hugtopiamods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hugtopiamods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hugtopia_logs2019-08-09 11:18 pm
hugtopiamods) wrote in hugtopia_logs2019-08-09 11:18 pm
Entry tags:
♥ August Event Log
August Event Log
The first month of the offworlders being in Havenwell has passed, the welcome party over, and the native residents are starting to get back to their usual routines while the new arrivals are perhaps starting to find theirs. The month of Achtom has started and with it, a crisp summery heat. The skies are gorgeously blue and dotted with high fluffy clouds that never seem to threaten rain - so long as the weather stays controlled. Businesses are picking back up, the natives starting to cater once again to flesh-bodied people with varied amounts of success. The VR cafes are featuring more helmets so even more people can play along with the ever expanding selection of games. Overall, it seems like Havenwell is quite the peaceful city.
And then...
❥ PROMPT I: Where's the Pied Piper?
It starts small at first as most things do. Astute observers might notice that the statue of Ainea in the town square and in her temple is brighter than the other gods' statues. Her colors are a little more vibrant, like they've been given a fresh coat of paint. Then, little things in characters' houses seemingly start moving of their own volition to other parts of the house and go temporarily missing. Search as you may, you just can't find them - until they suddenly they show up again where you least expect with tiny little teeth marks in them. The corners of books and furniture get chewed on. The pillowcases and bed frames get nibbled. The edges and hems of clothing get a little frayed without you noticing when it happened.
Then, the squeaking starts up at night. It's innocuous at first, one or two here or there in the house, just barely noticeable by most. Over time, it gets more insistent, longer, louder, until, by the end of the month, it's difficult to sleep at night for all the noise of chattering and squeaking throughout the long night hours. Trying to find the source is a surefire way to drive yourself mad, but it seems that sleeping in the same bed with another person makes it a little easier to bear, especially if you hold hands throughout the night.
And finally, mice start showing up - pink and purple and of various sizes from panda mouse tiny to chihuahua-sized rats. They pop up in kitchens, in bedrooms, in the temples that don't belong to them, at businesses, in the labs, along the streets and in the city squares. They're in your new favorite chair, popping out from cabinets and drawers, and scurrying from under sofas and beds. It seems the only place they aren't is where they're supposed to be - Ainea's temple - and that's a big problem. Her temple priests are out in the city, begging residents both robotic and flesh to peacefully and carefully capture the creatures and return them home to the temple. They pass out soft woven reed baskets to any who agree and thank all participants heartily for their help.
Then, the squeaking starts up at night. It's innocuous at first, one or two here or there in the house, just barely noticeable by most. Over time, it gets more insistent, longer, louder, until, by the end of the month, it's difficult to sleep at night for all the noise of chattering and squeaking throughout the long night hours. Trying to find the source is a surefire way to drive yourself mad, but it seems that sleeping in the same bed with another person makes it a little easier to bear, especially if you hold hands throughout the night.
And finally, mice start showing up - pink and purple and of various sizes from panda mouse tiny to chihuahua-sized rats. They pop up in kitchens, in bedrooms, in the temples that don't belong to them, at businesses, in the labs, along the streets and in the city squares. They're in your new favorite chair, popping out from cabinets and drawers, and scurrying from under sofas and beds. It seems the only place they aren't is where they're supposed to be - Ainea's temple - and that's a big problem. Her temple priests are out in the city, begging residents both robotic and flesh to peacefully and carefully capture the creatures and return them home to the temple. They pass out soft woven reed baskets to any who agree and thank all participants heartily for their help.
❥ PROMPT II: We Didn't Start This Fire
Throughout the month, pockets of the city experience magnificent dry lightning storms. Before each onset of the storm, an immense clap of thunder booms across the entire city like a siren and the natives hold their figurative breaths until the first strike rains down. A peal of lightning, searing hot, strikes the ground or hits the spires of nearby buildings, cracking stone and leaving nasty burn marks behind. Each storm is only 4 to 5 minutes in length before they suddenly disappear again, but in those few minutes chaos reigns. For anyone unlucky enough to get caught amid one of these storms, take cover! Residents throw open doors and push people inside, even shielding the offworlders with their own bodies if necessary to keep them from getting harmed.
When the lightning and its sonorous booms pass, residents scurry out to repair the damage. They'll be asking nearby offworlders to help as well with patching the stonework or removing broken debris. Most importantly, they put out a call for help in putting out fires that spring up after each storm. Their metal bodies can't withstand the heat for long without melting and the water is dangerous to their circuitry. After the fires are put out and the damage repaired, on occasion, residents will ask for the somber help of pulling a native robot unlucky enough to take a direct hit from the lightning to a local repair shop. Strangely, the natives don't seem sad when their friends and family can't be repaired, and instead start gathering up objects from home to take with them to the temples along with the bodies. When asked, they say it's to pray for a rebirth and go on their way.
When the lightning and its sonorous booms pass, residents scurry out to repair the damage. They'll be asking nearby offworlders to help as well with patching the stonework or removing broken debris. Most importantly, they put out a call for help in putting out fires that spring up after each storm. Their metal bodies can't withstand the heat for long without melting and the water is dangerous to their circuitry. After the fires are put out and the damage repaired, on occasion, residents will ask for the somber help of pulling a native robot unlucky enough to take a direct hit from the lightning to a local repair shop. Strangely, the natives don't seem sad when their friends and family can't be repaired, and instead start gathering up objects from home to take with them to the temples along with the bodies. When asked, they say it's to pray for a rebirth and go on their way.
❥ PROMPT III: Let's Play the Friend Connection
With all the craziness going on, some people might just want a distraction. A lot of Havenwell's natives certainly seem to think so. Despite everything, the Entertainment District is as bustling as ever and this month the offering is to participate with a friend or group of friends to play a game called: Friend Connection. Rather than the usual plug in and sit configuration, this time the VR cafes have been reorganized into 3 meter by 3 meter square pads with no chairs or furniture available. Players plug in or put their helmets on and they're instantly transported to a garish neon-lighted stage with multicolored spotlights that show a floating, legless robot with a rainbow bowtie and a magnificent mustache. The robot's LED face lights up into the approximation of the :D emote and then a disembodied voice comes from speakers overhead:
"Hail, well met, and welcome to the hottest game show around: Friend Connection! As the studio audience already knows, this game is simple! You and your new friends compete to complete more challenges than the other hidden team. The more fabulously you and your team completes each task, the more points you'll be awarded. At the end of the game, the team with the most tasks cleared and the highest point value will be declared the winners and take home some fabulous prizes. On today's team is..."
And the robotic host waves an arm to a scoreboard behind it, showing your names. The heading "Other Team" has ???? underneath it and a list of challenges is revealed along with a burst of applause. The list reads:
Are you ready, contestants? You have 20 minutes. Good luck!
At the end of the game, the characters are declared the winners by a slim and, naturally, exciting margin of just one point! And their fabulous prize......? The friendship they earned along the way! Congratulations, players! And don't worry, when the game ends, you'll be in the exact weird position you were last in as the helmets turn off. Hopefully you aren't still in those weird Twister positions because everyone can and has been able to see you. Yup, the entire time.
"Hail, well met, and welcome to the hottest game show around: Friend Connection! As the studio audience already knows, this game is simple! You and your new friends compete to complete more challenges than the other hidden team. The more fabulously you and your team completes each task, the more points you'll be awarded. At the end of the game, the team with the most tasks cleared and the highest point value will be declared the winners and take home some fabulous prizes. On today's team is..."
And the robotic host waves an arm to a scoreboard behind it, showing your names. The heading "Other Team" has ???? underneath it and a list of challenges is revealed along with a burst of applause. The list reads:
- Play Twister until someone falls! The longer you go, the more points you win!
- Help each other do a handstand! The Wheelbarrow is acceptable too.
- Recreate your favorite scene from a romantic movie. Take, for example, That Scene from the hit movie, Skytanic! Or hum along to this song as you and your friend make some pottery together.
- Create a complicated Best Friend Handshake consisting of more than 5 moves and do it together 3 times without messing up!
- Answer trivia questions about each other and your worlds while holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. The more questions you can answer, the higher your points!
- Do a trust fall into your friend's arms. The higher or further you fall, the more points you'll earn.
- Play two truths and a lie with your friend. If you can guess correctly, you'll earn points for your team!
Are you ready, contestants? You have 20 minutes. Good luck!
At the end of the game, the characters are declared the winners by a slim and, naturally, exciting margin of just one point! And their fabulous prize......? The friendship they earned along the way! Congratulations, players! And don't worry, when the game ends, you'll be in the exact weird position you were last in as the helmets turn off. Hopefully you aren't still in those weird Twister positions because everyone can and has been able to see you. Yup, the entire time.
❥ PROMPT IV: Comic Logic
As Lasdia comes to a close and Achtom begins, characters will start noticing something odd happening. Throughout their day as they go about their daily routines, helping people out or trying to find their missing items, the natives stop looking at them and start looking above their heads. In fact, as characters meet one another, their attention may also be drawn vertically above their companion because floating above every offworlder's head is a faint white cloud. Whenever they move, the cloud moves too. Attempts to dispel it by magic or physical means does nothing and it seems like you can't touch it at all.
It's annoying isn't it? Or maybe you're feeling quite curious about this phenomenon? Or maybe it scares you? Whatever you're feeling or thinking, it shows up in that cloud clear as day. It's not every thought or feeling that shows, but it's enough to be disconcerting, and any attempts to control what appears will fail. Like it or not, you're now broadcasting your innermost self to the world.
...For a time, at least. Over a period of time, smart characters might notice that after prolonged physical contact with another person, the cloud fades away and stays away for an undetermined amount of time. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes it's a day, sometimes it's only 5 minutes, and then it begins to reform again. Whatever it is, it's here to stay, so good luck keeping your secret inner workings, well, secret.
It's annoying isn't it? Or maybe you're feeling quite curious about this phenomenon? Or maybe it scares you? Whatever you're feeling or thinking, it shows up in that cloud clear as day. It's not every thought or feeling that shows, but it's enough to be disconcerting, and any attempts to control what appears will fail. Like it or not, you're now broadcasting your innermost self to the world.
...For a time, at least. Over a period of time, smart characters might notice that after prolonged physical contact with another person, the cloud fades away and stays away for an undetermined amount of time. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes it's a day, sometimes it's only 5 minutes, and then it begins to reform again. Whatever it is, it's here to stay, so good luck keeping your secret inner workings, well, secret.
This event will run from August 9th to the end of the September application period, September 9th. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below.
no subject
Chief Researcher of the Imperial Army. [There were no Magitek Infantry yet, so that title was yet to come.] The army does far more than simply fighting. I was recognized for my talents in engineering and biology. I may not carry a weapon, but it will be my work that finally brings an end to the repulsive, ceaseless war.
[And he was confident in that. Once he finally figured out how to make the MTs work properly, they could overwhelm the Lucis forces without needing to sacrifice their people. However, his thoughts of the matter merely showed an unfinished contraption, unmoving, not working, a robot that brought him never ending frustration as he tried to figure out why it wasn't working.]
no subject
Not fighting. That would end the war. Stop a lot of people from dying, too.
[Not that it matters. He already knows what happens. There won't be any winners.]
no subject
[Not that he was against it. He was thirsty for knowledge, not blood, and his work revolved around getting his comrades out of the line of fire.
Such a simple, childlike solution to a complex problem. But he didn't necessarily disagree.]
It would not be a bad thing, though.
no subject
No. You guys really suck at peace treaties.
[His expression sobers, and he looks surprised.]
You think so?
no subject
[What an odd thing to say. Of course, he had no idea of their future plans just yet. Especially that far ahead.
He furrowed his brow a bit, mind turning to some of his time in the field. Of course he hadn't start at the top and he wasn't a noble. He was recognized after he put in work. Those could be cold, dark days, waiting to see how a fight would go and taking the wounded away.]
As I said, many of my comrades have fallen. I've worked long and hard to change that.
no subject
But it's okay if my people die?
no subject
[It wasn't only one side that killed.]
And in as much the same way that I'm sure your side would be happy to crush us if you could. War is always a time of choosing a side and excusing the deaths of the other. I have lived for thirty years and I can assure you that in that time I haven't seen a Lucian weep for my fallen comrades.
no subject
He nods slowly. Verstael wasn't wrong, really. It was war. People had died on both sides. Though most of the Imperials he'd encountered since leaving home were not human. They used to be... And he hates that he knows that now.
And not every Imperial had been "bad".]
A good friend of mine is from Niflheim. She was a commodore. I owe her my life.
[He would weep if she died.]
no subject
[After all, people tended to hang out with other people close to their same age. Prompto probably wasn't hanging out with 50 year olds.]
How did you come to befriend someone of Niflheim, and how did you come to be in Lucis? If it's true that I created you then it would follow that you should have been in Niflheim.
no subject
[He knew she was older than him, but he never asked her how old she was. You're not supposed to do that with the girls! Especially not ones who could flatten you into the pavement. Younger than 50, though, for sure.]
We teamed up to take on a dungeon. Then she left the army to be a mercenary. [And then she put his head on straight and helped him survive his solo trip to Niflheim.
He smiles wryly.] Someone saved me and brought me to Insomnia when I was a baby.
no subject
[His opinion of Emperor Aldercapt an obviously high one, he also pictured him as a much younger man than the one they would know of.]
no subject
[He remembers rows and rows of glass tubes, each containing a human clone, many with his own face, some already contaminated with scourge.]
no subject
...Times are often darkest and most desperate at the end of a war. The point remains, though. Niflheim is a good country.
...
I suppose that if I had a hand in your creation, then I would be responsible for you.
no subject
Lucis is a good country too.
[He stares for a moment.]
Resp... what?
no subject
[To be honest, it was rare that he got to speak of Lucis with anyone from Lucis. While he might argue with Regis, he was less prone to argue with someone like Ignis or Prompto, who bore no particular responsibility for political decisions.]
It's common for people to have a preference for what is familiar to them.
It is also common for people to be responsible for their progeny. It seems I would hardly need to raise you. [Prompto was already an adult, after all.] However, should you have questions or require education, you may come to me.
[Which was honestly putting him at about the same level as everyone else. Verstael was fine with answering questions or talking about science stuff.]
no subject
[Yeah. No. He's seen how Verstael raises his ... progeny.
He rubs a hand over his face. This is weird. It's very weird, okay? When does this Verstael become the old man who turned himself in to a giant worm? (He's not paying attention, but a worm inches its way across his thought bubble.) How did he get from this to that?]
I'll take that under consideration.
[But don't hold your breath.]
no subject
[Many decades, young Prompto. He still had a ways to go before he became that.
And if things went well it would never happen, being separated from the sources that eventually led to that end.
Verstael quirked an eyebrow at the worm.]
Do you have something to say? I would prefer to lay everything out in the open.
[Which would be especially beneficial to him as the one who was lacking the information. If Prompto wanted to insult him he could take it - it'd hardly be the first time.]
no subject
Hah.
[He points upward. The worm returns, but it's all metal and sporting multiple red glowy heads.]
Not an insult, dude. That's, like, your final evolution.
no subject
What is that supposed to mean?
no subject
[Spoiler alert: It wasn't.]
no subject
[Prompto had to be joking. Why in the world would he choose to be a worm of all things? Maybe he could think of leaving mortality behind, but he still needed to be able to do his work.]
How would I work in my lab like that?
no subject
I think you were done with the lab life. Something about smiting the world? I was trying not to die, so I missed some of you monologuing.
no subject
[He actually seemed genuinely offended.
Part of it was more than that, though. Would anyone like to hear of their future selves if they had completely changed? Perhaps over time it could happen without notice, but hearing the end result of many decades of work was difficult to take in during one sitting. On one hand he wondered if the boy was making up things to try and aggravate him.
On the other, there was some concern there about something going wrong. Vehemently protective of his work, he couldn't bear to think he would be parted from it. Very few would willingly accept a fate where they lost their mind.]
Perhaps you were mistaken somehow.
no subject
And is it really worth the trouble to convince Verstael of that future?
He sighs. A tired (-_-) face appears overhead.]
Yeah. Maybe I am.
no subject
Have you taken any interest in science?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)