etrayalogs | MISSION 003

MISSION 003

WHO: Everyone and their plushies!
WHEN: June 7th to 25th
WHERE: Everywhere
WHAT: The third Mission
NOTES\WARNINGS: Violence against cute inanimate objects, nightmares, psychological horror, potential death and injury. Please add additional warnings as needed within threads.

⏵ care bear delivery⏴

Last week all characters received one of two possible messages informing them about this month’s mission; some people received a message informing them about the plushie delivery and letting them know they are to protect it.

While others were informed that the plushies must be destroyed starting on June 14th, as any ones remaining after June 20th will cause untold destruction upon the city and its inhabitants. Those who received the second message will find themselves unable to share it with other people.

As promised, on the morning of June 7th, all characters receive a delivery from the companion bots: one stuffed animal plushie handed directly to them. The shape of the plushie differs between characters, but their size is somewhat consistent; they’re all bigger than a fist and small enough to be carried around.

The plushies are magical in nature. Those who fall asleep with their plushies in the same room will find that they will not experience any nightmares and awaken feeling refreshed, even if they only sleep a few hours, or sleep in twenty-minute intervals (looking at you, Bats) rather than go for a full night's sleep. If they lock the plushies away, they will still experience some relief, but it won't nearly as much. Those experiencing intense feelings of guilt, sorrow, homesickness, fear, or pain will find that they still feel those emotions, but with significantly less intensity than they may usually have. Stressors are less stressful, and overall, it seems like the plushies and their magical properties are trying to help. It's as if something else is helping to carry the weight of that suffering.

However, characters will also become more attached and protective of their plushies the longer they have them.

⏵ teddy tailor⏴

After receiving their plushies, citizens of Etraya will find a new, colorful addition to the first level of the hospital, where one might expect to see a gift store, decorated with various tiny outfits. Those who wander inside will find that the place is not a store, but a tailor’s workshop. The companion bots manning it will happily guide people through the steps to make an outfit for their plushie. All kinds of fabrics and patterns can be found throughout the workshop, and a few sewing machines are set up for their use.

The companion bots will not physically help, but perhaps other citizens coming in can assist. After all, all those new plushie friends deserve a special outfit.

⏵ tea party⏴

Before the end of the week, citizens will receive an invitation to a Tea Party taking place at Ramsey Farms. Attendance is not mandatory, but the last several days have been nice, haven't they? Surely everyone is feeling like having some tea and scones.

The farm is set up with various tables and tea sets. All tables have exactly four seats and are meant to be occupied by two citizens and their respective plushies. Once seated, citizens may feel compelled to share how their plushie has been helping them these past few days, perhaps they might even get specific about their fears and traumas.

⏵ seek & destroy⏴

As the first week wraps up, citizens receive one more invitation, this one to participate in a game of Hide & Seek with their plushies. Those who received the message to protect their plushies will be told to hide, while those tasked with destroying the plushies will be the seekers. The game will take place over the morning of June 16th; by then, people may feel fairly protective of their plushies.

No information is provided regarding prizes or winning parameters and Aurora will not answer questions pertaining to the game. But hey, the tea party went so well; surely, this will be fun too.

Once a plushie is destroyed, all of those negative feelings that had been suppressed will return to characters. For those who only had their plushie for a week, they'll feel those emotions more intensely, but it won't be as terrible to lose it. The longer they have had the plushie, the more emotions it absorbs, and the more backlash they'll receive when it's destroyed. Characters with intense night terrors may immediately fall asleep once the plushie is destroyed, throwing them into one of the worst night terrors they have experienced.

Characters cannot destroy their own plushies. Those who receive the message to destroy them are welcome to ask other people to destroy it for them, but if they attempt to explain their reasoning, they'll find themselves losing their train of thought or otherwise unable to explain Aurora's mission.

As stated in Aurora's second mission, any plushies that have not been destroyed by the 20th will become a problem all of its own. The exception to this is if Wade Wilson dresses a plushie in the outfit he had received for it. This outfit will both lower the amount of emotions the plushie absorbs, and slow down its transformation.

⏵ cadaver consolations ⏴
And they do transform. After thirteen days of absorbing negative emotions and taking on nightmares for others, the plushies become something so much more than just plushies. Instead of being soft, huggable items meant to assist in lowering stressors, they take on aspects of those stressors. Perhaps your worst nightmare involves watching your loved ones burn to death - your plushie is no longer a cute little teddy bear but is instead the shape of what had once been your mother, burned and singed almost beyond recognizable if it wasn't for her voice calling out to you, telling you that you did this to her as she chases you down. Perhaps you've been feeling guilty for how things went down in the Labyrinth, and the plushie takes on the shape of a friend who had fallen to save you, whispering into your ear about how it is your fault, you did this to them.

From the 20th through the 25th, these plushies remain corporeal. While they may not look soft and fluffy, it's possible to find threads hanging off their bodies. Yanking on these threads will cause them to fall apart, thus destroying the nightmarish creature intent on following its owner to their death. After the twenty-fifth, they will no longer be corporeal and cannot be destroyed through traditional methods. Instead, player characters will need to pull aspects of their fear out of the mangled creature. Perhaps the creature is carrying a replica of a treasured necklace that needs to be yanked off it, or its chest has been torn open, its heart hanging loose for those around it to grab hold of. The character responsible for the plushie will need to devour their fears, which will cause the creature to unravel piece by piece.

How this looks is wholly up to you, as is how far your character's nightmarish creature gets. Whether it's devour in a literal sense, or if it's overcoming their fear by destroying it or overcoming it - the extent of how messy this gets is up to each player, as is how messy their plushie gets.

⏵ NOTES ⏴
The soothing nature of the plushies is magical. They are magically charmed to absorb negative energies and contain them. Characters who can sense magic of this nature are free to notice this.

Those warded from being affected by others' magic may also find that their plushies are not effective for them. This can be played to players' preference; maybe the plushies can work around the wards, but maybe they cannot.

When a character’s plushie is destroyed, the character will feel the full hit of all the emotions it had been holding for them, if a character's plushie survives past June 20th it will transform into a monster, if it survives past the 25th it becomes much harder (and traumatizing) to destroy. They will need to be destroyed, as the plushies will not disappear on their own regardless of how long they're around.

Any questions can be directed to the mod queries thread in the plotting post

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[Peter had vanquished his terrible creation, though not without his fair share of scrapes and bruises. In fact, he'd been thrown through a wall by a supernaturally evil Spider-Man and used as a punching bag for a while there before things actually got resolved. But just because his doll had been stopped doesn't mean others aren't still lurking out there, just waiting to be transformed.

He favors his left side more than his right as he swings in and lands on a steady tree branch. Not too close, not too far.]

Maybe a little sight-seeing... in case there are any big diabolical doll-turned-monsters still around. Haven't happened to see any float, stomp, or otherwise barrel through the area, have you buddy?

[He's gotta be cautious; Krouse met Pete, not Spidey. So don't get too chummy at first, Peter, it'll look suspicious.]

[ Krouse looks up at the guy in a full spandex suit perched on a branch with interest detached from surprise, leaning back a little to crane his head up. ]

Not recently.

[ As far as he can tell, things have been settling down. He hasn't been following it that closely. That, or much of anything else. He smiles a little, a tiny upward tug on one corner of his mouth that doesn't make it up to his eyes. ]

Mine's gone. [ He twists the end of his grass braid between his fingers. ] If that saves you some time trying to figure out if you have to come down here.

[He breathes a relieved little chuckle.]

... Nah, I was going to come down anyway.

[He slowly slides down on a short web, not even bothering to stand at first; he just keeps sliding, sliding, until he's slipping down the grassy incline near Krouse — Like a piece of baloney slowly sliding out of the back of a sandwich. put the imagine in your mind, that's him. Look at the icon. That's him.

Then he just lays there, looking a little beat down.]

I'm just glad you're probably not gonna try to knock my head off.

Been a lot of that going around.

[ It's an impressively boneless slump. Krouse eyes the splay of blue and red with a degree of unexpected sympathy. He's been there. Recently, even. ]

Or I'm lulling you into a false sense of security.

[ He says it mildly, a passing observation, and gets back to threading grass into a woven cord. ]

I'm not. [ For the record. ] You're good. Well, [ a second sidelong glance ] not at imminent risk of getting your ass kicked. Presumably for a second or third time.

Edited 2024-06-15 00:44 (UTC)

[Spider-Man waves a hand. Still slumped as hell.]

It's all good. I have an uncanny sixth sense to know when I'm in immediate danger.

[snort

and he ain't even lying]

I would just appreciate it if you didn't. Because I'm seriously taking my lunch break, and I think there's something in the law that says you have to give people at least, like, thirty minutes for lunch.

[ Krouse would be immediately dubious about this guy's claims of a danger sense, but it's not entirely out there. He'd start speculating about how that fits with whatever superhuman agility gets you up into trees like that, but he's learning that the loose and often violated rules governing powers in his universe apply even less to those from other places.

That, and he's really not planning to start anything.

He laughs instead, a low, contained little burst. ]

And we can't go violating labour law, can we?

Is that your gimmick? Worker's Rights Man? The Incredible Unionizer? [ He's kidding, but not to be a dick. ] Or is that more of a side thing?

[He nods like it's just the most obvious thing in the world.]

Well, uh — yeah! I don't mind being Worker's Rights Man. That seems a little more friendly than 'Spider-Man', too. It'll get me some street cred; I'll be even more popular with the locals. Everyone needs fair pay and rest breaks. Pay equality in the work place is important.

[He only just got a job recently, just before arriving here. So he has absolutely no experience. None whatsoever. He waves his hand over where it had sats on his stomach, before it drops back down..]

Actually, I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you're okay.

I figured everyone could use a follow-up, after the last few weeks.

[ Krouse gives Spider-Man a second look over, reevaluating the costume. It certainly tracks. He's not a fan of insectoid theming in the abstract, but holding that against anyone would be objectively unsound thinking.

It's easier to be aware of that now. Easier in general to take a step back from his thoughts and look at them for what they are, like how his kneejerk impulse to deny needing checking in on isn't a fair thing to hold against anyone else, either. He probably does look like he needs it. It might not even kill him to accept it. ]

Thanks.

[ His tone is soft and almost surprised - at the question, at himself. ]

I'll be okay. [ He actually believes it, to the extent he gets to okay. ] I'm just thinking it through.

[ He doesn't think he needs to explain that. Spider-Man doesn't look like he's swinging through the world carefree and footloose. ]

Would it be a little too obvious if I asked if you're okay? If this is one of those 'heroic deflection to avoid dealing with my own personal problems' things, I'll say no more.

[Oh, well, that's good. That he at least sounds like he believes it, anyway. Granted, Peter knows that it's not always as true as it feels in the moment, when you think you'll be alright. He's thought he'll be alright plenty of times in his tenure as Spider-Man and as Peter Parker... and usually that illusion crumbles for him at some point.

But anyway, he's Spider-Man. So he should probably give Krouse a positive answer...]

... No. I'm probably not okay. It's hard to be sometimes.

But I think there's something okay in not being okay, though.

[ Krouse straightens up slightly, looking down at Spider-Man thoughtfully as he spins his latest braid between his fingers. He seems to be taking the message to heart, truly soaking it in -

- until he finishes balling up the grass braid into a little wad of bruised chlorophyll and flicks it expertly at the side of Spider-Man's head. ]

Not that you're wrong. [ He explains, magnanimously. ] But that's so fucking corny the government wants to give you agricultural subsidies.

Is there a forum where you all get together and come up with this stuff? Stock phrases for troubled youth on the brink?

[ The questions are a little confrontational. The tone isn't. It's just playful shit-giving, softened to the point of verging on gentle. ]

[He gives Krouse a grumpy squint. The grass is sitting on his head, unremoved.]

Hey. I'm talking vulnerably over here, and you're being all — smart-alecky!

Besides, you're only kind of a youth. What're you, twenty? Twenty-one?

I'm eighteen. Thanks for making me feel old.

[ He's not actually offended. It's pretty close, and he's a little reassured that he comes off as older rather than younger. But it's the spirit of the thing. ]

The mask is very expressive, by the way. Impressive. [ Flitting lightly past the observation - ] But all right, all right. I take it back. Not the moment for constructive criticism.

Corn's a staple crop for a reason. Plenty of applications for corn.

You're welcome.

And thank you, actually, 'cus nobody has complimented my DIY mask.

[That's the fun thing about being broke as hell: when you lose the free access to expensive technology and equipment, you go back to square one. It's been pretty nightmarish to reallocate the old mask's parts into a new one that fitted the homemade suit, honestly. On top of, you know. Being homeless for a short window. It's fine, though.]

Corny isn't always bad. There's worst things to be. For people around you and for yourself, or somethin' like that. [A pause.] And I've been really like elote lately. There's this deli place in Brooklyn I swung by? Angie's? Honestly I was just there to save their bodega cat from a dog, but then I stayed for the 2.50 tacos...

[Sorry, he's getting distracted by the thought of good food.]

[ It's still hard to think of New York. If it ever stopped being hard, that's when Krouse would start to have a new kind of concern about himself.

But he can handle a disconnect between New York and New York, if he's deliberate about it. Spider-Man's New York is a place he's never been, not even in passing, his interactions with the city non-inclusive of cheap tacos and bodega cats. He can imagine it as the almost fictional place it used to be, when he'd only ever seen it on TV. ]

They charged you for the tacos after you saved their cat? Maybe you should consider the name change. They wouldn't do that to Workers' Rights Man.

[ The mask is even more impressive for being DIY. Most homemade costumes look like hell. He remembers his first attempts at putting something together with an ancient charge. ]

Or are you the type who insists on no freebies?

Edited 2024-07-02 02:29 (UTC)

[He chuckles, but there's something sheepish to it — guilty, even.]

Depends on how much money I've got in my pockets.

[It's a tough gig, one that doesn't provide a very broke high school dropout even a cent for the work. Peter wouldn't have it any other way, because being paid to save people never really sat right with him anyways, but... boy, it sure does make someone hungry at night. Now that he's got an apartment and a job lined up when he returns home, he sleeps a little easier. Metaphorically speaking.]

But that family works hard for their money, and the food's good. I wanna pay.

... And maybe pet the cat.

[ Krouse gives him another scan, and decides to keep his commentary about pockets full of change and swinging around as a combination to himself. The cat thing buys him some leniency, even if it wasn't cashed in for tacos. ]

Well, as long as you got to pet the cat.

[ He takes a deep breath, narrow shoulders rising and falling, and then shifts to lie back, propped up on his elbows as he stretches out his legs. Spider-Man makes it look comfortable. ]

Are you feeling better yet?

[ He actually cares about the answer. ]

[It is comfortable. And when you're fully suited, there's no grass itchiness.

Win-win.]

... Yeah. I think I am feeling better. [A pause, as he reaches down to touch his right side.] I... might've broken a few ribs, though.

[As one does, very casually.]

[ Krouse winces sympathetically, old pangs of his own coming to mind. ]

You sound like you're breathing okay.

[ That's the most important thing. It sucks, but if he hasn't been deteriorating over the course of the conversation, he's probably fine to tough it out. ]

Now I'm going to sound like the drag, here, but are you sure you should be [ he lifts a hand and twirls his fingers through the air ] doing all that? The city's not on fire. You could go home and get some ice on it.

Mental health is great and all, but I think puncturing a lung the next time someone kicks you in the chest might put a damper on your sanguine mood.

[He waves his hand, before sitting up and trying to not sound pained when he replies.]

Oh, yeah, no, I'm good! I'm good. It'll be just a few bruises by tomorrow. [... But after a moment, he seems to reconsider whatever his plans would had been after this. His hand still sits over sharply aching ribs.] But I guess you've got a good point; It sure would suck to show up at the hospital coughing blood because I didn't try to take it easy a little...

What about you?

[ Krouse is glad Spider-Man's ribs are making the rest of his argument for him. He really can't start getting into the habit of giving too many superheroes advice, however badly his reputation has already crashed and burned. Tattletale has enough to give him shit about.

So all he does is raise his eyebrows significantly for a second before he relaxes back into casualness. ]

I should probably head back in. [ He shrugs. ] Who knows who's going to fall out of the sky next? I'm not up for a showdown with Wage Theft Man at the moment.

Yeah, sounds like a good deal. Get some rest for whatever weird thing pops off next. Hopefully not the Wage Theft Man, but I'm not holding my breath... [Wait — oh man, Krouse doesn't know he knows him, huh? Guess he'll have to do the usual weird song and dance and pretend he doesn't know him back.] ... I never got a name, by the way. If you say 'Wage Theft Man', I'm taking you in. On the spot.

[Hardy har har.]

Taking me in to where, exactly?

[ He bats the joke back airily, just skating past the temptation to claim the title of Wage Theft Man. The second impulse he has is somehow even worse, inexplicable and baffling. ]

It's Krouse.

[ Not Trickster. ]

And I've never stolen a wage a day in my life. [ He solemnly sets his hand over his heart. ] You have my word.

... Good point, Krouse. There's not exactly an old western jail cell around here.

[Peter-Man, please stop watching so many movies lately, bud. But with Krouse giving a solemn hand over his head, he looks (humorously) satisfied by the answer.]

I'll see you around; stay out of trouble!

[He thwips a web to the nearest light fixture, and allows momentum to take him up and out of the area with a very quiet, pained grunt; should he be swinging around with battered ribs? Noooo, probably not. Is he already used to it? Absolutely. Take care, buddy.]

Will do.

[ He doesn't bother returning the sentiment. Spider-Man would stick by as much as Krouse actually plans to. It's just the nature of their respective roles in the grand scheme of things.

But he'll probably stay out of trouble for the next few hours. Maybe that's something. He waits until the hero is a red-and-blue silhouette flitting out of sight to stand up, stretching overhead. ]

Well, at least it comes out of his wrists.

[ He says, to no one in particular, and he smiles as he shakes his head and treks back to the apartments. ]

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MISSION 003

3. aftermath

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