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silentspringmods ([personal profile] silentspringmods) wrote in [community profile] silentspringlogs2024-06-07 09:03 pm

Event № 3 : June 2024


Event № 3 : June 2024
Part I; Chapter 6. Had some kind of mushroom and your mind is movin' low


universe/setting information, role assignment, and FAQs

I. The weekend squire just came out to mow his lawn

Throughout June.

CWs: game-typical sleep deprivation torture/brainwashing.

June brings a turn in the weather—the smoke from the monthly controlled burn is that much more unbearable from the first to the third, choking, suffocating, adding to the blazing heat that beats down from largely cloudless skies. Houses get muggy, mosquitoes come out in full force, biting flies besiege the stables. It’s the perfect weather for a barbecue or a trip to the community pool... but you’ll want to get up early to mow that lawn, neighbor!

No, seriously. You’ll want to mow that lawn.

With so much sunshine, bright green grass has been shooting up like crazy, and Marjorie takes the HOA’s goals of neighborhood beautification very seriously. One of those, Haven Street residents will be informed, is that grass must be no taller than two-point-five inches. Characters who haven’t come up with a way to divide summer’s new chores with their “family” members should do so now, and for those don’t know how to use a lawnmower, now’s the time to learn—because those who run afoul of that particular bylaw will land themselves a reserved seat in Norman’s re-education room.

Some characters may find that their air conditioning units very inconveniently quit working in the heat of midday and have to call a repairman to come in and fix it. There will be potential IC consequences for this next month! Sign up in the mod comment below.



II. Tropical drink melting in your hand

June 15th.

CWs: poisoning.

Those who don't find themselves confined on the 15th may want to come down to the community pool for some burgers and franks (and, of course, splashing around, if that's your thing). In any event, it's probably a good way to meet some new neighbors or could make a convenient guise to touch bases with old neighbors. It's also just nice to cool off in the water, considering that weather is in the high eighties with no cloud cover all week that week.

Marjorie does the honors of preparing a delightful snack spread for one of the tables further back from the water—cool and refreshing gelatin creations, a fruit bowl, cheese and crackers, and both alcoholic and nonalcoholic punch. There's also hand-squeezed lemonade and apple juice for the kids, and little party umbrellas for whatever drink a character chooses to add that special touch.

Characters who are unlucky enough to accidentally swallow a little pool water while swimming may find they feel slightly nauseous, in a way they wouldn't have felt back in their own world if this had ever happened to them before. It's probably fine!



III. Wearing smells from laboratories facing a dying nation

Throughout June.

CWs: poisoning, blood/nosebleeds, implied harm to children.

With summer comes the return of some familiar faces: the Good Humor ice cream truck slowly rolling down each street while playing its cheery jingles every couple of days and the Mosquito Man every Thursday evening. Who is the Mosquito Man, you might ask? The Skeeter Man, Smokey Joe, or the Fogger Truck - or simply the dark green pickup truck that rounds the corner onto Haven Street between 5 and 7 once a week, dragging a massive white cloud of fog behind it and a trail of children on bikes, scooters, and running barefoot, playing in the sweet white mist as though following the pied piper. The tremendous crate that fills the neighborhood with thick white clouds is spraypainted with the labels DDT and DMTP(II), below them smaller font that reads Sweetwater Public Works.

Kids run down the front steps to join the throng playing in the fog when the truck comes down their street, some of them shooed out of the house by their parents. Nobody seems remotely concerned—in fact, they welcome the almost ritual return of the Mosquito Man and the sudden drop in insect life that accompanies him every week. The only one who seems anything but relieved when he comes each week is Dr. Ravichandran, whose home, if characters happen to drive past it, is set apart from its cookie-cutter replicates by its closed windows and the wet rags stuffed into the windowsills behind them.

What is DMTP(II), you might ask? Answers range from the truck driver sticking his head out the window and informing characters that look, he just sprays the stuff, and he has a lot more streets to get to today to vague answers from the neighbors that can be summarized, if characters ask enough people, as a statement that it’s a new pesticide developed right here in Sweetwater after the war that combats mosquitoes and nearby yard pests like beetles that produce root-eating grubs, a magnificent and completely safe scientific marvel.

Characters who stay out long enough on the days the Mosquito Man comes, once the children have gone back inside for dinner, may notice that the initial odd taste in their mouth progresses to less innocuous symptoms—such as dizziness, watering eyes, chest tightness, heart palpitations, trouble breathing, headaches, malaise, burning in the nose, and, most theatrically, bright red nosebleeds accompanied by redness, white spotting, and inflammation in their mouths. The symptoms take around four days to resolve, and faintly linger even longer than that. If they visit the hospital, they’ll only be told that they seem to be having an allergic reaction to something they ate, and concerns about the Public Works projects aren’t taken seriously - looks like any amelioration of symptoms that can’t be achieved with benadryl will be on a strictly neighbors-helping-neighbors basis.




IV. I fashion my future on films in space

Throughout June.

CWs: poisoning, dead bodies/death by suicide, graphic/callous discussion of death by suicide.

But those who aren’t so lucky may briefly black out if they breathe the fog long enough, and when that happens, they return to consciousness but not wakefulness, instead finding themselves frozen in place in a chill room, staring at the wrinkled bare soles of a pair of gray-blue feet belonging to the naked body of a man lying motionless on a flat steel table. A cardstock tag, identical to the photocopy found by Bucky Barnes in January, hangs from one big toe.



Characters’ line of sight doesn’t extend much higher than eye level with the cadaver, but they can see enough to register that both parties, standing with the autopsy table between them, are wearing isolation suits like the man who committed suicide in the middle of the street on that sunny April morning, a stark contrast to the vulnerability of the corpse’s nakedness between them. They seem to be completely unaware of the third presence in the room.

When one of them speaks, it’s the all-too-familiar voice of the town private practice doctor, Norman Pollock.

“Nothing. Not a single thing. He’s healthy. An ordinary 56-year-old man who blew his brains out."

There's a long pause. Then comes the voice of the man whose memory of a telephone conversation some characters shared on New Year’s, and again shortly after the man in the isolation suit pulled the trigger: "The motherfucker. They searched his house and his office. Questioned the wife too. Not a damn thing. Nobody knows shit."



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spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: I CAN'T READ SUDDENLY)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-06-21 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
💀 MOWING THE LAWN
For all he occasionally dabbles in questionable activities like talking too loudly in public or attending those 'book club' meetings, Papyrus mostly works hard at following the random and inexplicable rules of those local tyrants - the HOA and their not-so-mysterious enforcer. He's spent hours these last months brushing up on his party etiquette, accumulating a wealth of gelatin-based culinary skills, and most recently, branching in the incredible world of lawn mowing!

...It's not that incredible. The shaking of the machine makes it a discomfort to use, and he's sure he could improve the device if they had more advance (and magical) technology available... But they don't, and the lawn length has been one of the more clearly stated rules.

(If he has critiques about this whole kidnapped to another world business, one he'd most like to share is the inconsistency about all these strict and abruptly enforced rules. Why couldn't they take a note from Papyrus's book, delivering their threats of kidnapping and violence in clear introductory speeches, with equally clear rules and expectations? Is scaring people into line really the whole point...?)

So the quiet of the neighborhood is regularly broken by the sound of the lawnmower, interspersed by pauses for him to break out a ruler and checking his work.

Neighbors might also catch him bending the lawn rules ever so slightly, not in going outside the allowed length range, but varying the lengths within it. Initially it's just due to getting the hang of the lawnmower's workings, but one moody morning sees him trimming the shape of bones into the grass in a quiet rebellion. By afternoon, he's out there again, trying to reshape the bone-like contours into something like the stripes of a lopsided American flag.


💀 POOL PARTY
With the relentless sun this week, surely no one is surprised by all the faces at the community pool. The sun and heat draw people to the cool water like the opposite of moths to flame, after all.

That Papyrus is one of the faces might be a little surprising, given his reluctance to actually enter the water so far. After retrieving some snacks, he's spent much of the party thus far sitting by the edge of the pool, legs dangling into water. The slow wrinkling of the skin of his feet has apparently been fascinating, the way he keeps staring down into it - or maybe he's wary to get in the water, thanks to a wooziness he isn't quite managing to hide. Anyone who's noticed recent unfortunate lawn decisions might be suspicious of just where he spent the previous night. But there is a mostly-emptied dish by his side, not quite thirty minutes eaten, and maybe he's just following the odd advice about swimming.

He's not so caught up in his fascination with the raisin effect not to notice others coming near, whether they're swimming close or walking by, and he offers them a smile somewhere between wary and conspiratorial.

"Do you think anyone would get mad if we started a 'cannonball' competition...?"


💀 FOGGER TRUCK
Most Thursdays Papyrus has been busy with one thing or another, be it continuing to navigate the new housemate situation, recovering from a completely ordinary 'illness', or working on his various ongoing projects. But later in the month, he finally spends a while outside to watch and follow the mysterious fog truck.

"I know they said it's a pesticide... But it looks so much like fog. Imagine, instead of smoke, trucks producing clouds... What incredible weather effects that could have."

Just voicing the idea to whichever neighbor is nearby is bringing a tear to his eyes. Or, actually, several tears and a funny fluttering sensation in his chest. Nothing to be concerned about, just odd reactions to an odd idea - unless he's not the only one feeling it?
ribticklers: (164)

pool party

[personal profile] ribticklers 2024-06-30 05:38 pm (UTC)(link)
A pool party under actual sun is kind of novel. Really, pools in general are kind of novel, after having lived in Snowdin for so long. That's really not a swimming pool kind of town. The jello creations are novel, too, and Sans is spending more time wiggling them on his plate than actually eating them. Sans is sticking to the nonalcoholic punch; spending most of his time back home in the bar, it's not as if he's a teetotaler, but he never quite lets Marjorie out of his peripheral vision, which explains that well enough to anyone who knows Sans well.

It explains Sans's response, too: "Yeah, probably." A cannonball competition sounds entertaining to watch, and therefore it's probably against regulations somewhere.

He doesn't say that, though. Just like he doesn't ask Papyrus about where he was the other night. At least Papyrus is here right now. That's going to have to be good enough. He sits down next to Papyrus, wiggling gelatin in his general direction.
Edited 2024-06-30 17:39 (UTC)
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: COLLEGE)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-07-01 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
"...Probably," Papyrus agrees, after a few seconds of watching the gelatin wiggle at him. It's easier to watch the plate than looking anywhere towards his brother's face.

"A shame... But maybe, with a word cunningly dripped in the right ear..." Maybe someone else could start such organized chaos in the pool. If that someone was one of the writers or enforcers of those regulations, anyway.

But he's bringing up the idea of dripping words in ears less as a serious notion, and more as a roundabout explanation of his two nights disappearance.
ribticklers: (164)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2024-07-01 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
Sans is doing his best (or maybe his okay) to get the gelatin to wiggle like a moldsmal would. He's watching that rather than Papyrus.

"Sounds like a hassle." Maybe that's an understatement, no matter what specifically the hassle is. He does look at Papyrus again, though, searchingly--he doesn't think Papyrus would show up to a pool party if he was still drugged, but on the other hand, being drugged might inhibit that kind of logic.
spaghettimonster: (CONCERNED SMILE)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-07-01 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
It makes for a remarkably small moldsmal, but that doesn't necessarily reduce its resemblance. Maybe it just looks like a particularly young and thus small moldsmal. A moldsmall, or perhaps moldsmalllll. Cute. (It'd have to be cute, to write out all those extra letters.)

For Papyrus's part, he's visibly tired and forcing a smile again, but not nearly as stiff about his movements as after that first disappearance. The smile goes a little more sincere as he complains, "so you won't be starting it, huh? What a surprise."
ribticklers: (170)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2024-07-03 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
Papyrus looks the sort of tired that Sans would diagnose as having spent a few days too many working on projects instead of taking an occasional nap, were they back home. It's not exactly the same look on Papyrus's human face, but close enough. Still, he has to recalculate all over again for human biology. Papyrus doesn't look as bad as the time Sans found him on the lawn, so that's something.

"You know me, the only thing I start are knock-knock jokes." He doesn't start things.

(But sometimes he finishes them.)
spaghettimonster: (BROTHERS)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-07-03 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, he does know his brother. He knows that's an exaggeration, but one that's deeply familiar, and the consistency makes it easier to relax a little more.

"Good thing I'm around to start more important things." He pretends to consider for a moment, then concludes, "but, maybe, a cannonball competition isn't important. Today."

Tomorrow, after he's had more sleep, might be another day.
ribticklers: (164)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2024-07-03 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Sans takes a sip of punch that's really more of a gulp. He has about half a dozen tiny umbrellas in his drink.

"Maybe you could get your own pool. If she's here," Sans says, with a barely there head tilt toward Marjorie, "then it's probably not against the rules."

Of course, Sans knows that with Papyrus, he's more likely to do the building himself. But considering what Sans has heard about vacuum salesman, it's probably better that Papyrus does the work himself rather than invites some weirdo over. At least part of this question is Sans trying to feel out Papyrus's reaction to it, measuring enthusiasm and excitement to further get a grip on how Papyrus is feeling.
Edited 2024-07-05 03:55 (UTC)
pharadyne: (booze)

[personal profile] pharadyne 2024-06-30 08:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"London has more than its share of fog as it is. I wouldn't care for lorries making even more of it."

The fog tickles his throat and he coughs.
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: SLEEPY)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-07-01 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
The cough just makes the feeling in his chest all the worse, and Papyrus makes a few unpracticed attempts to clear his throat and rid himself of the feeling.

"Aha, so they're making... the other kind of fog?"
pharadyne: (puzzled)

[personal profile] pharadyne 2024-07-01 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't think London makes any sort of fog. It just happens. Sometimes toxically when coal smoke gets involved. London does make that. In large quantities."

He coughs again.

"Bit like this, actually, although the smell's quite different."
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: RELIEF)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-07-01 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
"Coal smoke, or as I might call it, 'fog'."

He does his best to pronounce the quotes with his somewhat triumphant tone, for all it's a bit strained from trying not to sympathetically cough again.

"But, hmm... I didn't know coal smoke was toxic. What gave it away?"
pharadyne: (looking up)

[personal profile] pharadyne 2024-07-01 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
"Have you never encountered smog before? Pea-souper with all the nitrogen oxide, sulpher oxide, and all the rest?"
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: I DON'T KNOW)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-07-02 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
Well, not while he had lungs. But as much as his earlier beautiful idea has brought remarkably persistent tears to his eyes, he's not distracted enough to say that aloud.

"...Maybe, but I've never checked the ingredients' lists of smoke before. Steam power is better anyway."
pharadyne: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] pharadyne 2024-07-03 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
"How do you heat the water for steam, if not by burning coal?"
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: 'SMILE')

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2024-07-03 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
"By--uh. Hmm. Now that you say that, I guess I don't know there isn't coal in the steam power. At its very heart..."

Of the things he had wandered around doing inspections on, Hotland's power grid had not ranked nearly as highly as matters of monster morale, after all.