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

[partymagician]

...

[ He had a feeling Hien wouldn't. In all honesty, Fai is surprised Hien said as much as he did.

When that hollowness creeps back in, Fai lifts Hien up by his shoulders and pulls him in for a hug instead. ]

Alright. You don't need to.

[selfconcept]

[ Despite the choked up feeling earlier and wanting to cry, he can't feel himself enough to cry. The hollowness is eventually filled with warmth, covering the hole where his heart should be.

He closes his eyes. The hug feels nice and reassuring. Hien doesn't return the hug, but he rests his head against Fai's chest in a little more relaxed way. ]

[partymagician]

[ Fai gently rubs his back. He understands why Hien won't return the hug, so it doesn't bother him at all. He's promised himself he'll take care of Hien in other ways, so that's what he'll do right now. ]

Ren seemed like a lovely kid. You really love him, I can tell.

[selfconcept]

Mm...

[ He did. He really did. That's why he can't find any more words to say regarding that. ]

I'll just... try again.

[partymagician]

...

[ Fai doesn't say anything to that. He can't, because he can't encourage Hien to do something so destructive to himself and the life he wants to save.

And this isn't something Fai can lie about either. He can't just push it under the rug and pretend that Hien isn't making a poor decision by trying again. Still, Fai can't bring himself to tell Hien that it's a bad idea, that he shouldn't put himself and Ren through that pain again.

So, he stays silent. But that silence in and of itself is telling. ]

[selfconcept]

[ The silence lingers in the tent and Hien eventually pulls himself away from the hug. He doesn't want to talk about this. Ever.

The hollow feeling comes back. He can't care enough to tell Fai to leave or whatever he'll do. That's why Hien just slumps onto the blanket away from him. ]

[partymagician]

[ ...He knew he was messing up by not encouraging Hien to try again, but this is something he feels strongly about, even with his limited information.

So, Fai takes his leave.

...

But he comes back two hours later with tea and some food on a tray. ]

Hungry?

[selfconcept]

... No.

[ He doesn't have an appetite and isn't surprised when Fai comes back. It's weird because he usually doesn't deny food either. ]

[partymagician]

[ Fai sits down on the floor of the tent after setting his tray down. It's just a simple meal—soup and a sandwich. ]

Have some tea, at least. Have you eaten today at all?

[ He missed out on Hien making the instant noodles. ]

[selfconcept]

I ate.

[ So he doesn't even feel like drinking tea. ]

You eat.

[partymagician]

[ He pops open the container he had some soup in to keep it hot, grabbing a spoon and taking a bite. ]

Are you sure you don't want to try my cooking?

[ It's canned soup, so it really isn't cooking, but he's trying to lighten the mood a little... ]

[selfconcept]

[ It's really tempting to say that he doesn't feel hungry, but even if it was intentional or not, there's some weight to those words. They're finally together. Fai is eating, but Hien refuses to eat. They said that they'd like to eat together one day.

...

He slightly opens his mouth. Feed him. ]

[partymagician]

[ Fai feeds Hien a spoonful of the soup—it's tomato, with whatever seasonings Fai could find that would make it more flavorful. ]

What do you think? Better than any kind of soup from a fancy restaurant, right~

[ He laughs softly. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien eats the soup and the burst of flavor really is quite something in his mouth. ]

... It's nice. I like it.

[partymagician]

Good.

[ He dips a corner of the sandwich he brought, a grilled cheese, into the soup and holds it out for Hien to have a bite. ]

Here.

[selfconcept]

[ Hien takes a small bite. It's such a contrast to when he would eat heaps of spaghetti to now... barely a corner of a sandwich. ]

... Sorry.

[partymagician]

[ Fai dips the sandwich in again and has a bite himself. His bite is much larger than Hien's. ]

What are you apologizing for?

[ As far as he's concerned, Hien doesn't have anything to apologize for. ]

[selfconcept]

Being unreasonable.

[ He has enough sense for that at least. ]

[partymagician]

You were being unreasonable, you jerk.

[ There isn't any heat behind his words, however, as he continues to eat his soup. ]

You can't expect me to encourage you to do something that I think is harmful.

[selfconcept]

Why do you think it's harmful?

[ He really wants to know, but not at the same time. ]

[partymagician]

You’re traumatizing yourself over and over again. How many times have you tried, Hien?

[ He won’t say that Hien is destined to fail because it’s cruel and he can’t predict something like that anyhow, but his lack of success does lead Fai to think that there might be certain unchangeable factors that will always lead to failure. ]

[selfconcept]

I don't remember.

[ He knows Fai is right, since he doesn't remember all his attempts, but his mind and body can still feel it somehow. If he counted the number of his attempts, he thinks he'd go insane. ]

[partymagician]

Because you’ve tried so many times?

[ That’s how he’ll interpret that answer. ]

[selfconcept]

Probably.

[ He hates that when they eat together like this, this conversation has to be brought up. It keeps him on guard with a perpetual frown on his face. ]

[partymagician]

[ Fai has a lot that he could say about that, and it’s probably obvious on his face as he has another bite of his grilled cheese.

He’s content with silence until he notices the frown on Hien’s face. ]

Something wrong?

[ There obviously is, but he wants Hien to voice whatever his thoughts are. ]