luxflowmod: (Default)
LUXFLOW MOD. ([personal profile] luxflowmod) wrote in [community profile] luxflowmemes2020-08-19 06:16 am
Entry tags:

+ TDM 001.

Welcome to Luxflow's first TDM.

Let's get into it.

ARRIVAL


— You wake up encased.

It’s dark, naturally, but a few tendrils of light slip past the — vines? Why are you tangled up in vines? It gives you panic — why can’t you remember — breath quickening, in and in and in again. Your frenzied movements against the vines let in more light, more air.

And you breathe.

As you exhale, a shaky but sure breath against the rough foliage, a light flows out of you. It’s just a little orb that pours out, past the greenery and into that unknown.

The vines melt away into ash, and you’re left standing in a clearing, trees impossibly tall and swaying in the night breeze. Your breath comes in deep and steady, now, and it occurs to you that you should be panicking still … But then as you look around the clearing, you see more vine cocoons, like yours, and others climbing out of them …

There’s people in the center of the clearing. They’re armed but they’re friendly, and they tell you in short and sweet sentences about the place you’re in now …

“ You’re in the Feeding Forest. ” says one, “ This place’ll eat you alive if you can’t break out of the vines. You must be special, huh? ”

Special?

“ C'mon, we’ll take you back to the city. You’re probably here for a while. We’ll fill you in … ”


SPIT SHINE YOUR BLACK CLOUDS


You're trying to get your bearings, but this City stops for no one.

On the next morning after your arrival, there's a festival! It's near the hole, Heart and Center, in the middle of the place. When you arrive there, you're fooled for a moment, and the place doesn't seem so scary; the colors are bright and the citizens are so cheerful as they dance and cheer on the new arrivals to strange music.

No one really knows why they're celebrating, but the arrival of the strange ones feels like it's heralding something good. Maybe there's unheard prayers that are being answered! Maybe their prayers will be answered! There's drinks and food and song, so why not join in? You can get drunk or high or just chill and take it all in.

Yet as the festivities burn on, the locals all hush at some point late in the evening. Words ripple through the throngs, and it reaches you fast. They're going to heave prayers up to the Setting Sun. But first, the great chasm needs an offering from those praying.

They throw in valuables and invaluables alike; drinks and food and clothes and jewelry and weapons and boomboxes are thrown in without a second thought.

What will you offer? If you choose to at all, you'll feel bereft; if it's a memory or power, a light will flow from your mouth and down into the chasm ...

They're silent thereafter in their prayer. Do you pray, too? If you do or you don't, you can't help but feel intense shame, like someone is laughing at you ... Still, after all that, the party continues on.

You're just a little more unsettled, now, a little more uncertain.


SILHOUETTE SALOON


The Silhouette Saloon is open! Or so the signage around town says. Excessive and garish, these signs point characters down a winding path into a place called the Silhouette Saloon. When you enter, everything goes white and everyone appears merely as shadows ... Pretty on the nose, but it provides a strange anonymity.

The fixtures of the saloon are all shadowed out too, stark black against the misty backdrop of white. You can drink here and be free to tell your secrets to anyone who'll listen. The bartender or maybe one of the dancers just finishing their set will tell you that this place keeps secrets.

If you were to tell someone a secret, or hear one, you wouldn't remember it exactly. You would, however, feel a strange nagging sensation about the person who told it to you. Once on the outside, you might not be able to get through a conversation with them without thinking they're hiding something ...

If you don't tell someone a secret, you'll feel compelled to tell someone one once you're out of the Saloon, where the secret won't be so hidden ... It might be better to tell one in the safety of anonymity then, hm?

But the longer you're in there, the more you lose of yourself. You'll forget your name, your purpose, everything about yourself until you pass out on the dance floor. You'll wake up outside the Saloon, stricken with amnesia. It'll wear off after a few hours, though.


PITY'S GOT AN UGLY PRICE TAG


Besides the Drifters and Givers, a new group has popped up. They're called the Pleading, or called plain annoying. They beg for anything you've got from the roadside, calling you over. If you hear them out, they'll hypnotize you in a way; they plead for anything you can possibly spare their poor soul -- the shirt off your back, a memory, an ability. Their sob story goes from believable to something horrifying and personal to you. They'll tell you your mother won't forgive you if you don't, or they'll tell you that the fate of your very best friend hinges on you giving them your wallet.

What do you do?

If someone breaks you out of the grasp of the Pleading's hypnosis, you'll be free.

If you give in, they'll take, and you'll be bereft of what you gave and that will be that.

If you don't, you'll feel immeasurable guilt, mounting more and more with each step ... You might have to be talked out of that guilt, or you might throw yourself into the chasm, inconsolable ...


DIGITAL VEIL ( network )


A question appears on the network. There's no handle attached.

BRUISES OR ROSES OR CRADLES OR COFFINS? WHY WHY WHY? :'D

Answers to this 'question' will be displayed to all; feel free to comment on others, try to gain some sense of what this could mean ... You can also post to the network freely.


QUESTIONS?


Ask below. Have fun.

hopesong: (Windows of Opportunity)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-08-30 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think it is, hun. [Her voice is soft, but Kate will help her stand if she wants to get to her feet.]

It's not like any afterlife I'd picture, at least.
deadanimemom: (20)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-08-30 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
[She gets to her feet, leaning heavily on the other woman for support.]

But there's... there's no way I could possibly still be alive. [But she is, she's alive and her thoughts aren't clouded with blood loss and pain, she isn't too weak to stand.]
hopesong: All icons are commissioned from <user name=zeeco site=plurk.com> DNT (Boil Over)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-08-30 12:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[Those words... they make her pause uncomfortably for a moment. She knows the feeling, can definitely relate to this strangers words, even if it's not something she'd like to do.

She keeps hold on her, just in case she might waver a little. Whatever is going on, she knows how disorienting death can be.
]

I know the feelin', but you are, and so am I, and we're here in these weird woods along with a buncha other people.
deadanimemom: (17)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-08-30 02:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[She's alive.

Somehow, she's alive. She's alive, standing on her own two feet, and she's... free. No guards, no handcuffs or chains or magical bindings. She's weak, after months of bedrest, complications from a pregnancy that should have (did) killed her, but right now, she's somehow alive.

Come on, Yuri. Focus.
]

I think I'll be all right. [She's still wobbly, still clinging to that supportive arm, but she's pulling herself together, calming down (or putting everything off to the side to deal with later, once the danger's passed).

The clearing seems empty, despite the people still struggling out of vines, despite the... armed people (guards?). She nods over towards them.
]

They might know something.
hopesong: (Diversion)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-08-30 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[Her instincts are saying to not trust the people who were their on their arrival, but she can't place why. It just seems odd, and things not adding up has usually resulted in some very painful surprises later on.

She'd like to not have a knife shoved up through her diaphragm, if she can help it, but she also has to agree that they might know what's going on a little better than any of them.
]

If you're sure, but I'll be right here if you need any help, alright? [Stick together to survive. That's always been a good motto.]

As for what they might or might not know... I think they might be waiting on everyone to come shamblin' out of the vines we were all in.
deadanimemom: (59)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-08-30 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Probably. It makes more sense to have everyone together before making an announcement.

Can you fight? [Yuri doesn't know if she can, right now. But she's not naive enough to just assume that those armed strangers have good intentions. It would be nice if they did.]
hopesong: All icons are commissioned from <user name=zeeco site=plurk.com> DNT (Boil Over)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-08-30 03:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm more of a runner, honestly. [... But also, she's well since learned how fighting against super powered murderers goes for her.

.... About the same as it'd go if they weren't super powered supernatural murderers, she thinks.
] I can put up a decent struggle if I get caught, but that's about it.
deadanimemom: (50)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-08-30 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yuri nods, watching other people as they emerge from the strangling vines.]

If you need to run, don't let me hold you back.
hopesong: (Lithe)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-08-30 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't worry too much about me, darlin', I'll be just fine. An' I'd prefer making sure you were safe before me.

[What's the worst that can happen? She gets stabbed? Been there, done that. Hurts like a bitch, but she's got more than enough scars under that slip to last a few lifetimes.]
deadanimemom: (4)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-08-30 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[... later, if it becomes necessary, Yuri will have to figure out a way to get this woman to safety. But for now, she just nods.]

What's your name?
hopesong: (Up the Ante)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-08-30 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Kate Denson. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you normally, but I don't think this situation is quite what either of us were expecting.

[She gives a squeeze to her arm, and then finally pulls away, offering her hand for a proper shake.]
gingerjedi: (well...)

[personal profile] gingerjedi 2020-08-31 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Cal purses his lips, considering the others throwing things into the chasm. It seems kind of wasteful to him, but he doesn't want to disrespect their culture, either. They seem to think it will do something. But Cal doesn't believe in gods or deities; he believes in the Force because he knows that it's there. He's felt it his whole life, even if his connection to it is much different as an adult than it was a kid.

He looks back at Sephiroth, a bit surprised by his comment.

"You really think so?" he asks. "I can't sense anything that specific. This whole place feels...wrong, though. Unsettling. I don't know if there's really something out there that they interpret as a deity or not, but either way, I don't think this is a good place." Of course, anywhere you randomly wake up wrapped in vines in a forest in another galaxy probably isn't a good place, and he doesn't even need the Force to tell him that much.
gingerjedi: (numb)

pity

[personal profile] gingerjedi 2020-08-31 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Luckily for Cal, Yuri catches him right at the beginning of listening to the Pleading people. Of course he's concerned by them and their plight; he can be reserved, but he's a compassionate person. He doesn't really have much to give them, of course, but...

Startled by Yuri's tug on his hand, he turns away to look at her.
]

But...I don't know. Don't you want to help them?

[personal profile] suduri 2020-08-31 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Inquisitors have been trained to view the world at a certain slant: take Cal and his obvious affection for this droid as an example. Connections are weaknesses meant to be exploited, drawing their prey out into the open and leaving them open for attack. While Trilla doesn't have it as her driving goal, at least anymore, she thinks to herself what a disadvantage this could cause.

Droids can be harmed or manipulated just as much as people, she knows.

"You're right," she agrees. It's unsettlingly matter-of-fact. "I should be dead, likely with whoever else might have drowned in that facility. Had the universe some sense of mercy, perhaps it should've been done the first time I arrived there."

She turns her back to him. Whether or not this means she trusts him not to attack or that she won't do it herself — both ideas aren't entirely true or false. "Regardless, we are both now here. Persist however you must, Jedi."

Trilla reaches up with one hand. To prove some point, about her knowledge of Cal, and for how long she's watched him, hunted him, knows him in some awful way, she reaches out with the Force and one of the vines from above swings down to dangle into her gloved palm. She looks at him over her shoulder. "I mean to explore."

It isn't a direction invitation. It isn't even a full warning, but it could be; stop me at your own risk, only not in quite those terms. Whatever Cal Kestis chooses to do is up to him.
deadanimemom: (21)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-09-02 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Yuri takes a breath, steadies herself as that support pulls back, and smiles. Strained, exhausted, but still a smile.]

It's very nice to meet you. [Sure, she can do a handshake. She'll even rearrange her name for the obviously Western audience.]

I'm Yuri Egin.
deadanimemom: (59)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-09-02 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
Not these people. They're going to ask for things you can't afford to give them.
hopesong: (Lithe)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-09-02 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Her grip is firm and gentle, and recedes after a few seconds. She's still keeping a close watch on Yuri, just to make sure that she'll be fine, and if not, that she can move in to steady her if need be.]

If you don't mind my askin', what were you doing before ending up here, Miss Egin? Just trying to piece things together.
deadanimemom: (77)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-09-02 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
[How to explain it, safely, without saying too much?]

"Running for my life" might be the best way to explain it. I... wasn't very successful. [There was no way she could have survived, bleeding out in the snow as they tried to escape.]
hopesong: (Windows of Opportunity)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-09-02 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Running for her life? Then... there might be a chance that they were in the same situation, that that Benedict Baker person was right in his notes.

Kate's entire demeanor changes, more hesitant.
]

I know the feeling. I don't... I don't suppose you were runnin' from a deranged killer, were you?
deadanimemom: (72)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-09-02 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
No, [she says, shaking her head. Nothing like that.]

Were you? Are you all right?
hopesong: (Windows of Opportunity)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-09-02 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
[.... No, not the same as her then. She shakes her head.]

I was. But it's alright. I was... well, it's a bit hard to explain, but I would have been alright in the end even if I was caught. [She pauses for a moment, and gives a laugh, though it sounds humourless.]

Sorry, that probably sounds weird.
deadanimemom: (4)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-09-02 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
[Yuri's life has always been nothing but things that sound weird.]

It's good that you're all right. But it does mean this place isn't the afterlife, or where either of us came from.
hopesong: (Diversion)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-09-02 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
You're right, and I'm certain of that.

[... But did the Entity let her go? Or is this the Void? Or did some other external force bring her here? Something of the same nature as the Entity, maybe?]

Well, if we end up havin' to get generators workin' to escape, I'm your gal.
deadanimemom: (4)

[personal profile] deadanimemom 2020-09-02 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Yuri laughs, a little bit.]

That's a useful skill to have.

I'm not bad at hand-to-hand fighting, [she's had martial arts drilled into her since she was a child] and I'm a pretty good exorcist.
hopesong: (Lithe)

[personal profile] hopesong 2020-09-02 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
I knew nothin' about them before I ended up where I was. Had to learn real quick how to splice wires and the like. [Another laugh, but her smile returns when she says she's an exorcist.]

Well, I definitely could have used you a few trials ago. Got chased by an angry spirit pretty bent on murderin' me and mine. [... Who, unfortunately, did.]
Edited (*splice wires not spice....) 2020-09-02 16:51 (UTC)

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