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∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ ([personal profile] etrayamods) wrote in [community profile] etrayalogs2024-10-25 01:34 pm

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

equivo: (pic#17106081)

all hallow's eve | osamu dazai

[personal profile] equivo 2024-10-31 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ The last time Krouse received instructions about a curfew, there was a whole production about it. He'd been as cautious as he felt was reasonable at the time. Work as a group, coordinate with others, go in with a plan, have a strategy.

Tonight, he heads down the stairs (always the stairs, these days) on sneakered feet, wearing jeans and his usual red hoodie, hands tucked in his pockets. It's half an hour after midnight. He thinks that's long enough that most people with the same idea will have already filtered out into the dark.

He doesn't have a plan. He hasn't told anyone what he's doing. He's just doing it. Off the cuff. See what happens. He's no good at the long plays, anyway.

Krouse walks across the lobby casually, like he knows exactly what he's doing, not looking around like he expects to be stopped. That usually gets him past most people. ]
unaliveyourself: (pic#17455221)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-10-31 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
[He's been suspicious of the warning all night. It's just so vague, all but daring people to go and investigate outside after midnight. Perhaps a test, in and of itself? Dazai isn't sure, but he wants to know. Even so, he's not so foolish as to go on his own without any kind of backup or any connections in this place to collect him if he doesn't come back. So instead, he comes out to the lobby, with an eagle eye for anyone who happens to be heading outdoors by themselves. Certainly a couple of them will be foolish enough, and when indeed one such person wanders by the door, Dazai casually comes by to intercept him.]

Hey, hey, are you planning on going outside? It's supposed to be dangerous, you know! So we should use the buddy system, don't you think?
equivo: (pic#17247386)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-10-31 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ Fuck.

Krouse almost just keeps walking. It'd be easy. He's past the point of caring about general public opinion given how thoroughly he's torched all plausible deniability about himself lately.

But he's not really past caring about it. Old habits he hasn't quite shaken, maybe. Or not wanting to deal with any more specific fallout from something he actively did, even if it's as minor as ignoring somebody in the apartment lobby.

So, reluctantly, Krouse stops. He takes a breath, then turns his head, a small, even smile in place. ]


Yeah. I was hoping to bump into someone else, actually. Safety first, after all.

[ The lie comes smooth and easy. Krouse doesn't care if it's believable. He barely cares if the guy lets it stand or not. ]
unaliveyourself: (pic#17481386)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-10-31 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[Is it believable? Eh. Dazai will give it a 7 out of 10. Good thing he wasn't looking for believable. He smiles back cheerfully, pleased with the agreement.]

We're on the same page, then! May I ask the name of my exploration buddy for the night?
equivo: (never had an issue)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-02 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
Krouse.

[ Even odds on if the guy recognizes it or not, Krouse figures. He's been around long enough he almost qualifies as a veteran, which doesn't bother him at all. He shoves his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets and keeps smiling, blithely. ]

This isn't my first time breaking a curfew, so you stopped the right guy, I guess. Who are you?
unaliveyourself: (renametest1)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-02 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Oho? Interesting. Dazai will come back to that. But first--]

Ah, blackhat-kun! We finally meet properly. It's Dazai~

[That guy you had an incredibly normal game with and didn't at all get into incredibly intense and uncomfortable topics with. Surely, this outing too can only be normal and unremarkable.]
equivo: (mama raised me right)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-04 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ On the one hand, Dazai is out of his mind.

On the other hand, Dazai is out of his mind in a way that means Krouse might not have to deal with someone attempting to be sane at him about anything, which would honestly be welcome.

Krouse's mouth twitches in a small, crooked smile, his eyes settling into exhaustion as soon as he stops trying to maintain a facade of not being tired. ]


Would you rather guy.

[ He nods, his shoulders sliding into a new set of distinct tension. More alert, but less closed off, or at least that's how it seems. ]

At least I know you know how to make decisions. [ He shrugs. ] Can I assume I don't have to babysit you out there?
unaliveyourself: (pic#17497126)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-04 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a good thing, perhaps, that the Dazai of 22 is the one that's come here to Etraya. Just a few years ago, he would likely have tried to recruit this kid into the Port Mafia. He has potential, it's obvious. He's not half bad at schooling his reactions, keeping his cards close to his chest while trying to get a peek at others' unnoticed. With more practice and an environment that nurtured those budding instincts, Krouse could become a terrifying person. He intends to keep an eye on the kid now that he's met him nonetheless; Dazai has the sense that Krouse is at a point in his life where he is especially easy to mold. If Fukuzawa were around, he'd push him in that direction, as he had with Atsushi. He's not a safe harbor for a child, not like Odasaku was; he doesn't have the temperament for it. But Krouse is interesting, and Dazai doesn't especially want to see him come to harm. So he'll keep watch. And maybe, if necessary, chase away some of the darker shadows before they can get their claws in.

Unfortunately, that also means Krouse gets to deal with Dazai's general existence for the foreseeable future, and that includes shit like watching his eyes grow very wide, practically sparkling.]


Ahh? Babysit? Does that mean Krouse-kun would be my knight in shining armor if I needed it??
equivo: (mama raised me right)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-04 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Krouse is almost past suspecting that Dazai either has some access to the information database Aurora has on them, or some variant of a power like Lisa's. Almost. When Dazai picks those innocuous words in particular, the suspicion flares back up, but Krouse is even-keeled enough tonight to know that he's responding with a kneejerk surge from a raw nerve.

His hands curl up in his hoodie pockets all the same, his smile regaining and then losing its fixed quality as he makes himself relax. ]


No promises.

[ If Dazai does have Krouse's file, or he's just reading Krouse like an actual book, then Dazai will know what's not funny about that joke. If he's just a guy who happens to get very fucking lucky on Minesweeper, he'll just know he got a hit. ]

But if something tries to kill us out there, I'll doublecheck if you want it to eat you before I book it. Sound fair?
unaliveyourself: (pic#17498013)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-05 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
[Dazai might be uncannily good at reading people and predicting situations, but he is ultimately just a guy, at the end of the day. He has made some guesses from their little game, but this time it really was just a tease — so when the younger man flinches so obviously, Dazai notes it of course, at the back of his mind, though the source isn’t quite clear. He’d previously noted a clear discomfort with the judgment and censure of others, so to his mind it’s likely either that Krouse had himself been indeed one of those types, and had some major failure that ruined his life, or … maybe one of those types failed him, and nobody ever cared. Or didn’t believe him, because he wasn’t anybody important in comparison.

Dazai doesn’t dig into it just now; he doesn’t even let on that he noticed the reaction at all. Instead, he scrunches his face up in displeasure at that second part.]


Ugh. Getting eaten sounds messy and unpleasant. Not a beautiful way to die at all, no thank you.
equivo: (pic#17106071)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-08 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ 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. ]
unaliveyourself: (pic#17489007)

cw suicide ideation and being morbid about death again

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-08 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
[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)
equivo: (how'd you know that's just what i like?)

cw suicide ideation and being morbid about death again

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-13 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ So, he's like this offline too. Krouse should have figured. It's not like Dazai was showing immense restraint about his monologues in text, so why not out loud?

As far as monologues about the beauty of death go, Krouse is slotting this one fairly high, which may reflect mostly on how most of those monologues have been delivered by people in the middle of trying to kill him or other people at the time. Dazai's chosen target for assassination is himself, which makes it automatically less of a pressing external concern.

So Krouse shoots him a wry smile, hands loosening in his hoodie as they walk into the mist. ]


Yet another reason to be glad I'm not a beautiful woman.

[ Not something he's interested in for a wide variety of reasons he gets to add 'not being asked to participate in Dazai's impeding death' to now, apparently. ]

So you're a romantic?
unaliveyourself: (pic#17489004)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-15 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
[Dazai can't say he's given that matter particularly a great deal of thought; he enjoys the company of beautiful women, certainly, but being one? Eh. In the Port Mafia, it wouldn't have made much difference, either way.

At any rate, the question is a far more interesting topic of conversation. Dazai hums, pillowing his head against his arms as they walk.]


You could say that. [Whether or not you should is another question.] Though I never did quite understand the appeal of "death do us part". Humans fear death, and yet nobody wants to be the one left behind, either.

[A paradox, though it's hardly a unique one. To live is to bear with contradictions upon contradictions. Most people's choices don't tend to be rational. There's entire branches of psychology based on that simple fact.

He turns to Krouse, thoughtful.]


Are you familiar with Romeo and Juliet, by chance? I'm still not sure to what degree different Earths overlap.
equivo: (pic#17106079)

cw: suicide reference

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-17 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ Krouse's jaw ticks as they walk farther from the apartment building into the fog, the dense mist eating up visibility. He'd love for that to be why he's tense. Line of sight powers and their limitations being what they are, it'd be reasonable.

But no. Dazai has to be going off about being left behind, Romeo and Juliet. ]


Not my favourite Shakespeare. [ He says, his attempt at ease feeling flat in the cold air. ] A couple of horny teenagers killing themselves for a crush? They barely even knew each other. They'd have gotten over it. Just seems dramatic to me.

[ The last time he read an excerpt of it was in English class, before Noelle. It hadn't impressed him. He'd been the recipient of a few groans and disapproving noises when he brought up how pointless it all seemed.

Nobody wants to be the one left behind. Maybe he gets it now.

Ahead, in the fog, something - someone - moves. Krouse goes still, staring ahead. ]


You see that?
unaliveyourself: (pic#17498006)

cw death, grief, depression, SI

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-17 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
They might have carried on, true, but it wouldn't necessarily have been better if they lived.

[That's perhaps not a surprise to hear, coming from Dazai, but his thoughts aren't quite as simple as wanting to die himself, here. His voice is soft as he presses on, that thread of melancholy still twisting through it.]

I always thought the tragedy wasn't so much that they died, really, as that they were each alone at their end, unable to bear the thought of being left without the other.

[Would either of them have gotten over it? He doesn't know, but he doubts it. It's been four years since Odasaku died, and Dazai isn't over it. He'll never forget watching the life go out of his friend's eyes, feeling his body go limp in his arms. It haunts him awake and in dreams both, death by a thousand cuts, slowly bleeding him out rather than ending it all at once. Even if Romeo had walked out of that crypt still breathing, he wouldn't be the same, ever again.]

If they'd been able to end things together, escaping the control and judgment of their respective families for an eternal rest from which they could never be torn apart -- that would be more meaningful than even 'happily ever after', I think.

[Odasaku had been satisfied, going into his death. He had taken Gide down with him; Gide who had been carrying on as a man already dead yet still walking, searching for the one who could finally bring him peace. It's not quite that he begrudges either of them that; he only truly resents Mori, whose machinations set them on that collision course. Who used and spent Odasaku's life like it was nothing.

But then there's something in the fog, and Dazai's thoughts are drawn back to the present.]


I suppose we're about to find out what happens after midnight.
Edited (word nitpicking) 2024-11-17 03:44 (UTC)
equivo: (pic#17106087)

cw death, grief, depression, SI

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-19 08:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Krouse should have left him in the fucking lobby.

It's not a fair thought, but he's not a fair person. He's a curdled, bitter, spiteful asshole, and the only thing keeping him from finding an excuse to ditch Dazai and his philosophical musings is a bone deep obstinacy about letting things get to him.

Krouse wasn't even there. He should have been there, and he wasn't, and they didn't even let him see it. Every time he thinks about it, he has to imagine bubbling pavement under the searing light of a miniature sun.

He's a tense, rigid line next to Dazai, all angles and compression, his eyes hard and sharp as he stares ahead. His nails dig into his palms in his pockets, but it's never good enough. ]


Or maybe he should have been smart enough to leave her the fuck alone in the first place.

[ The words slip out in a tight mutter, and Krouse shoves past them like irrelevant obstacles. ]

If you do anything stupid, it's your problem. [ Krouse says, tersely. ] Just don't -

[ He doesn't finish whatever he was about to say, because there's a flash of red in the fog. A muted, plain red, off the rack dyed cloth, conceivably no more than a shade different than the hoodie Krouse always wears, and he knows. He knows, because it's always, always one thing with him. It's only ever one thing. ]

Hey.

[ Krouse calls out, softly, his voice a world away from the jittery edge he'd been using before. It's a quiet, gentle voice, like someone would use on someone waking from a nightmare, or someone very sick. The fog doesn't answer. The flash of red is gone.

He starts towards where he saw it, footsteps purposeful and measured as someone walking past graves. ]
unaliveyourself: (pic#17495335)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-19 01:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[The bare mutter that slides out from Krouse's lips has the shape of a bruise, and despite their conversation over the network, Dazai doesn't feel any particular urge to press on it and search the source of the tenderness. He has a pretty good idea of who the younger man is, anyway; seeking out more information has to happen naturally, organically, or he'll find the door slammed in his face.

(And maybe this topic in particular is a little vulnerable, even for him)

He might have had a joke to make about whether he'd even really be himself if he didn't do a stupid thing or two in this situation, even a Ship of Theseus reference just to be really pedantic and annoying about it, when Krouse takes off after a flash of red.]


Krouse-kun? Where are you going? Wait--

[He doesn't think it's a smart idea for them to get separated right now, while the fog is so thick and something's clearly not right within it, but as he hurries to catch up with Krouse, he sees something red of his own, a lock of muddy reddish-brown hair to go with the back of a beige coat.]

Oda...saku?

[That's not possible. It's just the same wistful ache in his chest that's lingered for four years, the jolt he feels whenever he passes by someone with vaguely similar features or taste in clothes in the street. Another of their own, probably, lost in the thick fog as much as they are, allowing the vagueness of Aurora's ominous warning to fuel their imagination.

All the same, he finds his feet walking in the same direction as Krouse, as though possessed. He just has to see with his own eyes that it was nothing, that's all.

The most convincing lies are the ones people tell themselves.]
Edited 2024-11-19 13:59 (UTC)
equivo: (pic#17106114)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-11-22 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ They're getting farther from the buildings clustered near the apartments. Krouse has a good sense of direction. They're being lured towards the periphery. That should be a good enough reason to stop and turn around, but of course he doesn't.

He just wants to see her. He always wants to see her, however much it kills him. The first face he sees when he wakes up, the last thing he looks at before he closes his eyes, preserved behind glass.

She never wanted to be just a memory. A memory is just a kind of ghost. A ghost is someone who can't be part of the world anymore. ]


Hi, No'.

[ Krouse says, quietly, to the girl who's not turning around. She's just there where she wasn't a second ago, a short, skinny, unremarkable girl with messy brown hair hanging over her slightly hunched shoulders. Even in the fog, Krouse can make out the split ends feathered over the red cotton.

Dazai has his own ghost. It figures. Krouse isn't paying attention yet. There's nothing in the whole multiverse more important than the jut of her arms from her hands shoved into her pockets, tensed like tiny wings on the verge of flight. ]


Happy Halloween. [ He rasps, voice thick with something like a laugh that isn't one. ] I should've figured. I should've...I should've dressed up, I know. Kind of lame, right?

[ She doesn't turn around. He wants her, so badly, to just turn around. ]
unaliveyourself: (pic#17495323)

[personal profile] unaliveyourself 2024-11-27 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
[It isn't nothing, Dazai realizes, as the shape of Odasaku fully resolves in the mist, the smell of his preferred brand of cigarettes filling his nostrils until they burn. He doesn't try to reach out, though, remaining frozen in place. He hears Krouse nearby, speaking to someone. He doesn't dare look over, because if he sees her, this won't be a mere hallucination caused by something in the air, or in the food. It'll mean someone knows, and arranged this situation to hurt them -- a punishment for ignoring the warning.

The idea of someone using Odasaku to hurt him is unbearable. The man he'd brought into the Port Mafia to protect. Who he'd been unable to stop from going to his death. Who died in his arms when he tried to save him anyway, and arrived too late.]


Odasaku ... this is a terrible spot to meet me, you know. I don't even have any whiskey to welcome you with.

[His own voice is whisper-soft, no trace of the lilting sing-song from before. There's a tinny, faraway quality about it, like someone speaking from the bottom of an impossibly deep chasm.]

...I wonder what you'd think of this place, if you were really here. What you would do. I never could read you.

[He barely breathes, as though even the carbon dioxide exhaled from his lungs could be enough to destroy that precious image before him, the one he'll never see for real again. But after some moments, his jaw sets. He doesn't straighten up, still doesn't look over, but his next words aren't to the apparition before him.]

Krouse-kun. Remember our game, from before? It seems we're to play one last round. Would you rather waste away here, alongside your fond memories, or carry on alone? I suspect that decision will need to be made sooner, rather than later.