songerein | { bite sized problems}

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{ bite sized problems}

BITE SIZED PROBLEMS

This log is open to everyone and doubles as a "Character Intro" for new characters who were just accepted this round. As a reminder, new characters are welcome to carry over their TDM threads backdated to Gingerbread event and after (27-31) so that they're not really "new" if players wish to do so! Starting fresh is also acceptable.

I. AROUND TOWN

The curse from the witch may have been dispelled, but the magic was strong and remnants of it still remain. A bit of clean-up is required.

A. Gingerbread Revolt. By now many people are likely tired of gingerbread after having to live as one for a little while. However, the witch's magic still lingers and has brought all baked gingerbread to life. While some live out their running trees, others have armed themselves with forks, knives, toothpicks, and—are some wielding a nail gun?? They've begun to rally around various food eateries. While most of them are bakeries, they're also going up against restaurants and even local houses. One might think it would be easy to deal with them, but here's the catch—not only are they fast and can use magic, if one of them is broken they immediately reform into another cookie. That's right, they're just like hydras, and the only way to destroy them for good is to destroy the red candy ball embedded somewhere in their body. It's different for each cookie, and it will change locations if a part of it is broken. They do taste delicious, though.

B. Oven Malfunction. Stoves of all shapes and sizes are also having a rebellious phase, with many malfunctioning in different ways. Some are light and just won't turn on or spit out smoke in people's faces. Others have decided to choose violence and release their fire; throw whatever pots, pans, spatulas, and knives that are nearby; spit out coal, logs, or fire cores; or even explode. Some are even baking out those gingerbread cookies, so stopping the ovens will help fix that problem. While completely destroying them is one way to do it, dreamotion will also go a long way. Using water or ice to douse their flames will help simmer their tempers. Praising the ovens for their hard work and trying to show utmost care will also help. Perhaps some ovens are cranky for being overworked. When was the last time they were cleaned? Just don't sing it Christmas songs—they'll go berserk.

C. Candy Forest. With many requests for fresh new ingredients from the newly formed section of the forest, many will make the short trek over to check out what all is there to find. And yes—everything, everything is made of candy and sweet treats. From taffy grass to peppermint bark lollipop trees to flying marshmallow peeps and snickerdoodle badgers. The problem is, a lot of the "flowers" produce a pollen that permeates through the air and will give anyone who passes through a severe case of sugar rush. Overly excited, faster than usual movements, inability to think straight. The only way to counter this is by eating vegetables of any kind. Eating anything directly in the forest will produce an even greater effect, to the point where someone might start hallucinating and get the giggles. Some folks may need to head in there to help those stuck inside. At least there's nothing dangerous in there…yet.

D. Jumping Snowflakes. Jack Frost briefly stopped by and decided to leave a little gift for everyone to have fun with: giant snowflakes that start at the top of the Tree of Stories and ascend and circle around the town from high up in the sky. Some snowflakes form a stationary pathway for people to walk over. Some will move around and can be controlled by one's will and dreamotion, similar to a magic carpet. Then there's a "challenge" where participants are to jump from one snowflake to the other before it disappears. This trail will lead up to a giant chest that contains a random drop of one of the following:

a special ice crystal that can be used to keep anything cool no matter how hot it is outside and will never melt (perfect for ice boxes)
magic winter beans that will grow any vegetable of one's choice through any hard, frozen soil (but will not grow in warm weather)
a mini snowman that will not melt and will bounce around the house to help keep it clean and add a little bit of snow for fun; will be great when it gets hot as it will produce cooling air
The challenge can be run as many times as a person likes, however they will only be able to receive each special prize once. So after receiving all three special items the first time, their only reward is chocolate silver coins.

II. SHORT STORY HELP

As requested by William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe, the libraries in the Tree of Stories have gathered various books that everyone will be able to dreamwalk into. Even the books themselves look a bit tattered and more worn than usual, showing signs of the Story Eater's nightmarish corruption. A set of objectives for each chosen story will be given out so everyone will have some guidance, as well as a special amulet to wear that if snapped will immediately eject the dreamwalker out of the story back to Songerein. The Story Eater's minions are in a few of these, and any injuries sustained will carry over. The problems will arise several times so repeat visits will be necessary. For each objective attempted, a unique energy will be generated and captured by the librarians for the writers to use. Completion of an objective is not necessary, but it will give a bigger boost.

A. Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Upon entering the story, everyone will be inside the three bears' house…dressed as Goldilocks, regardless of gender. And the three bears are not happy. The original Goldilocks has already gone mad and tore through their home, scaring the baby bear with nightmares. The objectives for this story are:

Help repair the damage by: 1) fixing the kitchen and preparing new dinner for the family (not porridge); 2) fix all the broken chairs; 3) get new pillows and blankets for their beds.
Grab a partner and perform a puppet show for baby bear, preferably with a lighthearted, fun story (players can decide if they are successful or fail in their attempt).
Track down Goldilocks in the woods just outside the house and capture her. Her corruption is mild and casting a sleeping spell or using some kind of sleep aid will help calm her down. Channeling positive dreamotion energy will also help.

This story will increase the Book's proficiency in healing and purifying the Story Eater over time.

B. Three Little Pigs. Upon entering the story, everyone will find themselves in a large brick house and be turned into pigs. Not costumes, not partial, just full blown pigs. Fortunately, they can still "walk" and talk and move around. Clothes are optional (one can either appear completely without, with the clothes they were wearing upon entering, or find some in the closet). The objectives for this story are:

Reinforce the brick house and turn it into a fort. The original pig brothers left behind instructions on how to build cannons, barricades, and traps outside of the house. This can be done magically via dreamotion or through physical labor. Handling a hammer with hooves will be surprisingly easy, as if they all now wield anthropomorphic magic…
The defense is to keep small black wolves made of ink at bay. They will charge at the house without mercy to try and destroy it. Fortunately, they seem to lack much control and can be easily fended off, especially with the traps and weaponry installed.
There is only one big bad wolf, and it looks like the Story Eater is trying to corrupt it. It keeps mumbling about being on a diet and tired of blowing buildings down, yet it staggers on and controls the black wolves that try to attack the house. Help purify the wolf by preparing a special porridge for it to eat. It'll take several bowls and some additional positive dreamotion energy channeled into the wolf.

This story will increase the Book's external sturdiness so that it will not break from external forces.

C. Humpty Dumpty. Upon entering the story, everyone will find themselves dressed as a knight of some kind. There is only a giant, crumbling wall and the ground is littered with eggshells, so be careful walking around. Some eggshells are white but many are an inky black that appear to be melting on the ground. There's far too many to have come from the eggman himself, but said eggman is missing from his perch. The objectives for this story are:

Find the large egg pieces that have bits of clothing and face on them and piece Humpty back together. He'll try to help by calling out and he'll promise he's fine—happens all the time. However—
The Story Eater's minions are around, and they'll form from the black eggshells, create hideous versions of Humpty to try and attack and explode on them like rotten eggs. Handle with care as they are quite dangerous and can inflict severe damage. Better to take them out with ranged attacks.
The minions are coming through the many gaps and cracks in the wall, and one can even hear them scratching through the other side. If the wall goes, this entire story is finished. There are some native knights and other people trying to repair the wall, but dreamotion will help reinforce it. The broken eggshells can be used as bricks and mortar as they will immediately expand and cover the missing areas.

This story will increase the Book's internal defense so that it will not break from the inside.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Has she seen an elephant!? Lucky. He'd only seen them in books.

Denji opted to shrug, however. "I was too busy workin' as a little kid to get into fairy tale stuff, so your guess is way better than mine."

Perfect, there's the rice. He removed the lid to let it dry out a little.

"I missed out on a lotta stuff, though. Still kinda catchin' up. What's the story about again?"

"Wait, you were seriously working that young? Isn't that like, illegal?"

While he got started on cooking, Pauline continued picking up various bits and bobs that had been thrown about setting them back in their proper places.

"It's been a while since the last time I heard the story, but I'll do my best. So, one day, Goldilocks was taking a walk through the woods and happened upon a cute little house. It was unlocked, so she decided to go inside."

He shrugged. Illegal as hell, but it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter. But that was an exhausting story he didn't feel like telling.

"Yeah...? So she broke n' entered a place. Who was inside?"

"I guess that is kinda breaking and entering, isn't it...? Oh! Uh, well, no one was there. But she saw three bowls of porridge on the table and started to get hungry. So she tried the first one, but it was too hot and then the second one was too cold. But the third one was perfect so she ate the entire bowl of porridge."

As she continued telling the story, she started setting some mismatched plates and utensils on the counter. After all, there wasn't much left after all the broken ones were thrown out.

"After that, she started feeling tired and found three chairs. The first one was too hard and the second one was too soft. Then she sat in the third one and it was super comfy, but then it broke right under her."

Denji made a face at her.

"She made herself at home, huh? I'd be pretty pissed." This Goldilocks sounds like Power. Maybe someone took inspiration from her and made a story about a pain in the ass who eats all the food and breaks stuff.

Man, he missed her. She'd love this dream place.

He got the pan going to warm up. Time to get cookin'.

"Now that you mention it, I guess I'd be kinda mad, too..."

Having grown up thinking this was a fun and silly story, she was a little surprised by his reactions. However, the more she thought about it, it was starting to look more and more like Goldilocks might actually be kind of a bad person, or at least sort of annoying.

"Uh, anyway, since the chair was broken, she moved on and found three beds! She think the first one was very comfortable and she didn't like the next one, either. But she thought the smallest one was perfect and so she went to sleep."

She glanced in the direction of the bears, still awaiting their meal.

"But not long after the three bears returned to their home."

What a weird story. This was stuff parents read to kids? As he tossed in the veggies and stir-fried them, he listened away and wondered where the tale was going. This is the first he'd heard of it, after all.

But... three bears? A girl named Goldy Locks? Was that why he was dressed like this, because he was supposed to be the girl right now?

He wasn't a freeloader though. He wasn't about to break beds and crash a host's party unless they deserved it.

"And that's when she got mauled n' eaten, right? I dunno kid stories much but I know some of 'em go dark."

"Uh, no, not exactly."

Mauled and eaten? She wondered for a moment if maybe he would like the story of Little Red Riding Hood a little better.

"...I guess if I was going to summarize it, the bear family notices that all their stuff is messed up and they eventually find Goldilocks asleep. She wakes up, sees the bears and gets so scared that she runs away and never bothers them again."

She thought on that for just a moment and frowned.

"So I guess she just kind of gets away with it. Huh."

"So that's how it is, huh...?" He sighed, and with a flip of the pan he tossed the veggies. He then added the egg.

"No wonder we're takin' her place! Her parents sure as hell didn't teach her anything." He lined up the plates and divvied it all up.

"Eh, whatever. Dinner's done." He marched three plates to the table and bid the bears eat- they'll like it, don't worry- before he passed one extra over to Pauline.

"...For helpin' with the mess."

"I'm starting to think maybe she's the one that made all this mess..."

The idea seemed like a reach; after all, a broken chair and a wrecked kitchen were two different things. Still...

The idea was quickly tossed aside, however, when he passed her the plate. She smiled broadly; after all there are few instances when Pauline isn't down to eat.

"Hey, thanks! You didn't have to do that! I mean, we all have to help eachother, right?"

She was about to start eating, but stopped short.

"...Did you save some for yourself?"

"Nah. I can eat later." He shrugged and watched the bears dig in. They were confused at first, but soon they were chowing down with renewed curiosity. This was like porridge, but with so many different textures and flavors!

He took up the pan he used and went to go wash it. May as well get this done before they think about what to do about the girl they're supposed to pretend to be right now.

"So you're someone who's sleepin' in real life and wound up here, right?"

"Yeah. I've already been here for a couple months now but it still feels like, totally surreal sometimes."

Pauline didn't like the idea of eating while the person who did all the cooking didn't have any for themselves. She started to divide the fried rice on her plate in half.

"Come on, we can share!"

He watched in confusion as she divvied up the fried rice. She seemed rather cheerful about it, not... not dismissive or like it was a pain in the ass for her. He could definitely just wake up and eat later, but this was... weird. Why was she being nice?

"Uh... Really?" He pulled up a chair and moved to have a seat.

He cast a glance to the bears. This was double weird. Yet here he was, reaching for a spoon.

"Heh... You're the worst Goldie, you know, sharin' food instead of stealin' it."

He paused. "...But I like this story better."

"Well, I like to think I'm a little better at being Pauline than I am at being Goldilocks. I guess this is a nicer story. Probably not as interesting to read, though."

Not that she that she thought that being Pauline was particularly impressive, but she supposed it was better than being a home intruder. She took a bite of her portion of the rice, letting out a small "Mmm!"

"It's like, kinda cool how on top of this whole thing you were! You even had the bears under control."

He paused before he could take a bite. "...Yeah? You think so?"

But he thought about it a little, then shrugged as he helped himself to the bite and mulled through it.

"I guess... some life things rubbed off on me. I was livin' with some co-workers for a while, which beat bein' homeless, but one of 'em was this massive fuckin' nag about cleanin' up and cookin' and everything."

He was lost in thought a moment. Huh... guess Aki did manage to beat that into his head.

"It sounds like you had it kinda tough..."

She rested her head on her hand as she took another bite. From what he had told her, it really sounded like he had been through some stuff.

"Maybe that's why you were able to handle everything so well? Like, I do the cooking and cleaning at home, but it would have taken a little while for me to at least get my head together."

He shrugged. "Maybe. I dunno. It was that or probably get kicked out, and then I'd look like an asshole to this girl I liked."

Denji had another bite, a moment to think. "...Not that it mattered in the end, I guess. I learned to cook, to clean, but I also learned how not to get fucked around with by other people who just act nice to me anymore."

He made a face. Deep down he still liked Makima, but... fuck, it really felt terrible to think about just how much of a useful tool he was in her eyes.

"So I recently got my own place and started goin' to school. Y'know, normal life stuff. My classmates bitch about how boring goin' to class is, but it's all new... it's still kinda exciting in a sense. Maybe it'll bore me in a year or two, but until then..."

Edited 2023-02-05 17:11 (UTC)

"I think I get it. I mean, I guess something like school would be exciting if you haven't done it before. If nothing else, it's like, kind of nice to have a routine."

Not that she knew anything besides school. She took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. Forget rough, she couldn't help but wonder exactly what kind of life this guy had been living until now. He didn't seem like he was much older than she was, either.

"...And just when you started doing normal stuff, you went to sleep and ended up here, huh?"

"Pin-pon. Got it in one." He twirled the empty spoon in his hand and propped his cheek in the other hand.

"Would've been cool to have what I had for a little bit longer, but I guess somebody out there wanted me to go to storytime land or wherever this is. I know most parents read their kids stories to help 'em go to bed, but I got nothin' to go off of. It's all news to me."

He shrugged. "But everybody else knows, so I can leave all that to them and jump in where I'm needed."

A pause. Oh right. He was so accustomed to blending into crowds and going about his way that he never really introduced himself.

"...It's Denji, by the way. I don't remember if I said that or not."

"Nice to meet you. If it helps any, being used to...not normal stuff might actually work for you here."

She reached up with her free hand to fiddle with her hair as she thought back on the last few months.

"I guess that depends on what not normal is for you, though. Before here, not normal was like, an unexpected storm or something. On my first day here...well, I guess ending up here at all is pretty weird."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

{ bite sized problems}

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