[mingle] the space (april).

[fracturamods]

interim mingle

( WELCOME BACK, TRAVELERS. )

There's nothing but the clatter of train tracks, and the odd feeling of almost floating.

When you wake, it's hard to tell exactly what it is that you're missing - only that you are. There are pieces that aren't quite right, even if you're not sure where those pieces would normally be. Pieces of what, exactly....? Well, if you had to put a word to it, it would be - yourself, probably. Or did you get something back recently? In addition, characters will find that they've been allowed to bring back souvenirs from this most recent trip - trinkets, nothing violent, but items that can fit in your character's pockets, whether that be sentimental or otherwise.

The place you've found yourself in is strange, certainly. It's probably worth exploring a bit. For those who have been here a while, they might notice some expansions. Though it just as easily seems that the only form of welcome or explanation that you have, comes from nothing more than a slab of marble.

It might've changed since the last time you saw it. Today it reads:

(*´ω｀)o That wasn't so bad, was it?
Hey, you know how that old song goes?
Do you believe in magic? (☆▽☆) Do ya?

Hope you found what you were looking for!

You might have changed since the last time you saw yourself too - perhaps with a new emblem on your clothes, or a portrait on your skin. In addition to that, it seems like Home Base is on the fritz again…?

It seems that suddenly and at random, characters will be able to suddenly see visions of memories that aren't their own flash before their eyes. Pieces of your lives or where you were before this will suddenly slam into other's heads, as clearly as if they experienced the event and the feelings themselves. You might have an inkling of where your memory went and what it was - but you'll need to talk it out with that person in order to recollect it in all its strength back to yourself. Don't you want to keep those precious parts of yourself? It's best if you don't fall more to pieces while you're here. (Memories that have been lost in fragments cannot be sent to others - that's more fun for the future!)

There's no need to fret that much though. You've already gone through the ordeal once, and you might be able to see results from it. Or maybe you'll get a glimpse of where you're going next. Even so, it's best that you don't get too comfortable, because there is still the unshakeable feeling:

There's still much more ahead of you.

Comments

[givethemhell]

[rip in rest Beau and her preemptive bad luck... MEANWHILE HE JUST LAUGHS. It's not a cruel or mocking laugh, at least, even if it is also probably not a Normal Human Reaction. Sometimes you just gotta laugh at everyone's collective legendarily terrible timing and luck!]

Haha, poor fortune then, showing up to another place dealing with missing bits of soul right after that! I do think we all share that in common.

[THEY'RE ALL ESCAPED CHILDREN OF MISFORTUNE. Can't catch them universe.]

Quite a delay tactic there, too. Good that it managed to work out in the end - cranky buildings tend to cause a lot of trouble when left unchecked. [HE'D KNOW.] Well! You'll have a little bit of time to gain your bearings here before we're off to the next place. No way to predict if you'll adapt to it or not - that is, whether or not you'll keep your memories - but it's good to plan like you will just in case.

[disreguarded]

[ he mentions cranky buildings and that, of all things, gets her attention. she visibly starts at the mention, watching him. which is good because she was sort of scowling at him laughing. wow, rude. ]

Yeah, fucking poor fortune indeed. [ a beat. ] Hey, I didn't ask before. What's your name?

[givethemhell]

[SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA LAUGH!! But oh yeah right, introductions, that's a thing huh. He grins, offering a little jaunty wave.]

It's Wei Wuxian! [No birth name because what is the POINT.] More or less good to meet you, barring the state of- [GESTURES VAGUELY.] -the place you came from and the place we may be going to next, hah. And you?

[disreguarded]

[ OH THAT SURE IS A NAME SHE KNOWS. ]

-- Holy shit! It's you! [ which is - probably not a reaction wei wuxian is unaccustomed to, hilariously enough. hold on, she'll get to her name in a second. ] You're Nie Huaisang's friend!

[givethemhell]

[Yeah that sure is a familiar reaction EVEN THOUGH IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE HE'S HEARD IT...

--But the rest of that sure is a surprise?! Both brows shoot up and, after a beat:]

That's me, yes! Hello! He was there with you? [UNLESS SHE GOT INTO MORE SHIT THAN SHE'S ALREADY SAID who knows man life is wild, people just fly between dimensions apparently.]

[disreguarded]

Yeah - yeah, he was. I covered for him. [ ah. she looks - momentarily sad. ] I was supposed to...

[ a beat. ] Jin Ling, too, do you know him? Both of them were there. They're not here?

[givethemhell]

[DON'T JUST TRAIL OFF. He's done a good job at curbing his endless flood of questions, but that, he can't help but address.]

You were supposed to...?

[There's a shift in his expression at the mention of Jin Ling, though. Nie Huaisang is capable despite his goofyass exterior, but Jin Ling-- With Jin Ling, it's different. THAT'S HIS NEPHEW!! JIN LING!!! YOU FUCK! STOP GETTING INTO TROUBLE!!]

—I do. Was he alright? Jin Ling? And Nie Huaisang - you were watching after him? [He's less worried about NHS but still... As for the question, he shakes his head.] No - neither of them have shown up here, but a few other people that I know have. They were the only two there?

[disreguarded]

[ SHE'S SAD ABOUT IT god you can't just ask her - but she answers, so it's fine. ]

Jin Ling's fine. I made sure that A-Sa... [ HM. maybe she doesn't want to just jump right into that nickname?? ] ... Sang didn't get voted for execution because he killed someone in self defense. [ so much happened in the mansion ] Just those two. They're both fine, they're alive. I was supposed to go back with them.

[givethemhell]

[She's truly too kind BUT THAT'S - that's good. Better than the worst case scenario, which is usually what they deal with in this house! Still, it riles him to know Jin Ling had just been OUT THERE SUFFERING with him none the wiser... It's not like the possibility had never occurred to him once, after learning about different worlds and times and universes, but he sure doesn't like having a concrete example.

There's a beat - then a little neutral hum.]

It's good that they had people like you to rely on, then. [People willing to cover for them, god. That mansion really does sound like a lot??

Then, with a note of mild apology:] Mm, well - the plans may have been delayed by a bit, but we'll work on speeding that up where we can. Good to know we have the same destination, at least!

[disreguarded]

Guess so. [ she sighs, flopping back against the counter. ]

Wonder if we'll actually end up in the same world. [ she glances at him. ] I wonder if they made it back alright. I was supposed to be able to contact them with this, [ she indicates the necklace around her neck ] but it doesn't work.

[ and because it's always dunking on jingle lingle hours ] Jin Ling found himself a girlfriend, you know.

[givethemhell]

[He'll get back to that necklace soon enough BOY WILL HE, because that's the exact kind of shit he's interested in, but first and foremost and most importantly--]

—He WHAT?! [WHAT THE FUCK.] He went to a house that was trying to kill him and came out of it with a girlfriend—!? He doesn't even know how to make friends! How did that happen!? Who is she - what's her name?

[JIN LING! AGAIN, WHAT THE FUCK.]

[disreguarded]

[ beau fucking cackles because yeah. appropriate response. ]

Her name's Anya and she's fucking amazing. [ beau hums. ] He also still doesn't know how to make friends. I guess - technically they were just dating, right? Like they're trying it out. It's all her, she's the driving force because Jin Ling is fucking useless at personal relationships.

[ sniff. ] Anyway. I like him fine, he's just prickly.

[givethemhell]

[HE JUST SLAPS A HAND OVER HIS FACE and heaves out a dramatic sigh oh my god. JIN LING!!]

He really does take after his father, if that's the case! His poor, wonderful mother had to do everything herself because he only knew how to be a peacock. [Fuckin Jin Zixuan he'll never forgive you for passing on your peacock genes YOU FOOL. Why couldn't Jin Ling have inherited any of his superior mother's superior genes?? Damn.

But as rude as he is to Jin Ling, it does still warm his little demon heart to hear that he's liked.]

Prickly is one word for it. That boy... But good, that's good! My heart can rest easy knowing he managed to find people who know how to tolerate a little rough edge or two.

[disreguarded]

[ if only wei wuxian knew how much beau yelled at jin ling over the course of a month, god

also, she bursts into laughter at peacock. ah. ]

Makes a lot of sense. We had a week where we gained animal parts? And he had a big peacock tail. That's fucking funny that you said that. [ beau explains, grinning a bit. ] But - yeah. I get it. He had his reasons, even if those reasons didn't stop me from wanting to kick his ass.

You knew his parents? [ she sounds sympathetic here. ]

[givethemhell]

[This is why she got assigned JC kin.

FAIR MOOD THOUGH HONESTLY and he also laughs because FIRST OF ALL gaining animal parts somehow ain't the weirdest thing he's heard of, and second, a peacock really does fit. Unfortunate... Truly the little mistress struggles.]

Ah, I wish I'd been there to see that! You don't happen to have any pictures, do you? [TRAGEDIES IF SHE DOESN'T... But he's also glad to hear that, since in his opinion, it strikes a good balance between being understanding of why Jin Ling turned out as he did without wanting to coddle him about it. 10/10 he already loves Beau and he still doesn't even know her name.

His expression softens a little at the question that follows. HM. ...If Jiang Cheng weren't here, he might just say "yes" and leave it at that, honestly. But if their paths cross, he has no doubt the things he'd try to keep tucked away would end up spilling out sooner or later. So:]

I did. Never got along with his father well, but his mother was my shijie - like an older sister.

[He definitely speaks with the tenderness of an overly-fond little brother.]

[disreguarded]

[ UNFORTUNATELY she doesn't have pictures and it's the saddest thing ever. she shakes her head at his question, giving him an apologetic look. but she does listen to the rest - she knows jin ling's parents are a big part of the reason why he is the way he is, and having that context, she thinks, will help her later.

she is going to be seeing a lot of him eventually, after all. ]

Ahh, sister, huh. They sounded like good people, by what I... saw? Heard. Both. [ beau says, nodding. ] So you're basically Jin Ling's uncle. Well, one of them.

[ and she scowls, because jiang cheng. ] I think I - vaguely heard about you from Jin Ling. I heard more from A-Sang. He had nothing but good things to say about you, for the most part.

[ in her opinion, anyway. getting into trouble is a good thing in beau's book. i also do love that she hasn't introduced herself in return yet this is stupid ]

[givethemhell]

[Jin Ling as a peacock will just have to live on in his imagination then, which to be fair is just as hilarious...

That "saw, heard, both" would probably be more concerning if they weren't in the middle of memswap hell themselves BUT FOR NOW, he just nods - nods, because of course his shijie is a good person. The best! And if Jin Ling was the one talking, then surely he'd have good words for his father, too. EVEN IF HE WAS A SHIT.]

Mm, I am. He does have quite a few of us! [HE JUST ASSUMES SHE'S SCOWLING ABOUT JIN GUANGYAO THIS IS STUPID. The thought of Nie Huaisang having good things to say about him earns her a little huff of a laugh, too.] Did he, now? We were close for a while. He was always one of the first to volunteer whenever I needed a partner in crime.

[Like breaking in and out of the Cloud Recesses with booze or replacing Lan Wangji's poetry with porn... Squad.]

[disreguarded]

[ beau grins a bit. ]

Really? That's fucking hilarious. [ nhs mentioned some stuff, but. ] I actually met A-Sang because I was reading some of the really fucking obnoxious erotica in the library and we like, discussed how stupid it was. So maybe that's not super surprising, that he had a wild streak.

He said you snuck in booze a lot. Which like, respect.

[givethemhell]

[THAT SURE SOUNDS LIKE NIE HUAISANG. He laughs, shaking his head.]

His taste in erotica has always been refined. I'm not surprised he had a word or two to say about something not up to his standards.

[The only fuckin non-gremlin among them was Jiang Cheng and even he got dragged into their shit CONSTANTLY... Anyway, with a conspiratorial grin:]

I did, as often as I could! Living in the Cloud Recesses was like living on house arrest if you were sick at the same time. Thousands of rules, the blandest food you could possibly imagine - if I didn't sneak in what little I was able to get through, we would have died a long time ago!

[disreguarded]

Ugh. Sounds like the Cobalt Soul. I think I mentioned that to him too.

[ blHEHHH. ] Bland food, huh? What kind of food do you prefer, then? Maybe we can make it, I'm fucking starving.

[givethemhell]

To think there are more places like that out there...! It's almost a crime.

[DRAMATICALLY PLACES A HAND TO HIS CHEST like he's a Victorian maiden about to keel over from the vapors.

But oh does his expression ever brighten up at that. What kind of food do you prefer, she says!! He holds up his fingers, counting off each as he goes.]

Meat, salt, spice! The heavier and stronger the flavor, the better! [Everything Gusu Lan's diet is tragically, tragically lacking in. He gestures vaguely after that, already turning to head toward the door.] Lucky enough, we just got a bigger kitchen in. I'm sure we've got the ingredients for a good curry or stew in there!

[disreguarded]

[ okay, she seems what nhs meant about how this guy is over the top. beau loves it, though, grinning a little, finally. ]

Yeah? So why aren't we fucking making curry like, right now? [ he looks like he wants to, so she jumps down to follow him to the door to the kitchen. ]

[givethemhell]

[THAT'S WHAT HE'S HERE FOR to distract people from their bad days with his stupid over the top nature and also spicy curry.]

Ah, you're going to have to do me a favor first, though!

[Which presumably doesn't have to do with helping him cook, since as soon as they get to the kitchen, he just starts rummaging around in the fridge to pile ingredients onto the shared counterspace.]

[disreguarded]

[ she squints, leaning against the counter. ]

Yeah? It depends on what it is.

[givethemhell]

If you could be so kind as to give me a name to call you by...?

[PLEASE BEAU YOUR INTRODUCTION!!!]