week zero: mingle

[cyclists]

Week Zero
32 in Competition

On Monday morning, the sun rises on the sleepy village, and when the first ray of light touches the gates at each corner of the village, the previously tightly sealed doors open.

The barriers around the village fall, and leave it entirely open. Each cardinal direction will have a path exiting the village, taking the curious explorers who follow it on an adventure to new territories to be explored. They’ll find that each location that they arrive in appears to be associated with one of the elements. As the Signs had explained the day before, each of the participants in the game possesses an elemental assignment, whether they are aware of it or not.

When they approach the elemental areas, they’ll find themselves more in tune with their new powerset, as if the location invites them to take them out for a spin. The new areas appear to be perfect for training and learning how to use the new skills, or maybe if you’re curious you can discover which of those listed powers you’ve been granted.

Just try not to hurt yourself while you’re out there.

In addition, it seems now that more pieces of the core are being revealed, the river that runs through the village will begin to be dotted with small lanterns floating on the water. Some of them seem to be holding small notes. Try as you might to grab one, they’ll always just barely float out of reach.

Perhaps try sending one yourself and see what results you might get?

Occasionally in the village, you might hear the sound of drums and flutes - is that festival music? - though no matter how you search, you can’t find the source… yet.



Welcome to your tutorial week mingle log! Please see all the links within the log to check out the new updates. In addition, your status page has been updated. In case you missed it, please report all item theft to this top-level where all comments are screened. Private conversations are also open and should be reported under the Week 0 top-level.

A mini-event will also be posted on Wednesday, June 5th, so please keep an eye out for that!

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Comments

[compendiem]

...Could I request a third pair for the horse? In a light grey?

[twinsightful]

[There are many regrets.]

Cat ears for a horse. Doesn't that seem kind of tacky?

[compendiem]

No.

[ Kaoru has every opportunity to veto this idea of Minato's but does he? ]

I'm sure you'll be able to make it look nice. I can sew a bit too, so I can help. Wouldn't know where to start, though.

[twinsightful]

[No because it also sounds hilarious, frankly.]

...start with a sturdy fabric. You'll want something a bit stiff so the ear formation sticks. [He's actually taking this serious now.] Plus something that won't irritate your own ears for the headband.

[compendiem]

[ Alright. Minato turns to see what sort of fabric they have on hand to work with. Preferably something soft, but stiff enough to hold its shape like Kaoru says, along with a hard but malleable material to use for the band-- it shouldn't be too tight, or one would get a headache wearing it. He doesn't want to subject Swift Wind to that. ]

Let's see... Would this work?

[ He holds up a pair of scratchy black jeans. ]

[twinsightful]

[He's sitting up a little taller to get a closer look.] It should be malleable enough. Grab a pair of scissors, too.

[compendiem]

[ Minato can take direction well, and he's spent enough time in the club room to know what other sorts of materials he'll need. Scissors, thread in the same color to match the fabric, two thimbles (...both are for himself, one for each hand), and a measuring stick. ]

[twinsightful]

[Minato...but Kaoru seems pleased enough and clears some of his workspace to allow them to make headbands. Should they be doing something more productive? Yes, but why?]

Do you happen to know the measurements for your scalp?

[compendiem]

No. But I could find out.

[ Easy- take a length of thread and wrap it around his head, then measure that with the ruler he has in hand. The exact measurements are what he gives Kaoru, to adjust longer depending on how much extra material he thinks it'll require to cover the entire band. ]

Dunno about the other two, though. Could just make it open in the back so it can be [ sorry ] one size fits all.

[ IT'S NOT A COMMONER THING, IT'S JUST CONVENIENT ]

[twinsightful]

[It saves him time and work when Minato measures his own head and he writes down the numbers while he starts figuring out a length of fabric.]

With a button or a hook closure that should work. [...wait.] Okay, one of the headbands is for you and one's for the horse, but the third doesn't have measurements either? [Who are they making these things for???]

[compendiem]

...Yeah.

[ He does not answer the implied question, because Kaoru doesn't ask it specifically enough. Instead, he busies himself digging through a box of spare buttons to find ones that match the colors they'd chosen- black, orange, grey- and also covered in fabric for comfort. ]

[twinsightful]

[Well. It's not his business so he's going to busy himself with actually doing busywork. Cutting fabric, threading needles, etc.]

We usually don't make things like this. [An explanation of nothing.] Accessories aren't our specialty, but they aren't hard to make either.

[compendiem]

[ It's the sort of conversation that makes it easy for Minato, ready prompts for him to pitch questions with answers Kaoru was going to talk about anyways, and Minato appreciates that, making the conversation easy on his part. Ask a question, let Kaoru talk the rest of the time, focus on the task at hand, watching what Kaoru does first and then copying it himself, step by step. ]

Are you... part of a school club that does this stuff? Just had a new fashion club start up at my school, so I was learning.

[twinsightful]

[Likewise, he's actually used to leading conversations like this since it's just like host work. Every now and then his eyes drift to the left as if expecting someone to materialize there but it's short, fleeting glances. It's easy enough to form cat ears and cut shapes and the like. Minato can probably follow along and Kaoru's steadily working. On the other hand there's a slight grin at the idea of being part of a club that knows how to sew. The idea of Tamaki with a needle is actually a nightmare.]

Nothing like that. My mom's a designer. She has her own line and everything, so we started learning from her. [Mostly because art was something that kept them busy even if they didn't necessarily like it at first.]

[compendiem]

[ Tamaki with a needle and lots of blood and tears... it's good that it's Kaoru here, and not Tamaki. ]

A friend or a sibling?

[ Kaoru's "we" sounds almost instinctive, without thought, like it's always "we" and never "me." ]

[twinsightful]

[It's second nature, yeah. He doesn't seem to realize it much.]

Sibling. My brother.

[compendiem]

Hm... Growing up with a sibling must be nice. [ It's never lonely, you have somebody to help you or somebody to help. He thinks it would have been nice if he weren't left alone, after his parents' accident. ]

[twinsightful]

[Ah yes, I was waiting for this. Not Kaoru, me. Kaoru doesn't know what Minato's thinking, but there's a slight grin. Growing up with a sibling...well, he picks up the implication that Minato's an only child.]

Our parents were always busy when we were growing up, and the maids and the nannies weren't any fun. So we only had each other.

[And it warped into a huge problem that they're still trying to figure out but he won't say that.] This is the longest we've been apart.

[compendiem]

It's been just a few days.

[ Less than half a week. He wants to ask if Kaoru misses his brother, but that answer seems like a given, and he can't tell if talking more about it will just poke at the wound or not. Family not being here is hard.

Instead, he picks up his WIP headband. ]

We'll get you back. These will be integral in the plan as well.

[twinsightful]

[He doesn't even reply to that. On the other hand, he does look a little embarrassed. Yes, it's been just a few days. On the other hand, it's a few days too many. His focus is on the headbands again.]

You really have a plan for these?

[compendiem]

Yes.

[ He does not elaborate. ]

[twinsightful]

[...Card please tell me what this plan is because I'm crying. Kaoru, on the other hand, decides this still isn't his business.]

Okay. Do you think your plan's going to work?

[The headband looks more cat-earred-shape now...]

[compendiem]

[ laughs... one of the headbands is for Akane because she and Minato talked about them, and the other for Swift Wind may or may not be in combination with the several attempts at apple collecting to curry the horse's favor because Swift Wind can fly and surely that must be the key for escape.

As a backup plan, maybe Lune and/or Sol and/or the Universe (who Minato isn't entirely convinced isn't actually sentient or physically there) will notice the headbands and be jealous of them, and they'll be able to exchange the bands for freedom.

That's the plan. Maybe not a good plan, but a plan. All in all, Minato's answer is confident, and immediate: ]

Absolutely.

[twinsightful]

[I'm going to die. Minato is too much, and maybe it's a good thing Kaoru doesn't know shit. Instead, he's actually finishing up the first headband. Wow.]

Then you're doing better than I thought you would.

[compendiem]

[ This is what happens when there's nobody around to tell Minato what to do, and nobody to probe his brain more and get him to stop what he's doing. ]

Low expectations, huh? Better keep them down there, for now.