etrayalogs | OCTOBER MINGLE

Entry tags:

OCTOBER MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: October 25th - Early November
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, and some holiday fun!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Supernatural elements, temporary physical alterations, mild horror and jump scares, spooky scary skeleton robots, mild suggestion of compulsion or loss of control, mild body horror.

⏵ arrival ⏴
Welcome to Etraya! Everything is fine now. 😊

Arrival goes expected - or it does for the most part. Aurora greets newcomers in the hospital as they awaken, offers a brief explanation and gives them their earpiece so they can communicate with one another.

Around the hospital and outside of it, Companion Bots are hard at work decorating the city for Halloween—complete with festive touches like pumpkins, cobwebs, and glowing ghost decorations. The atmosphere is fun, light-hearted, and maybe just a little spooky. 🎃👻

Some carry buckets of candy, and offer those they come across a trick or treat. Except both options are, in fact, treats. 🍬 Tricks are treats specifically wrapped in a green wrapper that very clearly declares that they are tricks. Treats are wrapped in orange, and labeled with treat! Companion bots will recommend that those who do want to take a trick take them when they're beside their friends. There won't be any permanent effects from these, nor will they be terrible tricks - just fun ones! All effects last roughly 24 hours.

Giggle Drops cause uncontrollable giggling that bubbles up randomly, even during serious conversations.
Beasty Bites cause characters to grow small fangs, and they will begin craving red foods - apples, cherries, etc.
Bat Gummies cause small, bat-like shadows to follow characters around wherever they wander. These shadows are harmless, and super cute.
Pumpkin Puff is a cotton-candy-like treat, that causes their voices to change dramatically. Either becoming significantly deeper or perhaps very high-pitched, as if they've recently inhaled helium.
Floating Fudge gives characters the ability to float in the air! Just a few feet off the ground, but it's still fun. Right?

⏵ getting spooky! ⏴
Etraya is embracing the season - and maybe even going a little overboard.

Around the hospital, a few small pop-up shops are manned by festively dressed companion bots. They offer samples to everyone - although sampling isn't really necessary. After all, everything here is free!

Candy Shops: Perfect for stocking up on sweets and treats for the upcoming trick-or-treating event. These will not stock the tricks the companion bots offer around Etraya, but instead only carry harmless sweets. They do take custom requests, too, and are happy to create the treats others want!

Costume Shops: Find the perfect costume for Halloween! But beware... rumor has it, if you wear a costume, you might become whatever you dressed up as for a few hours. Those who put on vampire costumes may find themselves suddenly craving blood and growing fangs - those with werewolf costumes may find themselves feeling a little wolfish. These effects may last a few hours, up to a few days.

⏵ masquerade ⏴

In the spirit of mystery, Etraya will be hosting a Masquerade Ball outside the hospital through the nights of October 26th and 27th. Dance anonymously with other attendees and make new friends under the cover of your disguise. Everyone receives a single rose they can exchange with someone else throughout the evening. At the stroke of midnight, the roses will reveal the true identities of your masked dance partners. 🌹

⏵ all hallow's eve ⏴

On October 31st, multiple companion bots set up shop along one of the walkways through the larger island towards the center. With chairs and small booths set up, they offer candies out to trick-or-treaters who wander around through the first part of the night. Some of them will request trick-or-treaters to do a trick for them, to earn a bigger treat! They may ask characters to dance, sing, or show a talent unique to them. Can your character bend themselves into a pretzel? They want to see it, and will offer them a nice bracelet in exchange! Can they whistle super loud? Maybe they'll get a nice piece of kevlar armor after showing off. This can be anything within reason - bike parts, small weaponry, armor pieces, toys, canvases for painting. Please request these items HERE.

Not everything is as light-hearted as it seems, however. Aurora issues a warning to the citizens of Etraya: Do not stay outside after midnight. Strange happenings have been reported, and those who disobey may start seeing visions of past loved ones. The visions are compelling—guiding people away from the safety of the buildings and into the mysterious mist surrounding the outskirts.

But be careful, these spirits may not be as friendly as they seem.

If you come into contact with these ghosts, you’ll feel a chilling cold, leading to hypothermia-like symptoms. The longer you’re exposed, the worse it gets. Treatment? You’ll need to be warmed up quickly.

⏵ skellys! ⏴

The Companion Bots wanted to join in on the fun, so they painted themselves with glow-in-the-dark paint to look like skeletons. But in the dead of night, for those already suffering from the chilling touch of the ghosts, seeing glowing skeletons approach from the darkness might not be the most comforting sight. 🤖💀

Stay safe, warm up, and enjoy the festivities!

⏵ NOTES ⏴

For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh hey that looks great-

( immediately she turned towards him and made her way back, picking up the outfit he found. she held it up before her and looked up and down it. it was chic and hip, modest enough for her and it really suited her. )

Good find, I'll have to go with this then.

I don't think they will, and yeah I get it. I'm going to head back to the apartments myself soon, now that I got my prize and all.

( really, the excitement of the whole thing made her forget how cold she was and his words seemed to remind her she was dressed rather lightly.

so she wrapped her arms around herself and decided it was time to head out. )

I can walk with you there if you want?

(good job, him! although, to be fair, way too many kind of dressed edgy and out of the ordinary back in his world. seemed like for a lot of people, himself included, such a party style would simply be called Thursday...)

Party responsibly, alright?

[He nods at that. Of course, some people would (and have) call him a brat, but ignore them. They're wrong.]

We're all pretty new, so I doubt they've had any time to malfunction.

[It's always something to keep in the back of one's mind. If Aurora can be compromised there's no reason not to think the bots are immune.]

.... Accelerator. [That's it, that's his whole 'name.']

I can assure you my binge drinking days are over.

( did she still occasionally smoke? sure but she enjoyed things in moderation. after all, who was to stop her from underage drinking in this world anyways? )

I take it you're going to that masquerade thing too?

"Disappeared without a trace? Does that mean that their world ended up not passing the test?" If no world has been given the pass, then it means that those who vanished must have not proven themselves worthy. He wonders what it is that they did to get ejected.

He tips his head in acknowledgment and appreciation.

"Pleasure to meet you, too, Hob." A brief smile graces his face. "You know, I've not told anyone. But my world is called 'Earth.' I suddenly realize that other worlds might not be called that, hm." Fascinating.

[ Krouse is waiting in the recreation room leaning on the pool table opposite the door leading into the space, a lean, lanky young man in a red hood. He has a plastic bottle of vodka dangling from one hand, a pair of red Solo cups stacked together in the other, and a gun holstered under his hoodie. That last one isn't for Sam.

When Sam shows up, Krouse nods, then stacks the red Solo cups side by side on the pool table between them. He fills both up to a third, which he guesses is a couple shots worth. He sets the bottle aside on the green velvet. It's all room temperature, so no condensation.

This all done without a tremor or a crack, Krouse braces his hands on the edge of the pool table and gives Sam a searching, guarded look. Despite Krouse's attitude on the network, he doesn't look hostile here. Just, at first, brittly resigned. ]

Krouse.

[ He indicates himself with a hand gesture, since he knows Sam's face from the video post. ]

Vodka first?

[ If there was ever a 'vodka first' time, this is probably it. ]

Edited 2024-11-08 00:10 (UTC)

I mean, I would describe it as normal. But I'm from there.

[ also she's with proximity to murders more often than she cares to think about. ]

Magic's not really a thing there and the technology isn't nearly as advanced. What about you?

Yeah, I guess that is one way of putting it.

[ Vincent tucks his hands into his pockets as he walks along. He tilts his head at the costumes and decor; nothing really speaks to him. Nothing holds the same fascination as his town. Of course, now that he's away from it; he feels like a fog is lifting. ]

I wasn't always in that town. I left for a short time. [ He barely avoids saying: "Engaged with outsiders." Vincent recognizes how that sounds and bites the words back. ] Spent enough years outside to appreciate the way that people gave themselves scares. Charming, really.

It's all just a bit of magic and fun... safe without any consequences.

The less likely a person is to be embarrassing, the more embarrassing stories they have. It's kind of an inverse law.

[ Krouse leans in, like he's confiding a secret. ]

If someone is consistently embarrassing, those are anecdotes. Part of a general life pattern, right? That's not really a story, per se. When someone who's usually on the ball blows it, though? That's a story. You have to find out why someone who isn't embarrassing got themselves into that predicament. There's a narrative arc, motive, cast of characters, the whole thing.

So yeah. In your case? There has to be a decent catalogue.

[ That one is on Krouse. He drags his mouth into a thinned out smile and, with a tip of his head towards the door, starts walking again. No time like the present to get the hell out of the lobby and into...whatever was waiting for them. ]

There aren't many beautiful ways to die. Must be inconvenient.

[ He'll skim right by the specifics of being eaten. Instead, he'll shoulder out the front doors into the foggy cold, pivoting lightly to face forward with keen eyes. ]

[ Vax is surprised he gets such a calm response. He sort of expected he wouldn't be believed when he talked about such things. ]

Your daughter?

[ Would that make him a god? Vax is a bit confused. ]

Hell is ruled by another where I come from.

[ Vax is a little alarmed when his wrist is grabbed, but he quickly realizes this person is just trying to help him, so he follows after the stranger. The urge to jam a dagger into a robot is strong, but maybe leaving is the better course of action.

Once they're out of the hospital, the bot does not follow, which is a relief. ]

Hey, I think it stopped now.

Oh.

[ Vax knows he should probably simmer down a little. It's just difficult, having seen something masquerading as his mother, but Castiel has only tried to help him. He shouldn't snap at the poor guy. ]

Mine are not.

[ Incorporeal, he means. Although, there are clearly no wings on Vax right now. ]

Is it normal for people to have wings where you come from?

[Dazai hums, expression easing out into an actual smile as he follows behind Krouse -- it's not as hollow as the one he'd approached Krouse with, but there's something almost melancholy about it as well.]

Mm...that only makes the ones that exist all the more beautiful, no? If you think about it, many of the beautiful things in this world are special cases of death and destruction. What are fireworks but a series of powerful explosions, after all? Seashells, too, are a product of death, left behind when the mollusk whose secretions created it passes away. The cute little plastic knick-knacks you can get at any convenience store are made from the fossilized remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.

[Dazai may or may not spend, uh. A lot of time thinking about death. Ahem.]

But that's neither here nor there, I suppose. I've decided I'm going to die together with a beautiful woman, anyway, so the method won't matter quite as much as if I were doing it by myself.

Edited 2024-11-08 05:27 (UTC)

[ He doesn't say anything to that. Not at first. Injustice was part of his formative years. Hernan knew it well enough. But a moment later, he glances in Jason's direction. ]

How much injustice have you experienced, Jason?

Do you have any inklings as to why your world should or should not be saved?

(maybe, just maybe, their thoughts on the world matter. to what extent, he's unsure. it's something he'll have to look at with greater attention... but if not the world itself, perhaps the individual makes a difference.)

Technology like the bots is still in development, but in terms of magic, something similar might be of attention. We're surrounded by land we haven't explored, and there are things we cannot explain as of now.

I wouldn't blame you for it... We have been kidnapped after all.

(at least, have fun! he never cared about it personally. he's not stopping her.)

Yeah, there's not much to do other than that.

[Jason huffs out a humorless laugh]

By the time I was 12, I already knew how to solo steal tires off of cars and what a person with a drug overdose looks like. No kid should have to go through any of that to survive.

[ Harold has never in his life been the type to trot out his qualifications, so he doesn't start now, but he does spare a sarcastic internal comment about someone questioning his math and reasoning skills. It's just very ironic.

He shortly gets his suspicions confirmed that she's speaking of this more as theology than as straight mathematics. Harold hesitates briefly before handing over his glasses; it's his only pair here, and he'd be frustrated to have to replace them. But ultimately he believes in John's judgment of character and he thinks this is perhaps just a girl raised in a very different situation than normal.

So he hands them over, allowing her to continue her explanation uninterrupted. He's an attentive student. ]

[ Harold worries about everyone. It doesn't distress him unduly; he just assumes that's part of the price to pay for being a compassionate person. ]

It has nothing to do with fragility, [ he disagrees. Harold has concrete, well thought out moral positions, and he already has a stance here, too. ] Enduring hardship is not a testament to strength -- it is just hardship.

[ It doesn't make you better, or grow your character, or make you wise somehow. Harold emphatically does not believe people need to experience suffering to be and do good. Therefore, there is no reason to let anyone go through something unnecessarily, no matter how resilient or capable they are. Preventing pain and loss--

Well. That's all he himself lives for anymore. ]

... Which part? What did I say that spoke to you? [ He's not totally following, and is already invested in looking after Heather however he can. Even if she does keep making him feel old. ]

Harold's hardly going to dignify that falsehood with a response, but he's also not going to openly critique his coping mechanisms, so he ignores it entirely. He only glances up briefly from his reading when he hears John's voice.

"You said you have groceries? Perhaps you could make us something. In all the excitement, I skipped some meals today."

That's true, though more to the point he's assuming John did, too. He realizes it's easier for John to take care of him than of himself, so he'll do him the kindness of giving him a task and making it ostensibly for his benefit. He's still not comfortable leaving John alone when he has no way of monitoring him -- for his sake and for Harold's. It's frightfully unsafe here and Harold can admit to himself that he's still unnerved by everything, has a silent gratitude for John insisting on living next door in case something should happen.

I believe so. I haven't yet managed to put together all the details of what went on before my arrival, but I heard about Eos.

[ Not having all the details is very annoying to him, as Harold usually operates from a position of having all the information, but he won't express that here. ]

[ He gives a short, small nod. ] Yeah, they... there was something out there in their town. Something strong--something related to reality itself. Seemed it only came out at night, and the companion bots over there--they're not like the ones here. They're just there to do their job. If you didn't go back when they warned you, they'd kill you. [ He shrugs here, his gaze again lowering down. ]

Theory was it was better than running into whatever that entity was. I don't know if it had something to do with what was here... My friend said it had the same energy, but...

[ But it wasn't exactly doing anything to reality. Gorgug knows what it was doing, intimately, and so he trails, not knowing how to finish that thought, picking at the side of a thumb nail. ]

That's how that place was run, [ he finally decides on, if leaving the subject of the entity, the thing. ] You follow the rules. Wasn't really any fun.

[ He sees them now, difficult to miss someone who's coming in such close range, and--doesn't he feel useless? At a time where his axe would be of some use to have, to try and wave around and stop this. Whatever this guy is saying doesn't mean much to Gorgug, except being this close to a fight that sounds like it could get rough.

Like: this guy killing someone. Even if he's accusing her of murder as well. Something about this just seems--not right, ridiculous, even if that's because it's happening at all, or the way that the girl sounds as she has to deal with this guy.

It takes him a moment to figure out something he can do, and when Richie's visage comes in close to Sam, Gorgug raises out a hand--and in Richie's face, small sparks of light appear in front of his eyes, a magical trick. They can't harm, but they're still blinding to receive, and he's hoping to give Sam a chance to do what she will.

(If it'll even affect him, given what he truly is.) ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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OCTOBER MINGLE

LOL NOOOOO not that comparison

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I HAVE NO IDEA WHO IT IS KJSFDHSKJH I GOOGLED YELLOW GIRL SUPER HERO OUTFIT LMAO

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it's from a rough show haha 'the boys'

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wisconsin's cheapest vodka | samil

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cw suicide ideation and being morbid about death again

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OH i heard about it

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