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]

[ 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. ]

[selfconcept]

I don't want to talk about this.

[ That's what's wrong with it. He's also no longer eating. ]

[partymagician]

…

[ Fai doesn’t say anything to that, just having another spoonful of soup instead. If Hien doesn’t want to talk about it, then he won’t. Pushing him on it will just get them nowhere.

The look on Fai’s face is unreadable. ]

…Are you sleeping in here tonight?

[selfconcept]

Yeah.

[ Without hesitation. Good thing the dreamscape doesn't turn this tent permanent... or he'd really live here. ]

Are you gonna try and convince me not to?

[partymagician]

[ He knew Hien would say that, but somehow it still hurts. It’s irrational, but it is what it is. ]

Alright. I…

[ Fai shakes his head, deciding to hold back what he was going to say. It’s not like it would help this situation anyway. ]

[selfconcept]

You what?

[ If Fai doesn't say it, then he'll just not press again. ]

[partymagician]

I…

[ He pauses again, staring down hard at his soup because he doesn’t want to look at Hien. ]

I think I sleep better when you’re in there.

[ Is it easier having another presence there with him, or is it Hien himself? Fai isn’t really sure, and that’s distressing. ]

[selfconcept]

You can sleep here, with me.

[ He says it like he's offering any other solution. He was angry and sad, but not much to the point of not wanting to help Fai with a solution like this. ]

[partymagician]

[ He doesn’t like the way Hien says that and he doesn’t know why. An annoyed frustration settles low in the pit of his stomach. ]

…I’ll think about it.