Entries tagged with plot

Quest 270

( Private || Hackable by Friends )

[Filtered AWAY from the Deities | Attempted Unhackable]

I'm sure most everyone has noticed by now the carousel animals' recent habit of jumping off their posts and stampeding throughout the City. It's an unexpected occurrence, I think, but hardly a surprising one at this point. It's May, after all, and strange things always seem to happen in the month of May, just as October tends to be a particularly horrifying month when it comes to the curses.

Still, I think this May is turning out to be much different than the ones I've seen before it. It isn't the first time I've ever heard the clock wind down into silence, and it's not the first time I've seen the animals leave the carousel and attack the passerby. What is different, though, is how long things have gone on--and how quiet the deities have been in response to it. Horrible things have happened before, but it's strange that the deities have been so silent. Moreover, they haven't stepped in to intervene this time, as they sometimes have in the past. Last year they fairly finished off the shepherdess for us, and spent a certain amount of time talking amongst themselves about her, as well. But this year there's nothing, and there haven't been any unusual invaders the way there have been in previous years; on the contrary, it almost seems as though this year the City itself is acting to cause the mischief.

It seems clear, though, that the deities aren't willing to step in this time. They left us to manage the problem of the barrier for ourselves, and it seems as though they plan to do the same for the clock and whatever else might be tied to it.

Two words have shown up now, since this trouble seemed to begin--"death", and "IECENVDE", which we think might unscramble into the word "evidence". Death and evidence could point to any number of things, really: to blood, to wounds, to the graveyard, or to the dead in the City themselves. Blood and wounds, of course, are evidence of death on their own; a graveyard is evidence of death because it's where the dead are laid to rest, and where those places are marked with headstones. And it doesn't seem to make much sense, having a graveyard at all in a place where the dead are made to live again, but it's played a role in a few times of trouble before this--once when people that tried to escape the City were put into graves instead, and another time when it filled with all new gravestones, ones that bore the names of visitors that had come to see us, and digging down into the graves only led to a set of catacombs beneath the graveyard itself.

And then there are the dead in the City, who can't help but be evidence of death just by existing here. Adrastus's mother once suggested that she was the one who paid for the dead in the City, who gave them the chance and ability to live again here. And the first time I met her was just around two years ago this month, when she came to collect Adrastus in the beginning of May.

It's hard to say, with all this in mind, what might be going on. Whatever it is, it's certainly not a series of events we've seen before, though bits and pieces of it have shown up in other places here and there--the clock stopping, the harpies, the carousel animals. And all in the early days of May.

But I think what's becoming clearest of all is that things can't go on like this, and something will have to be done because the deities certainly don't seem inclined to do it for us. There was a second way of restoring the barrier, after the first came down; what's to say there isn't a similar way of restarting the clock, if we can only find it? That seems to be the problem most at hand; if the City revolves around the clock and it's the City that's against us at the moment, then perhaps mending the clock will also mend the City. Perhaps that's the thorn in the lion's paw that only needs to come out for things to resolve themselves again. ~~But I can't face that clock, I can't--~~

Which I suppose, at the risk of mixing my fables, leaves just one question: who, then, will bell the cat?

[OOC: Bzns has officially become srs. Anybody with information about the Omens Plot who wants to get together and chat it out, consider this an open forum to do so! Threadjack, talk amongst yourselves, whatever. Rosella, for her part, is still suffering from phantom pains and is fixin' to get that clock fixed; if she answers you in voice or video, feel free to notice she sounds rather strained and tense. o/]

Current Mood: distracted

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Quest 262

[Filtered AWAY from the Deities | Attempted Unhackable]

The word "harpy", it's Greek--it comes from a word I can't quite recall, harpa-something, I think, but it means "to snatch", and that's where "harpy" comes from: it means "that which snatches". Which I suppose means they're scavengers of a sort, and rather a bit like vultures in their own way, too. When things go missing suddenly and mysteriously, it's often said to be the fault of harpies. They're also often linked to storm winds, somehow, which I imagine is likely because they're both noisy, fierce, and generally harmful. Their talons are made of bronze, their wings of steel; they're always depicted as ugly, they live in filth and squalor, and their purpose, for the most part, is to torment.

I think, from what we've seen of the harpies, most all of that fits with the ones we've been encountering here. They're different in some ways--I think there's more metal to these ones than just talons and wings, to begin with--but they're certainly noisy and fierce, and there's no doubt that they've been tormenting us ever since they arrived.

The part about snatching things away and living in squalor seems to fit, too. It seems a great group of them have taken up residence in the remains of the fallen tower; I didn't dare get close enough to really look at it, but there's certainly some sort of structure there now, in bits and scraps of metal all put together, and I saw quite a cluster of harpies circling around it, as well.

I suppose it's both good and bad news, if they are settling in. Bad because the last thing we want is for them to get comfortable and entrench themselves here, but good because if they're mostly all in one place, then it's somewhat easier to avoid them. Or to deal with them all at once, as the case may be.

~~Or leave, but we can't--the storms outside the barrier, they're too awful, and yet I can't seem to get the thought out of my head, that we could just leave...~~

Still, there's something that I can't--that is, as odd a question as this may seem to ask, has anyone noticed a...stranger on the Network lately? Someone urging people to leave, perhaps, or claiming responsibility for the harpies? It seems as though there ought to...

...Well. In any case, if you have seen someone like that, please do let me know.

( Filtered to Iacho | Attempted Unhackable )

Quest 240

[Voice Post]

[The audio snaps on with a click, but there is a somewhat awkward pause before any speaking occurs; then, after some hesitant shuffling, Rosella clears her throat and begins.]

Yes, well, er. I'm sure that several people have noticed by now that there's, um...that there seems to be a unicorn on the loose in the City. And, er, that's exactly so, because it turns out that one got loose from the zoo the other day, and I'm sure that the poor thing is terribly frightened, and that's why it's been causing so much...er, trouble.

[Have another awkward pause.]

In any case, it seems that it's...well, as unicorns tend to do, it seems this one isn't exactly fond of anyone that's--

[ANOTHER PAUSE.]

That is, it hasn't been hurting the...um, maidens of the City, as it were.

[Look, her awkwardness right now is palpable, okay?]

So, um, it would be the wise and sensible thing to do, I think, for anyone that's married or not...er, chaste, to use as much caution as possible when going out and about places today.

[Here is a pause, in which Rosella fidgets a bit and then clears her throat again.]

And if there are any...virtuous maidens--or boy maidens, I suppose, though it might take better to girls, just the same--that would be willing to help in subduing the poor thing and getting him back to the zoo where he belongs, please do let me know, and I'd be so very grateful for the help.

[And with that public service announcement completed, Rosella shuts off her Network device with a relieved click.]

[OOC: Unicornanigans! Just in time for Christmas. ELITE SQUAD OF VIRGINS, this is your recruitment post! And in the spirit of the curse today, feel free to threadjack everywhere, discuss with everyone, try to make Rosella actually say the word "virgin" (if you CAN)...and just generally have fun!]

Quest 234

[Accidental Video Post]

[It's just a bit past noon when the video flickers on--then off--then on again, wobbling in and out of darkness before finally bringing into focus the sight of a train compartment, and a slightly rumpled-looking girl sitting on the soft blue cushions, gazing intently out the window. Her own silence makes the noises of the train around her more pronounced--the rattling, the clanking, the whispering rush of air--and careful observers may notice that this girl's face is a shade paler than it normally would be, that her fingers are twisting in the fabric of her skirt in rhythm with the noise.

She hates this, the roar of the engines, the hum of machinery. There's a reason she never goes down to use the subway system beneath the City, even if it means a much longer walk above ground to get to the same place. There's a reason she has avoided this at all costs. She hates it here, buried underground in these tunnels, surrounded by the sound of the machines she loathes so much.

Her fingers twist again, the knuckles turning white, and the video dissolves into static.

But then, a few seconds later, it flickers back in again, and now Rosella's hand is pressed against the glass of the window as she leans toward it, as if that extra few inches will somehow give her a clearer look at--whatever it is she sees. Her voice, when she speaks, is quiet--and a little anxious.]

It's...it's a trick. It can't-- [A crackle of static; the video flickers.] --al. Can it? No, it can't, it's not...

[She slides closer, both hands cupped against the window now, her face pressed close with her fingers curled to reduce the glare off of the glass.]

They did this last ye-- [Static. But a bit of audio filters through, even if the video is still obscured.] --re we going?

[And then, after another few seconds, the video clicks on again--just in time to see a faint shape, deathly white, SLAM against the window from the outside of the train, and to witness Rosella jumping a mile at the sight, recoiling with a shriek that is half from surprise and half from horror.

Another flicker of the video, and now she is curled on the bench with her knees pulled to her chest, her hands over her ears, and she is mumbling frantically under her breath.]

It has to stop sometime. It has to stop. It always stops, don't look, don't-- [Static.] --ere, it's fine, it's fine, there's nothing there, it's nothing, it's--

[The train rattles, the door creaks, and the video flickers once--twice--and then finally cuts out.]

( OOC TL;DR )

[And mods, if I've gotten any of this wrong, please let me know and I'll fix it. o/]

Quest 229

Let the guilty know punishment.
Let the innocent find freedom.
Let the mourners be comforted.
Let the hungry receive their fill.
Let the weeping know laughter.
Let the merciful obtain mercy.
Let the righteous be clothed in righteousness.
Let the traitors answer for their treachery.

Let them not be forgotten, those who suffer unjustly.

You who endure undeserved torment, cry out. I will answer.

[Warded AWAY From Demons | Unhackable]

There are those here who are...concerned for me.

I would speak with you.

[OOC: Just call her angel of the morning, angel! Or rather, call her an angel of justice, because that's what she is. And please excuse her slight cribbing from the Beatitudes, there. People suffering in the pit, if you're down there undeservedly, she'll come get you--or aid your other rescuers, if they need it! And people who are down there deservedly...um. Have a nice eternity? >>]

Quest 222

( Private || Hackable by Friends )

I remember thinking, this time last year, that waiting for October to come was rather like watching storm clouds on the horizon--even though the sky is blue overhead, you can see that darkness in the distance, slowly rolling toward you as time goes on. This is the end of my third September here now, and next month will be my third October. And it's superstition to say that bad things often come in threes, but the City rather likes to play on superstition, doesn't it? And October is usually the worst month of them all, and has been since long before I came here, myself.

Last year, it was something different every week--monsters and cannibals and a haunted pumpkin patch, of all things. I don't remember much about the October before that, since I didn't pay as close of attention to the curses then as I do now, but I seem to recall something about fighting and people being cursed into enjoying it, which is troublesome in itself. And in the years before that, I've heard the stories about hunting witches and accusing others of horrible things and everyone trying to harm each other because of it. Small wonder, then, that October should gain the reputation of being awful, when we've had so many years of bad ones.

And now it seems one of the deities is warning about a storm, himself. I'm afraid I don't know the story he has in mind for all this, but I do know the one about the boy that liked to cry wolf--and that sometimes, it's better to heed a warning and discover that it's false than to ignore it when it comes and learn too late that it's true.

What harm is there in getting ready for something that never comes, other than a bit of lost time? And really, I think it'd be wise to get ready for October anyway, since there's no telling what will come of it, but more often than not, it's something awful.

~~And whatever it might be, there's no harm in keeping a lemon cake on hand for the next few weeks. One never knows.~~

But on the bright side, October is a storm we've weathered before, and we'll weather it again, won't we? It's only one month, and then once it's over, we've got Giving-Thanks and Christmas to look forward to, and another whole year to enjoy before it comes around again.

Quest 206

( Private || Hackable by Friends )

If yesterday was Thursday, then that means today is Friday. Friday the 23rd of July. ~~I fell in on Monday night, and Kazuki found me yesterday morning.~~ So it's getting to be the end of another week, and what an--er, eventful one it's been, too. Even though I've been so busy the past few days, I haven't been able to get on the Network hardly at all. Is everyone still all right? ~~What happened while I was gone?~~

I'm still here in the hospital, since I did get a bit scraped up over the past few days, and they said something about hitting my head again and wanting to keep an eye on it, so I suppose that's for the best. Plenty of rest and people checking in every so often and all that. I'm still not entirely sure what might've happened, either, since I remember getting some of these scrapes but not others, and I certainly don't remember most of the bruises.

~~I remember we thought we'd found an exit, and then the monsters jumped out at us, and Peter jumped right back at them...and I had my bow out and was trying to get in a shot...~~

Kazuki, thank you again so very much for finding me and bringing me back here. I'm not entirely sure how you managed to find me if I was inside a cave, but I'm certainly glad that you did and I'm hardly about to question good luck like that when it comes about. And I certainly intend to find a way to repay you for it once I'm up and about again, so if there's anything I can do in return, please do let me know and I'll be happy to do it.

~~Pevensie. That was it, Peter Pevensie.~~

Oh, and, er--to any friends of Peter Pevensie, may I ask if you've heard from him in the last day or two? I'd like very much to thank him, too, since I owe him a great deal as well. But I suppose he might be in rather the same predicament that I am, so if you see him and could let him know that I've been asking after him, please, I'd very much appreciate it.

[OOC: And so Rosella is officially back from underground, having been found yesterday by Nataku/Kazuki. HOSPITAL PEOPLE--I hope I'm not stepping on any toes by having her stay there for observation for a day or two; she's kind of banged up and she did black out after she and Peter got jumped by the zombies under the graveyard, so I figured someone would want to keep her around for at least a day to make sure there aren't any lasting ill effects.

Action is welcome for anyone wanting to come visit her, and Network for everyone else.]

Current Mood: determined

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Quest 205

( Private || Hackable by Friends )

Well, it's Monday again, which means one more of those silly weekends of random curses has finally come to an end. And what a ridiculous one I had this weekend! It's one I've had before, of course--all the birds and animals and things turning out to flock around me--but at least this time they managed to make themselves useful, helping to clean up the Library. Normally they just swarm me every time I try to get my chores done, and make it absolutely impossible to do anything without a great flurry of feathers and a dozen furry friends underfoot. But they really did help a great deal at getting things straightened out, and I'm grateful for the assistance, even if all the singing did get a bit tedious after a while.

...I do hope it didn't disturb the monks from their work, come to think of it. We were making quite a bit of racket, what with all the twittering and chirping and chattering.

In any case, that's one more weekend done and over with, and a whole new week of possibilities ahead of us. And that's a good thing, I think. We could all certainly use a calm, quiet day.

And in two more weeks, I'll have been here for two years. I suppose it's true that the first year takes the longest, and all the others get quicker and quicker after that. Really, I can hardly believe the time has gone so fast!

( Private to Cain || Unhackable )

[OOC: Graaaaaaaaaves! So late tonight, Rosella and Cain are going to go out to the graveyard and bond over their mutual interest in digging up graves. Which will be all well and good, right up until the part where Rosella gets sucked down one and ends up in the middle of the Graveyard Plot! But hey, at least she's expecting a trap this time...? It's progress. Sob.]

Current Mood: frustrated

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Quest 186

[Voice Post]

You know, after everything that's happened in the past week, I really don't know whether to take this weekend as an apology, or as an insult added to injury.

It's one of those random weekends, of course; that much is certain from a single glance at the Network. And how many months now have we had a weekend like this? At least a dozen, perhaps more. It's one of the few truly predictable things around here, along with curses coming to an end at the stroke of midnight and the visitors coming by once a season to see us all. And save for a select few, most all of the curses that tend to strike on these weekends are silly, harmless ones. Frustrating, perhaps, and tedious, too, but generally not particularly awful. And they'll always be over by Monday morning.

Is this how it goes? A week of unexpected horrors comes to an end, and is followed immediately by a weekend of entirely familiar troubles? Should we be grateful that it's only a weekend of random curses, and not something else entirely? Or should we be frustrated to no end that after everything we've just been through, there'll still be no peace and respite until Monday?

And what a horror it was last night--the blood, that machine, the ground quaking beneath our feet...

There's another thing that's becoming truly predictable, too. These calamities always come to pass, and they always come to an end. And whenever they do, I'm always left feeling as though I didn't do enough to help when I had the chance. Or worse, I'm faced with the bitter realization that there was nothing I could've done to help at all, and trying would've only made more trouble for everyone.

It's days like this that really do make me long for home.

When I was very young, my mother used to tell me that if I were ever in trouble, I had only to whistle and she or my father would come running to me. Perhaps I'll find myself that age tomorrow; the City does like to turn us into children on weekends like this. As for today, I'm not sure whether to take it as a courtesy or a mockery that they've left me the ability to whistle, albeit in a slightly different way.

This curse I've drawn today isn't enough for an apology, no matter how familiar it may be after all this time. But these wings, at least, are a consolation just the same.

[OOC: Gee, someone's a little bitter today. And also a little avian! All responses are assumed to be voice, and feel free to run into her flying around the City if you like; after being cooped up in the Warehouse all week, she's more than eager to get out and up and away from it all.]

Current Mood: determined

Entry tags:

Quest 185

And so it seems that we are, indeed, in for trouble after all.

The sheep didn't disappear at midnight, which means this clearly isn't an average curse. If they had simply grown on their plants, matured, and gone away when the day ended, it would've made for an odd occurrence--and an ominous one at that, as the curses that don't seem to do anything always are--but not a particularly harmful one. But they haven't gone away. Quite the contrary, they seem to have taken to roaming the streets and even attacking people that cross their path, if the Network is any indication.

And yet, Spartacus doesn't seem to be acting any differently than usual. I've been keeping a very close eye on him since word started getting around, to be sure, but he seems reasonably gentle and content, just as he has been since we adopted him. I do hope that's a good sign. ~~I don't want to think about what we'll have to do if it's not--~~

Penny, you haven't been having any trouble with your flock, have you? I'm afraid that with things being the way they are, it would likely be for the best if we all stayed in tonight, so it seems we'll have to postpone our celebration for another day. But of course, you're always welcome at the Warehouse, if you'd prefer to come and stay with us for the duration? Since I do have a bad feeling that the duration might be a lengthy one. We still don't know how or why any of this is going on, after all, and it's clear that this isn't a usual sort of curse.

~~And it was this time last year that Adrastus and his mother turned up. Like due is due, is it? And rivers run. But how does it all fit together?~~

Sheep growing on plants, sheep going mad...and now my concerns from a few days ago don't seem quite so unfounded, after all. Is this the bad thing we've been waiting for all this time? There were lambs then, and there are sheep now, and we're all in just as great of a mess now as we were when all those plagues were coming to pass. It's a bit unsettling how barricading up the Warehouse has become such a familiar routine by now. I hardly even have to think about it anymore.

I really do think it would be best if everyone were to stay inside as much as possible, and if you really must go out, then please do take proper...precautions. I know I'm certainly going to.

[OOC: Someone senses a conspiracy! Or, at least, is warily anticipating the coming sheepocalypse. She's lived through enough of these occurrences to know the warning signs by now, after all. And yes, there is indeed a sheep in the house with her at the moment (under heavy watch, of course). Fortunately, it's one of the harmless ones from the Plague Plot, so she'll be okay in that respect. But hey, she doesn't know that.]

Current Mood: uncomfortable

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Quest 149

( Handwritten//Off-Network )

[Voice Post]

[The audio begins with a sniffle and a sneeze; when Rosella does begin to speak, the pronunciation of certain words is slightly off, which is unmistakably due to a stuffy nose.]

I suppose that mistletoe curse is something of a yearly tradition, then, isn't it? I remember it coming up last year, too. It's rather upsetting a curse, though, if one isn't prepared for it. But of course, when things like that happen during curses, we really shouldn't hold it against the person. He or she couldn't help it, anyway, being cursed.

Kissing during curses really doesn't count, anyway. Or to break curses, for that matter.

I almost wonder if it's part of the curse, though, that everyone feels compelled to be out and about on that day? Goodness knows I ran into plenty of my friends on Saturday, and it seems they'd all had mostly the same idea as I'd had--getting Christmas shopping done. And that's two years now, that I've turned out to do my Christmas shopping on the mistletoe curse day. So--

[She sneezes abruptly.]

--maybe there's something to that, after all.

Ngh.

Well, in any case, it's over now. No matter what it is, it always comes to an end eventually. And I didn't mind it nearly so much this year as I did last year, either, so that's an improvement. Though I do apologize to anyone I did end up, er, encountering that day. If I could've helped it, I would've, but I'm afraid that's just how that curse goes.

[She sniffles, then sneezes again.]

And I think there's a curse today, too? But this one seems harmless enough, as well, from what I've seen. It's something to do with the heat and the snow, isn't it? It's a good way to catch a cold if one isn't careful, I supp--

[After another brief sneezing fit, followed by a great deal of sniffling, there is a shuffle of movement near the microphone.]

That's it, burned tongue or not, I'm going to give tea a try again.

[OOC: So Rosella made a trade with the deities to get Sam's dog Mojo here for Christmas, giving up all her senses (one at a time) in exchange. The catch? Turns out she's allergic to Mojo for the week, too. So today she has lost her sense of touch, is suffering from horrible allergies, and happens to be Mister Hundred and One, so she's radiating heat like it's going out of style, too. Whee!]

Quest 147

( Private//Hackable by Friends )

It's quiet out today, isn't it?

The barrier is patched. That strange man is gone. The animals are back, and they say that soon they'll let the people out, too, if they haven't already. Has anyone come back, or did they finally make it home, after all? I wonder.

Is it over? Can it finally, finally be over?

Sam, if you need me to do anything for you today, just yell for me. Or call on my device. I'll wake up, I promise.

~~Please just let it all be over.~~

[OOC: Hello, rock bottom. Fancy meeting you again! Fortunately, the only way to go from here is up, right? Also, this is kind of placeholdery; I have to step out soon, but I'll get back to all tags as soon as I can.]

Current Mood: numb

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Quest 146

[Accidental Video Post]

[Rosella is standing near the edge of the lake in Xanadu, her back to the camera as she gazes out over the water. This is the second time in two days that she's come out here, but this time she is alone, a solitary figure wrapped up snugly in a bright red cloak. She moves, and there is a brief glimmer of silver as she raises her flute to her lips and begins to play, gentle and sad. It's not a perfect rendition by any means, but she's not playing to perform; indeed, from the way she's acting, it's clear she doesn't even realize that her device is recording at all.

As she draws to a close, she slowly lowers her flute and stands a moment in silence before beginning to speak.]

It's strange, isn't it, to watch the world fall to pieces before your very eyes?

[She glances down at her flute, then back up again at the rip in the barrier, out over the water.]

Once upon a time, I would've believed it was really you out there. But how many times I have I learned, again and again, that all they ever do is spin out lies and half-truths and hollow promises? Maybe the truth really is that they'll never let us go.

Maybe I'm the awful one, that I can't find it in myself to believe so easily anymore.

This world and that world, and I'm halfway between. I don't know what the right answer is, Daddy. I don't know what the right thing to do is this time. I can't choose. I don't want to choose, don't make me...

[An abrupt pause, as she covers her face with her free hand and chokes on her words. A minute later, when she's managed to compose herself, she returns to speaking, softer than before.]

There was a day, once upon a time, when I accepted the thought that I'd never see any of you again. But I will. I know I'll see you again. I'll be home someday, I promise.

But this isn't home. It's nothing but a lie.

[She stands in silence a moment, the wind playing about the hem of her cloak and the curls of her hair, and then she raises the flute and begins to play once more.]

[OOC: Yeah, um, she's having a really bad week. So much for December looking up with the coming of the holidays? Right. Anyway, the link is not necessarily the exact song she's playing, but it's pretty and fit the mood, so there you go. Action for anybody out by the lake, Network for everyone else.]

Current Mood: tired

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Quest 144

( Private//Hackable by Friends )

Thanksgiving really is a lovely holiday, isn't it? It's such a nice idea, I think, spending a whole day celebrating and thinking about the things we're thankful for. Sometimes it's easy to forget just how many things there are to be thankful about, especially in the face of bad things that may come our way. It's a hard thing, living here in the City with the curses and all, but there's so much to be thankful for, too. There are wonderful people and astonishing things and opportunities that we never could've had if we'd never come here, and I'm thankful for all of them.

We don't have Thanksgiving in Daventry, though I rather wish we did. It's rather like Mother's Day, I suppose--another holiday I've celebrated here in the City that I'd never heard of until I came here, and one that I really would like to take back with me when I go home. It's such a nice idea. And I'm sure my father would particularly enjoy the part about having a great big feast with the whole family, too. Especially since pie seems to be one of the most important points of the whole celebration. He's never met a pie he didn't like, but pumpkin is one of the ones that he especially likes. And it'd be marvelous if I could figure out a way to take him some of that cream that comes in the funny can, to go with it, but I don't know how easy of a task that would be.

But the part that's important is the thanks, and that's something that anyone can do, anytime and anywhere. And I am thankful, very much so, even despite some of the awful things that have happened here. I'm not sorry I came to the City, and I'm thankful that I've made so many wonderful friends here. I wouldn't have ever had the chance to meet my best friend if I hadn't been brought here, and I rather think that's enough in itself to make all the rest of it worthwhile. And I'm thankful for the things I've learned, and the opportunities I've had, and the memories I've made and shared with all of you. Even the silly lessons, like learning to ignore most anything Kanda says. ~~That awful twit.~~

I'm thankful that, even while I'm missing home, I can still somehow feel that I'm at home. And I'm thankful that I have so many people I can count on, when I need them.

Blue, Miss Alice, thank you so much for having me the past few days. I really do appreciate it, and I'm sorry for the trouble I must've caused you, with the short notice and all. I won't impose any longer, and I'll find a way to make it up to you, I promise.

[OOC: And for those interested, my HMD thread is here!]

Current Mood: worried

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Quest 143

[Filtered AWAY from Sam Witwicky | Blue's Codes | Unhackable]

~~I don't even know what to say but~~

For any friends of Sam Witwicky, he's in the hospital right now.

To anyone that normally has occasion to go in the buildings near the Warehouse, please take caution. There's a ~~machine~~ trap in one of them. I didn't see any others, but there might very well be more, so please don't go there at all if you can at all help it. It's dangerous.

I know a lot of his friends have left the City, but please, for anyone still here, I'm sure it would mean a lot to him to see you, when he's allowed to have visitors. Even if you can only spare a little while, I'm sure it'd be greatly appreciated.

I think I'll be staying here for a while, too.

~~Blue, I'm scared~~

I don't know if this happened because of one of the boxes, or if it's something else entirely, but I think it would be wise if everyone were very careful from now on.

I don't know what else to do.

[OOC: Right, so. Sam got Saw-cursed, Rosella found him, and now he's in the hospital while she's a nervous wreck. Someone distract her?]

Current Mood: curious

Entry tags:

Quest 142

"The chance of a lifetime", is it?

It seems such a simple task, in return for such a great reward. Press a button and be sent home? Or if you'd prefer, press a button and receive a gift from home. And that's all that you have to do, all that you have to sacrifice--a simple push of a button, barely more than a moment's thought.

On the other hand, that push of a button may be making someone else sacrifice much, much more on your behalf.

I'd thought, before I found this box and note, that this all was just another deviation from the usual pattern of things--a weekend of random curses come a day early, rather than waiting for Saturday. But now it seems it's something else entirely, and I'm not even entirely sure if one could call this a curse. It's giving us the power of the deities for a day, isn't it? Granting us the choice whether or not to curse another person here. Except that the deities curse all of us at once, and we're only given the chance to curse one person with one press of one box.

It's strange, though, that we're offered a reward for doing it. Is that how it works for the deities, as well? Curse us all and receive a reward for it, just on a much grander scale than this scheme of boxes? I suppose one might say that the reward is the misery we experience to fuel the clock, but now I can't help but wonder if there might be more to it than that.

By offering such a reward, it's clear that we're all meant to push the button. There's no better way to lead a goat than by showing him a carrot, after all. But I wonder what it could mean, that the act of cursing another has been left to us today, rather than being reserved by the deities. Why give us the choice? Why suddenly make it so easy to go home, if that's what we want most, or to get something from home if that's what we want instead? All this time and all these curses, and suddenly we're given an opportunity like this?

Perhaps I've been here too long, and I'm growing too suspicious over things that I shouldn't. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," as the saying goes.

On the other hand, as the other saying goes, "If something seems too good to be true, it may very well be."

And perhaps that's the real curse, for those of us who decide not to inflict one on someone else--that now we'll have to wonder, from this point on, what would've happened if we had.

[OOC: Someone found her box and has been shooting glances at it all day. She's not going to press it, but the curiosity is killing her. ~~It's Pandora's Box, take two.~~]

Current Mood: pensive

Entry tags:

Quest 129

( Private//Hackable by Friends )

Well, we're ten days into October, and already I'm finding myself growing sick of it. Though I suppose, on the other hand, today being the tenth means we're just about a third of the way done with October, and in five more days we'll be just about halfway. So it's all in how one looks at things, I suppose.

I wonder--has anyone noticed a theme to the curses this month, the way that animals seemed to be the theme of the last? We had one day of discussing the state of our lives, one day when I'm told people couldn't help but go around taking things from others, one day of tea parties, and now a day of starting fires. One that could be good or bad, then one bad. Another that could be good or bad, and then one bad. Or perhaps it's threes--two bad and one good?

Or perhaps it's two, and then a reward--one emotional, one physical, and one treat. Starting the fires did seem to be linked to emotions running high, didn't it? I wonder, then. If the next curse prompts us all to take action in a silly way, and then the one following it is something harmless, that might be the beginnings of a pattern. I suppose there's really not much point in tracking the curses, since I'm sure as soon as we hit upon a pattern, the deities will go and change things on us again, but it's something to do, anyway.

And speaking of things to do, does anyone have a good pumpkin pie recipe, by any chance? I suppose I could always go look one up in the Library, but it's always more fun to trade with someone else. Jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pie and apples and cider and all the leaves turning colors in the trees...it's nice to stop and remember, every once in a while, that there are still some good things about October, despite all the dread that goes into it here in the City.

...I think I'm getting a bit homesick again.

Current Mood: safe

Entry tags:

Quest 128

After spending the better part of a week repeating back everyone else's words as they said them to me, it's really a refreshing and welcomed change to sit down and write some of my own, instead. We've had curses before that have prevented us from speaking our mind, either by forcing us to speak in verse or making us write in letters or changing the manner of it in some way or another, but I always thought of those as...as games, really. A new challenge to master, over the course of a day: could I make myself heard and understood, despite the obstacles and conditions the City had put in my way? And normally I can, and it's the challenge of succeeding at it that makes it an entertainment, not a punishment.

But I know you detest those sorts of curses, Cain. And now I think I have a better understanding as to why.

I have my heart back now. And I'm still a little--jumbled, I think, was the word I was using earlier this morning, when it first came back. But I'm terribly grateful to all of you who looked after me and worried for me and searched for answers for me while I was without it, and Princess Tutu, I can't possibly thank you enough for restoring it to me in the end. I'm deeply in your debt.

That's what it is, that condition, being so dull and emotionless and fragile--it happened because I ~~gave up~~ lost my heart. So if there is anyone still out there still behaving or feeling that way, or any friend of such a person worried sick about them, that's what it is. So don't lose hope. There's an answer after all.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and sometimes we learn the best lessons from the worst circumstances. Perhaps that's foolishly optimistic of me to say, but I've suddenly found myself able to be optimistic at all once again, and so I'm going to be selfish and indulge in it for now.

Someone very wise once told me that no matter what happens, things always get better, and that's the reason why we have to hold on with everything we have through the worst of times. I can't begin to count how many times I've repeated that to myself, in my time spent here in the City, and I imagine I'll say it to myself just as many times in the future still to come. But if there's one lesson I've learned from all this, it's that the worst circumstances hurt so much because they happen to the people we love so much.

It's an odd thing to think, isn't it? That perhaps sometimes suffering and hurting is better than feeling nothing at all, because at least when one is hurting, they're still feeling?

I've learned a lot of lessons from all this.

( Private to Ahiru )

There's twenty-four days left in October now. And I've vowed to go this whole month without letting the City get any misery out of me. It's not much, I know, but I'm going to keep to it as long as I can, and see how long it'll last me. With any luck, I'll make it the whole way through; I do hate losing, after all.

It helps that I can finally find it in myself to smile again.

[OOC: Rosella got her heart back last night at midnight, thanks to the efforts of Princess Tutu, so Zombie!sella is no more ~~thank goodness~~!]

Current Mood: blah

Entry tags:

Quest 127

[Accidental Voice Post]

Hey, cutie, why the long face?

Man, lay off her. Sorry, miss, ignore my dumbass fri--hey, miss? ...Miss?

She don't look so good, man.

Miss? Hey, is, uh...is everything okay? You look--are you all right?

I'm all right.

Dude, that ain't normal.

Do you...uh...you look kind of pale, miss. Maybe you should sit down...

Mm.

[A brief pause.]

Dude, this is fucked up. Let's get out of here.

Shouldn't we...like...I dunno, call somebody or something?

Hey, man, you do whatever. I'm outta here.

...Shit. Wait up!

[OOC: Plot time!. Rosella's had her heart stolen by Rue, and is now passively sitting and staring off into space up against the Fountain, thanks to the prompting of two helpful NPCs. The heart-stealing log is still ongoing, but she wouldn't be giving any specifics about what happened anyway--and if anyone directly asks who did this to her, she's been told to say the deities did it. ♥]

Current Mood: moody

Entry tags:

Quest 081

( Private//Hackable by Friends )

[Attempted Filtered from Alexis Hargreaves//Hackable]

So, if the Network is to be believed, it seems there's some sort of hair--creature marauding around the City now, and more importantly, that it's reported to have stolen a cake right out of someone's kitchen?

...I suppose it's a sign of just how long I've been in this City, that I'm really not surprised by all this. Concerned, yes, and worried, too, but hardly surprised. I haven't seen any signs of it getting into the Warehouse, though--at least, not yet. If it does, I do hope it avoids the kitchen; the last thing we need is to have to replace all the dishes again, if it should go rummaging around for any of the baked goods we're keeping in there.

All the same, venturing out today likely isn't the best of ideas. Sam, I'm afraid we may have to postpone that errand we were going to run, at least for a little while. ~~Or pick a different destination for it, as the case may be. How dank is it, I wonder, in the lower levels of the Warehouse...?~~

Honestly, it's rather like something out of a storybook, isn't it? Rapunzel, gone horribly wrong...

[OOC: Yeah...with everything that's been going on with her lately, the hair monster really is kind of the least of her problems at the moment. D:

Also, as a note, the security settings she's using in her journal have changed, thanks to recent IC developments; she's starting to try to keep things more private, and starting to better learn how to use filters, too. Buuuuut she's far from a genius with electronics and coding and stuff, hence the hackable part. And regarding her "hackable by friends" filter--if you think you're a friend, you probably are, and if you're not sure, feel free to ask!]