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]

Kindness in moderation. Practice it. When you get stronger, you can come and kill me. At least I won't die from it for good.

[ ... ]

I understand how you feel, but at the same time, I understand him too. He must have loved you a lot, because he wanted to sacrifice himself to get rid of your curse.

[partymagician]

Why? How can you care about someone so much that you'd let them kill you?

[ He doesn't understand, and he also doesn't understand why Hien is offering himself up like that too, even if he won't die forever. ]

I don't want to kill you either.

[selfconcept]

... Unfortunately, you'll understand the feeling when you get older.

[ Fai is basically the same physical age, but hopefully he knows what Hien means. ]

I'm sorry that you have to experience this.

[partymagician]

...

[ Will he, though? Fai isn't so sure. ]

My existence causes bad things to happen. So, this isn't something you need to apologize for.

[ His brother, the tower, the only father figure he ever had turning on him... Fai is the common element here.

It's his fault. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien kneels in front of Fai. ]

It's not your fault. I said it and I'll say it again. It's not your fault.

[partymagician]

But I...

[ He pulls his coat more tightly around him. ]

I want to believe you. It's... hard.

[selfconcept]

[ He puts his hand on Fai's shoulders and adjusts the coat so that he can duck his head to cover the bottom half of his face if he wants to. ]

Someone believed in superstition and destroyed their own country. Someone cursed you and blamed you for a decision that you didn't make. Someone wanted to get rid of that curse for you, because they loved you. You, Fai D. Flowright, had no hand in their actions. Their actions are driven by them and them alone.

[partymagician]

...

[ How does Hien have his full name? That's strange. He didn't have a full name when he was in Valeria, much less the D title.

But he's so emotionally exhausted that he can't even think about it right now. ]

Then why am I the common factor in all of this?

[selfconcept]

Confirmation bias. Bad things happen to people. It just so happens that a lot more bad things happen to you too, but you're never the only one suffering a lot. If others thought that, we would have curses in every world, even those without magic.

[ ... ]

If I break your hand, you can say that's my fault, because it is. But if you leave and then later, your hand breaks because of an accident, you can think of it as my fault because I was the last person you saw when you left. Think about it, Fai. It doesn't make sense.

[partymagician]

[ His shoulders slump. Hien has a point, and the rational side of his mind tries to latch onto it. ]

...

[ Part of him wants to collapse onto the floor and lay there for a while. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien pulls Fai into a hug and holds him tightly, just like on that day inside the tower. ]

I'm sorry. But just know... it's not your fault. You never wanted this to happen. If anything, please remember that.

[partymagician]

[ Fai leans against him, letting himself have that much for now, at least. It's comforting, even if he feels hollow inside, the ache in his heart the only thing he can feel.

He stays like that for a while, letting Hien's words absorb into him.

Eventually, however... ]

...How did you know my full name?

[selfconcept]

... We meet some time in the future.

[ Is Hien the black haired person Fei Wang Reed told Fai to kill??? Of course not. But his hair is also black and he seems involved with Fai, so. ]

You helped me with a lot of stuff. This time, I wanted to help you. So, I'm glad that you were born. I'm happy to have met you.

[partymagician]

[ It's a shock to hear, especially from someone he still doesn't really know. In the back of his mind, he even wonders if this is the person he's meant to kill, but for his own sake he has to dismiss that thought. ]

I... I'm glad I could help you.

[ As for everything else, he's not sure how he should feel about it. Of course, it's nice to hear, but it also leaves him with a lot of confused emotions. ]

[selfconcept]

... You're someone important to me.

[ Hien quietly breathes out. ]

So I'll try to help you whenever I can.

[partymagician]

[ Fai is about to ask why or how he's important, but then suddenly the entire memory itself lurches and Hien is kicked out.

Goodbye. ]