acatamods: (Default)
acatamods. ([personal profile] acatamods) wrote in [community profile] acatalepsy_logs2018-09-19 08:25 pm

( the sickness: phase two )








the sickness ends.
the temple.
The Temple, shortly after Astoria's burst of energy, is in a constant state of growth. Trees are bursting into existence from seeds in mere seconds, flowers are growing wherever magic lands . . . and the Temple is abruptly a-buzz with energy, magic crackling throughout the air. You may find a tree in your house, or flowers suddenly growing along the walls, or plants wiggling their way through the stone walls of the buildings of the Temple. All of a sudden, the place looks very overgrown.

The Forest of the Fey seems to be responding in kind, too. Sprites are exceptionally active, darting out of the Forest and into the Temple with increasingly regularity, playing basic little tricks on the members of the Circle they can find. Flower crowns are made at an alarming rate, and there might be a few fruit-food fights that break out with the sudden abundance of peaches and apples that appear on the grounds. Learn how to duck!

With the magic comes the sudden fluctuation of energy: canon powers flicker on and off, as do the powers granted by Astoria. You feel more like yourself, you suddenly have access to energies you did not have previously in the Temple However, it's a double-edged sword -- it is not constant, and it may be more trouble than its worth.

And, remember: the Sickness is not fading immediately. If you make it to Stage 3, then you're stuck with sensory deprivation for at least another week or two. Sorry, friends.




lake dona.
Lake Dona is a massive body of water, stretching outward for so far that it almost seems like an ocean until you see that the water is fresh. It is surrounded by long, leafy trees that dip into the water and has a variety of ancient ruins scattered around it -- weathered stones set into circles at seemingly even intervals, old buildings that seem to mirror the Temple in construct.

In addition to the ruins, there are a network of caverns tucked along the water’s edge, just underneath the surface on the western side of Lake Dona, that appear to go underground into murky darkness. The actual entrance to these caverns seem to be underwater, seemingly guarded by merfolk, but poking around may seem to be more trouble than its worth.

There is plenty of wildlife to be found within the lake itself, ranging from freshwater mermaids who would rather you stay the hell out of their backyard to a rather large and suspiciously friendly plesiosaurus-like creature (some would say that she prefers to be called Nessie) that seems intent on checking out who you are. The lake teems with odd-looking fish, most of which seem to be okay to eat, and plenty of plant life! But who knows what lurks in the depths below . . . that giant sea-monster looking thing has to be eating something.
PROMPT IDEAS: Here are some prompt ideas for this new area! However, don't feel limited to such ideas! Feel free to fish, to explore, to swim, to poke around . . . it's always possible Astoria may check in on your character, too, once she is feeling better! ;)

1.) The Great Pumpkin The overgrowth of plants have caused a massive growth spurt in a lot of the trees, including the fruit trees that sprinkle themselves throughout the Temple. However, the fruit themselves seems to be growing at a rather . . . alarming rate, resulting in a few pumpkin-looking squash growing to the size of small boulders in the fields. Hope you have a lot of spare time on your hands to make a hell of a lot of Temple-pie, because these squash aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

2.) Food Fight!: Those damn sprites are at it again, and are collecting fruit off the ground and throwing it at people. Fight back, organize, and conquer! Or not. It's probably better to just not.

3.) Part Of Your World: The mermaids within Lake Dona are a suspicious lot, and they don't take kindly to strangers stomping through their territory. However, they are receptive to music, so if you are so musically inclined, they will definitely be more inclined to be a little more playful than territorial. If you aren't? Have fun getting tossed into the lake head-first by a bunch of pissed off mermaids who want you to get the hell of their lawn. They don't take kindly to your type around here.

4.) Nessie: Within Lake Dona is a massive plesiosaurus-type creature which seems to be . . . oddly friendly? It seems to pop up at the most inconvenient of times. Are you sitting on the edge of the lake enjoying the water? Enjoy a massive ass dinosaur sticking its impressively long neck out of the lake to check you out and also scare the bejesus out of you. That being said, Nessie is an extraordinarily friendly being, and will even give you laps around the lake if you ask nicely!

5.) Caverns: The caverns within the lake are dark, deep, and menacing The merfolk inform you that you cannot go there -- no one can, but the merfolk sure seem to be keeping a careful eye out on it. Testing the boundaries indicates a weird magical field around the entrance of the cave, that works like a bit of a forcefield. Weird, right?
imperialsun: (Emotion - Worried)

[personal profile] imperialsun 2018-09-25 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay.

[He gets it. It's a lot of information to digest, but part of Naoya is a little disappointed that he's afraid of him that way and it shows in his face. Gently he lets the dog sniff his hands before tentatively slowly patting his head them going to scratch behind the ears if he lets him. That does make him feel a little better.]

Ahhh...you're so soft. Sumo, right? That's a nice name. I don't get to pet dogs very often.

[At least he's doing his best not for his blood to land on the dog.]

Do you know why the mermaid attacked you, Anderson-san?
abandonware: ([ 16. ])

[personal profile] abandonware 2018-09-25 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't see it. I was paying attention to your [she wriggles again, uselessly] dumb face, and the stupid goddamn things you were saying! How was I supposed to know you were helping, since you spent all your time being useless and pissing me off!

[A retort, at the tail end of a frustrated scream muffled by the ground she's pressed against:] You look fucking stupid!

[She lapses into angry silence. This goes on for a second, the idle sound of her labored breathing and Zero swinging back and forth above her.]

...Can you reach your watch?
Edited 2018-09-25 19:39 (UTC)
adelphoi: (🍰 ᴛᴜʀᴛʟᴇ)

[personal profile] adelphoi 2018-09-25 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ HOW DARE HE....

alisaie shrieks fiercely, though not necessarily because it's gross, just because she's surprised and he punched below the belt using his powers!! but okay.. if that's how he wants to play!! leaping to her feet with a war howl, alisaie immediately transforms, and gives chase, snapping her mandibles and hissing threateningly as she chases him down!! ]
adelphoi: (🍰 ᴛᴇᴀᴄᴀᴋᴇ)

[personal profile] adelphoi 2018-09-25 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ if she was at all dokis over his knees touching hers it evaporates instantly when she whips her head around to level him with a fierce look. ]

No, I will not. I am a very strong swimmer, thank you.
Edited 2018-09-25 19:51 (UTC)
fuck1ngusernam3: (slump)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2018-09-25 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Any of it. I don't know, I guess- Ah, fuck. I'm not up to explaining it.

[Hank watches his hands.]

I just, I feel like hearing it would help, uh- I don't know, it just seems to me like you'd get a lot more positives out of just walking away and forgetting I'm even stuck here with you than you do out of, you know, this. Maybe hearing it from you would help me see it, help it make more sense, why you try so hard to stick around. But uh, I guess that's kind of stupid too, isn't it? None of this makes sense, no one here, not anything about it. And none of it's going to. Don't know why I expect you to be the exception.

[He should be able to be glad about the silver lining of this whole 'I'm a brain floating in empty space' feeling, at least. It should at least be kind of convenient that being thrown around by an angry creature from the black lagoon didn't even phase him, physically. Because it didn't. He can't feel a thing. Shouldn't even be tired.]
adelphoi: (🍰 ᴘᴇᴄᴀɴ)

[personal profile] adelphoi 2018-09-25 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ah there he is, being a literal sunshine boy, but you know, arenvald, a better solution would have just been to hop right into the water instead!! there's plenty of room on this dinosaur. ]

Aye, she's quite lovely, isn't she? I've taken to calling her Margaret. I wonder what else is here that we have yet to see fully..

[ alisaie is plenty happy to explore every single corner of this strange realm, in time. ]
abandonware: ([ 34. ])

[personal profile] abandonware 2018-09-25 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[Haha, why would anyone harm a baby!

Anyway. She listens to this, curious. She had seen old currency from humans before, and knew about "shopping centers," and before that "markets," but what Konoha is describing is actually the experience of going to one.]


...Well, you can have that one. I don't need to eat.
fuck1ngusernam3: (uhHUH)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2018-09-25 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[He shrugs.]

I don't know, it's probably fine. What about you? You're the one who just went toe to toe with Ariel. She get you anywhere?
intoningly: (13)

[personal profile] intoningly 2018-09-25 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Zero frowns down at A2 who is cocooned beneath her. Let it be known that she is slowly spinning in a circle because of how she's strung up and because she refuses to be still long enough to stay in place. ]

What? You want me to call for help?

[ ... ]

No. Fuck if I'm letting anyone see me like this.
abandonware: ([ 20. ])

[personal profile] abandonware 2018-09-25 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh my god. A2 has rolled over on her back again by now, and glares up at Zero, exasperated.]

So you want to be stuck here all day?

fuck1ngusernam3: (general 1)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2018-09-25 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
What? No. Not even the proto-Sumos way back when, they weren't even hunting dogs. Saint Bernards were bred to be rescue dogs, they're famous for it.

[Sumo sniffs up at the hand being offered to him and then walks a little closer, trying to put the top of his head under her hand and standing there expectantly.]

I've never even seen him chase a squirrel, I don't know if he even has the instinct for it. He wants you to pet him, by the way. He's kind of, uh, spoiled, I guess. Expects to get rewarded for just standing there.

[Hank smiles a little, sounding fond.]
fashionabot: (27)

[personal profile] fashionabot 2018-09-25 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Ariel? ...You know her name?

[ The reference goes right over her head. While she talks, she looks down at her legs. Her thigh-high socks have some tear on them from the struggle, with a little bit of artificial skin peeling off to show a small hint of black metal plate underneath. ]

No damages. I'm fine!
intoningly: (24)

1/2

[personal profile] intoningly 2018-09-25 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
No–! Just.. juet let me think for a second, okay? I can't come up with shit if I've got your stupid voice in my ear.

[ Zero falls silent, and remains that way for awhile. If A2 says anything to her she will not respond. And then suddenly–

She's gaining momentum. Or at least trying to? Zero jerks forward and back, trying to gain some air and altitude? It's sort of? Working? Mostly, she looks ridiculous. ]


When–

[ She gets cut off when she swings farther away from where A2 lies. ]

– this is over!

[ She swings back and finishes her sentence. ]

– you owe me!
intoningly: (63)

[personal profile] intoningly 2018-09-25 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's not too long after those words are uttered, they can probably both hear what sounds like a loud SNAP! even over the sound of Zero's swinging and wheezing and yelling.

The vine tears, deciding enough is enough and letting Zero's ankle go.

And naturally, since A2 is right below her.. well, you can guess where she lands. ]
bleps: (55)

[personal profile] bleps 2018-09-25 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I did tell you once before. You didn’t believe me.

[Don’t make him say it again, Hank. Don’t make him twist up the words like he has to portray them as something that makes sense in the context of what he is. Why did Hank have to be so disbelieving, and not accept it for what it was?]

Is it that you wish for me to repeat myself? In that case — our experiences together in the coming days, back in Detroit, accentuated our ability to work well together as a cohesive unit. That, and I believed your manner to be exponentially… friendlier towards me, as opposed to how you were when you newly arrived in the Temple.

Of course that would encourage me to want to remain in your company, and to make certain you’re doing well overall. In my mind, the parameters of our relationship are different than what you’ve yet experienced. Does that make sense to you now?
fuck1ngusernam3: (considering)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2018-09-25 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[The kid looks nice and normal, sitting there petting Hank's dog, and it's- Well, he can't decide whether that's weird or not. His weird meter might be broken. Sumo's decided to allow the petting and that, at least, is probably a good sign, but if he starts using what Sumo does and doesn't like to measure the weird shit he'll really be in bad shape.

So Hank looks away from Sumo, back at the kid's face. He looks over it, can't quite stop himself from comparing what it did look like to what it does now, mentally going over all the nice, normal things the kid told him. The questions he'd had about getting old, the job he wants to go into. It's- It doesn't relax him. It makes it weirder.]


You don't, uh. Have to call me that. That's like mister, right? Mr. Anderson's a character in the Matrix, I'm just Hank.

And uh, yeah, I got a pretty good idea. Don't worry, what I did's probably nothing you gotta worry about. Not with, uh. You know.

[He can't quite say it, waving a hand instead toward the shore instead, at the spot where the mermaid'd been.]
fuck1ngusernam3: (huh)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2018-09-25 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh- [Lucky for him, Hank doesn't connect the dots yet about the color on her legs. He's mostly busy frowning at her, reminding himself that, yeah, cultural references might not go over all the time here.]

No, uh- I guess your dimension doesn't have Disney movies, huh? Ariel's uh- nothing like that mermaid whose ass you just kicked. So. But uh, thanks. Those guys know how to hold a grudge, don't they?
abandonware: ([ 08. ])

[personal profile] abandonware 2018-09-25 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[Well, it's not like she can move out of the way.

Zero falls and A2 is in the unfortunate position of breaking her fall with her body. The air leaves her lungs (or her approximation of lungs) in a pained wheeze.

Despite being made of metal, she doesn't feel like it. The quiet, defeated groan she gives out seems to enforce this.]


metagame: (I am such an asshole.)

[personal profile] metagame 2018-09-25 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I wasn't planning on it. [It's not really his thing, upper-class past time or not, Atem's at best only 100 lbs. No good for the King of Egypt to fly off a boat because something much, much bigger than him took to the line. Plus, uh, most sports... his dad was better. He turns his head to look at the lake.] I wanted to see what the commotion was about, since this place apparently wasn't here before. [Fishing is a great way to get a feel for the water and its secrets, though.]
paladorable: (059)

[personal profile] paladorable 2018-09-25 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At least let him take his shoes off! Nobody wants wet shoes. ]

I’m not sure, but I can safely say I’ve never seen a lake spontaneously appear as a result of healing magic.

[ A beat, as he looks over Alisaie and her new companion both. It seems a waste for him to be on the shore while they’re having so much fun. ]

Would you two like some company?
fuck1ngusernam3: (ugh this sure is some prime bullshit)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2018-09-25 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Absolutely fuckin not.

[See this face? This is a face that does not believe. This is a face that listens to long explanations just as well as short ones, that listened to that explanation, and that found it to be a lot of words for the same kind of bullshit. The strength of his what-the-fuck gives him a little energy; maybe he does have it in him to explain, now.]

Okay, point one: Look at where we are. The first night I was here I met someone real ready to be your cohesive unit, you've got your pick of em. Point two: Friendlier?

Connor, you're driving me to drink, and I'm trying to conserve this shit. Why the hell does friendly matter to you? If point one is true - and it is - and you just really need a... a partner, I guess, you've got no one telling you here that partner's got to be me, and there are plenty of people who'd come with a whole lot more advantages attached than I do. So if that's the case and you just need a partner, how friendly I am shouldn't matter. How friendly and healthy I am, and however... whatever else it is you want out of me, it doesn't matter, not if your overall goal is just 'form a cohesive unit'. And if that's not your overall goal, why aren't you just telling me what that is?

There's something I'm missing here and I've got no idea what it could be, cause... [He sighs, looking away, lips pursed, his expression twisted up in reluctance, embarrassment.] You... what you said you felt, the first time I uh- fuck, got my feelings-cooties all over you, or whatever. I don't know what all you got out of that, but you've got to know why I can't be... objective. Like, I can't- there's some android thing I'm not getting, here, and I was kind of hoping- I was thinking you could spell it out for me.
Edited (clarity) 2018-09-25 21:12 (UTC)
metagame: (I have great hair and I love lying.)

[personal profile] metagame 2018-09-25 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Minato... Are you the person who responded to my riddle with "off" by any chance? [Hey, Koromaru, that's a nice hop, and Atem's smile is larger for it. He kneels down to hand over a bone. As an added bonus, it still has a bit of meat on it.]
metagame: (What about Kaiba's testicles?)

[personal profile] metagame 2018-09-25 09:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Just, nope. Nope. He holds his hands up to prevent Ludger and the offensive pan from coming any closer.] 'Kay, so that's not sauce because it's thicker or whatever. Better question then... Why did you make it?
bleps: (170)

[personal profile] bleps 2018-09-25 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[There’s that wall again, coming down between them, but this time Connor is the one who’s ensuring it exists. He even wonders why — he had referred to other people as friends before, had even told Arenvald that he considered Hank a friend, in one conversation. But to say it out loud before the man incites something strange in him, shaped like trepidation, in knowing that the Lieutenant might just laugh at them, or ask him again what’s wrong with him, or tell him that he’s broken because this man knows how androids are supposed to behave in their world, unlike anyone else here—

He’s never felt this before. Like he literally can’t get the words out. Maybe there was something wrong with his software, continually being strained. Fear of rejection does that to a person.]


I thought I was clear. I just—

[He hasn’t noticed the way he wrings his hands together. One word at a time.]

I was told that... to return to how we once were, I shouldn’t give up on you. Or that you’d eventually come around, with time. And it would be easier to become friends again.
imperialsun: (Motion - Thinking about it)

[personal profile] imperialsun 2018-09-25 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sumo is totally the best for judging. Or at least he's enjoying this doggie patdown that Naoya is giving him.]

What's the Matrix?

[He's from 1997...that movie is still two who years off.]

Yeah, it's sort of like that. I guess I could call you Hank-senpai too. [He might be teasing now, because despite the situation that had just happened, Naoya is more worried about Hank being afraid of him than the wounds on his body.]

Well if they try to attack you again, maybe I could turn into a weapon next time.

[He stops realizing that probably sounds super weird.]

That's the power I was given here...it doesn't have anything to do with my Persona. [He'll try to help in his own way right after too;] Half a year ago I didn't know anything like this existed, by the way...well, I knew about mermaids, but didn't think they could be real.