songerein | { GAME OPENING LOG }

✵ GAME OPENING LOG ✵
Normally our TDMs serve as intro logs, but we have prepared a special character intro log for game opening! It is a massive, chaotic feast that can only be found in a dreamworld like Songerein. You can also use this to continue ongoing TDM threads, especially as it nears captcha. Reminder that any thread from the TDM can be carried over. Players are also welcome to make their own logs for things if they would rather skip this part. Be sure to read the Mod Announcement for other information and you can ask any questions regarding the log here.

I. THE FEAST

As the sleepy looking sun begins to set, the small little tapir fairies will buzz around to find all the new inhabitants and usher them to the plaza. There everyone will find several tables of various lengths, sizes, and shapes. Yes, that is a star shaped table along with a moon one. A special feast has been made just for them to welcome and celebrate their arrival. Some may even recognize decorations: leaves mottled and changing to an assortment of colors, festive streamers, popcorn strings, glittering garlands and bows, string lanterns, and maybe a few small gravestones here and there. Some areas might look a bit brown and withered while some of the trees take on a more cherry blossom look. It's a bit of a strange mashup, and yet the chaos seems to have a sense of harmony as well—especially when considering everything else that the feast has to offer. This is one divine feast that is going to be completely topsy turvy.

A. What's Your Sign? Everyone will find themselves mysteriously "tagged" with a special sticker and will suddenly gain special characteristics based off the animal: ears, tails, behavioral traits. They're mostly mild and to add flavor, but they may also feel different compatibility towards another, such as more attracted or opposed. The sticker will be hard to remove, but it is possible to swap with someone if they want to try a different experience.

B. Special Bowls. There are many tables and anyone can sit wherever they want. Just don't forget to pick up the special dinner bowl already personalized with their name on it. Of course there are some extra paints and decorations that can be added to it if one desires.

C. Wild Food. Every table has the same kind of food, and there is plenty to go around. Of course, that's only if the food can be caught and if one can keep an appetite for some of them. The boar's head is a bit talkative and might settle down if someone stuffs an apple in its mouth or tells it a joke. However, it might just get several laughs by the barrel of monkeys funnel cake nearby, monkey shaped pastries hiding within it to chuck out various candies and fruits. Not even the candy is safe, at least not the stringed ones. Licorice, chocolate coated taffy, and others will start slithering around and even hiss, sometimes wrapping around the arm of those who try to eat them. Playing some music might calm these sweet serpents so they can be eaten properly. How about that special carousel cake stand with the horse cookies prancing about?

D. Spice Up Your Li—Meal. However fear not. There is normal food around so it is possible to have a proper meal. However, some helpful little dragons may fly by to add a few herbs and spices to the dishes. They are quite friendly and will listen to requests, however if one is rude or too demanding, they may just dump a bunch of a hot pepper and other unsavory seasoning instead. Make a good enough impression and they might make house calls, even follow someone home. They live to spice up food, after all.

E. Drink Tea. Although there is an assortment of beverages, the prevalent one will be tea. They are similar to the ones found in the cafe and all will help bring out festive dreams and restful sleep later for everyone. However, someone is clearly making mischief as they have slipped in some rodentia tea. Drinking it will cause the drinker to shrink to the size of a rat. The only way to return to normal is to find the elusive cat cookies, which can be strangely hard to find; they seem to vanish and reappear at random, but only the ones with wide grins and “Eat Me” written on them can be eaten.

II. FUN & GAMES

Perhaps the food isn't up to one's tastes, or they just would rather have some fun. There are a few games around the plaza that everyone is welcome to participate in and they are encouraged to play to their heart's content. Just beware of the geese as they are being a menace not only at the tables but disrupting games as well.

A. Playing Chicken. A simple game, really, one that will test one's creativity and taste buds. There is a goat cheese fondue fountain surrounded with various platters of cooked chicken: grilled, steamed, boiled, baked, fried. This fondue fountain, however, is special. The flavor of the fondue can be altered depending on the kinds of emotions near it. Joy and love make it sugary sweet, anger and jealousy spicy hot, despair and distrust salty sour. And of course everything in-between including a chaotic mix. The challenge is one person will try and alter the flavor of the fondue, lather it on a piece of chicken, and then hand it to their opponent. The chicken must then be consumed. If not, the one who "cooked" it wins. If it is consumed, then the second person can now do the same to the other. This continues until one forfeits. It should be noted that the emotions of the one eating can also affect the fondue. (It is of course possible to take either the fondue or chicken without playing this stomach churning game.)

B. Gravity of Luck. There is a special wheel lottery set on a table decorated with rabbits. In fact there are a lot of rabbits congregating here and would love a few carrots. Anyone is free to spin the wheel one time per round to determine what kind of special "gravity" effect they receive. Each time the wheel is spun, a ball will drop and the color will indicate the type. A gold ball will cause them to lose all sense of gravity, their bodies starting to float away and although they can fly and float around, they'll need help being tethered down. White balls allow them to jump higher, small mushrooms appearing at their feet so others can follow. A black ball will cause them to be stuck in place, even fall flat all the way to the ground and need help standing up. Those imbued with the power of the different balls can help balance each other out until the effect wears off in half an hour.

C. Ox Go-Kart. For those who really want some speed and action, there are ox driven carts stationed by various streets. Two people can partner up with one driving and the other serving to help try to slow the other cart down. In this race, all non-lethal, non-destructive abilities are allowed to try and disrupt the other racer. Perhaps utilizing dreamotion based abilities may fare better. Just beware of other obstacles, especially any random crying dodos that create giant pools of tears as water hazards.

D. Tiger Fishing. There are special colorful ponds filled with sparkly gummy koi fish. At each one there is a little round tiger(?) with a pair of tiger mittens. In the same vein of fish scooping games, players must wear the tiger mittens and catch the gummy fish with them. It won't be easy as the gummy fish are even more slippery than normal. Perhaps some other skills could be used...but the little tiger will be watching and will latch onto anyone's heads who try to cheat. But if caught, they will make for a delectable treat—or interesting pet.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Normally he likes silence, but somehow the stretch feels a little more tense to him than usual. Which is a little weird. It's not that it would matter to him how she would respond. But perhaps after everything he had to endure to get to this point, even he would want some kind of response. And the tap to his chest...

Not quite expected.

He looks at her with a quizzical frown before she speaks.]

...It was, but it was an unusual situation for the both of us. I was suspicious and you were confused.

But then I was told I was in yet another world... If you had approached me after I heard it from someone else, I wouldn't have been as... Harsh.

[To put it mildly.]

[Tifa arches a brow at that. She tries not to let the disappointment show, but there's a flicker of it in the way her eyes cast downwards again, and how her shoulders square up with tension.]

So, why was it so hard to swallow coming from me?

[It's probably a question she shouldn't be asking right now, if only because it might just make things more awkward, but... if he'd heard it from someone else first, would he have believed them? She can't help but feel at fault for how it all went down, more so now.]

Was it the way I said it?

[A slight shake of his head.]

No, that's not what I mean. I would have been just as suspicious and wary of whoever told me such a thing. I don't know how much I told you in that other world... [...Honestly he suspects not much unless she had directly asked him about it.] But where I'm from, there are creatures—primal beasts—capable of creating illusions and even small dimensions to trap people in. There are also other beings capable of posing as doppelgangers and pretend to be those we know, including the deceased.

[He frowns a little here.]

I was already wary of being in this world because of that, and truthfully I'm still a little suspect. So you can imagine my unease when I heard that someone knew me from a different world. I had to wonder if who you saw was really me or perhaps some illusion or figment if it were true. So to hear someone else say they saw me appear in yet another world, along with their own experiences...

Even if I didn't immediately believe it, should I hear it a second time it would give me pause and consider the possibility more readily than the first.

[Tifa smiles up at him.

That was more explanation than she was expecting, but not an unwelcome one. The idea of doppelgangers sounds... terrifying, to say the least. She couldn't blame him for reacting the way that he did earlier, and less so now after hearing all of that. She would be wary too if she had the same experiences and knowledge that he did, and if people could pose as others and be a possible threat, she would have reasons to suspect too.]

It's okay. I get it. Thank you... for the apology.

[She laughs, now with a bit more humour and less weight in it.]

I'm surprised Zidane got you to come around so quickly.

[A small sigh.]

I was already going to without his meddling. [Just a low, half grumbling mutter as he looks out to the water.] ...Though I suppose I wouldn't have been as quick about it.

[Stupid monkey brat. He had already told he would handle it but noooo. He had to kick him in the water and steal his—

Suddenly Eustace's eyes widen as he lets out a small curse before summoning his journal into his hand, the wolf etchings on the cover briefly visible before he flips open the pages.]

Dammit, that brat still has my dagger.

Edited 2021-09-28 15:09 (UTC)

[Tifa watches the journal flit into his hands like magic, and leans in to see what he'll write, poking a finger into his view before he starts.]

Tell him Tifa said to give it back.

[With how Zidane handled the whole thing, it might make it easier...? At least that way, he'll know that Eustace apologized and she accepted his apology, as unnecessary as she still thinks it was.]

If he gives you trouble, you let me know.

[He only glances at her when she leans in, wondering if she's like this with everyone or if only because she knew him before and was for some reason comfortable enough to do so. He's going to assume the former before he starts writing the message to Zidane, his handwriting neat. Despite it written in his world's language, it's always a little amazing that anyone could still understand it due to the magic of this world.

"Zidane,

I've spoken with Tifa and apologized. I'll be waiting at the treehouses to retrieve my dagger."

But then he pauses and looks at her again before holding out the quill.]

Here. I'd rather have this confirmed from the start so write something.

Edited 2021-09-28 15:36 (UTC)

[Tifa eyes him for a moment for that message before she accepts the quill, and very pointedly adds in a "please" at the end of what he's written. She doesn't think being so impolite will net him his dagger any quicker. Not with Zidane, at least.

But then she continues to scribble beneath it with impeccable writing.

"It was a big, grand apology. You should've been here to see it. Please try not to give him too much trouble. – Tifa"

And with that, she holds his quill out for him to take with a smile.]

I hope you get it back.

[He actually rolls his eyes a little at that addition before he takes his quill back. He then studies her handwriting, wondering at the text a little before he finalizes with his signature and the message sends off.]

I'm getting it back no matter what.

[And now he stands, clearly ready to depart.]

We should head back before something else happens.

[Tifa's tail wags behind her as she rises to her feet with him.]

Yeah, I think I've had enough surprises to last me a while.

[The dogs are barking and yelping, playing with one another, and have seemingly forgotten all about the two of them for the time being, so at least they'll have some room to make an escape before they get shoved into the river again.

They'll head back together in mostly silence, but that tail will be wagging the entire way back, until she'll manage to get that sticker off.]

[He'll notice that tail wagging behind her, and there might have a been a brief, very brief quirk of the lips in amusement before he gets the alert that Zidane had responded to his message. Producing his journal, he looks at it and—

So you kissed and made up?

—promptly shuts it close before Tifa can see it. That stupid monkey brat of all the stupid—

Of course the most expression he shows is a twitch of the brow and flash of annoyance, but even if Tifa were to try and see, that journal is gone and she'll just have to live with the mystery. Or hear from Zidane later.]

Edited 2021-09-29 20:52 (UTC)

{ GAME OPENING LOG }

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