JAWS • DECEMBER 2025 EVENT/TDM

[uruz]

TDM & EVENT: JAWS

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Show Me Those Pretty White Jaws

The dream has been coming in waves for those new to Sleep's touch, as a shoreline that never stays still. As a sky that never remembers to include its stars. Beneath it all, there is a voice. Her voice: silk-sweet, coaxing from just beyond the approaching wave that towers like a moving mountain. She tells you to come home. She promises it won't hurt, even if she never tells you what waits beneath. You see the shape just before the dream ends: a massive black tidal wave, yawning wide and black until it looks like a pair of jaws breaking upon you. You don't have time to resist.

You and your veteran Vessels will awaken in water.

There is no surface. No bottom. No sky. No sound but your own heartbeat and the echoes of water being slashed though, dull and endless in the still, frigid dark. You are suspended, weightless— Some may have difficulty to breathe without inhaling water the first few times, while those aligned with the waves will feel it come like second nature. Once you acclimate yourself, you'll notice that around you drift glowing filaments; thin, pulsing threads that coil like jellyfish tendrils, softly luminescent. They curl and twist through the water, and when you look closer, you realize: they show you things. Memories, maybe. Dreams, maybe. Each one unique to your gaze: a hand reaching for yours in the dark, a goodbye that never finished, a face you haven't seen in years. They are what you think love looks like. What you once needed it to be. And when you touch them, they wrap around you, gently, warmly . . . Hungrily— and begin to pull you down.

To ascend into the next level, you must let go. But not everything that binds you wants to be released. The filaments drifting through the water show you what you think love looks like— what you've built it into. They are gentle at first, beautiful even, but the longer you cling, the more they pull.

There are ways to escape them: You may bind your filament with another's and together speak aloud a shared truth: what you believe love really is. If your hearts align or at the very least come to an agreement, the threads dissolve into light and lift you upward. If your beliefs clash or contradict, the threads knot tighter, and something . . . May take interest in you.

Beneath you, something moves. Huge, silent and almost regal. It glides through the deep like a phantom, almost too large to be real. You feel its presence before you see its flash of pearl white and glowing red eyes, three on each side of its face: a shark.

The shark is here to choose its next meal. It smells grief, fear and seeks out trauma most of all. It is drawn to the most unspoken parts of you, the very parts you thought were buried, roused from the tightened ropes of what you crave in your heart. And when it chooses you, it does not bite immediately. It invites, with its jaws opening like a sanctuary and slow towards you.

Inside is I, whispers Sleep. Allow Me to have you whole, and you will be at peace. Show Me love.

Fight against her, or even with your current partner about what love is, and Sleep will open her maw, spilling tendrils from her throat and begin to stalk you. Best be prepared to fight the possessed Megalodon— She will laugh, amused as you do, like a great cat playing with its food. And if you were to be caught, well. You'll wake in the dream's next level with an undeniable prey drive, whether Token or Offering.

She will do anything to keep you here.

NOTES:

• There is no surface visible at first. Light only comes from the filaments. As characters resist, act, or ascend, a faint stained-glass shimmer begins to pulse upward, hinting at the dream's next layer.
• Sound is muffled— speech emerges as bubbles, but meaning travels regardless. Words feel heavy here. Some phrases may literally change the water (turn to light, birth dream-objects, or ripple with tension). You will do better using The Murmur as a means of communication. Luckily you have your mask on!
• The Shark always circles once it senses trouble within you. Sometimes close, sometimes far, but always felt. If characters listen closely, they can hear the echo of One's voice coming from inside it: pleading with a haunted, at times screaming melody.

TOKEN EFFECTS

• The dream bends subtly around Tokens, especially at the whims of an Aquamancer. Walls of pressure open before them, and filaments shift course as if expecting them. This can make their path easier, unless they start to doubt their purpose.
• Tokens perceive emotional resonance as currents in the water such as subtle flows of energy. These can guide them (or others) toward escape paths, or signal when the shark is near.
• When a Token speaks or acts with strong intent, the dream sometimes translates it into a symbolic structure: A word might become a floating glyph. A gesture might alter the filament's shape. A moment of clarity might reveal a hidden path. Other characters can interact with these dream-objects, but they're fragile, unstable, and prone to distortion by doubt.
• The deeper Tokens go, the more they feel themselves pulling apart and begin to experience dual awareness: one part dreaming, one part watching— some may even see flashes of within the shark's belly, and One's voice much louder. The deeper they go, the more detached they become, and the more they lack the ability to act at all.

OFFERING EFFECTS

• The shark is more fascinated by Offerings. It circles them often, sensing kinship— or potential. The more monstrous the Offering, the more the shark "pauses' near them, almost curious.
• Offerings feel "the pull" more clearly, particularly Merrows and other aquatic-based Offerings—they can sense where the surface might be, and where the shark intends to strike next. They may even see pulses in the water that others miss, similar to Spider Man's "spidey senses".
• An Offering may experience rapid body changes submerged. Fins may appear, bones may shift, teeth may lengthen without warning and so on. This makes their movement easier or harder, depending on how much of themselves they're holding back or how apt their monstrous forms are at swimming.
• Some Offerings may feel drawn to the shark— not in fear, but in understanding. They may see themselves in it, and vice versa— One's song in particular is hypnotic, and for split moments you may understand his pain through his words. This might make you more prone to being consumed, though, so hopefully your partner can help you out of it—?.

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Watching Me With Eyes Of A Predator

The surface you breach is not water— it's glass.

You strike it with the force of falling sky. It fractures beneath you in a bloom of painted light. For one weightless moment, the dream hesitates, sputters. Then the world shatters, and you fall with the cascade.

Water pours through the crack in the ceiling, carrying you down in ribbons of color and a shattering splash. Stained glass shards drift like petals through the now collapsing roof, and you eventually land not in sand, but upon a cathedral floor, slick with tide. Around you, the water spreads, pooling across the stone and swallowing the walls in a rising hush as it finds escape through the doors.

The cathedral is vast, impossibly so. Its architecture towers, crooked and immaculate, built more from longing than stone. No altar awaits you. No congregation. Only the sensation of having trespassed into something meant to be private. Veteran Vessels may recognize this cathedral as St. Patrick's— before it was drenched in One's blood sacrifice.

High above and surrounding you, the stained-glass mosaics churn with captured light. f you linger beneath one of the window's rays, your appearance may begin to change under the light. You appear as someone else sees you. Be it a hero. A monster. A disappointment. A god. A weakness. A temptation. Even a burden. That version of you clings to your dream-body like a second skin; uncomfortable, intimate, and undeniable. For some, it may be beautiful. For others, unbearable.

If you and another stand beneath the same window, you may each appear as the other secretly imagines. There is no control and no negotiation. Only truth twisted through the lens of want, resentment, fear, or love. And it doesn't go away until you leave the light.

Eventually, the cathedral doors open by dream's will. Beyond them lies a cloister garden: narrow paths, pale trees, and wild flowers that bloom in stillness. At the far end, behind the overgrowth and ruined arches, you see a hollow.

It is a corridor where the dream collapses inward, twisting, warped, half-swallowed in fog and dread. Its stones pulse faintly beneath a shallow film of water. Black tendrils reach from its depths like roots, veins, twitching toward sound, warmth, and movement. You see them dragging matter into the earth, and between them lie bones, contorted and fresh, half-consumed.

And farther still, a body that still breathes. Glimpsed only briefly, A masked man's form is stretched by the hollow's gravity, arms pinned behind the veil. He does not move, or speak. Or perhaps, he cannot. The hollow does not let him go and will not, should you make your attempts. If you step foot in the hollows that have consumed him, you too will be consumed. A three eyed Tod sits at the hollow's edge, a single bushy tail splitting into three, as its body plays with illusion like smoke put to dance over fire. It says, as its head floats up and its maw splits into a grin too cheshire to ignore: Wearing shoes, yet no feet in sight. You'll hear steps pound in the death of night. What is it that you need, to cross this narrow blight?

It disappears and only leaves you the riddle to chew on.

Nothing living can cross the hollow, you'll soon find. Nothing except . . . The Nightmares.

Just outside the garden's boundary, you'll find horses built from wind and shadow, flickering at the edge of your vision. Their bodies are black— not the color, but the absence, swallowing all light. Some of their craniums cound be seen, others have a jutting horn of bone from their foreheads. Where eyes should be, there are six: three stacked on each side of the skull, glowing dimly red like distant embers beneath ice. Their manes flow like torn fabric, like drifting vapor that trails behind them like the smoke from a snuffed candle. Their maws are too damn wide to be herbivorous, yet they seem to enjoy the act of grazing. They wait, unchained and wild in a herd.

This is the only way forward. Only they can pass through the hollow untouched. But how to ride one—? You may chase them. You may plead, command, kneel. You may offer them all your need and all your love, promises that you will provide if they become your steed. But they were not made to answer it. For every Vessel, there is one single Nightmare that will choose them, and thus you will choose each other. They have their own personalities, some more aggressive or shyer than others. The harder you reach, the faster they vanish or harshed they will attack if unready. Try to mount one through force, and you'll regret ever trying. Try to bind one, and it will break you.

But if you are patient, if you figure out its nature and how to please it— your Nightmare may come closer. One may circle you. It may bow its head. Their snort is warm and real against your palm. If successful, it will lower itself to its knees. If you've got the height, they will simply wait, patiently, for you to get on their backs (Or not; there are plenty of sassy mares out there).

If you accept, you might not be taken somewhere safe, but you will be taken somewhere true, away from here. And if you force your want upon them, if you cannot let go— you will be left with something else.

In the distance, across the flooded cathedral floor, you may see One again. Flashes, glimpses. Always chasing a mare he never reaches, or the opposite— the mare chases after him.

NOTES:

• If a character successfully forms a bond with their Nightmare, it will return with them in the form of a waking world steed, officially introduced in the next event. You're free to give it the personality you wish.
• If a character attempts to force a connection with a Nightmare at any point (tries to catch, mount, command, etc.), the mare will bite or kick, which Vessels will suffer as a persistent dream-mark that will carry into the waking world.

TOKEN EFFECTS

• Light clings unnaturally to Tokens in the cathedral, especially near the stained glass. It bends around their bodies like a false halo, casting them in divine or monstrous outlines depending on who watches.
• If a Token casts or channels any magic within the cathedral or near a Nightmare, the spell does not manifest, but instead, a cold mist escapes their mouth, and the Nightmare turns to look. The dream rejects force.
• When a Nightmare looks directly at a Token, their eyes eclipse, pupils vanishing into rings of shadow. In that moment, a fragmented vision floods the Token's mind . . . not from the Nightmare, but from another character nearby. It shows the Token how that character once dreamed of them, what they feared, needed, or hoped they would become.

OFFERING EFFECTS

• The stained glass causes a subtle change in scent and physical appearance turning into a more grotesque version of this— Offerings begin to smell or look like what others most want from them.
• Offerings may always know where the Nightmares are, even when hidden. But the more they try to act on this knowledge, the harder the Nightmares are to reach.
• An Offering's body will react before they realize it, flinching from lies, bristling in moments of emotional pressure, pulling away from contact, and so on. They may startle even at gentle contact, as if something inside them is as reactive as they are.

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Where The Delicate Stops

As your Nightmare takes you through the misty hollow, you may begin to notice the empty city of Manhattan as veterans remember. There is no warning but the eerie silence that surrounds you like impossible weights. The cathedral once behind you folds inward— wrong, deep and full of pressure. It bursts through the hollow's path, through the city's street, and then— The dream ruptures.

Stone peels backward like paper. Glass liquefies mid-air. The sky above the city pulls itself inside out. Time bends sideways. And from the edges of the dream, something, someone, begins to hunt. Sleep's presence moves like the very shark she chose as a vision of her physical manifestation. She does not speak or rage. But you feel Her, rising like fever beneath the skin of Her world as the hairs at the back of your neck do. She does not want you this deep, and neither does One.

Somewhere within the collapse, you may see them— entwined, shifting, trembling. One's face is turned toward you, screaming something that doesn't reach your ears. Sleep's hands are tangled in his body. She pulls him back with a gentleness that breaks the sky, and he screams, reaching for you with his last breath before consumption. The dream convulses.

The Nightmares bolt with you still on them.

The city rises to meet you from the shadows, but it's not the city you know. Skyscrapers twist at unnatural angles. Streets flood, then dry, then flood again. Tendrils burst from subway grates and gutters, slashing upward like tongues. Streetlights spin like compass needles. Cars levitate, crash, freeze midair. You move through it all at breakneck speed, but the exit keeps shifting— a hole in the world that flickers just beyond reach where you see your body, fast asleep.

Somewhere in the chaos, a few Nightmares are caught. Sleep strikes like lightning— she coils like a viper and tightens like a vice. One touch from Her, and your Nightmare collapses mid-gallop, its body unraveling into smoke and light. No sound. No scream. Just absence. And you fall right off it like a ragdoll.

Others fall beneath impact, too— a wrong turn, a shattered wall, a burst of heat from One's grief. A broken leg. A crash. A wound too deep to ride through. If your steed is lost, you fall. And if no one reaches for you, you stay fallen. Others are near, and their Nightmares still run. All of you have a terrible dread in your bones— if you are caught or left behind, the consequences will be dire. You might not even wake up. So, call out. Cling. Climb. Share. Two Vessels on one mount. Anything to survive and flee as the dreamscape tightens its wrathful grip around you.

Sleep calls inside your spine. You can't make out what She says. One answers, the same blur of garbled words in your marrow. And then, just before the dream can take you, just before you reach an exit— you rise.

Your body lifts from the Nightmare as it paddles the air with desperation, it too rising. You're pulled upward, weightless, as if a thread inside your heart has been yanked by a furious god. You float, twist in the air. Your vision glows white.

We've got you.

And then you wake up— mid-air in the waking world.

Your body slams into your bed, floor, street, soil, wherever it was that you had slept. Reality greets you with terrible impact.

NOTES

• If a character does not find a mount in time, they may be caught in the dream collapse. They still wake— but they wake broken. These characters may wake up bruised, disoriented, or emotionally fragmented, and this can be explored in the next waking world event.

TOKEN EFFECTS

• Any Tether they feel becomes unstable—splintered. For brief moments, they feel it breaking and re-forming again and again, with slight differences each time.
• The more emotionally charged they are, the more the dream pulls toward them; tendrils snap faster, debris veers unnaturally close.
• Their body flickers with signs of their own magic—sigils, symbols, runes— burning just beneath the surface of their skin like constellations. These glow brighter as the dream collapses, as if trying to tear free.

OFFERING EFFECTS

• Where Offerings are grazed or injured, they bleed light, not red. It floats up like mist.
• They hear One's heartbeat, not theirs, and it speeds in panic. It affects their own pulse, the mare under them . . .
• The Nightmare no longer follows the Offering's will—it will respond to their fear instead.

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OOC NOTES

➤ Welcome to Somnia's third TDM, which doubles as the month's gamewide event!
➤ This TDM is considered game canon. You are free to have your character remember as many details as possible when they wake up.
➤ Only new characters are free to experiment with the Vessel options, Token or Offering to your liking; this is a dreamscape, so multiple/different situations for you to really test which option you like most is possible. Current characters must remain as their chosen Vessel type unless you requested a switch, which can be done on the Taken page.
➤ All TDMs take place within a dreamscape, meaning characters can interact with the setting without needing to apply. Come have fun with us!
➤ Veteran players, I ask to please refrain from making post-event threads for the time being! We have some important information to take into account in next month's event when characters are slated to "wake up". At the very least, please wait for the information to be offered on the next plotting post. Thank you everyone for your patience!
➤ Please comment on the TDM's INVITE TL if you are a new player interested in joining the game, but don't yet have an invite. Current players or the mod may reach out to extend an invite. Once you've got one, please don't forget to comment on the Invite page so you may properly link it in your reserve and app.
➤ Questions? Please direct them to the designated questions comment linked below!

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Comments

[dollpin]

Has it? I didn't think it's been that longg. I still have a snack or two if you need any!

( .. it hasn't been that long for her, anyway. the sharing of rations and watching a man starved of nutrition put away all that shelf-stable food was quite the sight indeed. how could she forget? it's why she asked. it's possible he ate too fast, too soon and upset something. maybe?

but my, mister roe deer has found himself in a different shape yet again! it's a good thing she's so used to seeing him a little changed, or she'd be taken quite aback by the new silhouette for what, the third time? maybe next time she'll see him as a pink rabbit.

actually, now that she squints, in the light he definitely looks more mascot than freaky gas mask smoke creature stuffed into a suit? wow! so maybe they went back to that board game somehow? did he bring them to relative safety? it's just like him to figure something like that out.

but anyway, he's asking her a question so she's looking over herself just in case, items and all, but eventually she holds a thumbs up his way. what she sees pretty much checks out with her! )

What's with the mirror, though? Is it safe to break so I can join you over there?

( definitely not a weird or scary thing to hear something in a mirror say, )

[roedeer]

Ms. Dolphin, you know the rules of breaking mirrors.

[ in the light, yes, he is adorned in that attire he knows so well, miraculously he doesn't find this unnerving. for a moment, he does close his eyes to remind him that he has his body back, and that his love for the theme park hasn't corrupted his mind. the love for his staff doesn't overwhelm him, but still, it's a part of himself, so he welcomes it with ease. ]

We wouldn't want to place you under any years of bad luck. You already went missing once.

[ if only he could make light of it.

staring at his body, the creature takes a step forward still within the light for seonghae to see him as a mascot—

no, no, no. he shouldn't grow accustomed to this within a different darkness, but it's easy, it doesn't feel like anything's changed.

holding out his stubby arms, the mascot sighs. ]

But, smashing them would limit how much light gets into the building. If we could find a tool...

WELCOME BACK MISTER MASCOT!!!!!!!!!!

[dollpin]

( ? )

I went missingg? But I'm right here, Mister Mascot.

( that doesn't make any logical sense. he's the one that died in front of her, but she's the one that went missing? does that mean both the train and the death via hanging were wrong exits?

it'd make sense. it would explain why they're both here now. what it does not explain however, is that the connotation of 'you already went missing once' means that she was gone for quite the length of time in his perspective. why's that?

gently, she places her hand on the cold panel of glass. it wouldn't be hard to break with a bit more pressure, but she won't do it if he's wary of what might happen. )

I don't really want for you to die or get hurt again, so let me do it. Right now, this is more like a 'window' than it is a 'mirror', so maybe it'll be okayy?

( besides, the light is making her feel itchy. a little ticklish, even, like her skin is supposed to have something sprouting from them. like she's missing something. downy soft feathers, eyes that see too much - )

Mirrors are supposed to show you exactly as you are, right? But I see you, and not me!

LOWKEY SO NAUSEOUS

[roedeer]

[ "but i'm right here, mister mascot."

it's like nothing has ever changed from that time, and in the reflection all soleum can see is a giant, cartoonish yellow dragon with horns covered in bits and pieces of flowers. they hang high above his head, his arms pressed against the side of his body as he closes the distance between him and the glass. ]

B u tㅤN o tㅤS a f e

[ ah.

mister mascot, that's what she calls him and sees him as at the moment, so of course this would seep back into the way he talks. it's easier, why say long word when few word do trick?

his tail swipes along the floor, pieces of broken glass clatter against one another as the mascot looks from between his reflection and then to where seonghae stands. he doesn't feel comfortable with letting her get hurt, because he's finally found her and if anything else goes wrong he'll lose the chance to capitalize!

this is very important to getting a good ending where he goes home, and without her, he'll be crippling his chances in the future! ]

IㅤS e eㅤY o u
S o f tㅤW h i t eㅤL o o k i n g

[ soft feathers, absent of all colors to the point of her skin becoming translucent, and a gaze that never strays too far from mister mascot. despite these are things that soleum sees well, the concept of her not being able to see herself gives the man some pause.

then it would be no good to shatter the window, what if she disappeared? ]

S h a t t e r
R e m a i nㅤP u r e

[dollpin]

( she met him when he was human, but the memories of her evening with him, lizard and leopard were those of that of the ghost who replaced her. a polite young man, even in the face of ghosts. he survived the night precisely because he was able to play nice with them even after getting displaced. capable, kind, the rising star that caught the eye of the A squad.

then at some point, he'd disappeared from the roster and resurfaced as a security team member. she hadn't known him to be roe deer then, but still his thoughtfulness and kindness bled through as the friendly mascot.

so kind that he even punished her for killing that ladybug via demotion. it should not have been her to dish out punishment, he'd said. it's an overstep of boundaries. but to her, it seems more like he wanted to keep her hands clean and personally take responsibility for the actions of his employees.

she's been trying to do right by him since, especially when she found out that she's the reason that rabbit had even been able to find its way here; but he wouldn't let her. wouldn't let her run through the red zone to get what he needed even though she's confidently their fastest. wouldn't let her or lizard stay behind even though they could have torn through the red bunnies and helped manage the surge of them just fine.

so, just as she thought. this look suits him better than the gas mask and smoke. he's the sort of man that doesn't want to scare others anyway, right? this is what he'd prefer.

nevermind that she's imposing that assumption on him, but she's not even thinking about that part. )

Okayyy then, I won't!

( she trusts him, so she relents eventually. they'll just have to find some other indirect way to break it then so the punishment doesn't fall on either of them.

but its curious, that description. to him, she's a 'soft white thing', which isn't necessarily wrong because of her hair, but he wouldn't feel the need to say that unless something else about her has changed in his eyes. )

What do your eyes see, Mister Mascot?

ㅤ

[roedeer]

IㅤS e e
W i n g sㅤR i n gㅤP e r c e i v e d

[ is that too much!? in this form, he knows that his words are conveyed in a way that guests aren't turned away. children find him safe, and his honesty is pretty straightforward because what would a resort owner have to lie about? every step forward, the claws of his feet crack into the glass, dig into the dirt and mr. mascot stands right before seonghae. ]

C r o w n

[ he lifts his arms up, the mascot suit doing as he wants, and as soon as he reaches her head does he try and grasp at the bright halo that illuminates their surroundings. his paws come down to her chest, he's gentle in his touch and making sure to avoid touching anywhere she may deem too suggestive.

even like this, soleum would like to avoid that. ]

W i n g

[ the paw smooths down along her until he reaches her hip, and his other arm comes to seonghae's side, and it arches outward in the opposite of her direction. it doesn't reach far because of how stubby they are, but his gaze follows out as well as if she can tell its reach. ]

W i n g

[ it reminds him of a cloak, her hidden behind a wealthy amount of feathers that keep her hidden from him. that has to mean one thing and if it does, soleum isn't worried, instead he'll accept it as fact. no, he shouldn't, but as a mascot who feels no harm radiating off of her, this is probably a trick of the light from the windows surrounding them. as long as it doesn't remain, he feels that this might be in their favor.

an angel? why out of all things. in the eyes of a mascot, all he can do is think well of his staff. seonghae is a special case due to how she is, a kind individual who thinks of justice like rule, she exacts punishment on those who don't follow these ordain rules that she's created. she soars higher than the bureau, but he must keep her close to land for she comes to close to the sun.

that's why that halo hangs high, as bright as the sun. ]

H i d d e n

[ soon, soleum steps back, and from the look of him who would make a fuss if there were something wrong... there's something tranquil about the dragon. satisfied, he holds out his stubby mascot arm. ]

W h i c hㅤW i n gㅤH o l dㅤ?

[dollpin]

( this is the part where most ought to run.

as darling as this mascot is, and friendly as it's been; there's no telling when that might change. ghost stories that aren't forthright with their malice and hunger are duplicitous in nature, tempting, welcoming - adapted in all the other ways that would best lure in their next.

and yet she allows it all, even giggling when that paw of his smooths over her side like it tickles. the interaction is treated like she's but merely indulging a curious beast, letting him paw and encroach in on her space like he's a pup meeting her for the first time. which to her is really quite cute!

everything he describes remains unseen to her, and yet she feels the phantom limbs precisely as he describes even after he's unhanded her. they should be there, but maybe someone's gone and ripped them out in their attempt to keep her on the ground. )

This one, maybe.

( a hand too easily offered, now placed delicately upon a stitched arm. much like an excitable girl at an amusement park, she pulls him along. off to other parts of the cathedral to continue looking around. eventually, they'll be stepping out of the light, but for now? )

Have you decided on what you're going to do with this place yet? It looks like you're in the middle of remodeling. ~

[roedeer]

[ in his eyes, she's a beautiful angel in the cathedral's light, and the cherubs frozen in time and stone stand as their witness. soleum isn't religious at all, no matter how much those cult tactics have tried to work their way into him: ireum-nim be damned. her hand outstretched to him, and the mascot follows this by taking it with ease. in soleum's eyes, an arm creeps out between thin wings and settle right into his palm.

can she not see her wings, or has she transcended the mortal coils of a form and sees herself as normal? that doesn't stop his grip from tightening around her palm, led like a horse by the simple whims of her own direction. step, step, step... the feet of the mascot's uniform drag against the ground. not out of reluctance, but out of curiosity as beady eyes acknowledge the surroundings of the cathedral. ]

N oㅤC e l lㅤS e r v i c e

[ dejected, the creature tilts that large head of its down, and soleum finds some embarrassment in doing this. truthfully, remodeling is not something he can do because this isn't the resort, any and all ownership stems there and not here. unable to mention his reach to the lodge through his tattoo lacks in reach, he finds that he can explain in better terms like this: ]

F a l c o nㅤC a n 'tㅤR e a c hㅤF o x

[ his free hand comes to his chest, the weight of the paw makes an intend in the area right between the bosom, underneath the small tie. everything feels real under the golden glow of the light filtered into the building, it's only when soleum casually steps into the darkness that he feels human. the second layer of skin tears itself from his flesh leaving behind a hot sting once he walks back into the light again, and that yellow suit returns to enveloping his body. ]

IㅤC a n 'tㅤR e a c h

[ the resort... it's not different than sekwang, so it should be easy for her to understand the issue. ]

C u t

[dollpin]

( he conveyed the point well enough. this is something they were already dealing with at the station. it's a shame, but it can't be helped if his connection to the resort is severed, too. she just figured that since he's manifesting like this, then it's possible that they're somewhere close to the theme park.

maybe there's something they have to kill first in order for him to take ownership of the space. like how they fed red to blue.. what will she have to feed him in order for him to take this place as his?

much to think about! )

It's okayy, please don't worry!

( it's cute how it's fussing, the poor thing is dejected that he can't fulfill what's being asked. she reassures him with a squeeze of her hand, bright and merry even as she watches his form flicker between mascot and otherwise. like this is just something that happens in the day to day,

like she doesn't really see him as human anymore anyway even though that's how he presents outside of the multi-colored light. )

We'll make our own place later! Wouldn't that be fun? We just have to get out first. ~

( easier said than done, but who caaarresss. )

Any ideas?

ㅤ

[roedeer]

R e n o v a t i o nㅤ!

[ upon hearing this, the golden flower resort mascot is back to tip top shape, it's true his form adjusted due to the light and seonghae's whims, and maybe there's a bit of contamination leaking through... but he's happy to have the chance!

... the one thing about this is that soleum really doesn't want to run anything else, he can't let himself get carried away by the whims of a resort owner. he's already passed that on to the lodge keeper to make sure nothing goes awry there too, it'd be terrible if he has to make another contract to make him watch over this place. ]

C r e a t i v i t yㅤF o rㅤY o u
F u n

[ while they're in this darkness, he looks to seonghae once more, even as they're together, he can't help but wonder. was she always here after she got off the train, how did she come to this level as soleum only turned up here out of nowhere.

the golden flower mascot shakes her hand a bit to get her attention, the large head turned in her direction, and it tilts to one side. ]

P i l l s

[ he has them, he's finally figured out that death is what pulls them out of sekwang with ease, but for some reason, soleum feels uneasy. there's an uncomfortable twist in the lower levels of his stomach as he suggests the idea, like there's something trying to tell him otherwise. ]

W o r k sㅤI nㅤS p e c i a lㅤC i t y

[ the comment sounds like a question though, soleum asking if seonghae believes this place to be... sekwang at all. ]

[dollpin]

( she just laughs at the prospect, a soft little thing that chimes in the hollow of the empty and dilapidated cathedral. yes, it'd be quite fun to play around like that, especially compared to most of the things they have to do for daydream work. maybe they should make time for it after all?

when the mascot shakes the hand he's holding, she turns her attention from the cathedral to set it solely on him. if he'd like her attention, then he has it! it must be important if he's choosing to say what's on his mind now.

this fragmented speech, almost nonsensical in a string. any other might find it difficult to follow, but she thinks she can understand this much. a lingering tether from their time in the resort, likely. it'd be terrible if his own employees could not interpret his will, after all. )

In my opinionn, we got displaced somewhere else! None of the things I've seen so far matches the description of an Abyss-level darkness, let alone signs of a metropolitan cityy.. The threat level dropped preeeetty low compared to where we were at before, too!

( even while wandering that forest, there were hints of the city scattered all over - she can't say the same of this one. )

But that's just my thoughts. I'm more interested in what you think!

( did he want her to take the pills? because she sure would if he asked her to!! )

[roedeer]

I n t e r e s t i n g

[ soleum grows quiet, the mascots steps filling in for the quietness of the cathedral as they walk. the reflections in the mirrors sometime stop, they look in their direction, but as in good daydream fashion, there's no need to be swept up in that. luckily soleum is so deep in his thoughts that he misses it, but it does come off as though the mascot isn't bothered by those sorts of things. ]

N oㅤT r a i n

[ it's true, it's not a metropolitan city, and to double check this the mascot begins to dig into his pocket in search of something familiar. these big paws are unable to dig into his pocket properly, so soleum turns to look at seonghae. is that right, it's not sekwang, could it really not be? director ho would have given them a heads up in some way, wouldn't he?

probably not, knowing him... ]

L o s tㅤY o u
N o tㅤH e r eㅤ...

[ there was no forest, there's no train, there's nothing that gives the idea of the missing. the individuals that they've come across have been alive, they talk, they're not dead nor are there errie voices telling them that they have. it doesn't hold the mental manipulation that an abyss grade would have.

soleum doesn't doubt it at all, especially with how simple the scares are too.

even the simple jumpscares still get to me!!!

comically, the mascot makes a small tear in the corner of one eye that looks as though it might fall. ]

H a v eㅤC o l l e c t o rㅤ?

sighs. cw: suicide mention. this was inevitable.

[dollpin]

( oh no.. he's tearing up? she'll just go ahead and reach up for that mask of his to wipe it off for him. carefully, of course. it looks like he's having troubles reaching for stuff with those arms of his, and she doesn't really mind. )

As far as Daydream is concerned, I'm on leave! So..

( employees who are on vacation simply would not have that sort of thing, unfortunately. but it can't be helped! it's not like she could've just left with the agents otherwise, and at the time it was much more important to act on the information they had as quickly as they can. she wasn't about to just leave that flower with them either. )

Hmm. ~ I don't remember much of the train. Next thing I knew I woke up underwater?

( in the dark, where that shark was waiting at the edges of her perception. watching. )

Haven't even seen anything like a station since, so maybe it derailed on the way out.

( .. oh! )

I did check the forest outside though, and I didn't see any bodies hanging off of it, nor were there any nooses. ~ ( or voices asking her to kill herself! ) So I really do think we're way past where we were before.

Whatever's out in the forest this time is different. It's like they want me to know they're there, but they keep running away when I go after them for some reason?

( girl who does Not know that the new awareness is tied to the fact that she's become an offering.. )

Must be important, rightt?

all gdcgs do is die cw: suicide mention

[roedeer]

[ yes, a large, large tear that's coming from the beaded eye of the mascot that with one single motion she's able to swipe it away. it settles along the length of her finger like dew on the petal of a flower before rolling to one side and falling to the ground. ]

I r r e s p o n s i b l e

[ the mascot brings that stubby arm back to his chest to indicate himself, his head tilts forward, antlers angling down to rest on top of the woman's head, he remains there as though he's praying, or maybe he's hoping for the best? ...acknowledging that seonghae is there? no, so she can hear him a little more clearly. ]

M yㅤJ o b
Y o u rㅤS a f e t y
S o r r y

[ how soleum has regretted his actions since they've come out from sekwang that very moment, to know that it was by his decisions that everyone were incapacitated for awhile. he should have awoken last out of the group, he should have been the one who laid in bed still in that forbidden city and tried to find a way to leave. if the nooses had taken each and every one of them, aside from soleum, then he would have found out eventually that killing himself was the way out, right?

he would have overthought it, he would have came to such an unconventional idea, he would have did it.

but no, that was not the case. he had stirred from his sleep second to last, he was told that lee seonghae hadn't risen. soleum had chosen that fate for her, he was why she wasn't able to return to her "home", and that places guilt and blame on his shoulders. his mouth feels cotton dry, or could that be the fabric of the attire that he wears, but whatever it is, it's so difficult to swallow down anything.

is this what it's like to be choked up on your words? ]

M a d eㅤM i s t a k e
N o wㅤY o u 'r eㅤH e r e

[ all because he didn't make the right choice.

pushing her onto that train somehow brought her here, the time discrepancy does worry him, but more than that... the fact he's brought her to a place that she deems to be different than sekwang had been done by his hands.

how else should he feel, and how else should a mascot feel after failing their staff. ]

W i l lㅤGoㅤB a c k
T a k eㅤM eㅤF o r e s tㅤ?

ok but that's real. that it took this long is the real surprise

[dollpin]

( what a strange sensation. for a girl naturally dulled to the emotions of others, this one almost feels tangible. a bleed through of that bond, perhaps. the weight of it carried in that unnatural speech.

heavy.

suffocating.

is this what it feels like? sadness? guilt? regret? she's not sure, but it's novel in that same way as tasting something for the first time. foreign, but not dangerous. strange, but not unwelcome.

if anything, she takes that step closer, letting her arms snake around the entity's form until she's pressed flush and held on tight, cheek pressed against fabric without a sign she's going to let go any time soon. he'd touched her earlier like he was reaffirming she's real. perhaps it'd take some of that heaviness away if she did this? )

But I'm not in danger?

( she doesn't understand. he'd saved her from the noose, and yet he laments failing her. )

Besides, you're here too.

( it's him. she knows it is. she can't mistake that presence even if another were to dare try to replicate it. him being here means he hasn't abandoned her. )

That means it's okay. ~

( because he's mister roe deer, and it usually just works out that way! )

So I'll take you to the forest, but this time I'll stick with you better! ( hm.. ) Might be hard for you to run around the forest like this, thoughh. Even that Red Bunny took its suit off when it was chasing me.

( maybe his form as 130666 would be better for now? )

stop we go at our own paces you know how it is

[roedeer]

N oㅤW o r r y

[ his paw raises up, he gently pats down onto seonghae's head no different from the blue dragon does too him. there's some comfort in the action that he doesn't understand yet, but it doesn't stop him from accepting her reassurances. kim soleum knows where he had failed in regards to his actions, he should have known everything before hand to obtain a good end for his team.

what he had done was throw seonghae into something that he didn't understand, that she didn't know, and now they've winded up here. could that city have pushed them out to another darkness, like a barrier for them to get through in order to enter it properly? how frustrating, and when kim soleum had thought he found the perfect entry, even director ho had approved of it. ]

N o tㅤM yㅤD o i n g

[ another pat against her head, gentle and kind, even if she forgives him the question is can he forgive himself? he should have done more, done better, this should have been a non-issue, and what if he's the reason they're like this now? stuck in an unknown darkness with odd requirements of moving through.

even this mascot suit isn't here by his own means. ]

T h i n k
Y o uㅤD o i n g
G i m m i c k?

[ the plush-mascot head leans against her for a moment before he has to release seonghae from their warm hug. to the mascot, it does relieve many worries, but for kim soleum, all he can do is wonder if he should have even done that. it's not that he's allergic to hugs, but does it solve anything aside from scratching that mascot itch of his?

somewhere deep down, it does help set some thoughts to the side. ]

me going at the speed of sloth

[dollpin]

( a pat she just giggles at, muffled by fabric her face is now buried against. it's probably a strange sight for anyone else, but who cares?

again, she does not really understand why he's sad about what he thinks had happened, but she won't dismiss it outright even as he pats her again. this is a kind mascot that worries for his employees - daydream could really learn a thing or two from it. )

Could be!

( he releases her, but she reaches again just as immediately. this time, her smaller hand sinks her fingers into the front of the suit, grip fairly strong for someone of her stature.

and all she does is smile up at him gently for now. )

Let's find out.

( she's watched the transformation too many times to not catch the hint by now. his mascot self only appears when illuminated by the stained glass, and that skin peels away whenever he steps out of it. she hasn't reacted because it was quite fascinating to watch, but she supposes it's time to let it be and say goodbye to the mascot for now -

and yanks him to a shaded nook, pressing this roe deer against the external wall and holds him there to keep him out of the light.

just to see what happens next! )

thats me you cant take my speed

[roedeer]

[ the way she experiments with him is crazy.

the hold he has onto her head in the grip of his claws that could crush is brief, and is then replaced with nothing followed by her tugging him. a sharp tug that pulls him out of the light and into the dark cranny that she chooses for them with those wide, curious eyes of hers. she's searching for something. in the darkness, she's standing right before that same gentleman in a clean, crisp black suit, tie, and pants that fit the aesthetic.

the golden flower mascot from before is no longer, just a familiar coworker, and soleum raises one hand to touch at seonghae's own tie.

before he was brought into the darkness, it did appear to be a yellow ribbon in his eyes. ]

Thank you.

[ he doesn't know how long he would have remained underneath the light, but he isn't scared or disturbed. soleum has accepted the outcome that he's starting to understand this darkness a little more. ]

Mental manipulation, Body transformation, is it the light through the glass or...

[ he looks to seonghae to finish his train of thought... ]

me coming back days after out of the grave

[dollpin]

( she wouldn't have done it if she wasn't mostly certain it's safe! she wouldn't risk someone nice like that.

anyone else she doesn't particularly care for might've gone more slowly. keep them half in the light just to see what a state of in-between would do. maybe even try a few different things with them. with no one else to scout ahead, the burden of gathering information follows on them, and there might be a clue in there somehow.

might even reveal the true nature of this place? which in turn would tell her what it's looking for.

that he reaches for her tie after makes her wonder if he's about to move her aside - but when it remains just a touch to fabric she can't help but wonder if perhaps there was something else that caught his eye. he'd said she seemed the vision of a winged figure in his eyes prior, but it must've shifted at some point. )

Seems like it! So it might be alright as long as we stay out of that, which works juuust fine since we're headed to the forest anyway.

( not that she knows what fuckery happens there, if any, but hey. )

Maybe it reveals some part of us? ( like a certain hanbit library they haven't yet been to. not quite the right conclusion, but feels right enough for someone who selfishly imposes her thoughts on others. ) Too bad it didn't come with the abilities you had as Mister Mascot.

( oh well! moving on! she won't keep him cornered anymore, she'll step aside so he can follow as she starts carving out a path away from the cathedral. )

Soo as I was saying.. there's something else out there but they keep getting further away every time I get close. Maybe they won't run from you? I can point out the closest one and wait around if you want. ~

seonghae does this so often i fear

[roedeer]

Ah. Yes... I didn't have those abilities at my disposal.

[ the ability to create was taken from him, but was it really the contamination or seonghae's way of seeing him? it was by her quick thinking that he's back to normal, or normal enough when inside of certain high grade darknesses. stay out of the light or it will reveal who they are, but the question is, why was seonghae feathers with a ribbon underneath?

an angel...?

yet her body never changed. is it because he didn't think strongly?

with a shake of his head, the employee withdraws his hands down to his side. if only he had someone to ask, a reliable friend that normally sits in his pocket. sadly, when the tips of his fingers touch at his chest every so often hoping for that certain friend to appear... he never does. with a grimace, kim soleum looks in the direction of the hall that they can go down. ]

What was it?

[ "something else" is pretty scary to say, unsure. monsters? a scary creature? maybe... forest... tree... tree monsters? yes, that sounds like something he can handle because they'll look like a part of nature. soleum keeps calm as he tries to keep himself from thinking of the most negative outcome. ]

Anything a hybrid of what we saw in the forest before?

[ bodies, nooses... ah, what the hell is out there that she wants him to get near? he thinks he might cry... ]