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chismosos2021-01-18 09:11 pm
historiadores) wrote in chismosos2021-01-18 09:11 pm
Entry tags:
test drive meme #2
TDM #2
NIGHTS
It’s late. Very late in Caona, and the driver refuses to let anyone inside his car. Carros públicos are the typical way to get around the city short of owning your own car. They take on several passengers, picking them up and dropping them off along a prescribed route. But after sundown it becomes a problem finding any willing to take on passengers. Needling, cajoling, even bribing fails. The driver, leaning against the car door, remains unmoved. The only way he is letting anyone in, in fact, is if they show him their navel.
Why? Because the dead lack navels, of course. No driver is going to let the dead in their car. Risk getting stiffed on the fare? In this economy?
What’s that? You can’t show your navel for reasons? Well, that sounds like a you problem, doesn’t it?
STARS
At first glance, there is nothing particularly beautiful about the bay, especially when enduring an assault by truly vicious mosquitoes. (Repellent is liberally applied, but the bloodthirsty creatures find a way.) It looks like any other on the island. Surrounded by mangroves, shallow close to the shore, then abruptly deepening as it stretches out to sea.
During a new moon, the waters in Turí are uniformly black…until they aren’t. Disturb the surface—with a boat, an oar, a stone, hands and feet—and the water acquires a ghostlike shimmer. The waves washing ashore leave behind constellations of stars that live and die in the blink of an eye. To dive in is what swimming in the night sky must be like: eyes open, it looks like floating in an arm of the Milky Way.
Stay a while and the color changes. There is no pattern to it, only the knowledge that different people paint the waters a different color. Legend says that lovers who swim together in the waters will know if they’re meant to be…
HUNT
In Santa Cecilia, the ranchers are organizing. Last night, six more animals were found dead—two cows, three sheep and a goat—all drained of their blood. The culprit’s name is known to all: el chupacabra. A beast of the hills. It had been many years since the last rash of attacks, and it had been hoped that the creature might finally be dead. No such luck.
Word spreads. The people gather in the ranch where three of the animals were slaughtered. Plans are made to flush the creature out of its hiding place and put an end to it before it can continue killing their livestock…or worse. No one saw the chupacabra. But what else could possibly have done this?
Whatever you choose to do, do it quick. The sun’s setting and these hills aren’t the safest place to be…
NAVIGATION • IC COMM • OOC COMM • MEME COMMWhy? Because the dead lack navels, of course. No driver is going to let the dead in their car. Risk getting stiffed on the fare? In this economy?
What’s that? You can’t show your navel for reasons? Well, that sounds like a you problem, doesn’t it?
STARS
During a new moon, the waters in Turí are uniformly black…until they aren’t. Disturb the surface—with a boat, an oar, a stone, hands and feet—and the water acquires a ghostlike shimmer. The waves washing ashore leave behind constellations of stars that live and die in the blink of an eye. To dive in is what swimming in the night sky must be like: eyes open, it looks like floating in an arm of the Milky Way.
Stay a while and the color changes. There is no pattern to it, only the knowledge that different people paint the waters a different color. Legend says that lovers who swim together in the waters will know if they’re meant to be…
HUNT
Word spreads. The people gather in the ranch where three of the animals were slaughtered. Plans are made to flush the creature out of its hiding place and put an end to it before it can continue killing their livestock…or worse. No one saw the chupacabra. But what else could possibly have done this?
Whatever you choose to do, do it quick. The sun’s setting and these hills aren’t the safest place to be…
no subject
—Ew, no! What the hell's wrong with you?!
[ fifteen-year-old kai backs away from the car, torn between kicking the man or screaming for help. the driver, recognizing her for an appeared, explains, but she does not believe him. then she overhears the same explanation from a different person to another passenger. ]
Wait, wait… You're serious?
[ you know, in the grand scheme of things…the dead not having bellybuttons is not that weird. ]
STARS
[ clad in her underwear, kai dives into the water. even after seeing the glimmer of lights left by the waves, her surroundings flaring to brilliant blue life surprises her. the salt burns her eyes, but she keeps them wide open. she continues to beat the water, watching the lights, until the desire for air becomes great.
she alternates swimming laps with mindless floating. every so often, she lifts her hand to trace the lit paths the water takes across her skin. when she tires, she lets the waves push her close to shore. there, a magnificent deer bows its regal head close to hers. kai smiles and stretches a hand up to touch an antler.
a sound catches her attention. she turns to find the culprit. the deer vanishes. ]
Oh. Hey.
[ she idly waves. the water around her no longer glows blue, but a soft gold. ]
GARDENS
[ after so long tending to gardens around mutazione, it feels weird to not have any to work on. she feels weird. rootless, actually. so kai puts down roots.
funnel fungi near the shelter's wall where the soil is always damp and the sun won't burn the delicate skin of the mushroom tops. mint palms in a corner where they will get shade. and mummer's onion and bluenanas and climber's rope and blackpool lilies, taking extra care with them when she covers the seeds with the mud of the stream.
seeds planted, kai settles in the middle of her new garden. her drum sits on her lap. she beats out a rhythm. and the pants around her grow. purple leaves drape off the mint palm. the bluenanas open gorgeous red flowers. the lily throws shoots out of the water before fanning open over the surface. new harmonies join and build.
when kai stops playing, the music continues. quietly, hauntingly, the plants sing melancholia. ]
gardens,
[ The boy gingerly hops over the new growth poking up through the earth, eyes crinkled in delight. It's a strange way to incant, but no one could argue with the results: the garden is beautiful, and while the music's not like any he's heard before... it's sort of pretty, too.
But the girl in the middle of it all is actually more of a novelty than the rapidly-unfurling foliage. Seiðr is one thing, but he's still getting used to the sight of other kids his age. Or, okay, near enough— she looks older, though he couldn't say by how much, and like everyone else he's met in the shelter so far, probably comes from another land very, very far from his home. Maybe even one just as weird as Llave.
He's immediately bubbling over with curiosity about her, about it, a dozen questions fighting at once on his tongue. The most obvious wins out first: ]
Are you a witch?
[ As he asks, he pokes an onion flower that's just popped open. ]
no subject
pulling her feet in toward her, kai wraps her arms around her legs. her drum sits on the grass beside her. ]
A shaman, I guess. [ she pairs her answer with a little shrug. ] My grandfather is one. He's been teaching me.
no subject
[ He comes to a stop in a clear patch, looking round fully at her handiwork. ]
This is amazing. Can you make anything grow?
no subject
[ she nods to the purple swaying palm leaves. its song joins the others in sweetly sad harmony. ]
But things are weird here, too, so…maybe. What do you think?
no subject
[ He mirrors her, plopping down in the dirt, legs pulled up. ]
I bet you can. You can probably do all sorts of other things, too, if you're a shaman.
[ Which he imagines is much like a witch, and witches can do far more than just make plants grow. ]
no subject
instead, kai smiles. ]
Whatever I find out, I'll tell you first. I'm Kai.
no subject
It's good, because he thinks maybe he'll be able to learn something from her... and make sure she doesn't hurt herself, too. He's seen the incredible things an accomplished practitioner can do, but he's also seen the gory remnants of a human soul, when seiðr's power was allowed to consume one unchecked.
Growing gardens, at least, seems safe. ]
I'm Atreus. So— what kind of land are you from?
no subject
[ she smiles, thinking of toby and how he must be faring. her mother is a menace in the kitchen on a good day. kai usually handled the cooking for that reason. she briefly entertains herself with the thought of toby sitting on the countertop, his chubby little baby arms pouring the coffee.
kai looks down at her hands. she rubs a clod of dark earth from her knuckles. ]
But I was spending the summer in Mutazione. That's where my grandfather lives. It's an island just off the coast. Most people avoid it because it's…weird.
no subject
[ Kai radiates fondness, and Atreus tilts his head thoughtfully, for a moment letting himself imagine what it must be like to have a very small sibling at home.
—Except Father's there, and, no, actually, he can't picture it at all.
His brow knits when she continues, ]
...Even weirder than here? [ How. ] What's wrong with it?
no subject
[ her voice acquires a harsher note, not offended, but insistent. she knows why people avoid the island, but she also knows how beautiful it is. there's nothing wrong with mutazione, and there's nothing wrong with its people. ]
It used to be part of the mainland. Something happened.
[ her mind's eye is full of old visions. there was a brilliant line of fire falling from the sky. everything flashed brighter, brighter than any day. it exploded against the ground. the city, the sea, its people…swallowed by light. ]
It became an island. Ever since then, the plants and animals and people on it changed. Mutated. [ she motions to her little garden. ] These plants are from Mutazione.
no subject
[ He plucks a leaf from the ground, holding it up to the sunlight for a better look. ] They're still plants.
Why stay away? Are people scared of changing too?
no subject
I think people are scared of what they don't understand.
no subject
If they don't understand something, then they should try to learn.
no subject
People are often stupid. That's why we have to tell them when they're being wrong. So they can learn.
no subject
So many problems would be solved if people just knew the truth, I think.
no subject
--------------------------------------------
[Seriously??! YunXi took a rather shocked step back and one arm covered the front and neck of her dress defensively. She would have used both, but her left arm was still in a sling. The jolt of movement made her wince but she wasn't one to back down from expressing her outrage.]
Telling a young woman to show her body to you... and at such a place and hour?? How can you face your ancestors' memorials! I have a mind to turn you in for lecherous intent! Let me tell you that I am a properly married woman, not that you should ask an unmarried woman to undress for you either, but I'm very faithful to my husband and NOT interested in taking up any new trades for money!! You're lucky that I'm willing to leave it at lecturing you on improving your moral conduct!
[The poor driver was obviously rather flustered and attempting to give the petite young woman who was obviously not a native a fuller explanation, but YunXi's ability to steamroll was preventing that from happening. Even the tiny moment when she had to take a breath wouldn't be enough for the flustered and embarrassed driver to recover before she launched another round of scolding.]
Hunt
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[Most people would avoid the hills when warned there was a blood-sucking demonic creature roaming that area, but YunXi wasn't most people. She'd also noticed that the old goat that had been poisoned and left tied to a post near the hills had been completely untouched even though it had also died.]
I wonder if it's anything like you, Xiao Du? This chu-phe-ca-bha...
[YunXi had changed into a set of tunic and pants favored by local ranchers but had fully bound her hair into a bun to keep it out of the way. If anyone happened to be around to hear her walking down what was obviously a well-used cattle trail as the sun was starting to set might think she was talking to herself.]
(Alternatively...) Arrival
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[The last thing she remembered was drinking poison and stabbing herself in the heart. YunXi had thought the afterlife would be quieter than this but there was an annoyingly regular chirping sound along with a small whoosh of wind, under those two was the soft hum of voices.
Blood loss... Unknown poison... Weapon... Quarantine... YunXi could catch certain words more and more as she started regaining consciousness.]
Three poisons... [It was a weak whisper, but anyone close to the hospital bed would notice her lips moving at least. The doctors had been too worried about an Arrived's strange medical condition and had left her under the watchful eye of volunteer Arrived willing to help their own.] My blood is the guide. Needles... [Her right hand started moving around as if trying to find something along her left side.] My needles...
no subject
Even the natives took a few hours to notice that a ball of white was fur rather than wool, and that the fur was from not just one tail. The government team that extracted the newly Arrived would have no trouble at all since a certain white nine-tailed fox was sleeping off quite a bit of alcohol. She'd wake up eventually and be used to not recognizing where she was.
Stars:
Bare feet disturbed the water's edges with little care. Qian was probably one of the only beings the mosquitos weren't feasting from simply due to her lack of permission as an elder goddess. It was a beautiful night, but Qian's usually blank expression was lined with pain and anger.
no subject
[ perhaps your character was among those called. a new appeared, they're told. she showed up alone. they're looking for anyone that may know her. no one does. so they pivot: would you be willing to come talk with her? it might help to hear from someone in her shoes. not a lot of other information is given. privacy, you understand. only her name (minako) and her age (16).
or perhaps you're another recent appeared, also fresh out of quarantine, also waiting for the powers that be to decide where you will go next. regardless, to find her, the path is the same: through the door leading to the fenced yard where a petite girl with spectacularly long golden hair is peering up at the sky with a look of intense concentration— ]
SERVE!
[ the volleyball smashes against the wall beside the door, narrowly missing the first person through the door too. minako claps her hands over her mouth. her blue eyes are huge. ]
Oh, shit, sorry! Sorry! Did I get you?
[ sailor venus is on the scene. ]
wildcard —
[ come up with your own scenario! or tug on my sleeve for one. ]