songerein | { when it snows }

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{ when it snows }

WHEN IT SNOWS

All items on this post will last/be available for the entire month! So timey wimey shenanigans are allowed.

More details on everything can be found here. We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during A.

I. REVEREIN

II. DREAMS

COMMENTS

I. REVEREIN THAWED

After freeing the Ice Queen from the glass shard from her chest and clearing the dreamscape, the blizzard that affected not only Reverein but the Wildlands and beyond finally dissipates and soon everything returns to…mostly normal.

A. Glitter Snow. While the freezing sleet and ice of the blizzard is no more and a more gentle winter has entered Reverein, the fresh new snow that falls is not one one might want to stick their tongue out to try and catch a snowflake. Unless one likes the taste of glitter.

🎉 Good luck getting it out. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if the glitter melted like snow, but it does not. It sticks to everything everywhere and while some might like a splash of colors, others may not.
🔮 Dreamglobes. Some fae are passing out empty spherical glasses, suggesting those who are interested to collect some of the glitter snow into them and then set the snowglobe next to their bed before sleeping. Whatever dream they have will be captured into the glass and upon waking will create a physical representation of the dream to create a little special "dreamglobe." Hope it's a good one!
✨ Glitter Collector. There are a number of people and shops that actually want the free glitter and ask for anyone to collect as much as possible. Works well for those trying to clean up and not sure what to do with it. What kind of products will end up coming from them well.

B. Mari Lwyd and Family. Mari Lwyd has finally returned to Reverein, and she's bringing along some family she's found. However, they can be a bit of a handful. Some are friendlier than others while others are going to make full use of this glitter snow with pranks and mischief. But they all just intend to have a good time, something that everyone may be in need of after that blizzard.

💃 Little Pranksters. The young Lwydlings cannot sing or speak, but they love to dance around and make all manner of noise—they also bite if you're being a big fat party pooper in their presence, and are a lot more likely to pull a few harmless pranks than their dear older cousin Mari Lwyd is. Very quick, they have the same vanish-and-leave-you-with-bad-luck if harm is attempted on them. Have a dance off with them, or aid them in pranking those who are being big fat grumps/meanie-butts.
🔥 Bonfire. One of the merry friends looks like a very tall pile of long hair and arms, but with them they seem to be carrying a basket and filling it with sticks and other kindling. This is for giant bonfires! Help gather wood and kindling to make a great bonfire to welcome some warmth in this winter, and aid any lost to not wander in this cold.
🥜 Nurturing Gifts. There appears to be another skull-faced being wandering around with their own 'little one' in tow—and despite the horned and frightening appearance of the larger fur and hyde clad figure there are small gifts to be shared. An act of kindness rewards one with a bundle of magic beans that if nurtured and cared for will bear a great gift come spring. Great.

C. Hot Springs. The dragons are holding an open invitation to anyone who wishes to use their hot springs to warm up after that frigid blizzard. The dragons in particular will be practically living there, so hopefully others can squeeze in a spot. Rooms will be available for anyone who wishes to stay the night, and all amenities will be available: food, recreational games, etc. Just beware of the monkeys that have descended down from the mountain seeking warmth as well. They are prone to stealing things, particularly clothing—and wearing them.

D. Dream Board. This is the perfect time to do many of the Dream Board prompts, and while the full details are on the notes, here is the quick list of what they are:

Dream Board List:

⛄ Snowball Tonics: Transform into massive, different colored snowballs.
🔔 Bell Choir: Grab a bell and play for a concert!
🧣 Never-Ending Scarf: Help untangle the beautifully, extremely long crocheted scarf, dodge cats, and get the whole thing together in one place.
🍻 Keg Brawl: A game where one must carrying a keg of ale from one end of a field of ice to the other while avoiding the other team trying to stop you.
🐶 The Inugami. Help a pair of spirit dogs find each other.
🌠 Falling Stars. Make wishes upon the falling stars before they cause too much damage!

II. SHATTERED DREAMS

Although the Dreamwalkers were successful in removing the strange glass shard in the Ice Queen's chest and ended the nightmare dreamscape that caused the blizzard, the Ice Queen still has yet to awaken. Jack Frost has taken her to Orkili to try and purify her with the pods, yet it only caused an adverse reaction, prompting the Orkilins and Jack Frost to ask for help from the Dreamwalkers once more. Isolated in a separate room where neither dreamotion nor nightmare energy can enter, those who are willing to investigate the Ice Queen's dream will be able to freely dreamwalk, with the warning that she seems sensitive to positive dreamotion so everyone should take caution when using it.

In the meantime, there are some other happenings going around in Orkili, including investigation into some nightmare crystals.

A. Piecing it Together. Those who enter the Ice Queen's dream will find themselves free floating in a dark void with large reflective glass-like shards with blurred, fogged scenes reflecting on their surface. They float aimlessly through the space, and a closer inspection will reveal that these shards can fit together and likely form a larger image. The goal is to now try and put the pieces together, though it's not as easy as it might seem.

🪞 Nightmare manipulation. For whatever reason, those who either have high nightmare resistance or can control nightmare energy will be able to move and be around the shards with very little effect to them.

💥 Too much of a good thing. Because the shards are dark and clearly exude nightmare energy, there will be those who will try to use positive types of dreamotion to purify the shards. Some dreamotion will be safe to use and will help clear up the image on the surface. However, too much focus will have a negative feedback where the dreamers are pushed back with a freezing gale and the shard they are focusing on will crack and break into smaller pieces. Nightmare energy can help mend the cracks, so it's better to try and use both at the same time.

💔 Blurred visions. As the surface of the shards clear up, various scenes of different themes can be seen, both good and bad. Love, heartbreak, hatred, anger, joy, jealousy, loneliness, fulfillment, family, abandonment. Those who experienced the ice mirrors in the previous dreamscape will feel a strong familiarity with these larger shards, except these are clearly towards the Ice Queen herself.

This is where we want players to come up with any scene that the Ice Queen may have experienced that could be reflected on the shard! We'll request submissions and piece together a story based on player input. Don't worry about any contradictions, we'll work it all in one way or another. The only constant is that Jack Frost and the Ice Queen do have a close, romantic relationship, which is why Jack is very worried about her.

B. Unwanted Intruder. While in the dream, a grotesque looking noctaere will appear and try to attack and consume the shards. Should it succeed, the Ice Queen will receive physical damage that everyone will be able to hear and feel inside the dream. The void will contort and turn more like sludge. Attempts to use dreamotion will only worsen it, but those who can control or absorb nightmare energy will take it away from the Ice Queen. How it affects them however, will vary between dizziness to momentary lapse in judgment and may need to leave the dreamscape.

Those monitoring outside the dream will witness the Ice Queen scream and her skin blackening as if charred by fire. Same thing applies here: those who try to use dreamotion to heal her will only worsen it, but those who use nightmare energy to either draw it out into some other container or absorb it themselves will be able to pull it out of the Ice Queen. Those who absorb the nightmare energy will have similar varying effects, from just light dizziness to becoming more irritable and hostile. Attempts to try and directly pull out the nightmare energy otherwise will be unsuccessful—it will only work when the noctaere has consumed a shard and caused the physical side effects.

No one will turn noctaere through this method because not enough nightmare energy will have accumulated.

As for the noctaere, it will sometimes appear outside the dream, and those who encounter it or deliberately try to hunt it down either within or outside the dream will find both dreamotion and nightmare based attacks effective against it. However, it's a very tough and difficult foe, so while it can be damaged, it cannot be defeated at this time. Those who investigated the claw marks from a few months ago will notice it leaves behind the same claw marks. Those who witnessed it will also find it familiar and can safely say it's the same.

I. REVEREIN

II. DREAMS

COMMENTS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He looks at her for a moment before he relents.]

All right.

[As much as he wants to get this done, taking a break would be better for the both of them. And he doesn't want to risk himself, either. So his fingers thread with hers, as if seeking out more of those flames...

...Hm.

He holds out the hand he had been using to her.]

Mind warming it up?

[When he asks...

Something lights up in Tifa's eyes, the fear subsiding just a little bit, replaced with a smile, albeit a crooked one. But a smile, nonetheless.]

Not at all.

[Her free hand reaches for his, resting in his palm, fingers delicately wrapping around it. While her fingers are cold to the touch, the warmth that leaves them is anything but. He'll feel her relief manifesting within it, the tiny embers burning with the strength of a fully lit hearth.

But it flickers after a few moments, as if something had swept in to try to blow it out, and she stiffens, her brow furrowing in concentration.]

What...

[His expression softens as he feels her warmth, and he's starting to lean in towards the top of her head to sneak in a little extra...]

—?

[When he feels that connection suddenly stop, and he has to turn his attention back to their hands.]

What happened?

Um... I don't...

[She tries again, and this time, it doesn't last as long as it had at the start, the flames forming and then dying just as quickly.

Is it that she's more scared than she's willing to let on? After what she felt when she touched that shard, she's absolutely terrified of what will happen if one comes at her without her knowing, touching her and surprising her with those memories again.

Or maybe it's that they are in the middle of this cold, snowy void with no end in sight. No entrance, no exit, just them, the snowfall, and a bunch of empty glass mirrors.

A combination of all of it seems likely, but... then there's the worst thought, and her fingers tremble.]

I don't know... Is it the dreamscape?

[His eyes narrow at seeing her like this, and an arm goes around her protectively as his voice lowers to something more soothing.]

Focus on me and take some deep breaths.

[She brings her eyes up to look at him, trying to fight off that very real fear that's setting in. She does as she's told, falling against him slightly and stares right into his eyes, searching for the strength that he always gives.]

... I don't know what's gotten into me.

[She chastises herself with a sigh.]

I'm usually better than this.

[Better at fending off whatever she's feeling... but all she can think about are the mirrors in the cave, and the same feelings that they evoked again here.

Better at being stronger for him.]

It's all right... You did go through something not that long ago, so it's not surprising that it might still be affecting you.

[And now he's finally able to give her that little kiss he's been wanting to give her, but this time instead of just her forehead, he drops one there and then another over her eyes as his unused hand cups her face, palm warm from where she's been holding it this whole time.]

Just think of all the good things.

[It's a little strange... being the one to feel she needs comforting, rather than offering it. She really is better than this, she could be strong for him, that pillar of strength that he so often is for her. And it's not that it isn't enough this time, it's that everything else is too much.]

... I think some of this nightmare stuff is getting to me.

[It's a perfectly valid excuse, and an equally likely outcome.

But the good things... right...

Like their home. Their family. All the dogs waiting for them to come home safely. Their café together.

Him.

Her finger runs over her wedding ring.

How much he takes care of her.]

I'm sorry... You've got so much on your shoulders, I don't... want to add more.

It's fine.

[Another affectionate nuzzle.]

You being here is helping me more than you think.

[He then looks down at her worried.]

But if it is too much, we can step out. We're not the only ones here, we don't have to do everything.

[IMAGINE EUSTACE SAYING THAT, but he means it. He's more concerned about her well-being.]

No.

[Her answer is immediate, and though she doesn't lift her head, letting him nuzzle the top of it instead, she buries her face in his chest, trying to use his familiar scent to help with the rest.]

We came here to do a job, so we're going to finish it.

[Although she understands where he's coming from, and that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate that grand gesture of his. That her well-being is more important... but that isn't what she wants.]

I just needed a minute is all.

[That cold feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach just won't go away, though.]

And I don't want you to do all the work.

I know.

[A small sigh as he hears that stubbornness in her, and he's not sure if she should allow it or let her continue to try and push forward as he understands why she wants to.]

But we will stop if it's too much for either of us.

[She takes a deep breath. And then another... before she finally lifts her head again to peer up at him, that sense of understanding sparking in her eyes.]

... If what I was doing before worked, then let's keep doing that, yeah?

[And she'll take that hand of his and thread their fingers together. Her head rests against his chest, the sound of his heartbeat so very solid and present that it allows her to warm it, just like he asked, the red flames kissing his knuckles.]

...Wait. I think I know of a way to make it easier.

[And before she can ask, he's going to use his free hand to forcibly bring her head up, making her look up at him before the space is quickly closed as his lips meet hers in a firm, warm kiss.]

[The question sits in her eyes when he brings them up to look into his, and she's immediately trapped in those icy blues. Trapped enough that she doesn't see it coming until his lips meet her own, the kiss so warm and tender that she almost melts on contact, all of that tension she'd been carrying—and some she hadn't realized she was—easing away.

Easing away enough that the little sparks of embers where their hands are joined turn to proper flames, wisping around their hands. It digs into their skin and carves paths beyond, from their fingertips and up into his arm, moving and spreading to his chest, her control of it sending it there... as well as into her own.

And when she pulls back, her eyes are a touch wet, but she manages to blink it all back.]

... Thanks. That was easier.

[Feeling her warmth rush through, he smiles a little against lips as he holds that kiss, lingering for a few moments more before he pulls back, his gaze soft and warm as the flames that now burn with him. All that prickling chill and unease he had felt prior have melted away, and he feels more confident in continuing.]

Think you can handle it now?

I think so.

[Only because of that smile of his. As much as she is strong in her own way, she really is stronger when she's with him. When she has his reassurance and even his guidance, his strength to share in just as he can in hers...

It's with those thoughts that she gives his hand a squeeze, a little more sure of herself this time.

She's still scared, but who wouldn't be in a place like this?]

And you?

It's better.

[He squeezes her fingers with a wider smile.]

I should be able to finish this without as much issue.

And you'll tell me if it becomes too much, or if you need more from me.

[... A pause, and she manages to pull a smile out of herself.]

And I'll do the same. So let's save an Ice Queen, yeah?

Mm.

[A soft smile as he gives her one more kiss—just one more to give her a little extra reassurance before he turns back to the shard, his expression already hardening as he returns to focusing on the shard. He had taken his time before, testing it out... But perhaps it would be better if he tried to do this as quickly as possible.

So with Tifa at his side, his other hand taking hers to squeeze her fingers both as a signal and gesture of affection, he raises his other to once more channel his own nightmare energy to the shard. Once more he feels that kickback, but he grits his teeth and tries to overtake it instead, to bring it into himself and merge it with his own. And with his mind cleared thanks to Tifa's help, he's able to withstand the cold chill that threatens to overtake him, a different kind of coldness replacing it.

One of firm resoluteness and determination. A kind of confidence, an arrogance that pushes it all back out as the gap between the shards quickly fills with that dark blue ice until at least they are sealed together. There's something of a pulse, a ripple that passes through them as the shards seem to absorb the ice and then become one, as if they were never broken to begin with.]

[And there it is again, as she watches him, feels every little change that passes through him when his grip changes. But she remains firm, as resolute and determined as he is, and holds herself back. Stops herself from being impulsive and rushing to his aid because she's scared of what these mirror shards might do to him. But he promised, and she promised, and so rather than linger on those feelings, she lets her dreamotion flow into him, hoping that whatever feeling comes from the glass is weak enough that hers can chase it away.

And when he finally manages to bring those pieces together, the other foggy one growing clearer to reveal another piece of those eyes in the first, Tifa can't help it.]

You did it!

[It's just two pieces, but he still did it, after all that... and she leaps at him with her arms around his shoulders, her relief so powerful that it has nowhere else to go but out.]

[Eustace had just taken a breath as if to steady himself when Tifa leaps at him, his arms hastily going around her in surprise before he laughs quietly.]

You mean we did it.

[An affectionate nuzzle against her nose.]

I wouldn't have been able to focus as well without your support.

I can only take some of the credit.

[She offers him a kiss as a reward, and as a way to ensure that the nightmare energy she knows is pulsing through him doesn't find its way deeper. And simply... because she wants to.

But with that out of the way, she glances over to the shards that spin together.]

... Looks a little familiar, hm?

[Those eyes.]

[He will take that kiss gladly (he definitely earned it!!!), but then he'll look back at the reflection in the shards. Not only is it the eyes, but that snowy backdrop has joined it as well.

....Hmmmmm?]

Does it?

You don't recognize them?

[Tifa's arms tighten around his shoulders, telling him that she's not quite ready to go just yet. Being surrounded by all these shards, she feels safest here.]

They're Jack's, aren't they?

[... And why do they look so sad?]

[....Ah.]

I didn't really pay much attention...

[And now. Kind of looking at her. How come she's observing some other guy's eyes— Okay no, not important ~~kind of~~]

But I suppose it's not too surprising. Given how Jack has been behaving they seem close.

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