's Tanjiro's little sister and she's sooooo cute!!

[To be fair to your weird bumpkin friends, you seem to be kind of freaked out by the robots, too. So like... something about glass houses and throwing stones? He won't comment on it, though. Let Zenitsu keep some dignity.

Dignity even while he starts getting mushy over a girl. That's honestly a little charming...!] Yeah? [That only really tells him so much, it's, uh, way less descriptive than when he was talking about the other two.] What does she look like...?

[Besides "sooooo cute"?]

[ Thanks for letting him keep some of that dignity. ]

Uhm let's see, she's got really pretty purple eyes, long silky hair down her back, she's very quiet but really fluffy sound...

[ and then he starts blabbing about all the things about Nezuko.

he'll just keep going on and on forever ]

[For a little bit, Shinji very patiently waits for the end of this flood of information. He waits. Very patiently. Surely there's a limited amount of information about this girl that Zenitsu could throw his way.

Surely.

This will end.

Maybe.

Okay he feels really bad about interrupting, but once he thinks he can get his foot in the door here, he steps in to perhaps, maybe, let Zenitsu know he Gets It. Nezuko is clearly Best Girl.]

I think I'll be able to pick her out if I see her here, with that kind of information.

You two must be pretty close, huh?

We sure are!! [ No they're not, but he keeps gushing until... ]

...But she doesn't remember my name because stupid boar-head brainwashed her... I'll never forgive him. [ just remembering that makes him want to cry and go roast something, really... ]

But I'd like to marry her someday! That is if she'd like to marry me!

[ zenitsu stop flipping your emotions around like that ]

[Are. Are you two not, in fact, that close? Why? Would you want to marry someone who doesn't even remember your name?? Or, perhaps, is this increasingly weird sounding friend of his really actually a nefarious guy? Zenitsu what kind of friends do you keep???

Also good grief you're making it hard to get a read on your personality, flip flopping like that! Shinji's trying to keep things as even as he can, but he's definitely getting the feeling that Zenitsu's just a little too intense for him to accomplish that for long.]

So... she'd be the most important one for you to find, if she's here. Got it.

Uh huh! [ He gives a nod and a small smile. ]

But I suppose I should be glad that Nezuko-chan's not here. She and Tanjiro shouldn't be separated from each other, after all.

[ At this time, he still hasn't ran into Tanjiro, so he has no clue that his friend's also in this world. ]

Say, do you have friends here too? I'd like to meet them if you do! [ Shinji's such a nice guy, he probably has just as nice friends, Zenitsu figures! ]

[They are a set, do not separate.

He's gonna feel pretty bad for Tanjiro when he does run into him and find that his sister isn't here, though. That's rough, buddy.]

Well, there isn't anyone I knew before here, [Which is... a complicated feeling,] but most of the people I've met have been pretty patient and understanding in general. [No shortage of potential friends! If you're good at things like making friends! But, okay, maybe Shinji should probably say something that doesn't quite paint him as a friendless loser like leaving that thought there might.

Ready for a small, warm flicker of affection to pop up in his tone?] There is a boy here, though, Kaito. He looks really tough, but he's been very kind to me. He hangs out around Rawna's temple a lot, so if you're ever around there, you might see him.

[ Zenitsu immediately feels relieved that most people who were brought to this world are all understanding. By being in the same situation, they would have to be, right? Who knows how they would take about demon slayers with weird abilities, but that's a thought for another time.

When Zenitsu picks up the change in the sound coming from Shinji, and hears the other spoke of about his friend, Zenitsu feels glad that Shinji hadn't spent the entire time here alone. ]

This Kaito guy sounds really nice! I'd like to meet him, too. I haven't gotten a chance to look at the other temples the robot people were talking about yet, so I guess I might see him when I go do visit them, huh?

[ Zenitsu can at least tell Shinji cares for this guy, they must be really good friends! ]

[There's a lot of care there, for sure. They are Good Friends.]

Yeah. I'm there a lot, too, if you ever need to find me. [For...... whatever reason. It feels worthwhile to mention, at any rate.] Which temple did you end up at?

[ Surely very good friends, spending all the time together and having fun playing games together! Best Friends! Oh, if only Zenitsu knew how much closer they are...... ]

Oh, okay! So I'd find you two there at the same time too, then!

[ And when Shinji asks which temple Zenitsu ended up with, he needs to take a moment to remember, ]

Uhm... I think it was Diacht. The raven-like one with blue eyes, the one on the West side?

[ Zenitsu himself kind of questioned why he exactly picked that one out of the four, but he decided not to say anything about it. ~~if only he were brought in from a later canon point, then it's make more sense for himself~~ ]

[Very good friends! Maybe some day Tanjiro and Zenitsu will be able to call themselves as close! Wouldn't that. Be nice.]

Diacht... That's the building with the columns that look like trees, right? I've been by that temple a few times. [Ainea and Ohma have both had opportunities to entice people to come visit the temples, even outside of their designated groups of offworlders, but not so much Diacht, yet. Maybe sometime in the coming months, he thinks...]

[ With their distance between each other being so weirdly close already, there is a pondering thought whether that day would come. ]

I...think so? I didn't really look at the designs of the columns too much once I noticed that there were weird-looking birds on them. I mean, I knew they were part of the design, but it still kinda creeped me out.

[ Creeped him out so much that he didn't go further past the edge of the area to even see anything else. ]

[Some day you'll get to do all sorts of fun friend things like /checks notes, Cuddle and take naps together.]

Ah. [That's fair. Shinji's not too familiar with what the finer details of the temple are like, but if this guy's as creeped out by the robots as he is, then odd looking animals are probably a no-go, too.] Well, it's not like you'll need to hang around there too often, if you don't want too.

January Intro Log

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