amuze | OCTOBER EVENT + TDM 02

↞NAVIGATION

event | ƨγɒbiloʜ γqqɒʜ Curfew lifts on 10/06 as thunder booms overhead, the dark clouds writhing as they roil and twist with unshed waters. Over the past few days, no rain has fallen from the turbid skies, but the threat of downpour remains ever present.

It’s on such a dark and stormy day that the doors to the Gift Shop are propped open by two wooden crates, full to the brim with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Inside the shop itself, a stack of pumpkin carving kits sits on the checkout counter, alongside a row of colored candles. The masked individual that works as the shopkeeper is as silent as ever, though through the act of gesticulation it manages to convey that the carving kits and the candles are complimentary, and are given for free alongside the purchase of a pumpkin from the bin outside.

You could definitely try to steal one, sure. But the signs above the bin state that each pumpkin is only priced at one Park Token, so it’s not too much of a net loss overall.

Characters will find that after they’ve made their choice of one (1) pumpkin and one (1) of the colored candles, they are not permitted to try and return for another one of either. If more grand theft pumpkin is attempted, no matter how strong the character is they will be unable to lift the second choice up from the bin, almost as if it carries the weight of the whole world within that orange rind. You are only allowed one pumpkin, so be sure that you consider your options carefully.

Of the candles themselves, the following colors are available to choose from: red, blue, white, black, purple, green, and yellow. Each candle will cause a different event to happen, but the side effects of lighting each candle are not advertised anywhere in the shop. Please note which candle your character chooses in the mod comment below, so that you can be informed of what your character has inadvertently unleashed upon the park.

Strangely enough, despite not being provided with a lighter or a match of any kind, the candles flare to life regardless the moment they are placed within one of the carved pumpkins.

You are free to do whatever you deem fit with the pumpkin innards. Go ham.

event | wolɘd It starts as a glimmer, a flicker of illumination that can be briefly spotted below the surface of the lake. It's quick, something that could easily be excused away as your eyes playing tricks on you, nothing more. That would be the case, at least... If it didn't keep happening. And if the lights didn't get brighter with time.

The flashes are almost rhythmic, a pattern without explanation. Gold and white, brightly shimmering beneath the waters before going dark once more. Over and over again, almost as if controlled by something sentient. Almost as if the lake is beckoning you in to investigate it. Should you give in to the urge, however... Well. Whether you attempt to find the source by either swimming in or renting one of the swan boats, the end result is the same; blackened hands grab at your limbs, clawing at your ankles and dragging you down below the surface. Down... down... down... Until fighting your way back up to the open air would be challenging. Difficult, but not impossible. Then the hands retreat, and you're left alone.

Down here, there are no lights. It's impossibly dark, and something is moving.

tdm intro prompt | !woʜƨ ɘʜT oT ɘmoɔlɘw You open your eyes to the burn of salt in your lungs, panic clawing up the sides of your throat and settling in your pulse. There is black water all around you, frigid in a way that cuts like a blade and seeps into your very bones. It’s then that you become aware of a minimum of two things:

You’re floating suspended within what could either be a lake or an ocean, roughly twenty or so feet below the surface.

There’s something moving in the blackness beneath you.

You can’t see the bottom, and you can’t see whatever is down there, but you can feel its presence as it disturbs the water below you. Whatever it is, it’s big. And it’s coming closer. You can practically hear it now, a quiet hum that rumbles and resonates at such a frequency that it seems to rattle your teeth in your skull. Silent, yet at the same time somehow impossibly loud. It builds and builds, until you can't seem to focus on anything other than the noise. It crowds your senses, dulling your reactions and dimming the drive to flee.

Suddenly, the hum stops. Several feet away, a massive amber eye blinks closed; you can't remember ever seeing it open in the first place. The water around you shifts, displaced as the thing begins to move away.

Might be a good idea to start swimming for the surface.

Crawling your way to the shore of a lake only to find an amusement park waiting for you isn’t the strangest thing to happen to you after all, is it?

ooc

Feel free to have your character wander about the various park attractions as you see fit! Everywhere listed on the locations page is currently available, with the difference being that the temporal displacement within It'z Quite The Large World has been soothed, causing the ride itself to function in entirely normal ways with no spooky secrets hidden anywhere. TDMers may also participate in the carving of pumpkins.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

a. arrival

[She wakes up in the water, afraid but not as much as she should be, perhaps.

Ah. It's like this, huh.

Aerith manages to get to the shore, even with the weight of her dress tangling about her legs. If someone happens upon her soon enough, they'll find her catching her breath on the shore, eventually wringing water from her hem. But a little bit later and...]

Hey... [Her voice is quiet but carries, and she's talking... to the water?] You didn't leave yet, did you? Will you come back and try to tell me what you wanted to say before?

b. carving

[Even though she wants to get back to Cloud and see how he's doing, Aerith is not really discouraged by the storming, or the silent shopkeeper selling pumpkins. In fact, the latter puts her in a pretty festive mood, and she thanks them cheerfully as she buys one for herself.

Bounty in hand, she'll stop on her way if she happens to see someone else carving, and take a seat beside them with a grin.]

Hey hey, what are you gonna carve on yours? Let me help and I'll put something cute on it for you!

c. candle

[She isn't expecting the candle to light itslef the moment she places it down inside her carved pumpkin.

But she's expecting the pain on her skin and passing out afterwards even less.

When Aerith comes to, she picks up on something being wrong pretty fast. Her whole body feels wrong.

Seeing the scales on her arms, registering the sensation of something at the small of her back as a tail - all of it is enough to shake the calm that she wears like armor.]

O-oh... [The tremor in her voice and the shake in her fingers is still slight, though. Aerith is unnerved, but she's handling it better than someone else might've.] This is... a pretty new look, huh?

d. wildcard!

((Yama again, so same drill - feel free to toss something at me, but you're welcome to hit me up on

Yamadori or via pm if you want to hash out any details!))

[Luckily for Shiemi, she wasn't wearing her typical kimono and instead was wearing the oversized shirt that she got from the shop and some swim trunks. It was easier to wash off if she got any pumpkin guts on herself.

She looked up at — oh, she's never seen her before. A new person? A shy, but bright smile crossed her face, and she was thanking whatever god decided to make sure she wasn't about to chomp on someone else.]

H-Hi! U-Um, I was thinking o-of doing my f-friend's cat.

OCTOBER EVENT + TDM 02

aerith gainsborough | final fantasy vii remake | tdm

b. carving