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]

Your safety is the most important thing right now, so I don't mind.

[ He smiles. ]

Lead the way, please.

[ Fai will keep pretty close to him as they walk, just in case. ]

[endearments]

Thanks. You make me feel safe.

[ He smiles and leads the way. He's still confused about someone wanting to hurt him, because he doesn't think he did anything wrong or hurt someone... when he's ahead, his expression droops a little. ]

[partymagician]

I'm glad.

[ That's what he would hope for, especially in this type of situation.

The way Hyunjung's expression changes for the worse has Fai digging for things to talk about. ]

Tell me about yourself, Hyunjung.

[endearments]

Oh, um... I'm a student here st this university. The group you saw are my friends. We're in a breakdancing crew. I participate in another dance group too, where we perform for all kinds of reasons, like charity and stuff, but it's mostly fun.

[partymagician]

Wow, how cool~

[ Dancing is cool, especially for charity! ]

What do you study here?

[endearments]

Ah, um...

[ It's very obvious that he doesn't want to talk about his studies. ]

Biology... I guess. I'm not good at school stuff.

[partymagician]

Biology... I wouldn't be very good at that myself.

[ He barely knows what it is... ]

Is your main hobby dance?

[endearments]

Yeah, and... video games.

[ There's a bit of shame when he admits it, as if they're supposed to be guilty pleasures. ]

[partymagician]

[ He sees that shame and just smiles brightly at Hyunjung. ]

Video games are pretty fun! I haven't played many, but I enjoy them.

[endearments]

They're really fun, aren't they? It's fun for me too! They're... the only things I'm good at. Dancing too. And... that's it. Neither are useful.

[partymagician]

But they're things you like, right? I think that matters more, in the grand scheme of things.

[endearments]

Does it? I can't make money with it... and I can't support myself. That's what matters too. I wanna have both, but sometimes I have neither.

[partymagician]

So pick something you don't mind doing to earn money that will also allow you to enjoy the things you love doing.

[ Says the one who just leaves the money to Kurogane to handle. ]

I know it isn't easy, but I'm sure you can do it.

[endearments]

[ ...

Hyunjung tries to smile, but it's obvious that he's not in a smiling mood. ]

You're right. I just have to try hard... yeah.

[partymagician]

Sorry, sorry. I brought the mood down, didn't I?

[ He ruffles Hyunjung's hair a bit. ]

Tell me more about dancing.

[endearments]

Oh, no. No. I'm the one that's sorry. I'm just...

[ ...

Anyway. ]

Dancing is really fun, especially with friends. I dance to choreography with popular songs or just use my whole body. It feels refreshing and people like watching.

[partymagician]

[ Hmmm, he still thinks he should have avoided the subject at the first sign of Hyunjung not liking the topic, but Fai will move on completely from it. ]

Will you invite me to one of your shows? I'd like to watch.

[endearments]

Yeah! We sometimes put up flyers to our shows, so anyone can come watch! It's free! Unless it's a charity show, but all the money goes to the charity! We never make any money from it. We just... have fun.

[ He smiles a little wistfully. ]

I wish I could keep having fun like this forever.

[partymagician]

[ Fai won't say that he can, because that's simply not true for anyone, but... ]

Just enjoy all of this as much as you can for now, so you can look back on it fondly later.

cw gore, death

[endearments]

[ Hyunjung tries hard to smile. ]

Yeah, you're right—

[ All of a sudden, the surroundings get fuzzy. What Fai will see in the next moments is heavy TV static with some moments that he can see, which is a figure with a hammer. One moment, the bat is down, and the next, it's being swung overhead—

Hyunjung Kang is dead.

When everything goes back to normal, there's no one around Fai except Hyunjung's corpse with his head smashed open. The metal hammer is right by Hyunjung's side, all bloody. ]

[partymagician]

[ Before he knows it, static surrounds him and suddenly Hyunjung is dead.

He couldn't do anything. Just like the memory with the tent, Fai was useless. He takes a deep breath, letting it out as he looks at the hammer.

Some memories aren't meant to be changed. This isn't his fault. ]

Hyunjung... I'm so sorry.

[ While he can't change this... he looks to see if he can spot the killer nearby. ]

[endearments]

[ There is unfortunately no killer. They came and went like Fai's static vision. They definitely had power though and had a personal grudge against Hyunjung. That much, Fai can be aware of.

Unfortunately, the memory melts into nothing. That's the end of the rope. Goodbye. ]