04 - week four

[afflictionmods]

WEEK FOUR

Saturday comes to a close, and it’s time for some rest and recovery. Perhaps the TLC you deserve will come this week, or perhaps the nightmare will continue. It’s hard to say with things being so strange around you, from Wei Wuxian’s disappearance to the sudden addition of objects and places and creatures from your homes. Who knows what this week will bring? Nothing ordinary, that’s for sure.

You wake up on Sunday to an increase in those little glimpses you saw yesterday. What were snippets of songs, locations that might’ve seemed familiar, and creatures that were dormant, are now all alive and whole. When you go to the karaoke bar, the songs you once knew are there. Monsters and animals are alive and sentient. New business are abound. Vehicles are operable, and perhaps some of your old belongings are back, too.

However, some of these things aren’t even things that should exist outside of your dreams. They may be far too strange and unusual to be real, or just things you don't remember ever seeing. The only thing you remember about these things in particular is that they were, quite literally, in your dreams this week.

That being said, every few hours, all of these things from your homes and dreams fade out and get replaced by new sounds, places, beasts….only to maybe come back again at another time.

Well. At least there's one constant here: You’ve got a handful of new locations to look at, with the fog having spread once more, and they aren't going anywhere. There aren’t as many new places that are native to Estelline this time around, but that may be for the best, considering everything going on.


SETTING TRACKER

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

NEWSPAPER SUBMISSIONS + EDITION #1

SAGE / FLORENCE / LORELEI

MEM SHARE DETAILS

OOC NOTE

OOC: Details on this week can be found here!

Also, we have a lot of participants for the news activity from last week. Neat! Everyone who participated in some capacity will have a small polaroid camera delivered to their doorstep. There's limited film, though - 10 photos per camera. It doesn't seem like there's any extra film at this time, either.

Finally, there will not be any weekly tasks this week. You guys are going to be busy with memshare and dreamscape stuff; instead, enjoy the Estelline University Newspaper!

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[selfconcept]

[ For those of you who wander the courtyard after dinner on Sunday, you might see a tent fixed up. Hien is also nowhere to be found when the tent appears. He doesn't even come back to the dorm room on Sunday night.

On Monday, the tent finally opens, revealing a fire stove that Hien is currently using to cook some instant noodles in a small pot. Maybe you'll be tempted by the smell. Either way, he's either cooking food inside the tent (it has a tarp) or continuing to snooze inside on an unfurled sleeping bag with a comfortable blanket.

If anyone passes by, they might notice that Hien looks a lot more tired than usual, a hint of slight redness in his weird eyes (maybe from fatigue), and definitely out of it. This tent is his home now.

What might be concerning is the blotch of dried blood on the back of the tent. But, you know? It's fine. It's nothing to worry about. Everything is Fine.

also feel free to wildcard!! ]

[partymagician]

[ When Hien doesn't come back to the room, Fai is worried. He grows even more worried when he can feel strong emotions coming from Hien that eventually settles into a hollowness.

Honestly... that hollowness is worse than anything else.

But, Fai gives Hien some time to himself, wherever he may be, because he knows that not everyone wants company when they're feeling such strong emotions. So, it isn't until some time after Hien has opened up his tent that Fai finally comes by. He happens to stop by while Hien is sleeping, so Hien will wake up with his head in Fai's lap, Fai's fingers lightly brushing through his hair as he silently watches cat videos on his tablet. ]

[selfconcept]

[ He feels a different kind of warmth, but it isn't enough for him to wake up now. Even while Fai is watching cat videos on the tablet, he tries to hug Fai's leg, most likely mistaking it for a person. ]

[partymagician]

[ Fai doesn't mind that Hien tries to hug his leg, so he just reaches around to lightly rub Hien's back. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien would normally sleep through most things, but the back rub gets his attention enough to wake up. He slowly blinks. This is Fai's lap. Huh. ]

... Fai...? What are you doing here...

[partymagician]

[ He smiles softly down at Hien. ]

Staying with you... if that's alright with you.

[undertakings]

[At some point during the day, Hien might hear the rather conspicuous sounds of heavy footsteps approaching the side of the tent. Even though it's relatively bright outside, a glowing red light hovers close enough to the fabric that it's likely fairly that it's visible even from the inside of the tent. It only lasts an instant though, as the light appears to move away as it makes a few electronic-sounding beeps.]

Leave it, Fido.

[A beep back.]

Someone's inside. You don't need to pick it up. [There's a few footsteps through the grass to where the tent flap is, and Shin peeks in.] Oh.

[selfconcept]

Mm...?

[ What's that beeping noise? Did Florence get an upgrade? Hien blearily opens his eyes and looks at the person peeking in. ]

Shin. You can come inside if you wanna.

[ ... ]

Is that your dog?

[undertakings]

[He shakes his head at the offer, but before he can respond to the question, something big and clunky takes a couple of awkward steps to the side to also peep into the tent opening with its red optical sensor.]

Something like that. This is Fido.

[There's an enthusiastic(??) beep to go along with the intro.]

[selfconcept]

Cute.

[ As cute as a mechanical dog can be, though Hien thinks it's cute that it's named Fido. ]

Can I pet it?

[undertakings]

[There's a beep in response as Fido lowers its 'head' and raises it in the rough approximation of a nod.]

Go ahead.

[herlocksholmes]

[Oh, this definitely is not fine. It's far from the first time Sholmes sees dried blood. He knows it so well by now. Which is why he has to approach and look inside. Bam, surprise visit from the great detective]

[selfconcept]

[ The tent is pretty convenient. It also has a lock function! Good thing it isn't active.

But when Sholmes looks inside the tent, he might see... a wolf. Hien is still sleeping though. ]

[herlocksholmes]

[A wolf wasn't among the things he expected to see. Everything alright over here? Nothing off, right? Because he's kind of worried, admittedly, so he searches from the entrance for any signs something is wrong.

Should he...try to wake Hien up? He will attempt, in a moment]

[selfconcept]

[ From the entrance, Sholmes will just see Hien sleeping on the unfurled sleeping bag with a warm blanket, a wolf that is also laying down on its belly next to Hien that's also staring at Sholmes, a fire stove near the entrance, several textbooks stacked into a neat shelf off to the side, and a tarp that covers the ground. It has enough space for six people to comfortably sit around. ]

[herlocksholmes]

[This tent is the best thing he has seen in recent times. Wow.

Stepping outside, Sholmes looks around and returns to the tent with a bunch of pebbles, and begins tossing one by one onto Hien's head, still at the entrance of the tent]

It's time to rise up, my dear fellow!

monday

[totalcatastrophe]

[ The smell is as good excuse as any to shadoop right up when Hien finally has the flap opened up. Luci, despite mostly keeping his attention on the food, still cranes his neck to get a good look at this set up. ]

Going through a rebellious phase, huh?

[selfconcept]

What makes you say that?

[ Maybe Luci saw his argument with Fai earlier... Either way, he finishes cooking the instant ramen. ]

Want some?

[totalcatastrophe]

Dude, you're camping by choice.

[ The timing makes it unclear, though assuming this is after then he probably at least saw Fai leave. It isn't hard to piece some things together, rightly or wrongly.

But he's fine letting Hien distract him with food. He sidles up beside him for a share. ]

Yeah.

[selfconcept]

Camping is fun.

[ He says in the most dead voice ever. Regardless, he gets a bowl (sorry for the size, Luci), fills it with ramen and soup, and gives Luci a fork. Luci can eat on the floor, he supposes. ]

I lived in a tent for several years, actually. This is the same exact tent I happened to use too. Imagine that.

[totalcatastrophe]

What, you did that for fun too?

[ He takes the bowl to the ground, stabbing the fork into the center while standing. ]

How do you know it's the same exact one?

[ Luci's guess is the blood. ]

[mirrite]

[The tent part doesn't raise any red flags, because Marcus already knows that Hien is a weird little guy. The looking tired... well, honestly, how many of them have really been sleeping well lately? Marcus knows he sure hasn't.

That patch of dried blood definitely causes a raise of the eyebrows, though, and so he pauses outside the tent to fix Hien with a suspicious look.]

... I'm not sure whether I'd be more worried if I knew that was yours or someone else's.

[selfconcept]

[ Hien is just sitting inside the tent, cooking some instant ramen in a pot with other ingredients when he turns his head slowly to look over at Marcus. ]

Why? It's just a tent.

[mirrite]

I meant what's on the tent. Last I checked, they don't usually come from the stores looking like that.

[I mean maybe in Hien's world they do! But then he would have even more concerns.]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien stops stirring the pot and squints at Marcus. ]

If it's bird shit, I'll clean it later.

[ Looks like he isn't aware. ]