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Bang Up To The Elephant

✖ VICTORIA'S SECRET

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The fog that has blanketed the city for a month finally lifts a little - there are days with actual sunshine now! Not many, and the sky is still frequently thick with smog, but every so often light pours through the holes in the clouds. The river that flows from the sea into the city still smells foul, but maybe you’re starting to get used to it.

Walk the cobbled streets and you will find that the city is crowded and filthy, but full of merchants, pubs, and theatres. Vast wealth and extreme poverty exist side by side.

In the center of the sprawling city is a temple with towering gothic spires and huge stained glass windows depicting all manner of beings that might be gods or angels or monsters. You could look for hours and still be finding new figures plucked straight from books of myth and religion. Inside, the main chamber has a grand vaulted ceiling, and dozens of pews line the aisle up to the altar, which is oddly anticlimactic compared to the lavish surroundings: just a plain stone table with a lit oil lamp in the centre. Two hallways branch off on either side of the room: one leads to private baths and a communal kitchen, the other to monastic style chambers with thin beds. Not the most comfortable place to stay, but it’ll do in a pinch!

The High Temple has also reappeared at the edge of the city, with its considerably more comfortable lodgings.

Alternatively you can venture into the city and find yourself some other lodging - every Traveler has been supplied with some pocket money. Just be careful that it isn’t stolen by some street urchin. Travelers can also find an era-appropriate outfit that will fit them perfectly laid in the first sleeping chamber they visit.

Notes:
1. The High Temple and anything you may have stored there is available to all characters this month.

2. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

3. The city greatly resembles Victorian London, and the technology and general way of life is all of that era. Feel free to explore the city! These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

4. Most food is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities. Most. Some of it’s going to be pretty gross or cooked improperly, so be careful.

5. The people in the city are normal humans unless otherwise indicated. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

6. Have fun!

Ⅱ. COME UNDONE
CW: dead bodies, archeological graverobbing.
Somehow, some way, you find yourself with an invitation card:

Lord Trewlaney at Home: the Unwrapping of
THE JEWEL OF THE SEVEN STARS!
Half-past Eight
Unwrapping? How saucy! Or perhaps you have an inkling of exactly what that means.

The invitation gets you entry to a well kept home on the more well-to-do side of the city. There are plenty of servants circulating with food and drink of which you are welcome to partake. Society’s elite chatter and mingle all around you; maybe you fit in, and maybe you don’t.

Regardless, you don’t have to wait very long for the main event. The host of this little soiree - presumably Lord Trewlaney himself, a little man with a weak chin and an impressive mustache - stands at the front of the room and holds his hands aloft.

“Ladies and gentleman,” he says in a clear voice. “BEHOLD! We shall now commence with the unwrapping of this, a fine example of Egyptian mummification, who was once called the Jewel of the Seven Stars!”

A wheeled table is brought forward, covered in a purple velvet cloth. Dramatically, Lord Trewlaney flings it back to reveal a body wrapped in ancient linen bandages. The crowd sighs, and Trewlaney’s eyes scan the crowd.

“Ah, you there!” he cries, pointing at you. Or maybe the person beside you.

“You folk there! Here, come up, my friends! You may have the honour of being a part of history!”

The crowd pushes you and your companion forward with excited murmurs. Soon enough the two of you are beside the mummy, and Trewlaney is handing you a pair of scissors. Up close the body smells of cinnamon and something else, something familiar.

“Reveal its face!” he urges you. And so, you cut.

Much to your surprise what is revealed is not a desiccated corpse, but your own likeness. Before you have time to react the mummy sits up and turns to face the audience, who oohs and ahhs.

The mummy’s lips part and it speaks. What does it say? Something extremely revealing; in plain terms, the mummy reveals something an aspect of yourself that you would rather have kept hidden.

Oh dear! You can shut yourself up, of course, but before you do maybe you ought to consider that interfering with a mummy was considered a surefire way to fall under a curse…

Notes:
1. What is revealed can of course be of any degree of seriousness. Murder? Or do you just secretly enjoy RomComs?

2. Shut the mummy up before it has its say and you will suffer the Mummy’s Curse: bad luck that will plague you for the rest of the month!

Ⅲ. IMAGINARIUM
The sign above the door simply reads Cabinet of Curiosities. How intriguing! And at the very least you can get out of the chill.

Inside there are dozens of wooden cases with glass fronts, each filled with shelves of all manner of objects. Some look expensive and exotic, while others are almost painfully mundane. There are taxidermied animals, wet specimens, fossils, glass eyes, rocks and crystals, pottery, statuettes… There’s a little of everything.

As you peer amongst the stuffed ducks and fossilized plants, you’ll spot something familiar. It’s an object that you recognise as personally significant whether because it’s from your life back home, or because it’s symbolic. It represents a dream or a hope you have for the future.

If you take the object out of the cabinet for a closer look, you and whoever happens to be standing nearby will instantly be transported to a hazy vision of what that lovely dream is. It won’t last forever - indeed, maybe only a moment. Depending on what that hoped for future is, you might have some explaining to do.

Notes:
1. All futures are something hoped for. They may be completely unrealistic and bittersweet, but they are something wanted and not feared.

Ⅳ. GARDENS
CW: mind altering substances.
If there’s one spot within the city where you might be able to find some refuge from the dank scent of ocean rot and the sour smell of body odour, then it’s going to be the Gardens. A jewel toward the west side of the city, you will find a greenhouse containing all manner of tropical plants, and a rose garden with over a 100 different types available for you to enjoy.

But why stop there? There are also areas where you can stop and have tea with a friend. They even have those little sandwiches with the crust cut off! They have cucumber, egg, and cream cheese. Each of these has a different effect: cucumber sandwiches will provide a mild sense of euphoria, while the egg will give you a lot of energy (and maybe some gas). Cream cheese will make you very relaxed and prone to oversharing. There are also perfectly regular cakes and biscuits available, as well.

Maybe you’re feeling a bit more somber. In the northeast end of the park there is a secret pet cemetery with over 300 tiny tombstones paying tribute to the tragic losses of many much-loved pets. The area is disused, overgrown with ivy and ferns. Sitting there evokes a sense of peace.

Prefer to see some living wildlife? Fear not, the park seems to attract several different types of songbirds which makes it a hotspot for birdwatching. There are binoculars available to use for that purpose. Or you could use them to peer into the city’s seamy underbelly. Just don’t get isolated and weird about it.

Sometimes I can still hear his voice...

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"Most people have met aliens at least once. Most people are just too dumb to know it," he muses.

"But you're not. You're hot and smart and weird. And that's like. The trifecta," he says. His big doe eyes looking more adoring than ever. "You were going to school right? Before this place interrupted your life? To be a lawyer?"

Kyle somehow manages to smile even wider.

"Uhm, yeah, I just got my bachelor's, I was gonna start law school in the fall."

Quentin scowls a little, it soon becomes clear that this is not the face of disappointment in Kyle. This is a face of sympathy. Or at least, vicarious frustration.

"And then this place showed up and dicked you over," he huffs. Indignant on Kyle's behalf. "And this place doesn't even have books on modern US law for fuck sake! Hey. David's basically an encyclopedia with a pulse. He might be able to help you, like, I dunno, be able to pass the bar by the time this place spits us out again..." This is Quentin musing out loud.

He snickers. "I guess. But honestly? I don't care. I have friends here. I have YOU. Law school can wait."

He looks around, smiling softly. I mean, look at all of this. It beats the hell out of studying case files.

And I'm not gonna use David as my study aide.

"He'd probably be flattered," Quentin says dismissively.

"I was wondering about that. About whether time here works in parallel to the way ti does back home. Maybe we're not losing any time there at all." It's perhaps the most optimistic thing he's ever theorized about being stuck here. Kyle has clearly infected him with some amount of optimism.

"I'm glad I've got you here too," he mumbles a little. "I just wanted to tell you, that I'd like, do something about it. You know. If you felt like something was missing for you here."

"Or super annoyed!" Although he's not sure which - David can be funny that way.

Kyle hums. "Maybe. We have really no idea how ANY of this works, frankly."

He looks at Quentin, eyes shining. "You really would. Dude. You're the most romantic person ever."

"Yeah, or that." He snickers a little and winks at Kyle. "I'll test the waters for you."

True. But my money is against it being a wholly unique entity. Rarely is any culture, individual or intelligent design that special." Also, Quentin hates to think he's facing anything completely unknown to him. But that's a point he's less likely to make.

"What?" He snorts and rolls his eyes at that. "Has the smog gotten to you?"

"You do that." Still amused.

Kyle hums. "If we have a supposed god stuck here it does sort of make me go, huh, I guess there is a hierarchy of supernatural powers or something. Which is weird to consider."

Kyle reaches over to punch Quentin's shoulder.

"Shut the fuck up, I meant what I said."

"There's always something bigger out there," he says, nodding thoughtfully. Until a new thought strikes him. "Did you mean me? Or some other supposed God? Oh, Loki? He's a B-tier God anyway."

He shies away from that hit with a mischievous grin. "Well, enjoy being ALONE in believing that."

"I meant Loki. I absolutely refuse to call you a god, dude."

He preens. "I will. Means I'm in an exclusive club."

"That's fair. Until the Phoenix comes for me. Then I'll take it as a personal slight," he smirks.

"One delusional person does not, a club, make," he snipes.

Kyle snorts. "My faith is monotheistic," he teases. "I refuse your godhood."

"Why are you always so determined to deny that you have a soft side?"

"Really?" he asks curiously. "What about Loki? You called him a God!"

"I'm not!" he lies. The more excuses he can cram in a single breath is always kind of telling. "I just think other people don't see it like that. And anyway I'm not sure it counts if there are a wholly selfish reasons for it. Plus, anger issues rule me out of the soft boi social class."

"Yeah, but not GOD god."

Kyle shakes his head. "I didn't call you a soft boi, but whatever what's wrong with soft bois? Carter is a soft boi."

"Hm. Fair. I've always felt like Asguardians sit a little lower on the God pyramid. More like space vikings. Then again, what's a God except someone more powerful than you, anyway?" It's a rhetorical question really, but as always, he could talk about anything.

"Carter is thee soft boi. Nothings wrong with soft bois, but I'm not one!" he insists.

"It is not just that," Kyle argues right back. "God isn't even a person, not really. Like if it exists beyond what I saw as a kid, it's like... beyond human comprehension."

He cackles. "Okay, yes. And no, you're not, but you have a soft SIDE."

Quentin looks for a long moment like he's thinking thoughtful things. But then he just turns to Kyle and smiles a slow obnoxious smile. "Luckily, I'm not human." He winks.

"Lies and slander," he pouts and makes a bunch of bold assertions he probably can't back up just because he likes hearing Kyle tell him exactly who he thinks he is and arguing about it seems like a good way to sustain that. "Everything soft I've ever done has been for wholly selfish reasons."

Kyle makes an irritated noise and shoves at Quentin again.

"That's not true! You do nice shit for ME all the time!"

There's a light in his eyes for moments like that when he irritates Kyle just enough to make him get physical.

"Yeah, but I LIKE you. And I want you to LIKE me! That is selfish! Love, as a whole, is inherently selfish," he says like he knows he's being an agitator.

"Bullshit!" Kyle snaps back. He's smiling. "Love has a selfish component, but it isn't inherently selfish at ALL. When you love someone enough, you put their needs first. You'd die for them. Neither of those things is selfish! You're just being a dink because you're scared of anybody besides me finding out you have feelings."

Moments like this Quentin is quite certain he can feel his heart swell and if it's life threatening he's fine with that.

"Dying for someone can be selfish!" he barks. "If I know it'd be easier to be dead than live without you, dying is the easy solution! The solution that's less effort for me — AKA selfish."

"Everyone knows I have feelings! I'm angry all the time!"

Edited 2022-02-18 06:37 (UTC)

"The SOFT feelings," Kyle clarifies. "The ones that make you vulnerable. And I don't blame you for hiding them - your upbringing sure didn't do you any favours there.

"But love isn't all selfish. And you know it. Saying oh, you do things JUST to benefit yourself is laughable, because we both know it's not what you think of first. You don't pet my hair and tell me I'm beautiful JUST to hear yourself talk, or to get into my pants or make me not mad at you."

He smirks a little. one part irritated, one part adoring. "You reaaaally think you've got my number, don't you Broflovski?"

"It know it's not all selfish. But it's largely selfish! It's inherently selfish! It's foundationally selfish! Because it makes me feel good. Where it gets muddy is the fact that it also makes you feel good is not just a byproduct of that. Not some handy bonus. But rather inextricably tied to what makes me feel good about it. You know? If it made you feel shitty, that would ruin my enjoyment of it thus voiding my selfish reason for doing it," he says. "This is like that conversation we had about apathy being a necessary ingredient in self-preservation. Selfishness is a necessary part of love."

"For the record I tell you you're beautiful and get into your pants because I'm absolutely hard for you. Which is least a little selfish of me."

"I reeeeeally do," he confirms smugly. "I did great in my psych classes, I'll have you know."

Kyle shakes his head. "Okay. I think foundationally most human interactions are maybe initially about self preservation and so selfish, sure. We're herd animals, what's good for the collective is good for the individual. BUT I think that because we've evolved consciousness and emotion, it's more than that. I'd literally die for my little brother. I know you argued that's selfish because life would be harder for me without him, but that doesn't hold up because annihilation is less desirable than pain that will fade over time."

He pauses to kick Quentin gently. "So okay, selfishness is part of love, but not the most important one.

"And I know that. My point is when you're NOT horny you say it to make ME feel nice."

"Nerrrrrrrd," he groans. After all, there's no denying Kyle probably did do great in all his classes. And further, no denying that this is in many ways one of the things he loves about Kyle. So better to just tease him.

"Annihilation is not always less desirable than pain," he says. "There are lots of species that know when death provides less suffering than trying to live through ailment or trauma."

He smiles when he's kicked, "Fiiiine. But also I say things because I like having someone worth saying stupid sappy shit to and you'll never take that self-indulgence from me."

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