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acatalepsy_ooc2018-06-19 11:13 pm
acatamods) wrote in acatalepsy_ooc2018-06-19 11:13 pm
Entry tags:
test drive # 2
 test drive meme #2 It happens in the blink of an eye. One moment, you are home. Perhaps you are with your family, perhaps you are at work. It's a completely normal day . . . and then, suddenly, your stomach drops. You are overcome with a sudden sense of vertigo. You cannot see up, or down, or where you are. All you hear is a voice -- light, bubbly, warm, soothing, in your ear: Don't worry, darling. This won't hurt a bit~ ♥ For those who recognize the voice, it will sound a bit strained. Possibly tired. But the moment happens so quickly it's hard to pin down, and once that moment is over, you fall flat on your face. It's dim, damp, with the trickling of what feels like rain. It takes a few moments for you to gain composure, to catch your breath. You think, for half a moment, that a hand is on your back, rubbing between your shoulder blades in comfort, but when you open your eyes, no one is there. You are surrounded by ancient stone buildings, with carvings you do not recognize etched into the stone. There's a sense of nausea, overwhelming and sudden, when you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore. And, of course, because this is just your luck. It's raining.  THE TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS. Welcome to the "Home Base" of Astoria's Circle. What the actual name of the base is called is lost to the ages, and there's no sense of where you could find it, unless you started asking around. At any rate, this is a central hub of the Circle, a place of powerful magic and mysterious energy. It is a scattering of ancient stone buildings and for the most part, it looks abandoned . . . except for what seems to be a few items, some rooms taken, items moved or organized, even a small garden planted. These are just the smallest hints that there are people here that have been here before you arrived. For some, this place is home. For others, this strange land is new and dark, like a haze has settled in the air. The creatures in the forest seem to be stirring, and every now and then the sky will open up, and a storm will pass through, in varying degrees of intensity. Some will be easy spring showers, others will be angry, thunderous storms. Not exactly the most welcoming place, but it's a start. Overall, it's fairly beautiful. However, it is definitely not modern. Upon exploration, you find that the buildings are kept up by some kind of magic. Some of the rooms have items, things from other Circle members already settled, and others appear to be unclaimed. Pick your rooms, explore the grounds, see the beauty and wonder all around you in such a magical place. The rain makes everything feel a bit softer, but also eerie, like there is a secret being kept just on the outside of your vision. Of course, this means you have free reign. This place seems easy enough to figure out on your own, with enough time to take a walk around! However- members who recognize this place may notice the lack of a certain figure, the grounds feeling a bit more empty, more abandoned, than they did before. IT'S A FIELD OF . . . POPPIES?  The buildings of the Temple of Beginnings span out across a fair-sized field, intermixed with trees, open grassy planes, outside sitting areas, fire rings, and other oddly ancient but somehow structures. With the mist and the rain, everything feels a bit more ethereal, like there is life to every inch of what you see before you. Or like you've stumbled into some kind of alternate world. Around the temple is a ring of stones that do not seem to move no matter what characters may attempt, and beyond that is the forest.The forest itself is more than just impressive - it is near-overwhelming. An impossibly ancient stretch of woods that crackle with magical energy. Within, there is all matter of fauna and flora, darting from tree trunk to tree trunk. The canopy is thick enough to shield from the worst of the rain, but still the water gets through, dripping down through the leaves and dampening the ground under your feet. While there is always a sense of wonder - and possible danger - in every stretch of this forest, nothing will come any closer than a brief glimpse out of the corner of your eyes. No matter how you try, you can't quite seem to catch a full glimpse of what is moving about. Some of the creatures seem small, flittering through the air, while others dart through the trees, larger, more imposing. Everything here seems to be looking for some kind of shelter, so be wary of stumbling across something already taken. There is a particular clearing not too far into the woods that opens up, a field encircled by trees. In the middle of the field there is an odd glow - luminescent even in the darkened sky. Upon investigation, you will find a bush - about the size of a small car - filled with glowing flowers, white, blue, gold, and purple. They all smell faintly sweet, but it's hard to tell with the scent of earth and rain all around you. if you decide to pick one of these flowers, there will be no immediate recourse. However, the longer you decide to keep the flower on your person - or if, for whatever reason, you decide to eat said flower - the following will start to set in. White: For whatever reason, you will have more energy than you know what to do with, and will be filled with the urge to shine. Ever needed a confidence booster? To a point that you need to get up on buildings and belt your favorite song at the top of your lungs? Well, now you do.Regarding further exploration of the wood, it will seem to go on forever. Getting lost seems almost imperative to existence within this forest, going on forever in all directions with no edge in sight. You could walk for days, weeks, possibly even more. However, the second that you find yourself thinking about wanting to return to the buildings from before, you find yourself cresting through the edge of the trees, back to your home. RUN BY THE RIVER  While inside the buildings and in the main open spaces, the water doesn't seem to be building up all too terribly, un an unfortunate turn of events, it all seems to be rolling down a very slight hill, pulling just on the outside of the ring of stones. The ground here is unstable, wet and muddy from the amount of moisture falling from the skies. So much that in some areas (the fighting area being one), it will start to collect into a dangerous combination of mud and moving water. It's possible to get stuck in it, possible to get lost in the flooding, but it's also possible to...you know. Have some fun? Mud slides, mud wrestling, mud...castles? Whatever you want it to be, it's at your disposal! While the arena was originally a place to practice your powers, or any of the various weapons that are usually kept here, now you can do the same with a little added obstacle in your path. That, or it's possible you simply got stuck trying to make it back to your room. Hopefully someone will be by to help you! CONNECTIONS AND COMMENTARY  Upon arriving, you will notice on whichever is your non-dominant hand, you will have a fairly simply screen. A smart watch, if you will. Upon exploration, you will find that it has a directory of all those here with you at the Temple of Beginnings- names, and access to a direct message to them. The watch also has video, audio, and text capabilities, as well as what looks like a collection of messages sent to everyone who wishes to open them. This is your 'network', and also how Astoria can reach out and communicate with you. There is nothing keeping you from removing and/or losing your watch! But remember that you will not have access to this network without it. OOC: Also feel free to join us and other possible players on our discord server! enjoy! ♥ |
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[ with some irritation, as he crosses his arms over his chest, stubborn to the last. ]
No one is stupid enough to ask me to my face because half of them know my reputation and the other half don't want to be demoted, but the rumors are incessant, and -- how am I an idiot? [ his tone shifts to indignant, arching his eyebrows, almost challenging maes to explain himself. ] There's nothing to talk about.
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Okay. First off, I'm not those other people asking you this question. Your reputation means absolutely nothing to me and I know good and damn well what the rumors are and that they are also garbage.
Second [here he helpfully holds up two fingers], I have been watching you two tiptoe around each other since the goddamn war. I haven't heard her side of things, but it doesn't take an ace detective to listen to you for all of five minutes and know how you feel about her. I mean, were you listening to yourself just now? People don't talk like that about just anyone working with them like that. And yes, I don't care how much you might outrank her, it's with not under for you two and it always has been.
And that brings me to my third reason for calling you an idiot. [He gestures with three fingers, very emphatically. Can you tell he's drunk yet? Because if not the next part should really clear that up.] If you think I'm going to come back from being fucking dead just to watch you miss your damn opportunity again then Roy Mustang I will shout it from the rooftop that you are a goddamn idiot!
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it strikes the nail on the head, really. the last bit. that maes is dead, and however many times roy has gone over it in his head, and however many times he talks it through with riza, he still feels the weight in his heart. the blame. and now that he's had time to think and digest, a lot of the pain that became the people he cares about boils down to him, and their belief in him.
that's part of the burden, surely, but the weight of loss is something that he's never going to get used to.
so roy is silent, at the end of maes' tirade, before he swallows. uncomfortable, clearly presented with something that he doesn't want to talk about, and there's an uncomfortable weight in his throat. but he swallows it down before tapping his fingers against the edge of his cup. ]
My path ends in one of two ways. I succeed, and I have a target on my back, or I fail, and I die. And even now, there's always been a target. I'm always being watched. And, by extension, so are the people I care about. And my enemies know my weaknesses. They've exploited every single one.
[ he watches the cup, for a long moment. ]
They took you, first. They tried to take the Elrics, and nearly succeeded. And they nearly killed her, too. I watched it. -- and I can't go to another funeral of someone else I couldn't save because the enemy picked out who I care about the most.
[ and, finally, roy finishes what's left in his cup before huffing softly to himself, in what might be a laugh, if not for the subject matter. ]
Not that I would make it anywhere, without her, because she operates every aspect and facet of my life.
[ roy absolutely does not know the amestrian version of his social security number because riza remembers the less-important stuff, while he's focused on revolution. ]
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It doesn't help that he really only has Roy's word to go on about his death. Not that he doubts Roy's words (his emotions are clear on that front) and of course, he felt it in certain ways. His arrival here had been pain and blood and then it was gone. He was whole again and felt a warm hand on his back. But it wasn't like he'd seen his own body, or the crime scene, or the funeral. Honestly, he hadn't really thought about the funeral until just now.
He pictures Gracia and Elicia there. God, what had he put them through? Here he is nagging Roy about getting a wife, about doing something about Riza, when he can't even bother to protect his own.
Maes slowly sets his cup down with one hand and using the other to push his glasses up, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and fingers. He cautiously takes a breath, that lump in his throat swelling. Maybe getting drunk hadn't been the best idea after all. He lets out the breath. He thinks back to a conversation from during the war with Roy. What had he said then? ...I'll smile when I'm with her. I swear on my life, I will make her happy.. He'd sworn to make her happy and yet...
...and yet...
He takes another breath. He's not going to do this right now. Goddamn it. Pull yourself together. You can't do this right now. He realizes Roy has fallen silent again, he's done talking, and Maes lets the silence linger for a moment. He's afraid of what he might sound like. He forces himself to push it down.]
I'm sorry Roy. I shouldn't have brought it up. You know me, I've always been the helpless romantic. I think...I think as long as you are both happy that's what is really important.
no subject
And I'm not.
[ it's said simply, because roy doesn't need to go into much more detail, than that. maes knows him better than roy knows himself -- clearly, if hughes is seeing all of this from his perspective, and roy isn't. but roy isn't a helpless romantic, in that sense. he is a naive optimist, and he believes strongly in his vision of the future, and he feels too much, and he is definitely too soft-heartened, especially when it comes to the people he cares about.
but the romantic is a charade, a front, to lure people into a false sense of security. to ensure that people continue underestimating him, and continue looking the other way while he works. it's better to blend in, when you think roy is an idiot.
still . . . he purses his lips, trying to figure out what to say next, and he settles on honesty. ]
If she asked me, today, to stop chasing the end-goal of changing Amestris and retire and go live in the middle of nowhere without any access to modern civilization, I would do it. [ with the quiet seriousness that becomes him, at this late hour, after this many drinks. ] She makes me a better person. She keeps me honest. She's the reason why I'm still alive, and why I'm able to keep going. She's trusted me with all of her secrets, and she knows all of mine. I would do anything for her.
[ he reaches out to take the bottle, but instead of pouring another drink, he corks it. they've clearly had enough. ]
I don't know what it is, anymore, but it seems cheap to call it something, somehow. There's not a word for it. I don't think there needs to be.
[ and he folds his arms once more over his chest, looking evenly across the table at maes, his expression easing into a familiar exasperation. ]
Satisfied? [ and then, a little more under his breath, as he glances towards the ceiling: ] Busybody.
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What really helps though is trying to picture Roy living away from modern civilization. It starts as a smile, but then the serious tone Roy is using to proclaim that he would do it combined with the image of Roy dressed as some country-bumpkin farmer makes Maes start chuckling to himself and then he just starts laughing (because he added Riza and Black Hayate into this fantasy farm). He smacks Roy's shoulder, good-naturedly.]
You would try maybe. But we both know you're a city-boy. I wouldn't go trading in your automobile for a tractor just yet.
[Maes catches that muttering, but only answers the question with a knowing smirk. Oh Roy, he may drop it for now, but he's gotten way more ammunition out of this than you realize.]
For now.
no subject
I've been to Resembool. It's not so bad.
[ . . . though, honestly, he would only go to visit the elrics, and the rockbells. but living there? boredom. roy loves central, and the hustle of the city, and seeing a million people on his walk to the work. that being said: ]
Berthold Hawkeye lived in the middle of nowhere, so I'm sure Riza is more used to abject boredom than I am.
[ being there and learning had been a turning point, in his life, but . . . well. it seems so distant, now. and he sighs before uncrossing his arms, moving to rub his face a little. ]
All that aside, you can ask her about it tomorrow. We should find somewhere to sleep.
[ that isn't his shared room with riza because roy doesn't have the patience for the teasing. ]
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[It's been a long day, but he vaguely recalls (before the field of flowers) exploring the temple area enough to find some bedrooms. He's not sure he can recall how to GET there exactly. But Roy makes a good point. They are going to need a place to crash that is preferably NOT a kitchen--especially a public one where a certain Hawkeye might stumble across them and get mad.
Maes doesn't really think about what he's doing at first. This whole 'having an ability' thing is still new. But wouldn't it be nice if he and Roy didn't have to stumble like two, drunken idiots to a bedroom? His magic ability decides that yes, yes it would be nice.
And a second later Maes and Roy are standing in an empty bedroom.]
Oh...damn. I guess that's one way to do it.