hugtopia_logs | ♥ December (Ranir) Event Log

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♥ December (Ranir) Event Log

a small fishing rod seated in snow, with the line leading down a water hole

December (Ranir) Event Log

As another year winds to a close, the air grows sharp with a wintery chill; the perfect weather for curling up with someone under a cozy blanket with some warm hot cocoa. To contrast the cold weather comes a distinctly festive warmth to the city itself; it's some holiday season, even if the natives still can't quite grasp what. While recovery from the recent worm-based catastrophe is still an ongoing thing, the natives are going through with the festivities as they've learned to celebrate: Decorations strung about the city are a bit haphazard and in all manner of colors both holiday-themed and simply colorful in general, the spirit and enthusiasm are certainly there.

❥ PROMPT I: See You Next Level

people ice skating around a rink at night, lit by multicolored star-shaped light fixtures

Residents who venture past the wall to the northwest of the arena to visit the fishing pond might find an unusual sight this month: it's frozen over. This is kind of a big deal, because the city hasn't had a substantial amount of open water in- well, no one quite knows how long! It seems to have totally frozen overnight, which is definitely unusual, but hardly the strangest thing to ever happen in Havenwell. Examining the ice will find it sturdy and solid, a good 6 inches thick at minimum. It is safe to walk on, and more importantly...

Excited for a new experience after all the glum and gloom, some local metalworkers are creating skate attachments that can be adjusted for size and connected to the shoes (or the feet, in the case of the local robotic population) of anyone who wants to give skating a try. Visitors to the area will find a booth set up, occasionally manned but mostly left as a trust exercise, with a collection of these devices that are free to use. Please take as many pairs as your party requires and skate to your heart's content! As a courtesy, borrowers are asked to return the skates once they're finished with them, but if you're really itching for a pair, the booth has the equivalent of a QR code you can scan with your communicator and commission a personalized pair.

It seems that part of the city is extra cold this season, because an influx of snow has practically drowned the arena, leaving a thick layer across the entirety and high piles along the sides. Locals have cleared the entrances and done their best to keep it functional, but those wishing to use the facility might find the ground far less sturdy than usual. You can use it as extra training, or maybe just give in to the urge and have fun with it instead. Go sledding, have a snowball fight!

❥ PROMPT II: Fresh or Frozen

a hand dragging a stick through blue bioluminescence in water, followed by someone's feet stepping into the same

Purveyors of the fishing part of the new rink might be unhappy to have lost their hobby, but hey, no one's stopping you from carving a hole in the ice and giving it a go regardless. There's bound to still be something down there, though perhaps not what you'd expect. While you're out at the lake with another person, if you should happen to look into the water through a hole or the ice itself, you might occasionally see a series of dancing lights flitting around beneath you, mysterious but innocuous. Sometimes they disappear if you stare at them too long. Sometimes they follow you. If curiosity gets the better of you, maybe you ought to try dropping a line - or a hand - in to see what it is. If you're feeling really brave and don't mind the cold, you could even take a dive in and see what's going on up close. (Funny: it's not nearly as cold as you'd expect it to be, considering the frigid circumstances.) And there's no reason to worry about the rink, either. Likely through whatever actually turned the pond to ice, any holes carved into the ice somehow manage to freeze again overnight, as though it was never broken in the first place.

Whatever method you choose, these dancing lights will swirl around hook or hands, pulsing gently, until that light bursts and manifests into something familiar. Something you've been wanting, perhaps, or something you once had and have missed dearly. Maybe something you hadn't thought about at all, but would bring you delight. You can pull it from the waters and find it intact and undamaged by the cold or the water, alive if it is a living creature, though it appears to be hibernating. Dry it off, take it home, and check on it in the morning; you will find your gift as whole and well as if you'd plucked it from wherever you'd find it back home. Do with it what you choose, it's yours now. For those who might have the clever idea to try fishing more than once, surprises may await in the form of...a waterlogged old shoe? An empty tin can? A broken fishing lure? The possibilities are as endless as the objects are useless.

For those who may not have any creature or object of note they need or want, it is also possible for fishing to produce a small crystal, faintly glowing with some form of magic. Leaving the crystal by one's bedside overnight will result in a peculiar but pleasant dream; fulfilling one's heartfelt desire. Whether it's wanting to see somewhere back on your homeworld, getting closure with someone not in Havenwell, or hang gliding off of Everest, you will be able to see your desire in a dream and awake comfortable and well-rested in bed the next day.

This is a regain event! One regain is allowed per character, and it can be anything (within reason) that would fit within the Item Regain: Medium (100 point) category on the Activity Rewards page. Like with AC Rewards, regains must be approved by mods prior to regaining them, so please use the form below and comment to the Regain Request thread.

Player:
Character:
Item requested:

❥ PROMPT III: Snow Problems

cartoonish images of dancing clouds, raining down snowflakes against a blue background

As the weather shifts to something seasonally chilly, on occasion some small patches of clouds can be seen in Havenwell--specifically, hovering over the heads of offworlders. These localized little clouds find people to stick to and follow them a couple of feet overhead to shower them with a gentle dusting of snow, so hopefully you have an umbrella handy. And while the snow can be just snow and nothing more, to others it might have one (or even several at once) effects to it.

Cheers To You: No matter how much one drinks or how they choose to mix their cocktails, they will find themselves completely impervious to the ill effects of alcohol. No hangover, but also no fun to earn it in the first place.

Hand it Over: Some with their own personal snow clouds may feel nothing odd except for a slight tingle in their dominant hand. Whether one stumbles upon the actual effect or not, it is a very simple change: the power of their unarmed punch becomes superpowered and several times stronger than normal.

Sticks and Stones: Still others may feel completely normal and go about their usual day's business with absolutely no awareness of any change but a persistent snowfall overhead. However, should they meet with anything that might ordinarily hurt, they will find that they have twenty-four hours of complete invulnerability starting from when their snow cloud latched on to them.

Time and Tribulation: Perhaps along with the slight chill comes a sudden awareness that one is a bit shorter than usual. Or taller? It would seem that yet another odd side effect of the little snow clouds is that one has aged an entire decade–in either direction, rendering them either younger or older. Luckily, the changes seem to stop at only physical…at least this time.

This event will run from December 15-31. 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. You can also use the Havenwell Status page or the General Plotting Comment to give you other ideas for original prompts!

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[doop dee doop, just a boy doing his usual climbing through the window, dropping by when chances are that everyone is asleep to pick up some delicious leftovers he's been spoiling himself with pretty consistently, sneaking in nice and quietly so as to not disturb anyone --

WHICH IS IMMEDIATELY RUINED AS HE OPENS THE FRIDGE]

Holy fuck! What -- what the shit?!

[JUST GONNA GO AHEAD AND SLAM THAT SHUT AGAIN. HELLO?? ANYONE, PLEASE???]

[Ah, to be a teenager looting a fridge for leftovers, blissfully unaware of what surprises might be lurking inside next to that tasty meal.

The door slamming is punctuated with a loud, surprised, SQUAWK from inside, the brief commotion reaching the ears of the household's lightest sleeper. After a knee-jerk reaction of panic, Shinji carefully creeps his way out of bed and out into the hallway to assuage any worries that a complete stranger has made their way in to the house. No, there's a more reasonable explanation here,]

Cliff? [He calls out softly, loud enough to reach any alert ears but hopefully not so noisy as to rouse the rest of the house.]

[Even though he's wary of turning his back on the insane situation that was the fridge and its contents, the assurance that someone else was there -- and that he's expected enough for them to say his name when they're venturing a guess, that warms his heart a little, not that he'll ever tell -- gets Cliff to go to the entrance to the hallway and gesture in the fridge's direction. Whether Shinji can see this well or not with his lame human eyes, who knows. His voice isn't what one would call soft like Shinji's, but at least he's also making an attempt to be quiet.]

There's something alive in your fridge!

[Lame human eyes can only parse so much of what's happening, but he gets a vaguely clearer idea of what is happening with the familiar voice and the generally recognizable shape of a person. But something alive in the fridge...?

It takes a moment, but the sleepy fog still settled on his brain starts to lift and he begins to carefully step his way toward the kitchen to investigate.]

It's nothing different, right...? [As if? Cliff is supposed to know what would be considered normal??]

[The look of absolute indignation on Clifford's face, wow. At least that distraction helps temper his shock. He just said that something in their fridge was alive!!! Well -- ]

It wasn't Bug! Something way bigger!

[Something way bigger than Bug, not like Bug really takes naps in the fridge much in the first place. That seems to placate some of Shinji's vague worries, about something unusual being in there, at any rate, as he makes his way undaunted to the fridge.]

I think it should be okay. [Is that? A scratching noise coming from inside? Like something clawed trying to get out?? Shinji is unbothered.] Sorry, that was probably a big surprise.

[The door is cracked open just enough for the light to flick on, and a trilling little squawk to escape.]

[What? What??]

What are y --

[Oh, okay, we're just opening the fridge without a care. At least Shinji has the sense to not give the thing space enough to escape, but the fact that he's so calm -- like, is he still asleep? Is that what this is? Cliff leans a little so he can try to see what the fuck the mystery beast is without getting closer, with the risk that the other boy could let it free at any moment. The little beam of light in the dark make his eyes shine like some night creature confronted with a flashlight or camera.]

[Listen, he's been subjected to way scarier things than what could reasonably fit in their fridge, but the familiarity of that beak poking out of the gap in the door is met with only a small sense of relief. See? Nothing to worry about here. Such an expected sight, in fact, that Shinji even goes so far as to open the door enough to let the beast inside out, stepping back and quietly coaxing it with,] Come here, Pen Pen.

[Just like that, out waddles one (1) Pen Pen the penguin from his chilly resting spot. The bird shakes out his feathers, and once Shinji double checks the fridge to make sure there isn't any other living surprises hiding inside, he turns back to Cliff.]

Do you want me to turn on the light? You don't have to eat in the dark, you know.

[What is happening right now?! Shinji starts talking to him like absolutely nothing weird is going on here, and all Cliff can do for a couple seconds is gape incredulously at him.]

That's a penguin! In your fridge! [SHINJI??? Stop talking to him about the food he's stealing!]

We don't have anywhere else for him to sleep yet.

[At least you didn't run into him on the way to take a bath? But, no, the gag has gone on long enough. Shinji's not sure he can make the situation feel any less ridiculous, but,] He's from my world, he... belonged to someone I knew, but he showed up here a couple of days ago.

[Okay, at least the penguin in the room is being addressed now, but]

It's not normal for someone to own a penguin.

[It having belonged to someone Shinji knows back in his world is still weird!! Cliff crosses his arms and frowns down at the unexpected heart attack beast as if he can put any real blame on it for any of this.]

...I can see fine. Don't need the light. Sorry, man, I didn't mean to wake you up.

[Shame on you, Pen Pen, for giving this poor teen a heart attack. I hope you feel awful.

Pen Pen does not seem to be fazed by this at all, instead opting to just kind of toddle away from the fridge with a yawn to stand behind Shinji. There, he is out of the way, and that's what was so important.]

It is pretty weird, and it was even back then, [he can't exactly argue that it isn't,] but I promise he's harmless.

[As for the apology, Shinji gives a small, tired wave of his hand, don't even worry about it.] It's okay, I should have given you some kind of heads up that something like this could happen. [Now, let's scoot away from the fridge a bit,] It's all yours, Cliff.

Duh, he's harmless...

[Not just because he's someone's weird pet penguin and was obviously being chill as all hell despite the rude awakening he had, but because between a penguin and a werewolf, Cliff knows which one he'd put money on. Not that Shinji -- or anyone besides Héctor in this place -- knows about the whole wolf thing. The light flaring yellow-white off his normally amber eyes is totally just a normal thing.

Man... Good thing it wasn't someone else yelping about some freaky fridge monster -- he might have done more in an attempt to protect this hypothetical friend. Time to see what goodness is waiting for him food wise, though. Even what's sealed up smells pretty good, to his better senses.]

Because I give you guys so many heads up. Oh -- but you know there's someone other than me that might be coming by to mooch off you, right? Counting on Kai to have passed that on.

[But since it's Kai, hmmm... Unsure.]

[Hey.]

[Don't be so laidback, weirdo.]

[Would anyone truly notice something like eerie reflective eyes in the dark if one were not already looking for something like that? And perhaps also a bit sleepy on top of everything? Do not worry, Cliff, your secret stays safe for another day. What's important now is checking out those yakitori skewers sitting wrapped up neatly on a plate, like they were waiting just for someone to swipe them from the fridge. Tasty!]

Ah, yeah, he did mention it. [Laid back weirdo as he may be, it's in everyone's interests to keep everyone else in the loop as much as possible. That way they avoid situations.... like... this one. Ah. Well.] I don't think it's anyone I've met yet, though.

[Most of his friends, desensitized by years of this bullshit, would agree. Poor Micah, having a heart attack all alone.

Meanwhile: MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! Hell yeah. Cliff immediately grabs the skewers and shuts the fridge behind him. He is going to absolutely demolish these...]

Yeah. She's our age. She's more like me than you.

[A troublemaker. He doesn't know to what extent yet, but like recognizes like.]

Is this better hot or cold? [asked as if he isn't already starting in on one...]

[More willing to sneak into someone's house at night to rob them of their leftovers, he assumes. He can reserve further judgment until he actually meets her, but he gives a small nod of understanding with Cliff's assessment.

As for the meat,] We can put them in the oven for a bit to warm them up, if you want, but they should be just fine cold. [Quicker for getting that food in his mouth, too, looks like the bigger concern at the moment.

Give him a moment to move over to the table, Pen Pen in tow, so that he can take a seat and lift that bird into his lap. Standing around for too long after being so suddenly awoken is probably not ideal, he figures.] What's her name?

[Yeah, not bad cold. He looks over to the oven while chewing, but ultimately shakes his head. Way too much of a hassle... A microwave, maybe, but that he can't use in the dead of night without probably waking everyone else up. He finally moves over to the table as well, nudging a chair out with his foot and frowning over at Pen Pen. Penguin...

What's her na -- the penguin? No, that's dumb. He wouldn't know. Besides, Shinji said it was a boy penguin.]

Farrah something. Starts with an S. What are you gonna do about his...I dunno, tank? What do you keep penguins in when they aren't shoved into fridges?

['Farrah' will do for now, pleasantries can be exchanged further if it ends up being necessary. He can't imagine someone more aligned to breaking in and stealing food would be too bothered about it, though. He'll figure it out later.

For now, Pen Pen. Penguins. How to care for penguins.]

A tank...? [That would make sense, yeah, but... he turns his attention down to Pen Pen, as if the penguin is going to be able to give him some kind of answer to that.] Mistato-san never had anything like that for him... he always just had the run of her apartment, I figured it would be the same here.

[Poor Shinji, just absolutely surrounded by trouble. Including the penguin.]

Huh. [Free range penguin...] I'm not a fan of the fridge thing, but it's not like it's my house. Too bad I probably won't get to see Farrah have the same problem. That'd be worth it.

[It's fine, he'll be fine. He'd gotten used to a certain degree of latent Trouble, this is just going to be returning to that sort of normal.]

He'll be getting his own mini fridge soon enough. [No more surprises instead of snacks for much longer, hopefully! But who can say if Farrah won't drop in for her own midnight fridge raid in the meantime.] You two will just have to watch out for him laying in wait everywhere else in the house after that.

[His own mini fridge... Lucky penguin. Really living the life. Cliff levels a glare his way.]

If you jumpscare me and I punch you, that's not even my fault, okay?

[talking to a penguin, what has his life become]

[Please don't punch a penguin, but however Pen Pen feels about this threat is unknown, as he seems to be dozing back off already.]

No night-time frights in the future, at least. [Daylight scares, on the other hand... ah, please be careful, Pen Pen!] Unless we happen to pick up another weird guest, anyway.

[Maybe Kyoko will find her own strange critter to keep in the house. Who knows.]

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♥ December (Ranir) Event Log

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