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Entry tags:
Time for a Cinnabon!
✖ THE MALL
Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
You step off the ferry and find there is no beach. No, the concrete wharf opens up to a vast, flat plain of pavement. It goes on, and on, and on. Sodium lights on tall poles are spaced at regular intervals, and as you move forward you notice white lines painted in neat rows.Those of you from a typical earth world might recognise almost immediately that you are, in fact, in a giant parking lot.
Up ahead you can see a vast building, a long rectangle flanked on either end by an even larger square. In the very center there is a large, triangular glass awning hanging over an entranceway composed of several automatic doors. There is neon tubing running along the inside of the awning, lighting up the glass so it is a beacon shining across the expanse of pavement you’re crossing.
That’s right, Travellers. We’re going to The Mall.
The building is huge - it takes a good hour to walk from one anchor store to the other at the opposite end. There are stores selling damn near everything - clothes, housewares, books, kitchen supplies, movies and music, electronics - as well as hair salons, nail salons, and a ton of kiosks. The merchandise being sold seems to be from different decades - anywhere from the 1970s to the late 2000s. You can find almost anything you could want!
The flooring is faux marble, the pillars decorated with brass detailing halfway up their length. Potted palms are set at regular intervals. The mall’s concourse is huge and open, with a glass ceiling criss-crossed with metal supports. A fountain jets water coloured by lights into the air over and over in the center of the concourse.
Escalators and an elevator run up and down to the second floor, where the food court is, which is a heaven, provided you’re too worried about MSG. Food from across every conceivable world exists here - no matter where you’re from, you can find a fast-food version of something you’re familiar with. And there’s an Orange Julius!
Truly, a paradise. Kind of weird that the automatic doors won’t let you out the way you came in, but you have everything you need right here! Just be really careful on those escalators - wouldn’t want to get sucked under. And by the way, what’s that noise…?
Ⅱ. BLACK FRIDAY
CW: violence, mob mentality
One of the mall anchors is a huge department store that sells everything under the sun. As you walk through the empty aisles, you’ll notice that there are signs hung everywhere that read “SALE!” Indeed, prices seem to have been drastically reduced. The place seems eerily calm, however; you can’t see any shoppers anywhere.
But if you walk close to the exterior entrance on the far side of the store, you will see them if you look outside.
Hundreds upon hundreds of people pressed up against the glass doors. With a start you see that all of them, from children to the elderly, are missing their eyes. Black, empty sockets stare sightlessly ahead. Store employees, recognisable by their red smocks, stand at the ready.
“Alright, let’s open her up!” one of them shouts, and the employees move to unlock the doors. Immediately the crowd surges forward. The employees pull each other out of the way moments before they can be trampled. The mob rushes through the entranceways, stampeding towards… towards…
Oh. You.
The mob lacks any empathy; people push and climb over one another, uncaring if anyone falls to the ground. You’re pretty sure several of them are actually being crushed beneath people’s feet. Oddly, they aren’t screaming in pain. People’s mouths are moving, but only to form certain words:
“FLATSCREEN!”
“INTELLIVISION!”
“TICKLE-ME-ELMO!”
They are only screaming what it is that they want. They are single minded in their purpose, and don’t care who they hurt in their pursuit.
Make your way to the entrance that opens into the mall and you’ll be greeted with a nasty sight: the gates are closed. No matter what you do to them, they won’t budge an inch, impervious to brute strength, magic, superpowers. That means you’ll have to find another way out if you don’t want to join in the bloodshed. Maybe there’s a ventilation system or a loading bay...
There’s a chance you could just hide out until the sale ends - a store this vast has more than enough food and drink to sustain you, and you could probably get a good night’s sleep in a camping display if it isn’t torn apart by rabid consumers. Just be careful, because the longer you spend trapped in the department store the more likely you are to turn into one of them: mindlessly screaming what it is you want as you tear the store apart.
Ⅲ. UNDERGROUND PARKING
CW: potential starvation, dehydration
If the two floors of the mall are for eating and shopping, where do the down escalators go? Unsurprisingly they lead to an underground parking lot. More surprisingly, if you choose to enter the lot you’ll find yourself suddenly transported to the inside of a car. What car? Any car! It sure isn’t yours! It’s locked and you can’t get the doors or windows to open. Even trying to break your way out is futile.
Thank goodness you have a way to call for help: your ScryWatch! Although you can still access the public network, your ScryWatch will also now function as a private one-to-one device like a phone or a walkie talkie. You can ask a friend to come and help you!
The second person entering the lot won’t be magicked away, but a friendly mall employee will stop you and hand you a set of keys. Clearly they go to a car… but which one? Better start pressing that alarm button, huh?
The parking lot is massive. The party in the car would be wise to describe what they can see to their seeker. After all, teamwork makes the dream work! You sure don’t want to be stuck in a warm car for a couple of days!
Ⅳ. MANNEQUIN
CW: automatonophobia
As you walk through the mall, you’ll see plenty of window displays. Gleaming cookware turning on pedestals under mellow lights, toys going round and round in fake wonderlands, personalised miniature license plates - although they’re all out of Borts - and of course plenty of stylish clothes draped over countless mannequins.
It’s always fun to window shop, isn’t it? Which is how you will come to notice that some of the mannequins look awfully familiar.
Everyone has, at some point in their life, treated someone like they weren’t real outside of what you wanted them to be. The romantic interest you put on a pedestal, the friend you only called when you needed them, or the poor bastard in the office who never did anything to you but who you hated on because it made you feel better. The mannequins greatly resemble that person or persons.
No matter which window you pass, they’re there. It looks like they’re watching you. But that’s silly, isn’t it?
With every mannequin you pass, the more your unease grows. Eventually the feeling of being watched is so great that it’s overwhelming. A sense of guilt grows alongside your paranoia, gnawing at your guts until you feel physically ill. Maybe if you apologise to the dummies for treating them like objects?
Or maybe if you just break all of them into pieces.
Come on Jessica, come on Tori! Let's go to the mall, you won't be sorry!
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
You step off the ferry and find there is no beach. No, the concrete wharf opens up to a vast, flat plain of pavement. It goes on, and on, and on. Sodium lights on tall poles are spaced at regular intervals, and as you move forward you notice white lines painted in neat rows.Those of you from a typical earth world might recognise almost immediately that you are, in fact, in a giant parking lot.
Up ahead you can see a vast building, a long rectangle flanked on either end by an even larger square. In the very center there is a large, triangular glass awning hanging over an entranceway composed of several automatic doors. There is neon tubing running along the inside of the awning, lighting up the glass so it is a beacon shining across the expanse of pavement you’re crossing.
That’s right, Travellers. We’re going to The Mall.
The building is huge - it takes a good hour to walk from one anchor store to the other at the opposite end. There are stores selling damn near everything - clothes, housewares, books, kitchen supplies, movies and music, electronics - as well as hair salons, nail salons, and a ton of kiosks. The merchandise being sold seems to be from different decades - anywhere from the 1970s to the late 2000s. You can find almost anything you could want!
The flooring is faux marble, the pillars decorated with brass detailing halfway up their length. Potted palms are set at regular intervals. The mall’s concourse is huge and open, with a glass ceiling criss-crossed with metal supports. A fountain jets water coloured by lights into the air over and over in the center of the concourse.
Escalators and an elevator run up and down to the second floor, where the food court is, which is a heaven, provided you’re too worried about MSG. Food from across every conceivable world exists here - no matter where you’re from, you can find a fast-food version of something you’re familiar with. And there’s an Orange Julius!
Truly, a paradise. Kind of weird that the automatic doors won’t let you out the way you came in, but you have everything you need right here! Just be really careful on those escalators - wouldn’t want to get sucked under. And by the way, what’s that noise…?
Notes:
1. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.
2. These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.
3. Any food is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities.
4. The people inside the mall are normal humans unless otherwise indicated. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.
5. Have fun!
Ⅱ. BLACK FRIDAY
CW: violence, mob mentality
One of the mall anchors is a huge department store that sells everything under the sun. As you walk through the empty aisles, you’ll notice that there are signs hung everywhere that read “SALE!” Indeed, prices seem to have been drastically reduced. The place seems eerily calm, however; you can’t see any shoppers anywhere.
But if you walk close to the exterior entrance on the far side of the store, you will see them if you look outside.
Hundreds upon hundreds of people pressed up against the glass doors. With a start you see that all of them, from children to the elderly, are missing their eyes. Black, empty sockets stare sightlessly ahead. Store employees, recognisable by their red smocks, stand at the ready. “Alright, let’s open her up!” one of them shouts, and the employees move to unlock the doors. Immediately the crowd surges forward. The employees pull each other out of the way moments before they can be trampled. The mob rushes through the entranceways, stampeding towards… towards…
Oh. You.
The mob lacks any empathy; people push and climb over one another, uncaring if anyone falls to the ground. You’re pretty sure several of them are actually being crushed beneath people’s feet. Oddly, they aren’t screaming in pain. People’s mouths are moving, but only to form certain words:
“FLATSCREEN!”
“INTELLIVISION!”
“TICKLE-ME-ELMO!”
They are only screaming what it is that they want. They are single minded in their purpose, and don’t care who they hurt in their pursuit.
Make your way to the entrance that opens into the mall and you’ll be greeted with a nasty sight: the gates are closed. No matter what you do to them, they won’t budge an inch, impervious to brute strength, magic, superpowers. That means you’ll have to find another way out if you don’t want to join in the bloodshed. Maybe there’s a ventilation system or a loading bay...
There’s a chance you could just hide out until the sale ends - a store this vast has more than enough food and drink to sustain you, and you could probably get a good night’s sleep in a camping display if it isn’t torn apart by rabid consumers. Just be careful, because the longer you spend trapped in the department store the more likely you are to turn into one of them: mindlessly screaming what it is you want as you tear the store apart.
Notes:
1. There may be a few Black Friday shoppers loose in the mall, but primarily they stick to the department store.
2. Your character might find a way into the mall again, or the parking lot outside. However they manage that is up to you!
3. If your character does turn into a consumer drone, they can be changed back by being taken out of the department store. Maybe go chill out by the fountain in the concourse or get some chilli fries in the food court.
Ⅲ. UNDERGROUND PARKING
CW: potential starvation, dehydration
If the two floors of the mall are for eating and shopping, where do the down escalators go? Unsurprisingly they lead to an underground parking lot. More surprisingly, if you choose to enter the lot you’ll find yourself suddenly transported to the inside of a car. What car? Any car! It sure isn’t yours! It’s locked and you can’t get the doors or windows to open. Even trying to break your way out is futile. Thank goodness you have a way to call for help: your ScryWatch! Although you can still access the public network, your ScryWatch will also now function as a private one-to-one device like a phone or a walkie talkie. You can ask a friend to come and help you!
The second person entering the lot won’t be magicked away, but a friendly mall employee will stop you and hand you a set of keys. Clearly they go to a car… but which one? Better start pressing that alarm button, huh?
The parking lot is massive. The party in the car would be wise to describe what they can see to their seeker. After all, teamwork makes the dream work! You sure don’t want to be stuck in a warm car for a couple of days!
Notes:
1. Your character can post/call the network or text/call an individual - in the latter case nobody else can read or hear the conversation.
2. The car might have some goldfish crackers or something in the glove box, or maybe an old gatorade bottle on the floor, but there’s not going to be enough to survive on for any length of time.
Ⅳ. MANNEQUIN
CW: automatonophobia
As you walk through the mall, you’ll see plenty of window displays. Gleaming cookware turning on pedestals under mellow lights, toys going round and round in fake wonderlands, personalised miniature license plates - although they’re all out of Borts - and of course plenty of stylish clothes draped over countless mannequins. It’s always fun to window shop, isn’t it? Which is how you will come to notice that some of the mannequins look awfully familiar.
Everyone has, at some point in their life, treated someone like they weren’t real outside of what you wanted them to be. The romantic interest you put on a pedestal, the friend you only called when you needed them, or the poor bastard in the office who never did anything to you but who you hated on because it made you feel better. The mannequins greatly resemble that person or persons.
No matter which window you pass, they’re there. It looks like they’re watching you. But that’s silly, isn’t it?
With every mannequin you pass, the more your unease grows. Eventually the feeling of being watched is so great that it’s overwhelming. A sense of guilt grows alongside your paranoia, gnawing at your guts until you feel physically ill. Maybe if you apologise to the dummies for treating them like objects?
Or maybe if you just break all of them into pieces.
Notes:
1. Stating how you have wronged the person the mannequin resembles and apologising will cause the guilt and paranoia to vanish. But then, so will breaking them.
2. Could the mannequins sneak up on you? Move when you’re not looking? Sure! the floor, but there’s not going to be enough to survive on for any length of time.
no subject
The question seems a simple one but Quentin thinks about it a moment as he looks at Kyle's relaxed expression. There's the question Kyle's asking and then a more literal answer that addresses an unintentionally spurious premise. "It's not easier," he says. "But I was never with her."
no subject
He drags a finger up and down Quentin's arm.
no subject
It has dawned on him that there's an ending to this story he's not sure he should tell Kyle. Or maybe he should before someone else does. He can't yet decide which is the smarter decision, but it seems a bleak thing to ruin their nice moment with that.
He runs his fingers through Kyle's freshly groomed hair instead.
no subject
Kyle's smile becomes even sweeter. "So you guys didn't hook up after?"
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"Nooo," he mumbles. "I killed her. Or she killed herself in an effort to stop me. Or it was the kick. I'm not crystal clear on that to be honest..."
no subject
Quentin's confession throws cold water over this lazt, tender moment. Kyle's eyes go wide and he half sits up.
"What? Oh my god, Quentin. I. That's horrible. Are. Fuck. Did she, uhm. Did she come back?"
no subject
He watches Kyle carefully in the hope of determining the direction of his dismay. "Noooot exacctlly," he admits. "I mean eventually everyone did once we figured out how to resurrect people, but if you ask her sisters that doesn't absolve me."
no subject
Kyle falls very quiet again. He's not stupid - what Quentin is saying is that at the time, dead was dead. He got a girl killed. No - he may have actually murdered her while under the influence of drugs.
"Oh." It's a difficult fact to reconcile with his feelings for the man beside him. Kyle lays back down, one hand finding Quentin's.
"I mean. Her sisters would be right, dude."
no subject
"I know! I know... I know it. But like. She was on it too. And her sister dealt it! And like, nobody knew it contained a sentient bacteria at the time!" he bargains, but even Quentin knows none of those details are terribly good at assuaging any guilt he struggles to admit to in the first place.
"I didn't mean to hurt her. She was supposed to be on my team. Until she wasn't."
no subject
"Sometimes shit goes bad," Kyle says softly. His fingers tighten around Quentin's. "You loved her, at least a little. I believe you didn't want to hurt her.
"Did you ever tell her you were sorry?"
no subject
"Uh huh," he nods slightly. "I reanimated myself with the help of a fiery God of rebirth just so I could try to bring her back from the dead. I did it too. I necromanced the hell out of both of us. But she didn't like it. Me, or being reanimated, I don't really know. So she gave it back— life. How's that for rejection?"
no subject
He takes his hand and places it gently against Quentin's cheek.
"I knew you had the capacity for caring that deeply," he says. His voice is low, but urgent. "I knew it. And I appreciate you being honest with me about what happened and why, because I also know how much you hide any sort of vulnerability."
He kisses him softly, slowly. "I love you."
no subject
Vulnerability is the word Kyle so aptly chooses and just so hear that truth laid bare makes him sort of want to de-animate himself again. Failing that, he squeezes his eyes shut a moment. As if he can shake it all off like an ice cream headache.
"I don't hide it. I just don't have a lot of it..." he mumbles. It's not true. It's not even a great rationalization. But sometimes he just says things in the hope it comes out convincingly. Win some, lose some.
He's grateful for that kiss though and it's apparent in the way he kisses back, clinging to Kyle in a way that's a little needy, but just slightly shy of demanding about it. Grateful because it feels like a promise that Kyle hasn't been chased off by this admission, and because if they're kissing he doesn't have to die of humiliation hearing Kyle talk more about his vulnerability. It's a small mercy really.
"I love you too," he says eventually. "Not, just because you can stand me. But you know. It helps."
no subject
He's happy to keep kissing. Kyle can talk for hours, but he's been learning that sometimes actions really do mean more and he feels instinctively that what Quentin needs is some sort of proof of affection.
He guffaws. "You're such a dick," Kyle says fondly.
"We don't have to talk abput it. But if you WANT to, I'll listen."
no subject
"I'm a dick? I'm a dick??" he pecks Kyle's lips between incredulous outbursts and rolls them over so he's planted on top of Kyle where he can monologue. "You're the one who's like; 'hey, Quentin! You know that gnawing feeling in your stomach you get when someone's being like Hallmark channel sweet? Like you half think it's a prank and half wanna cry about? Well, I'm going to sit there and make you take it, because I'm adorable, and obnoxious, and I don't even have to have brain powers to clock you for the lonely little weirdo you are!'" Maybe a little dramatic, but point made. And however intense his little speech might seem the energy in his eyes is bright and his smile antagonistic, because who else can he yell at while making out with?
no subject
"You're a dick," he repeats. His eyes gleam with good humour. "And you're MY lonely little weirdo, so, yeah, you're gonna suck on my Hallmark channel."
He loops his arms around Quentin's neck. "It's okay, you know. It's okay." He lifts his head up enough to kiss Quentin's cheek.
"Adorable, huh?"
no subject
when Kyle's arms wind around him and pull him in, he resists not to resist but just to make Kyle haul him in a little harder and when he does, that little remark catches him off guard. Enough to turn his face a kind of pink that could rival his hair. "What's ok?" he asks and doesn't know why waiting for an answer makes him nervous.
"Yeah. Adorable. What are you gonna do about it?"
cw: nsfw talk
Kyle kisses Quentin's cheeks and forehead and lips and nose. Everywhere, over and over. "That you did bad things. I know you've learned. And it's okay you told me - I'm not going to leave you over it."
[Kyle slides a hand down to Quentin's ass.] I'm gonna make you cum, duh.
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"Thanks," he mutters. "I like hearing you say that; it's ok. You say it very convincingly," he smiles. "But if Wolverine asks, I didn't learn anything except how to break his dog-brain," he adds.
Kyle's threat puts a different kind of smile on his face. Maybe just as embarrassed but a little more mischievous too. "Duh," he echos. "Do your worst," he grins.
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"I promise not to tell Wolverine that you've never learned anything ever. Why you insist on it I'll never know, but okay."
Kyle nuzzles Quentin's neck a little more aggressively. "You make it sound like I'm gonna tie you up or something."
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"Because he's a miserable, sad, old loser who doesn't know the first thing about me even if he thinks he does, and I won't give him the satisfaction," he grumbles.
He shivers when Kyle's breath on his neck makes him break out in goosebumps. "Maybe I'm just a little competitive. But I mean, you could definitely tie me up if you wanted." He winks and rope appears knotted around his wrists, pink and translucent and humming with that strange psionic energy of his.
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That turns his snickering into a full cackle. "THAT'S it. Not giving anyone the satisfaction. You're such a brat."
He nips at Quentin's pulse. "As if I could trust you to keep yourself restrained." His hands skate up under Quentin's shirt. "You're so pretty."
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Quentin rolls his eyes. "Of course you would pick that part out of a much longer and more complex explanation," he mutters. "Plus you've never seen him smug it's the worst. He's an insufferable example of toxic masculinity."
He squeaks pleasantly at that little nip and it dissolves into giggles as Kyle insists upon his untrustworthiness. "Shuuuutuuuuup," he groans. Writhing in the bright light of those compliments. "But don't actually..."
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Kyle snickers. "Oh, so we'd probably get along great. We could talk about flannel and pickups."
Kyle licks the place he's nipped before he bites at Quentin's shoulder a little harder. "You are, dude. You have perfect skin, for one thing."
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His face twists up into a comically disgusted look and he takes Kyle's shirt in both fists. "If you keep insinuating there's anything the same about the two of you I will lay waste to the both you," he whines, but when Kyle bites him a little it's easy to forget he's trying to be threatening.
"Good genes," he smiles. "And an expensive skin care routine. Or at least it was..."
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