3.0 - week three

[afflictionmods]

WEEK THREE

Last night might have been exhausting for any number of reasons - maybe it was the emotional

toll of dealing with those ghosts, or maybe you stayed up too late after watching Jim Shrok. Who knows, but Saturday is over, even if some of you haven’t quite left it behind and half spirits that are still hanging on, tethered to you and weighing you down…

But that’s not going to stop a new week from starting. There’s no breaks in an eight week course.

There’s very little fanfare to the start of your third week of the course, though it does seem like the fog has lifted even more. It’s a bit more of a trek down the abandoned streets of Estelline, but surely a mile is walkable? Or you could grab a bike or try to hotwire one of those cars in the mall parking lot… Whatever you plan to do this week is up to you. All you know is you've got some new locations to explore.

As always, Florence and Lorelei are available.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

TASK LIST


( OOC Note: Luci, Mutsu, and Mae will each receive a small roomba! Congrats on the successful egg drop. It's a tiny little friend that cleans extra well, though this also means its trash compartment is a little smaller so it'll need to be cleaned more often. )

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[selfconcept]

[ Hien makes some sort of frustrated noise and rushes to catch up to Fai to smack his back. EMBARRASSING. SHAMEFUL. ]

[partymagician]

You told me to say it!

[ He laughs. ]

But really, I do wish you would be a little more careful, Hien. Is there a reason why you're so prone to injury?

[selfconcept]

... I dunno. It just happens.

[ There are many factors, but at the bottom of it all, Hien just doesn't want to know despite being the concept of Self. ]

It's not like I enjoy getting hurt too, you know.

[partymagician]

[ Fai frowns at Hien. ]

With how often you get hurt, I'm not really inclined to believe you. I've made an effort to stay safe because your profile says you dislike physical pain, so I wonder why you're sabotaging both of us.

[ Unfortunately(?) for Hien, no longer being fake means he's going to do this from now on too. ]

cw depression, selfharm through others

[selfconcept]

[ He sure is being called out right now, but he can't really blame Fai. It's true that he doesn't like physical pain, but the efforts to dodge them hasn't really lined up with his skill level. He stood there and got hit with a pebble to his forehead and got smacked with the egg because he didn't bother to dodge. There was something even Marcus said about underestimating him because he didn't seem like the type to fight based on how lethargic he was. Hien's just depressed. He had half a mind to sleep through literally everything so far ever since he came here. It was hard to feel anything genuine other than sadness, but he chose distractions over sadness, which is why Fai hasn't had a constant stream of sadness flowing into his existence for the past two weeks. ]

... Sorry.

[ That's all he can say right now, but he continues to walk alongside Fai. ]

[partymagician]

[ Fai reaches out to take his hand. ]

It's alright.

[ ... ]

I wanted you to know that I saw it as a problem. It isn't fair for you to get mad at me for self destructive thoughts only to turn around and do the same thing.

[selfconcept]

[ His hand is loose in Fai's hold and he might be able to start feeling a small bit of resentment. Hien usually feels sad or turns hollow, but not with pure resentment, no matter the size. ]

Unfortunately, it's what I'm made of.

[ Self-destructive things. What better concept to create than Self by Destruction? He surely makes Hien suffer for shits and giggles. The resentment passes, only for a similarly sized emptiness to replace it. ]

So what should I do about it?

[partymagician]

Work on it.

[ Exactly what Hien told him to do.

He hates that emptiness even more than the resentment, so Fai squeezes his hand. ]

I'm not asking you to be perfect, just to put in some effort.

[selfconcept]

... Yeah. Okay.

[ His hand finally holds Fai's and the emptiness recedes. ]

I did try against Marcus, by the way. But sometimes things don't go according to plan and I get myself thrown onto the ground really hard.

[partymagician]

[ He's relieved to feel that emptiness go away. ]

Marcus? So he got possessed too?

[ He seems too reasonable to try to fight otherwise... ]

That explains why you were in so much pain. That really hurt.

[selfconcept]

It's also why I wanted to try out a bath instead of a shower but then I fell asleep in the bathtub with my clothes on. I put the gauze on as fast as I could, because I didn't want you feeling it for so long.

[ Does that count as trying, is what Hien's eyes seem to say when he looks up at Fai. ]

[partymagician]

[ He will give Hien praise... ]

I appreciate it. I was relieved when I couldn't feel it anymore.

[ Fai smiles a little. ]

But make sure I'm present next time so you don't fall asleep in there.

[selfconcept]

... I didn't know where you were.

[ And he didn't want to walk all the way to where the karaoke bar was because he didn't want to be dragged into it once spotted.

He also definitely appreciates the praise, so his mood seems to be better. ]

[partymagician]

That's why you'll wait until I'm there next time.

[ He squeezes Hien's hand for emphasis. ]

How'd you manage to get in there with all of your clothes anyway?

[selfconcept]

[ Hien looks confused at Fai again. ]

I just... stepped into the full tub.

[ Yeah??? ]

[partymagician]

You really impress me sometimes.

[ And not... in a good way.

At least it's kind of cute??? ]

[selfconcept]

You can do it too. It's not that hard.

[ He's thinking that Fai thinks it's difficult for some reason. ]

[partymagician]

Pfft!

[ Fai laughs. ]

I'm just impressed by your ability to get into the tub fully dressed like that and fall asleep.

[ He swings their hands. ]

You're so funny. I like that about you.

[selfconcept]

Are you making fun of me?

[ He frowns at Fai, but doesn't let go of his hand anyway. ]

I don't do it to be funny.

[partymagician]

[ Fai shakes his head. ]

I’m not. I just think you can be endearing from time to time.

[selfconcept]

[ Endearing.

For Hien, it's okay to feel endeared to people because they're cute. But sometimes that word carries something heavy—his mood drops to absolute zero for a hot second before looking off to the side. ]

Endearing, huh? I'd rather not be, but if you say so.

[ He look up at the building. They finally arrived! ]

[partymagician]

[ He can feel those negative emotions and he can’t help but feel his own mood drop. ]

Did I say the wrong thing again?

[ Just like during his possession. ]

[selfconcept]

There's no right nor wrong things to say, first of all.

[ He leads Fai, but then he sees a clothes store. Hm. ]

When someone tells me that I'm endearing, I can't help but to think other things. I was told that I was endearing while I was squirming and groveling on the ground, supposedly.

[ Anyway. ]

Let's go over there. I want more black clothes.

[partymagician]

[ Hm. Hien might be blasé about it, but Fai feels guilt creeping in. He didn’t know, but still. ]

What do you like to be told?

[ He’ll follow Hien easily, absentmindedly thinking that Hien would look nice in some other colors. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien turns to raise an eyebrow at Fai. ]

You think I'm just gonna tell you what I like being told so that you can say it whenever?

[ He seemed a little better wheh he was praised, at least. ]