fanmail + light holiday event!

[idolpro]

Who: you!
Where: hotel lobby
When: Day 518

[ it's FANMAIL TIME except this time the fanmail isn't in boxes they're in bags. why bags?

well, they're red bags. with fur lining. so maybe they're . . . santa bags . . . !!

Which means there must be gifts, right? Right? Which, yes. sort of.

Each bag has a dozen or so holiday decorations inside of them, and people who are caught aware (or are just unlucky enough to run into an already-opened bag) will find themselves accosted by one, with a little note of what the "cure" for the decoration is:

Decoration	Effect	Cure
Mistletoe	Physically stuck in place	Kiss someone (anywhere)
Wreath	Obedience compulsion	Obey 10 distinct (no repeats) orders
Tree Star	Fall in love with people at first sight	Be confessed to by your target
Light-up Candy Cane	All I Want For Christmas Is You keeps playing in your head forever	Sing the full version of a DIFFERENT song with someone
Stocking	Compulsion to be contrary/mean/deliberately a problem to people	Genuinely hurt someone's feelings
Tree Skirt	Compulsion to dress up and RP a different personality/role	Be applauded for your performance
Plastic Miniature Snowman	Mild to moderate fever, illness, shivers	Sleep in the same bed with someone

Once the cure has been fulfilled, the effect will fade, leaving the decoration a normal object. Until then, the decoration is stuck somewhere on an idol's body (movable, like it's metal to a magnet).

Status effects and decorations will disappear OOCly at the end of the month, so you can assume these are around for further posts!

The city itself seems to have been decorated for the holidays, with cutesy mascots and floats and Christmas lights bringing a festive mood, but be wary, because some of them are the very same cursed decorations accosting idols in the lobby right now and if you get too close they might stick to you................ ]

[ Please make sure to make a SFW toplevel and then respond to your toplevel with your NSFW reaction prompts! Here's an example of what that looks like! ]

Comments

[happydreamed]

I would be delighted to escort you to the karaoke bar. [Offers his arm, like a gentleman.]

[sangreine]

[ She floats down a little so she can take his arm, but it leaves her feet dragging a bit since she can't flex her ankles. Hm. ]

Maybe we could take Periwinkle? I could also use some fresh air, and I promise to keep you warm. [ Chilly up there and all. ]

[happydreamed]

[Periwinkle pops into existence, nuzzling at her side.]

I'll never say no to flying with you.

[sangreine]

[ Periwinkle gets a smooch on the nose, then Aliza levitates herself up onto his back. It takes a second to arrange her legs in a way she likes, needlessly fussy about it. When she's finally done with that she snuggles against Doctor. This is basically therapy. ]

All set.

[happydreamed]

[Periwinkle carries the two of them outside, flying at a gentler pace than normal.]

I do miss flying under my own power, but 'twould be harder to cuddle up to you that way.

[sangreine]

We could practice. Since I can fly us around without your wings, we could do that more to be ready when you get them back. Then you'd just have to bring Periwinkle out more often so we can make sure he gets enough attention.

[happydreamed]

That sounds delightful. I'd love to.

[Periwinkle chirps happily. Thank you for thinking of him.]

[sangreine]

[ Periwinkle gets another pat, Doctor another snuggle. ]

That's convenient, since I'll have to float around for who knows how long. [ Her mood dampens a little, but she works hard not to make it sound too grim. ] Might as well make the most of the time.

[happydreamed]

I couldn't possibly let you get bored, rest assured.

[sangreine]

[ There's a pause and she inhales like she might say something, then reconsiders and burrows against him. ]

[happydreamed]

[...Squeeze.]

You can lecture me if I'm being insensitive.

[sangreine]

You're not. [ Her voice is light but wan, and she shakes her head lightly. He hasn't done anything wrong, but she can't say more because her stupid hair corruption will give her away. ]

[ Unfortunately, her emotion-sharing game effect takes care of that. Her feelings flood into him: nearly overwhelming despair, fear of losing who she is which settles into the chest and squeezes. Evolutionary panic at the thought of not being in perfect control of her body, being used to instant healing. But wrapped around those is steel-solid determination not to let any of it show, desperation to be more than a needy burden on everyone around her. She knows her feelings get extreme and she's sick at the prospect of making any of it someone else's problem. ]

[happydreamed]

[He rubs her shoulder, feeling those emotions flow into him even without his activation of his own emotion sharing power. Game effect, then.]

...I don't know what it's like, to be used to healing quickly and being weakened by injury for the first time. Even feeling it from you, I don't - can't understand it perfectly. But none of us will blame you for your distress, even if we don't always understand it.

[sangreine]

[ It takes Aliza a moment to realize how he pinpointed her feelings so precisely, then it dawns on her that the game's effects are still active. It'd be swell if she could ever have a private thought without a corruption or effect giving her away. ]

I'm trying to be less selfish, that's all. Others have endured far worse than this, and even if they hadn't it wouldn't be an excuse for -- [ failing everyone around her, but she can't think of a way to phrase it that's both honest enough to keep her hair from changing color and that he won't argue with, so she lets the sentence hang unfinished. ]

[happydreamed]

Is it so selfish to express your pain? You wouldn't think less of me for being upset at a game effect.

[He realizes he has a bias toward her that means he doesn't mind her venting much at all, but still.]

[sangreine]

[ She's about to argue, but it strikes her that they've ended up in similar discussions often enough and it's always about her trying to hold back. Her feelings, her memories, herself as a whole, from him. And she can only imagine how that feels and looks. ]

I'm not very good with words. And whenever I do manage to say what I'm feeling, I get told I'm wrong, that I'm too hard on myself or they insist that if I'm going to hold myself to impossible standards then I should hold the same for everyone else which misses the point entirely. It comes from a good place, I know, but that doesn't make it helpful. More often it gets me to shut up. So that's what I've learned to do, it's easier on everyone.

Actions are where I'm comfortable. Movement. [ She gestures at her useless legs, that avenue of emotional catharsis has been cleanly removed. ] Even music [ which springs to example because of where they're headed ] has always been more of a muscle exercise than a means of expressing myself.

[happydreamed]

I see. I apologize - knowing it comes from a good place doesn't make it any easier to hear so often.

[He will try, in the future, not to tell her to be so hard on herself. Even if he thinks she is.]

This is a special torture for you, then.

[sangreine]

If I weren't so bad at explaining myself I'm sure it would be easier for everyone.

[ She leans against him, gives him a squeeze. It's not something she blames anyone for or needs any apologies about. ]

I'm trying to keep some perspective about this injury. It's not as bad as the poison. It's not as bad as amnesia. I just don't know who I am without being able to move and fight. When I got here, before I had any words, I wanted three things: the sea to calm my mind, companionship to ease my fears, and to fight. Something in me insisted that was my purpose.

[happydreamed]

...It is comforting, isn't it, to have a purpose. Would that those who wish for one had one to fall back on.

[It's not for everyone - some people would hate the idea of being supposed to do anything they didn't freely decide on. But for others, it's reassuring.]

I hate that this has been taken from you, my dear.

[sangreine]

[ She says nothing about her purpose being comforting. Who or what was she fighting? Is it her instinct to hurt people at play? She has no idea. And even if she found comfort in it, she can't help but think Doctor's grammar is wrong. It was comforting. Now, she's like a bird with clipped wings. ]

[ It makes her crave a new spine installation, but she can't imagine asking someone to do that. It's not just grafting on a limb, it's flaying her open. It's a cruel thing to ask of anyone when she might get better on her own. Eventually. ]

I'll figure it out.

[happydreamed]

Are you absolutely certain you don't want someone to do surgery on your legs? It may take a long, long time for them to heal on their own. I'm sure Venti would be more than willing to help you.

[He won't suggest any other sensitIV, because there's a certain degree of trust involved.]

[sangreine]

I know he would -- though, can you imagine if I asked you to slice me all the way open and replace my spine? I know you'd do it for me despite how awful it would be for you, but I couldn't bear to ask you to do something like that if we didn't absolutely have to.

[happydreamed]

I think... the way you feel about not being able to fight is the way I feel about not being able to heal.

[It's what he knows he can do, what he's for.]

[sangreine]

...Yeah. [ She's 17 kinds of miserable. ]

But asking Venti to do something so gruesome is cruel. I can't do that.

[happydreamed]

I think 'twould be crueler to not allow him to help, truthfully.