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Forced Confessions
Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: At the end of a spring-time mingle party, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. unleashes a psychic weapon that forces characters to confess their secrets to one another. Check out the mod announcement for more information.
Date(s): First 2 weeks of April 2018
Warnings/Notes: Psychic influence/coercion, potential trauma, etc. in confessions. Please use subject header warnings appropriately!
It begins with a party, out in the woods of Xistentia, with drinks, food, and fairy lights. The glade is illuminated in a brilliant palette of jewel tones, the most intense where the dancefloor stretches out between glow-in-the-dark marked trees, punctuated by F.A.T.E.S.' ever jarring, mismatched combination of musical tunes. Not far from that, you have enclosures of soft bedding set aside in mood-lit shadows, and veiled by mosquito net, for those of us who prefer more privacy.
The deeper nightclub colors fade to a warm, lustrous gold where there are spaces to sit, socialize, and eat.
Other liquid refreshments include a blood bar, courtesy of Rafaello d'Este's local business.
But on the fifth evening, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. strikes. There's a warning— only 10 minutes in advance-- over the network, even while the vast majority of revelers are a little too busy to pay any attention to their daemons.
A black ball of some writhing, metallic substance abruptly comes tearing through the atmosphere, the size of your average adult human curled into fetal position. As it breaks through layers of gas, it adopts an orange glow for a brief instant. It's easily lost in the canopy, even for the most agile and practiced of Xistentia residents. It's impossible to tell what it is. A faint whine fills the air, and a moment later, the projectile detonates. The scent of tar fills the forest along with shouts of dismay. And too little too late, F.A.T.E.S. warning system begins to blare that a contaminant has entered the atmosphere.
However, apart from a few bruises, panic and partial deafness, nobody seems harmed at all. That is, until the compulsion sets in.
Your secrets, both large and small, suddenly become wrenching fodder for impulsive speech... or signing, texting, any multitude of communication methods wind up hijacked. The worst of it comes when you face someone you know and love. Sheer willpower might stave off the urge long enough for your character to get out of range for conversation, and it might be a good time to avoid company for awhile. It will come randomly, in spikes, for 2 weeks to follow.
Feel free to use the confessions thread here to start some textspam trouble!
A week later, F.A.T.E.S. and both magic and science-minded researchers have analyzed the goop. The worst of the epidemic is localized around the party, though psychic ripples continue to be felt across Xistentia for a few days.
And now we need cleanup.
It's a motley group of unlikely volunteers. Some people are just lucky— they have no secrets they fear to share, or perhaps just no shame. Others are just good samaritans, willing to risk a terrifying level of honesty in the interest of preventing further damage to the relationships that make Xistentia run.
In any case, the group finds themselves armed with gloves, rubber suits, and floating glass containment orbs, manipulable with gestures, that can absorb the black ichor off the trees, earth, and furniture. This will be stored at the temple. And what we'll do with it—
Who knows. Or perhaps you and your compatriots have an idea for the substance permanent disposal to share.
Summary: At the end of a spring-time mingle party, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. unleashes a psychic weapon that forces characters to confess their secrets to one another. Check out the mod announcement for more information.
Date(s): First 2 weeks of April 2018
Warnings/Notes: Psychic influence/coercion, potential trauma, etc. in confessions. Please use subject header warnings appropriately!
Forced Confessions Event
I admit I'm on the rebound And I don't care
Five-Day Party
It begins with a party, out in the woods of Xistentia, with drinks, food, and fairy lights. The glade is illuminated in a brilliant palette of jewel tones, the most intense where the dancefloor stretches out between glow-in-the-dark marked trees, punctuated by F.A.T.E.S.' ever jarring, mismatched combination of musical tunes. Not far from that, you have enclosures of soft bedding set aside in mood-lit shadows, and veiled by mosquito net, for those of us who prefer more privacy.
The deeper nightclub colors fade to a warm, lustrous gold where there are spaces to sit, socialize, and eat.
Other liquid refreshments include a blood bar, courtesy of Rafaello d'Este's local business.
Psychic Bomb: The Confessions (April 5-14)
But on the fifth evening, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. strikes. There's a warning— only 10 minutes in advance-- over the network, even while the vast majority of revelers are a little too busy to pay any attention to their daemons.
A black ball of some writhing, metallic substance abruptly comes tearing through the atmosphere, the size of your average adult human curled into fetal position. As it breaks through layers of gas, it adopts an orange glow for a brief instant. It's easily lost in the canopy, even for the most agile and practiced of Xistentia residents. It's impossible to tell what it is. A faint whine fills the air, and a moment later, the projectile detonates. The scent of tar fills the forest along with shouts of dismay. And too little too late, F.A.T.E.S. warning system begins to blare that a contaminant has entered the atmosphere.
However, apart from a few bruises, panic and partial deafness, nobody seems harmed at all. That is, until the compulsion sets in.
Your secrets, both large and small, suddenly become wrenching fodder for impulsive speech... or signing, texting, any multitude of communication methods wind up hijacked. The worst of it comes when you face someone you know and love. Sheer willpower might stave off the urge long enough for your character to get out of range for conversation, and it might be a good time to avoid company for awhile. It will come randomly, in spikes, for 2 weeks to follow.
Feel free to use the confessions thread here to start some textspam trouble!
Bomb Resolution (April 12+)
A week later, F.A.T.E.S. and both magic and science-minded researchers have analyzed the goop. The worst of the epidemic is localized around the party, though psychic ripples continue to be felt across Xistentia for a few days.
And now we need cleanup.
It's a motley group of unlikely volunteers. Some people are just lucky— they have no secrets they fear to share, or perhaps just no shame. Others are just good samaritans, willing to risk a terrifying level of honesty in the interest of preventing further damage to the relationships that make Xistentia run.
In any case, the group finds themselves armed with gloves, rubber suits, and floating glass containment orbs, manipulable with gestures, that can absorb the black ichor off the trees, earth, and furniture. This will be stored at the temple. And what we'll do with it—
Who knows. Or perhaps you and your compatriots have an idea for the substance permanent disposal to share.
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Well, I'm not terribly surprised. You've beaten me in everything else.
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Pfft. Hardly. I can swing a hammer. You can bend reality and wander from realm to realm at your will. [ which is a much more impressive talent, Thor would say. ] Half the things I've done I would've never managed without you.
[ his hands wander, trying to lace his fingers with Loki's. ]
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Rather than these markings.
But Loki says something else instead, leaning down and pressing their foreheads together. His breath is like cool mountain air, crisp against the face. ]
You don't need to compliment me to keep me.
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[ And really, it's the truth. Loki isn't like some foreign princess to charm, or some bar maid or warrior he's seeking to snag for himself. Loki is Loki, his brother, the other half of him, and he doesn't think anything he can really say is needed to keep him. Or, if he meant to leave, and idle compliments would convince him to stay. It's something else entirely. ]
Did you think I was lying when I said I'd thought the world of you?
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[ He shudders. ]
No, but . . . [ Loki can't articulate himself this time. That particular moment had not been easy for him. To watch Thor casually say that he mattered but their paths diverged. To know it was his own making. Loki used to be able to wring out every bit of emotion from his brother. He needed to know he mattered. ]
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[ he knows, because he knows his brother. He knows him saying that had a lot to do with loki following him back to asgard anyway. but it hadn't been said out of an attempt to trick him, or hurt him, or get his way.
Truly, Thor was at his end. He'd mourned and mourned, and fought and pulled at him, and it all just ruined them further. To him, it was time to just let his brother go. If he cared at all for Loki's happiness and health, he'd had to stop clinging to him, accept that the bond they had was dead. ]
What else could I have done? [ he asks, voice soft but serious, as his hands run along Loki's thighs are his sides. ] Beg you again? Force you home again? You grew apart from me and I was trying to drag you back. It was cruel. Your life is your own, you should have been allowed to do what you like with it long ago.
no subject
I don't fault you for it.
[ He moves to lie down next to Thor, a nuzzle at his neck. ]
I never thought you'd actually do it. I never believed you'd let me go.
[ Because Loki couldn't. He never could. ]
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[ Thor murmurs, a small sadness in his voice, as he reaches up to run his hand through Loki's hair, brushing it back from his forehead, down the back of his neck. This is comfortable, seems familiar, to lay around in bed, cuddled up close and chatting over bits of life, of things between themselves, wonders and dreams and stories. all they're missing is the blanket pulled over their head and a book for Loki to read him stories from. ]
It took me years, mourning you twice, mourning our parents as well. I needed to stop getting in the way of your happiness. [ A smile pulls at his lips, sad but fond. He had to stop treating Loki like his wild, capricious little brother at some point. Let him live outside of the shade his overbearing cast on him. ] Perhaps I could've knocked you out and dragged you back home, tossed you in a dungeon just to make you stay put and out of trouble. But what good would it have done either of us? You'd escape, we'd fight, it'd all go back around.
Something had to give. I decided it would be me before you.
[ Sure, Thor's stubbornness is legendary, but most people who speak of it have never met his brother. ]
no subject
I cannot believe I am more stubborn than you.
no subject
You are stubborn as a boar when you want to be. I have the knife scars to prove it.
[ Thor tells him, and Loki can likely feel the vibrations from his throat as he speaks, his check sat on top of Loki's hair. ]
no subject
[ But he lets out a faint yawn, used to the reverberations under him. They used to do this when they were children and even long past, during late nights and hunts. His eyelashes flutter, a thin line of forest green peeking out from under it. ]
And you never minded before. It's as if you knew you were protecting me from myself.
no subject
Ah, it never hurt that much, and being angry enough to stab me meant you still cared, so. [ which is weirdly transparent, and Thor frowns for a moment, before moving on. he's never been particularly guarded anyway, so this confessions nonsense isn't as dramatic an effect with him. ]
How do you mean? [ protecting him from himself. though he's neither confirming or denying loki's guess. ]
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I'd guessed as much. [ they didn't Talk about these things so implicitly, pride not a flaw only thor possessed. loki had always been guarded with his personal troubles, and thor had learned not to push him. if he wanted him to know, he'd make it clear to him. or, so he'd thought, back then. ] I never figured out how to help free you from that.
A puncture wound here and there couldn't have hurt, though. [ so, yes, maybe, it was partly that. if it meant loki letting off some steam somewhere thor could still see and touch and hear him, he could live with it. better than him running off somewhere to get his head all into a mess on his own. ]
no subject
He does none of those things. ]
You couldn't.
no subject
Perhaps. But I could try. [ one of such flaws - believing he should be capable of anything, that it's his responsibility to fix all things, to protect all things, to conquer all things. if not him, then who? ] How could I be your brother, and love you, and not try?
[ just compulsion at that point, really. he'd always been looking over Loki's shoulder to protect him, but even in that, he'd failed in the end. ]
no subject
It doesn't work that way, Thor. You can't take it all upon yourself.
[ He rests his arms on Thor's chest, propping his chin up. ]
If you had, I would have resented you forever.
no subject
he watches him with a small tint of sadness in his eyes, but only for the pain loki had to suffer alone, not what they are now. his thumb strokes against loki's cheek, fond. ]
And now? Do you still feel that way?
no subject
Not so much. Not anymore.
no subject
Good. Because I tend to want to throttle people that don't like you much.
[ literally still wanted to strangle the avengers for calling loki nuts after he'd already gone foreign eye-ball thieving invader on them. his hand pushes into Loki's hair, scratching against his scalp with a warm smile. ]
no subject
It doesn't take much, with you.
[ Though it feels like liquid gold in his veins, to hear that. But Loki has always known Thor was protective. Thor had always been his protector, until things changed. Until Loki resented the role he was pushed in. ]
no subject
I have actually gotten much better about that in the past several years. [ be proud of him. ]
You just wouldn't know, seeing as you've only been around when the really throttle-worthy people show up.
[ this category has occasionally included you. but let's be real, you were being a serious bitch at the time(s). ]
no subject
There is a lot I didn't know.
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[ the mood turns a bit somber, smile a little more sad, as thor's fingers tuck stray dark strands behind loki's ears. there's a huge expanse of time that loki was lost to the cosmos, in dark and terrible places, twisted and abused, that he came back from broken. all this time thor knows nothing about, and he'd give anything to have been there with him for it. he'd have followed him right off the edge of the bridge. ]
But, we've no shortage of time here. No worlds ending or psychotic new sisters taking all our favorite toys. [ they'll get to it. whenever they're ready. ]
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Time always runs out. ]
What toys? She only took your things.
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