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.

“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

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

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.
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"I was competitive when I was starting high school. Then I had a growth spurt and that delayed me, and then my powers..."
So yeah.
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"What songs did you skate to? Did you make your own outfits? Omg I bet your ass looked great in tights."
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"I skated to what my coach advised me to. We bought outfits. And you've gotta remember, this was when I was, at oldest, fourteen. Though I guess I did some in the past with Damian watching, and he did say I looked good in the leggings."
Granted he'd also been happy for David out of the leggings later.
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"Oh I bet he did." She says with a grin and then leans forward, "Tell me about skating! I've never been, is it hard to do jumps? How do you not throw up when you do those suuuper fast spins?"
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"I would, if I could. I can't skate anymore. I can't remember the feeling or anything. I remember practicing hard to get the jumps right. The spinning is like ballet I think, where you return your head to a single point as quick as you can, but again..."
He shrugs.
"Hole in my mind."
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And she was bright too.
"Bingo. More of that lost memory thing. Before I gave up my sister, I gave up the first memory of my team coming together, and my skating. It was my passion. I wanted to grow up and be an Olympic caliber men's figure skater. I was passionate about it, which meant it was something that was enough to give up to save lives."
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"I haven't had the courage to try and relearn."
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"What if you got that hot elf guy to re-teach you? Carter was telling me that he's his sort of uncle but that he was a famous winter sports guy. He probably knows how to skate."
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“Hot elf-“
Oh god, David starts to laugh. “You mean Jean-Paul? Yeah, he knows how to skate. Though he specializes in skiing, not skating. I really don’t want to bother him with this. First of all, he’s sort of my boss back home. And house mate. And a bit of a role model? Though I’d also note that, uh, he’s also the reason that, even if I had come to terms with my powers, I might never have been able to go pro. He’s an Olympic Gold Medalist back home. But apparently being a mutant is cheating, so we’re not allowed to compete anymore.”
Oh man there were so many things to say about that. But asking Jean-Paul to go out of the way to help him? No. That was not even something he would ever consider doing. It would be embarrassing.
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"Why not bother him? Isn't that what bosses are for? To like, teach you stuff?" She asks with a raised eyebrow, "It's not like you're gonna ask him to mentor you for the next five years or whatever. Just ask him to give you a crash course on the basics so you can get back to doing something you like for if and when we get ice on these islands."
She takes a sip of her coffee and then smiles, "I bet if you did a refresher course your body might remember more stuff than your brain does."
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Not really, especially since David often didn’t need teaching of things. This was a rare thing for him these days. Learning things the proper way was something he did know how to do, but learning from others wasn’t common.
“Not like there’s anywhere to learn right now, so it doesn’t matter,” David tries to dismiss her entirely good point. “But trust me, my body won’t remember. I know what I know and can do. I have a far more intimate understanding of my knowledge and skills than other people are capable of.”
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“It’s… Important to me. Figure skating. But the thing was that I hadn’t been too deep on it in a while. And yet there’s-“
How did he explain it?
“Have you ever loved something so much that the very idea of losing it makes you scared?”
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Another sip of his coffee. Does he share this?
"I know he knows how to figure skate. He, uh, rode that carosel last island. So I got to meet him when he was in his twenties. Literally told one of my role models at the height of the game that I looked up to him for that I was a fan, that I couldn't live my dream, and that I lost the skills anyway. And he let me touch him, to feel the skills again. Actually used the line that he dated a figure skater once, and the guy was a great lover."
Yep he was going into the 'no relationship talk' weeds here. See, getting to know him.
"And then he sorta comforted me into he classic way. I don't remember if he remembers the talking part but we agreed to pretend it didn't happen."
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"So he let you feel the skills again? So does that mean you can skate again? Or does it go away after a while? And then next, what do you mean by he comforted you into the classic way?"
Stupid typos
He makes a proofing gesture with his fingers to illustrate.
"Like sand water cupped in the upturned palm of your hand. It's different back home, now at least. But since the last world took me there have been serious limits. At least I don't get the old migraines."
As for 'in the classic way' David blushed and looked away.
"Things happened we both agreed to not bring up between us again. Especially since I'm friends with his husband."
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"Right okay...got it. Hrm, dang. I'm sorry."
However when David blushes her thoughtful expression turns into one of surprise and she puts her hand over her mouth.
"OMG! Oh you meant! OH woah!"
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He will have to be fine like this. Helping people had to matter more.
"Yeah, I meant."
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One that had gone far more horribly than this before, so it was fine.
"Gets extra awkward worth him being a former teacher to my teammates and him being married and me knowing his husband well and this one really bad spot of trouble his sister helped get me out of. Lots of reasons to not touch it with a ten foot stick."
As Jean-Paul himself had more or less said, there were ways David wrapped himself up and isolated. It had never worked well in the past, but it was something he had been doing since he had begun hiding the secret of his mutation.
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"David you don't have to explain about using sex at a distraction, I know that kind of situation all too well. Trust me."
She gives him a small smile, "But after hearing how well you know him it makes sense that you would consent to being with him. Not only is he attractive but he's something familiar on a bunch of weird ass islands where nothing is normal and everything is new."
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Well that makes him shake his head.
"It's not like that. I mean it's a few things including the fact that young me sorta idolized the man he was at that age. But it isn't familiarity. If it was that I'd jump Quentin. Though Quentin wouldn't go for it and Kyle would try to kick my ass. It's more like no one has ever tried to seduce me before. Use me for what my powers could give them, yes. But that was something else entirely."
He hadn't let himself get close enough to locals in the last dimension to let them try and his relationship with Damian had actually been a slower blossoming. Being hit on with that much targeted attention by a stranger who was still a little familiar, even if it was for a hookup and dash off, had been new.
"People don't chase me. Not like that."
Clearly his resolve not to talk about his love life had failed.
"Well, except for Loki that one time and I seriously thought he was just playing around in Loki fashion."
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Yeah