DECEMBER 2020 EVENT - PART 2

[robbies]

CHAPTER ONE, PART 2: AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE

A creature was stirring.

As Christmas grows closer, look up to the skies
Your city is in for a winter surprise
Come enter the village and see all the change
And come face-to-face with the hostile and strange
From iced-over ponds to the workshop's display
There's snowmen and reindeer to complete the holiday
And just when you think that you're safe and you're sound
You open your door and see what's to be found....

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LET IT SNOW
(cw: sensations of drowning)

JINGLE BELLS
(cw: mind control)

UP ON THE HOUSETOP
(cw: death and decay, claustrophobia)

RUN, RUDOLPH, RUN
(cw: animal death and dismemberment, violence, death and decay, non-human cannibalism)

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

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LET IT SNOW

CW: sensations of drowning

As the gala winds down and you leave town hall to head home, there’s a bite in the air, chillier than it was when you went in earlier that day. The night sky is blanketed by clouds, which only grow heavier as night wears on. By midnight, the first few flakes of snow have begun to fall… and fall, and fall. As night becomes day and the snow keeps coming down heavier than ever, it becomes clear that Santa Rosita is experiencing an unusual snowstorm—maybe the town will get that white Christmas after all! But as the day passes, the storm shows no sign of stopping… in fact, it’s only getting worse.

Over the next week and a half, a blizzard beats down upon the town. Its effects seem to vary by the hour: Though the snow never quite stops, there are times when it falls soft and fluffy, and there are times when it falls so heavily and the wind blows so fiercely that it’s impossible to see more than a few inches ahead of you. You’re welcome to pay visits to your neighbors, of course; they might need help digging out their sidewalks or hauling cords of firewood inside—especially when the electricity goes out. Hopefully you’re not caught out and about when the weather takes a turn for the worse again!

Even inside your houses, you aren’t safe from the blizzard. The first time you open your door on December 16th, feeling the blast of cold air coming from it, you think you know what’s coming. After all, you’ve certainly had enough experience with being sent to the Christmas village in the first half of the month! You sigh, resigning yourself to the long walk home… but as you pass through the door, everything changes in a way it didn’t before. Your brain doesn’t know which way is up as you find yourself underwater, breath expelling in a rush of bubbles as the shocking cold penetrates your body. Somehow you’ve come through the door and ended up beneath the lake’s surface—but the layer of ice above you has thinned and can be easily broken through to regain your feet and drag yourself out of the water to shore.

But you’d better be quick. Take too long and you might feel something grabbing at your heels, trying to pull you back underwater and further into the lake.

Here in the village, the conditions are always bad. Visibility is poor between the wind and the snow, heavy and cold and wet, and you’re soaked to the skin from your recent plunge. Thankfully, there are towels in the small building that was once the skate exchange station, and there are plenty of now-abandoned buildings around the village where you can hunker down and try to warm up before heading home. Maybe it would be a good idea to leave a spare change of clothes behind...

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JINGLE BELLS

CW: mind control

If ending up in the village is bad in the middle of the day, it's even worse at night.

Beyond the freezing winds and the ice you're liable to lose your footing as you pull yourself out of the lake, it's dark as can be out here. Don’t bother looking for a Christmas star to guide you home; out here and this close to the forests, the stars and moon are blotted out by thick clouds and the snow that falls in clumps. Unfortunately, as experience has taught you by now, this is a one-way trip and the only way out is forward.

Of course, this is easier said than done. With its empty buildings and desolate pathways, the Christmas village is a husk of its former self. The cute cobblestone thoroughfares and craft stations that were filled with screaming children only a few days ago are barren and frozen over, as if left to rot in the cold. The other little faux gingerbread and peppermint stick houses aren't much better. At some point on the first day of the blizzard, the power was knocked out, plunging the village into a blackout you now have to navigate if you want to get home. All of the windows are crusted with ice, dark and empty.

Save for one.

As you walk by one particular building, a faint yellow and red glow begins to glimmer from the storefront. One by one, the tiny cottages in the miniature village diorama begin to flicker to life, gears clicking as the mechanisms start powering up. On a miniature turntable hidden behind the display, a needle drops onto a record and a tinny version of Jingle Bells begins to play. A tiny train chugs around the tracks surrounding the diorama and a wax figure of Mrs. Claus in her chair with her candy cane knitting needles rocks back and forth, and it occurs to you just what you're looking at: Santa's Workshop. There can be no mistaking it. Even in the middle of the night, you know exactly where you are.

Don't you?

The light grows, illuminating the entire storefront and spilling out onto the street. You can see everything now. The little elf figure hammering at his workbench, the one next to him sawing at a board of wood, the two balancing on a seesaw as the toy train circles beneath them. Once you take notice of it, it's impossible to look away. The light pulls you in, glowing brighter yet turning darker. Slowly, it turns from angelic, warm gold to blood red.

As strange as this is, this is the best you've felt all week. A tipsy smile at your lips, you watch the light shift into a pretty shade of red as the snow continues to fall around you. In an abstract way, you know this isn't really where you're supposed to be, but it feels so good anyway. Your home (and not your home in Shadyside, your real home), all the bad stuff that worries you and stresses you out—it all dissolves into sugar.

Dreamily, you stare off into space as the song inside the store begins to warp and deepen. Gosh, you can't remember the last time you've felt this nice. You can't remember much of anything at all, like what you were doing earlier today or how you got here to begin with.

But you do know that it's Christmas. And if there's one place everyone should celebrate Christmas in, it's Santa Rosita. Your home.

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UP ON THE HOUSETOP

CW: death and decay, claustrophobia

It's true what they say about wintertime being the cruelest time. Even in Santa Rosita, that sentiment holds true in spite of the otherwise celebratory and comfy atmosphere throughout town. For every sweet smell trickling out of your and your neighbors' houses, a sharp and cold burst of wind follows. The weather is mostly manageable during the daytime hours, but at night it's a different story. The wind can be ferocious, whistling through the naked trees with enough force to send them swaying. If the cold doesn't keep you awake, the sound of branches tapping against your windows will.

When you wake up in the morning, you'll find a new friend waiting for you outside. Sitting in the front of your yard, positioned between the mailbox and the driveway, is a snowman. Its fingers are thin and twiggy, and the branches they're connected to are arched and spread like wings stripped to the bone. Compared to all the other snowmen you've likely passed by throughout Shadyside, there's nothing particularly unique about it, save for its lumpy build and featureless face.

The snowman is still there by the time you return from school or class. This time, however, it's invited another friend: another identical snowman, this one in a different spot in the yard.

So it goes for the next several days. Every time you enter your house or go to sleep, a new snowman is waiting for you in your yard. Their placement has no rhyme or reason: sometimes you'll find one in the back of the yard, other times in a corner off to the side. Sometimes they'll be spread out. Other times—usually when you turn around or go back inside the house—they'll be clustered together in a group, facing the front window.

Eventually, there gets to be so many of them that it becomes difficult to leave the house. Inevitably, whether it be blocking your car, the driveway, or even your front door, you'll wind up dismantling one sooner or later. And when you do, you'll find more than just snow spilling out onto your feet.

Staring back at you, whether from behind the layers of snow you've knocked off the head or up from the ground, is a Robbie, still dressed in their red and green elf uniform from the Christmas village. His—or her—glassy eyes are fixed in a thousand yard stare, mouth stretched in a grinning rictus on their blue face. Within each snowman is a similar one, all of them dressed the same, all of them very much dead, all of them smiling the same mindless smiles they had when they were alive.

With any luck, you’ll wind up taking the snowmen apart by hand instead of finding out the hard way by running one over with your car.

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RUN, RUDOLPH, RUN

CW: animal death and dismemberment, violence, death and decay, non-human cannibalism

Red and white is just as lovely a Christmas combination of colors as red and green, don’t you think? White snow and red pools spread all throughout the little village. Starting on December 16th, you might be first to notice some—or perhaps you’re the unlucky one that falls against a snowbank only to discover, once you put your hands down, that the fresh fallen snow is covering something. Something wet and meaty.

Another shows up the next day. And the next. And there’s not always enough snow to fully cover the carcasses that litter the village and its outskirts. Clustered by the reindeer racing courses children clapped and cheered for are what's left of the reindeer. They've been hunted, but not with knives or bows or guns. Chunks of flesh have been ripped off their bones and ribs are cracked where massive force has been applied, eyes white and milky—if they haven’t been plucked out. Some of the beasts are still alive and huddling in their stables, balking when the doors are open or bolting, as fast as their long strides can take them, out toward the Old Growth. Careful you don’t get in their way!

By the 18th, none of the reindeer are alive inside the stables. There aren’t enough corpses to account for the whole herd you’d seen before (bored and spoiled, wreaths around their necks). But if you follow the sounds of crunching, the wet and sticky humidity of breath, and the smell that rises up and above the dung and rot of desiccated corpses—

There, hunched over a kill, is a thing with just as many bones visible as mangy flesh upon its back. And when its head turns round, there are fangs in its mouth and claws on five-fingered paws, and both are stained deep scarlet—there are antlers bleached as white as snow—and its red eyes are socket-deep, dilated, and suddenly fixed on you.

Let’s hope you can run on ice and snow!

The creatures are looking for more food now that the reindeer have all been hunted down. Lingering in the village, slow and sluggish on all fours unless they rise to two broad feet and sniff the air, they are massive beasts. Not men, not deer, not Christmas cheer, that’s for darn sure. Unless a human happens by, they will stay in their place—the village, far from town square and blizzard-covered Main Street. If they catch sight of someone, they will pursue them with surprising speed to the ends of the earth-—or at least right up to your front door or until you manage to lose them. They’ll search long and hard, sniffing with their skeletal snouts on hand and far-too-human knee, before giving up and heading back toward their village home. Unless someone else crosses paths with them, that is.

The lights on homes and fires burning in hearths seem to deter them... unlike silver, salt, or sharpened knives (unless they are made of iron or steel), which just bring the deer rearing up onto their back legs to tower up and over you, antlers blotting out the wintry sun, ribs bulging beneath their thin and ripping skin. The cold doesn’t bother them despite their hunger—aren’t reindeer native to the arctic? Perhaps that explains why ice has no effect and they appear from the blizzard as if it was as harmless as a hearty breeze. All the speech you ever can hear is the hunting cry they make—the full body bellow of a thing in pain and rage and determined to survive at your expense.

Unless you can outrun them.

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HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

At midnight, December 25th, everything stops.

Peek out your window and there is only peaceful, picture-perfect snow. No blizzards and no blackouts. No stalking deer, no bodies and no snowmen, save the ones that the Anderson children put up on Midwich Street. The Christmas village is gone—no teleporting doors, no lights, no reindeer (at least that you can see or find)—as if it had never been there at all. Only lightly falling snow and cars in the driveway, families at home just as they ought to be—eating cookies, drinking milk, opening the presents spilling out from under the tree. Santa has been generous this year!

And don’t think he’s forgotten you, either!

For those of you who wrote Santa a letter, a box will be waiting on your front doorstep. Try as you might, you can’t find any footprints in the snow, and you certainly didn’t hear any knock on the door or ringing of the bell. It’s addressed specifically for you, along with a little note written in someone’s (very best attempt at) cursive:

I’m sorry if you got hurt
Please don’t be mad
Merry Christmas

P.S. I tried my best to get you what you asked for

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OOC INFO

Happy holidays and welcome to part two of our December event! As always, feel free to top-level for this event, tag around, or utilize our network and log communities for your snowy-spooky posts.

As with part one of the event, mod-controlled NPCs will not be available for this event. You are, however, free to use the Santa Rosita Police Department and Robbies as player-controlled NPCs if you feel they are appropriate for your threads. Need more information? Direct your attention over to our NPC page for the most up-to-date info on your fellow townspeople.

Regular teleporting to the village still happens; the lake is now just an added destination. If you still would like your character to appear in the village but wish to avoid the lake prompt, doors still will randomly teleport you to the village as they did in the first half of the month. Each prompt with peril only can result in death to your character if that is how you would prefer the thread to go. Remember: just because a monster is chasing you or you teleport into the lake doesn’t mean there isn’t a place around for them to hide and get warm! For this event we don’t want people to feel forced to kill their characters. Consider built-in survival options as a gift from mods to players this time... except for the monster in the lake.

Well, we wouldn't say monster, but you didn't think you were the only ones in town with a home, did you?

Whatever's living in the lake can be staggered and caught off-guard, so fighting back against it if it catches you is possible—possible, but not a good idea. You'll never get a thorough enough look to even know what it is you're fighting.

Characters who end up getting caught by it will only have one chance to fight it off long enough to escape and swim to safety. While you can technically stick around in the lake and attempt to search, you do so at your own peril. Staying for any longer than you have to or trying to seek whatever-it-is out will be a death sentence for your character. Please remember to report all deaths and crimes that would be worthy of Tranquilization on their appropriate page here.

Any questions can go in our FAQ thread below. Try to check and see if your question has already been answered on the plotting thread first here.

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Comments

FAQ

[robbies]

Have a question about the event or any of the prompts we've listed? Throw us a line here. Make sure you check the FAQ on the plotting post to see if your question has already been answered.

[prodigalhairess]

So. The monster in the lake! For the characters who can feel it grabbing onto them, are we talking claws or tentacles, or.... something else?

Also is it easy enough to fight it off if it grabs you or will it be a bit of a tough struggle?

[fanoperator]

Are the stores in town still open at their regular hours during the blizzard?

about those bodies in the snowmen

[spaghettimonster]

THere's bODies in the snOWMEN??!??!

But for real, sooner or later Papyrus won't stand for being trapped inside, and he'll try shoving a couple out of the way, likely toppling them over. When he discovers the bodies within, he's going to panic and call for help - and who better than the police?

What sort of response will he get for this phone call (or in-person visit if the phone lines are down) about discovering dead bodies in snowmen in his yard? Will they laugh off his over-active imagination and disbelieve the story? Come to investigate, and perceive something very different than he's seeing? See it and promise to "investigate"? See it and arrest the poor skeleton...?

[thepsyingnun]

Monster in the lake!

If a character sets up shop in the village (shortly before becoming Robbied) with binoculars to see if they can catch a glimpse of the creature trying to eat people fleeing the lake, can she see anything? Very much willing for her to not be able to tell anyone what she saw until after New Years due to subsequent mind control, if that matters at all.

To add on! Will the mind controlled characters react at all to any frozen corpses in their yard? Just to get a general idea of what other characters may report their behavior as being during the weeks.

[undiagnosed]

do the frozen robbies have anything that indicates they died a different way before they were shoved into the snowmen or was it just freezing? also if the bodies were disturbed in a way to draw blood would that be enough for any authority (cops/coroner ect) to take it seriously or would they still just wave it off? just wondering how the, er, disposal of these... lawn decorations is gonna work!

[demonicmiracle]

are the wristwatches waterproof?

[the_caped_crusader]

what happen if batman, a man who train by kicking large trees to the ground, try to punch the skulldeer monsters with his mighty fists

PRESENTS FROM SANTA

[robbies]

TO BRUCE WAYNE

[robbies]

On Christmas Day, Bruce will find a small box sitting on his doorstep, neatly wrapped in white and red paper and topped with a sprig of holly and a tag with his name written on it.

Inside is the special thing he asked Santa for—or, well, close enough!

TO STERLING ARCHER

[robbies]

On Christmas Day, Archer will find a box sitting on his doorstep, neatly wrapped in green and white paper and topped with a sprig of pine and a tag with his name written on it.

Inside is the special thing he asked Santa for—or, well, close enough!

TO RAY GILLETTE

[robbies]

On Christmas Day, Ray will find a small box sitting on his doorstep, neatly wrapped in red and green striped paper and topped with a poinsettia flower and a tag with his name written on it.

Inside is the special thing he asked Santa for—or, well, close enough!

TO DEAN WINCHESTER

[robbies]

On Christmas Day, Dean will find a small box sitting on his doorstep, neatly wrapped in white and red paper and topped with a sprig of mistletoe and a tag with his name written on it.

Inside is a special present, wearing exactly what he’s asked Santa for: perfect miniature version of Dean's clothing

[ribticklers]

A; Get Dunked On [cw: description of near-drowning]
[Before getting stuffed into a human body, Sans didn't need to breathe. He didn't feel the cold as much as other monsters, either. Now, as cold jabs needles into his skin and he feels the wildly inappropriate urge to try and suck in air underwater, he wishes more than ever he was back in his normal skeleton body. At least, that's one of the things in his mind as his thoughts flicker and twitch from one half-formed thought to the next. He's underwater, he went through a door and now--now he's underwater, and up, which way--there's ice--his thoughts are all crumbling, turning to dust, the only thing he can think is that he's in water and needs to get out right now, echoing over and over.

Sans isn't very strong, and trapped as he is, he's not very coordinated. His first strike against the ice cracks it but doesn't break through. It feels like the inside of his chest is on fire, and he wants to breathe, but he can't--even if he wanted to, it's like his throat has locked up. This is such--such a stupid way to die. He got teleported into a lake. This is so dumb. Everything hurts.

He cracks through the ice. If something brushes against his foot as he pushes up and gasps--getting air is nearly as painful as not having it was--all his nerve endings are exploding too much for him to process that one thing over anything else. He forces his way through the ice, to the shore, with the kind of single-minded focus he can only assume is instinctual, because the rest of Sans is exhausted and aching. He collapses as soon as he's on solid ground.

He shouldn't lay here in the snow. But maybe just for a little while... He could probably use a hand.]

B; Frosty the Snowman [cw: snowman corpse]
[Sans is only leaving the house when he absolutely has to, and he's definitely not taking the time to shovel the constant snow, so he doesn't think anything of having to kick open his front door. At least it's showing the normal outside and not that fucking lake again.

He emerges to a toppled snowman and the rictus, glassy-eyed grin of the corpse that was inside it. He's left standing in front of his doorway, letting all the cold air in.]

Look, some jokes just ain't funny. [He's not really talking to anybody. He's not sure what he'd do if whoever made it was actually there.]

C; Run Rudolph Run [cw: dead/injured/scared animals]
[It's the middle of the night, and Sans is in the stupid Christmas village again. This has to be some kind of teleportation karma, and he hates it. He can hardly see in the dark and the snow--can't even see the stars like this--so it's not really a surprise when he trips over something. It's thin, so at first he thinks it's a tree branch, but as he catches himself his hand wraps around--around bone. Definitely bone. Wet bone. Unwillingly much closer to it now, Sans can just make out the corpse of the reindeer. What's eating the reindeer?

Actually, he doesn't want to know. He gets back up and ducks into the first building he reaches. The stable. He's nearly knocked over by a living reindeer as it escapes... And then he's left with a smattering of terrified living reindeer. He keeps his voice low as he addresses the crowd, pointlessly.]

You guys'd be freaking out more if there was somethin' in here killing you right now, right?

D; Wildcard
[Catch Sans climbing out of the windows of his house to avoid getting teleported, doing a food run, and otherwise trying to deal with this upsetting situation!]

A

[petsthedog]

[After the first time he got teleported into the Christmas village, he's been pretty scrupulous about not going through any doors without being fully dressed. He has, however, been lucky enough to avoid the lake. So it's legitimately coincidence that Shinji happens to walk by as Sans flops in the snow.]

Shit.

[Before he even really thinks about it, he's over there. The greaser jacket from his closet isn't nearly as warm as his old coat, but it's better than nothing--he offers it to the man wordlessly.]

What the hell happened?

Huaisang | The Untamed

[fanoperator]

Let it Snow - Lake and Hypothermia
Huaisang isn’t equipped to deal with any of this. He screams instinctively as he drops into the cold water, which only serves to fill his lungs with water and turns his struggling into a coughing fit—each cough only worsening his situation. He’s lucky only that he’s near the shore, able to get his feet under him, and his battering fists knock open the thin ice.
Coughing uncontrollably as he staggers out of the lake, Huaisang starts to shiver within moments of entering the icy air, and the sobs of self-pity start only a few seconds later. Quivering as he heads toward the empty village, he sends a few texts to the network in a plea for help before he sees another figure near the lake, hopefully someone who can help him figure out shelter and warmth together. “Help! Please help!”

Let it Snow - Huaisang’s Emergency Shelter
Though Huaisang isn’t a particularly charitable person by nature, he’s practical-minded, especially when it comes to seeking out comforts. In a case like this, he knows that it’s important to work together. If he organizes people to help, then next time he gets dropped into the lake, there will be emergency help available. Hopefully.
The blizzard’s too thick to drive in, but Huaisang has a compass that he bought at the hardware store and a good sense of direction, so he’s tromped out to the Christmas Village with blankets, matches, and a bottle of whiskey.
Anyone staggering out of the lake will see a fire burning in one of the Christmas Village houses, while beside it a short Chinese man in a fashionable winter coat smashes an oversized decorative gift box on the ground in an effort to break it apart.

Up on the Housetop
The snowfall is clearer and the sun is shining, but the snowmen around Huaisang’s house have gathered thicker and thicker. The door is blocked, so he opened the living room window and tried to bash his way through with a thermos battering ram. Upon discovering the corpse within the snowman, Huaisang begins to scream. This is too much for him to deal with, and he’s already used up vastly more than his usual stores of competence in trying to survive being teleported to the frozen lake. He’s too upset, and he’s alone in the house now that his husband has disappeared.
Anyone walking by on Carpenter Boulevard may hear high-pitched screaming and sobbing coming from the front window. The porch is clogged with corpse-filled snowmen, but the window is still open and Huaisang sits on the floor just inside, tragically hugging a large thermos while he sobs in terror.

Run Rudolph Run
As the situation in Santa Rosita became worse and worse, Huaisang became less willing to leave his home—or his living room. He stocked up on food supplies while he could, so he’s got plenty of bread, cheese, jerky, canned fruit, and cupcakes to survive on, and he’s propped open the door between living room and kitchen so that it won’t close and turn into a gate to the village.
The lights in this house stay on around the clock unless the power’s out, and he keeps a fire burning in his hearth to provide warmth and heat when the power does go out. Trapped alone, he keeps an eye on the windows, trying to stay out of sight of the creatures.
Spotting someone being chased, Huaisang pushes the front window open and waves his arm to draw attention. “Over here! Over here!”

—let it snow

[handycapable]

Ray is lucky enough not to have arrived through the lake this time -- he will, later, but this is not that moment -- so the timing is fortuitous, him catching Huaisang's last network plea right as he's about to light a cigarette.

"Oh, shit!" he says around it, held in the corner of his mouth between his teeth, taking a moment to finish lighting up before he limps off to find Huaisang. It doesn't take long at least, not in the cold, empty husk of the formerly bustling holiday attraction.

"Hey! Hi!" Ray hurries over breathlessly, as quickly as he can once he spots him. "Still need help startin' a fire?"

[handycapable]

▓███ let it snow

[ It isn't the first blizzard Ray's ever experienced, of course, although it certainly surprises him nonetheless, given that he never imagined California (even further north) even could get snowstorms. Watching the way the snow comes down weirdly makes Ray grateful that, if he had to be married to a woman again, it's someone like Ellie, who's got a similar instinct as him when it comes to practical survival skills. Ray may not have grown up in an apocalypse, but...

Anyway, not knowing what more to expect from this place, the two of them had luckily thought to stock up on a few essentials earlier in the month, food and blankets and batteries, gas cans, flashlights -- winter essentials, really, as far as Ray's concerned, because he's never not lived somewhere that didn't get cold enough to snow you in or knock out the power -- so if he happens to see anyone outside caught up in the storm from his window, Ray may well invite them in to warm up and wait until the snowfall ebbs enough for them to make it all the way to their own home. ]

▓███ jingle bells | dec 20-26th*

[ As far as the lake goes, well, it is unpleasant, but Ray can't help but be briefly thankful in the moment to have an unfeeling wooden hand strapped around his arm perfect for breaking through the ice with, although it isn't enough. The freezing water is making his body lock up, his legs entirely, disturbingly, familiarly numb, so he nearly goes under a few times before managing to drag himself out and lay on the shore like a limp pile of rags until some of the feeling returns to his extremities. He has no idea how he'll get home like this, but rather than worry about that, Ray focuses first just on getting to his feet, making his legs move even if it's with an icy stiffness that makes them feel as if they're filled with broken glass rather than bones.

It's a no-brainer that he heads right to Santa's Workshop as soon as he sees the lights are on, not knowing exactly what he'll find there (dry clothes? a warm drink? someone to give him a ride home?) but knowing he won't last like this outside for much longer. Then...

Ray feels great, actually, mind bright and pain forgotten. A lot of things forgotten, really-- even getting home from the Christmas Village feels like a blur, but not in an unpleasant way. It all worked out, after all, and anyway, it's Christmas! Who can stay upset during this time of year?

The next day or so (next few days, really) will be a bit of a blur as well, Ray making the most of his Christmas spirit. He finally gets a job down at the department store -- he needed one anyway, but also hello, money for gifts? and perhaps food for a dinner party? -- where maybe you'll see him alternating between the makeup and men's cologne counters on the days the store's able to stay open, rarely without a scarf around his neck and wearing one of several holiday sweaters, or he'll be at home decorating, baking, and gift wrapping. Are you a neighbor? Stop on by for shelter during the storm, and maybe you'll get to leave with a tupperware full of fresh Christmas cookies too. ]

( *ooc | assume the Robbification can be applied to/during any of the prompts, as appropriate; it won't be affecting Ray for the entire event, hence the listed dates, so if you have a preference for before/during/after please specify! )

▓███ merry little christmas

[ Seemingly immune to the holiday stress (not to mention stress of any other kind), on Christmas morning Ray is pleasantly surprised by his gift rather than disappointed, putting it up on a shelf like it's some bizarrely charming tchotchke, before he steps outside into the newly fallen peace and quiet, waving and saying hello to any passing neighbors (or customers, if he's at work, merrily spritzing people with Vetiver 1961) as if nothing devastating has been going on the past couple of weeks at all. ]

Good morning! Merry Christmas! [ At work, with a bright, perky Stepford smile: ] Let me tell y'all about our after-holiday sales!

[ Or, if it's after the 26th... the difference in his mood will be apparent, probably like night and day, crabby like he's nursing the world's worst hangover no matter where he is. Almost by reflex when spoken to, he's likely to snap: ]

Oh, fuck off. Do not even start with me about which one of us had a shittier Christmas.

wildcard, reindeer. cw animal corpses, references to death and suicidal ideation

[petsthedog]

[The random teleportations to the Christmas village were already old the first time they happened, but as annoying as they are, Shinjiro's all but gotten used to them by now. He's more cautious about doors, being sure to be fully dressed even when walking around in his own home, but there's no real way to be prepared for what awaits him on this particular trip over; he lands in a snowbank, and nearly trips over a butchered reindeer corpse. It's not difficult to assume a wild animal of some sort got to it, though, so despite the somewhat gruesome sight, he's not particularly concerned at first.

Except there's more. Too many of them to be a simple unfortunate result of a predator wandering into the village or a reindeer or two getting loose. Foolishly, he ends up following the trail, figuring he needs to head back that way to Shadyside anyway. It's a mistake.

The massive thing spots him, and he runs, with no weapon available to protect himself--he keeps running until he loses his footing in the snow and falls down, crawling backward only to find his back hitting a wall. So that's it, then, huh? Not exactly how he was expecting this strange suburbanite fever dream to end, but it's already gone on longer than he'd thought. There's a part of him that's never been entirely convinced this wasn't some sort of elaborate dying hallucination, and a morbid part of him thinks maybe this means he's lost enough blood that his heart is finally shutting down. It'd make sense. The thought calms him, somehow, and his shoulders ease, letting out a breath as he waits--but then he spots someone.

An older man appears in his line of vision, and to his horror he realizes he recognizes the man. The monster halts at the sound, turning its head in Ray's direction, and Shinjiro's eyes widen sharply. He yells out--]

Ray! Get out of here, run!

[But even as he says it, he remembers the man's limp from the last time they'd met, realizes there's no way Ray could outrun this thing. He has nothing to use as a weapon and he can no longer reach his Persona, which he might register as bitterly ironic if he was really particularly aware of his own thoughts in the following moments. Before he knows it, he's moved, tackling the creature to buy the other man time.]

shinjiro aragaki | persona 3 | ota

[petsthedog]

i. let it snow [cw: near drowning and reference to gun violence, death, suicidal ideation]

[When Shinjiro finds himself in the lake, he's not actually shocked, not at first. He can't breathe and his lungs burn from it, and he's so, so cold -- but it's not wrong. This is the way he remembers it, before he woke up in the house with the creepy pictures with everything all healed up. Everything burned then, too, blood spilling out like lava through the bullet wounds in his gut and back. This was how it should be.

He barely registers that he's in water rather than a dingy alleyway in Japan, and he takes the pain to assume the hallucination of this place is fading at last, and he can finally be done. He's so, so tired, and his eyes feel so heavy, and --

--Something grabs at his foot, shattering that almost peaceful sort of surrender, and it flips awake something in him, a survival instinct not yet completely smothered out as it registers for the first time he's... in a lake?? Under the ice, at that, and though he's grown weaker in the moments he failed to react, he's still close enough to the surface to thrash and struggle, and the ice around him breaks just enough to give him room to pull his head above water and breathe and he grabs out blindly for the nearest thing by which he can drag himself out. That might just so happen to be your foot, sorry about that.]

ii. baby it's cold outside [cw corpse description, emetophobia, panic attacks]

[Shinjiro doesn't have much to go outside for, exactly; with the blizzard ongoing, the nondescript cafe he'd taken a job at as a cook was closed for now, so really, he could just ignore the ever growing pile of snowmen in his backyard. This was his plan, even, but the sneaky teleportations haven't stopped, and one day he finds himself in the annoying position (yet again) of having to walk back to his house from the village.

Except ..... his lawn is so full of snowmen there that he definitely can't reach his front door. Nonetheless, he...tried, but at some point, he brushes past a snowman too brusquely for it to maintain its structural integrity, and a man comes spilling out. A man just like the one by the punch bowl from that terrifying party. He starts knocking over the other snowmen in his way intentionally, then, and finds only the same pattern repeated over and over.

Shinjiro's frozen, staring at the corpses, but his mind isn't there. He's in another time and place, staring at a woman's mangled corpse as she lies crushed and bent and broken out against the caved in roof of her own charmingly normal little house like this, gushing rivers of blood that soaks the roof tiles crimson.

Back on Carpenter Boulevard, the bodies stare up at him in thousand year rictus smiles, no trace of fear or pain in their faces and his stomach lurches unpleasantly before he doubles over and abruptly retches right there in front of his doorway, doubled over and shaking. He doesn't seem to spot your approach at all, too sucked into the horror before him and in his mind's eye.]

baby it's coooold out siiiide

[undiagnosed]

HEY! [seeing as they live next door to each other, shinji might hear a familiar voice coming out the upper window of the nearby house.] Can you have your goddamn mental breakdown quieter?! Some of us are trying to--

[then he sees the body and...]

Ew! Jesus, Jeffrey Dahmer! Don't leave your frickin' bodies all over the front yard!

[thevalley]

i. Let It Snow

(cw: near drowning)

[There's the sensation of falling and Ellie tries to reach out and steady herself but grasps only air. Then suddenly she's under frigid water and she can't tell which way is up. Thankfully, the light of the moon is just enough for her to orient herself and surface... up against ice.

Fuck. This is like being caught under the waves of the ocean outside of the aquarium...

She beats at it with a furious fist, beating until it's bruised and bloody until finally, as her vision starts to turn red, she breaks through to the surface.

Coughing and shaking, she crawls to the shore, vaguely taking in the remnants of what was the vibrant Christmas village. Fuck. It's cold. She'll die out here.

They'll die out here as her eyes move towards someone else who suffered the same miserable fate.]

Come on. We... we need to get warm. Start a fire.

[There's got to be something around here that would help with that.]

ii. Up on the Housetop

(cw: claustrophobia, molotovs, burns, ptsd, emetophobia)

[Fuck this.

It doesn't even snow this much in Jackson. So how the hell is it snowing like this here in California? Admittedly, fucked up hellscape California but still.

Ellie can't deal with being trapped. It makes her twitchy. She paces the house, picks at her nails, eats and sleeps less than usual. It's torture. And day by day, hour by hour, the snowmen start to appear. At first she ignores it, like it's a stupid prank. Then eventually, it's moved from stupid to deeply uncomfortable.

She can't take it anymore. Using one of her many molotovs that she's created over the past few weeks like a mad inventor, she lights it and then tosses it out into the crowd of snowmen in front of her door in an explosion of light.

No big deal, just like lighting up a bunch of clickers.

Then there's the smell of burning flesh and the as the flames die down, a pile of burnt Robbies in her front yard, still smiling like they never even felt pain or fear.]

Fuck! Oh god.

[Oh. God. Fuck. She didn't think they were people. But the Robbies don't seem to be people. They were people... Just like that woman in the aquarium... She had been...

Ellie turns and vomits what little she had eaten over the past few days into the snow before slumping against the door frame and trying to catch her breath.

She can't stop staring at face of the Robbie nearest to her. Half of it has been burnt away.

Maybe a passerby whom she just helped or just happens be around could snap her out of it.]

iii. Wildcard

[Feel free to PP me or hit me up on plurk at mythal and we can plot anything out!]

ii; I don't have a human icon that fits whoops

[ribticklers]

[Now, Sans knows human bodies don't turn to dust. He saw zombie kids in October and he knocked over a snowman in his own yard, too. But he's never seen them quite like this--flesh burned and scorched and smelling absolutely awful. The closest comparison he has is burned hair or burned fur, but this is so much worse.

He'd just been trying to walk to the grocery store.

He spots someone alive by the doorframe, looking--well, not great, but he can't blame them with all this on their lawn. He follows the woman's gaze and wow, okay, that one doesn't have half its face.]

Hey, uh, lookin' at that probably ain't gonna help you out.

[Sans is not the best at this, but he doesn't think he's wrong.]

[righthandstand]

B. Up on the housetop

[It's fun at first. Okuyasu's never made a snowman before, and it's just another thing people like to do around here. When a second snowman appears, he decides to repay the favor and construct a lumpy snowchild for them. They're a little misshapen with a stick for a mouth, but he tried and it counts.

It ends up being a one-sided contest. Okuyasu wakes up in the morning to to shovel the snow and finds one more snowman, goes inside for lunch, then finds another popped up in the ten minutes he was gone.

Okay, so this town is really creepy. And now it's ruining all the hard work he did to clear the sidewalk.]

Sorry, dude.

[He pushes the snowman with his shovel to knock it over - which takes way more force than he though. Snow is pretty dense, but with a little kick-

He hits something hard.

Two seconds later, he shovels the top layer of snow off to reveal and actual, dead person inside.]

What the fuck?!

[Not the first time he saw a dead body, so he's not panicking, but...] Not another serial killer!

Run Rudolph Run

[Guess who thought he could sneak out of the village without being seen? This guy! He just got out of the perimeter of the village when he heard footfalls that are way too heavy for an actual human being. He's not taking the chance to look back and makes a mad dash down the road, waving at whatever car he sees driving by.]

Hey! Hey! [His life is on the line! So if need be, he runs out into the middle of the street and hopes you stop in time.]

( prompt: run rudolph! )

[sunborne]

[ you are lucky that daylight knows what brakes are, okuyasu.

slamming down on the brakes with more force than needed, daylight lets out a shout of pain when he's tossed forwards thanks to the sudden jolt. it's only due to the fact he's wearing a seatbelt that keeps him from flying.

quick and pissed, he undoes his belt and shoves open his door, halfway out to glare at a familiar face in front of him. ]

What the fuck, man?! You could have gotten killed! [ he's about to yell some more but hears footfall in the distance, clomping and heavy and nope.

whirling behind him, daylight quickly flings open the passenger door and hurries to get back in the car, motioning for okuyasu to follow. ] Get the fuck inside! Now!

[thotsandprayers]

[A- Up on the Housetop]

[Snow or not, there's still stuff to do, so Kiara has to leave the house every now and then when the storm lightens a little. And you know what's an experience? Having to deal with inclement weather again. Yes, Chaldea was in Antarctica and all, but it's not like she really went outside much during all that. So this...well, it's a challenge.

Speaking of challenges, she's a bit...well not displeased so much as curious about coming home and finding another snowman in her yard, joining the others. She hasn't done anything with them, they're a mild if strange annoyance at best at this point. Still, she doesn't walk towards her doorstep just yet, standing on the sidewalk, looking at her yard and the others on her street.]

Strange, you would think you'd eventually see someone making them.

[There's some ridiculous levels of Presence Concealment at work here if you ask her. Or maybe something else entirely. She's not really sure, but she sees little reason to be concerned about it at this point.]

[B – Up On the Housetop 2, locked to Papyrus]

[Okay, she's not scared or anything, but finding the door blocked and looking out to see snowmen is still an unpleasant surprise. Not that she really has any business going outside if she doesn't have to with the weather being what it is, but still.]

Ah, Papyrus, if you have a moment.

[Kiara'll just call out to her “husband,” figuring he'll want to take a look at this. She's not entirely sure what to expect with this really, they're not breaking in like what she remembers from October, they're just...obstructing. So there's no thought that anyone here's in danger. So her tone is rather even about the unpleasant snowman surprise. For the time being, anyways.]

[C – Merry Christmas]

[Man it has been a rough couple weeks. So Kiara's a bit surprised when at the stroke of midnight everything just...stops. In her experience, awful isn't really set on a timer or disappears at the stroke of midnight, though she can't help but be a little relieved to look outside the window to see nothing terrible going on. No more snow corpses, no one being chased and fleeing for safety into the light. Nothing.

And while it's the middle of the night and cold, she'll step outside to take a look around. She's hardly worried about some sort of unfortunate surprise, still operating on the assumption that she doesn't have any sort of permanent consequences to worry about. Besides that, she figures she's not the only one who's going to step outside at this time.

But she won't get too far, stopping to inspect the box on her doorstep. There's presumably one for Papyrus too, but she doesn't care about that, instead opening hers, hoping it's what she asked for even if she doesn't really believe in such things. And instead of the book she asked for, it's this.]

Oh, this...well, I suppose they did try their best.

[Despite the subdued reaction, she's actually quite pleased with the gift. And on second thought, she'll wait until morning to check the neighborhood. So later that morning, after the sun's up, she'll be walking through the neighborhood, wanting to chat with any of the others, one, to pick their brains about recent events and two, she's admittedly curious if they received a gift as well.]

[Wildcard]

[OOC: If these don't work for you, feel free to shoot me a message at opticblast and we can work something else out!]

B

[spaghettimonster]

[It's been a couple weeks, and Papyrus still hasn't quite figured out what his new sleep routine needs to be. So far, all he's concluded is it's more than he wants to be sleeping. But by now he's up, dressed, and moving furniture around with some idea of planning redecorations while the snow storm's ongoing. Easy enough to duck around the corner and join her.]

I have plenty of minutes, with the storm going... oh.

[He reflexively looks out the door's window to check the weather conditions, but this glance doesn't reveal any details on that - just the presence of yet another snowman.]

They're all the way up to the door now...?

[prodigalhairess]

[A; Let it Snow (closed to Cassandra, cw for near-drowning)]

[Rapunzel hadn't minded the portals. Not at first. They were mildly inconvenient when you were trying to go about your day cleaning or exploring, but the Christmas Village had so much charm that it was hard for her to be annoyed. So even with the snow coming down hard and the blast of cold wind biting at her cheeks as she opens the pantry door in her home, Rapunzel doesn't gripe or groan - after all, she's been teleported to the village so much this past week that she knows the way back "home" easily enough now! Just a step through the door and then-

And then everything flips and turns, and that biting at her cheeks turns into full-blown knives digging into her skin as she's dumped into the frigid waters of the lake. Rapunzel tries to let out a startled yelp, but the only thing that comes out of her mouth is a burst of bubbles; it's then that she truly begins to panic, trying not to choke as her lungs scream for the precious air she wasted.

It's dark. So dark. Dark and cold and suffocating in a way that's different from just being submerged in water. It's like the dark is pressing in on her, the chill seeping into her very bones and dragging her down, down... no. No!!! Not down - she can't let herself sink, she can't let herself die here, after everything that's happened!! Just when she's finally found peace in her life...!

Rapunzel lets out another pained exhale, but she watches this time. The good thing about living in a kingdom with so many waterways is that you learn all sorts of things fast. Like how to tell which way is up in water - just follow the bubbles. So with a strong kick Rapunzel rises, following the path of the bubbles up and up until-

Thunk.

No. no no no!! The ice!]

--!!!!!!!

[And that's when Rapunzel loses that last thread of calm. Despite the fast-spreading numbing feeling in her limbs, she bangs her hands frantically against the sheet of ice above her, yelling and not caring at all about her lungs screaming for air. She's trying to make as much noise and movement as possible, trying to fight off that fuzziness at the edge of her vision...]


[B; Up on the Housetop]

[Rapunzel didn't like being cooped up for long. Maybe it's just a side-effect of her forced isolation for the first eighteen years of her life, or maybe it's just the idea that she could be doing so much when not confined to one room. Either way, she doesn't last very long on the bedrest Cassandra assigned her to after her unfortunate trip into the lake. Despite the way her body shakes and her nose runs, Rapunzel bundles herself up tight against the cold and heads out into the storm.

The first places she stops to are the ones clearly without power. For them, she has an armful of wood, which she does her best to keep clear of snow as she trudges up and down the block to see who needs help. Other times she'll be visiting with a few thermoses of soup; not really enough to last more than a night, but she's managed to keep them warm. It'll help fight off the cold till the morning.

Food, blankets... anything that can help any of the other trapped residents, Rapunzel will find a way to hand out. The only time she really pauses in her work is when she stops by a house with a snowman. Something about them seem a little.... off. She's not sure how to put her finger on it...]

Wow... people must be really dedicated to build these when the weather is so harsh, huh?


[C; Wildcard]

[Got an idea that doesn't fit into the prompt? Drop it here! Additionally, if you'd like to hash something out first, feel free to hit me up over at OwlKnight

B

[purplejaguareye]

They're kind of creepy, aren't they? I mean they keep popping up everywhere! What secret are they hiding? I've got my eyes on you, snowman people!

[Kipo's glaring at the snowmen - while shivering and wrapping her arms around herself.]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[A; Up on the housetop]
[The first snowman is met with abject confusion. Naturally right as Cass is taking out some trash in the morning. A very quick conversation clears up that neither she nor Erwin are responsible for it, but that just raises further questions that are, momentarily, chalked up to some kind of prank.

Then another turns up. And another. A couple days later, and Cass finds herself glancing out a window to see a small congregation of misshapen snowpeople clogging the front yard.

It's... stifling. Cassandra wasn't even the sort to feel boxed in, but this 'prank' was becoming more and more unnerving by the second. Until it's... finally too much. Fine. She is mustered out of her hiding spot, and pulled out the front door to meet with her inanimate opponents.

With a snow shovel, of course.]

Enough is enough.

[With a deft twirl of the shovel in her hand, a crude if efficient weapon for what she was planning to do, she acted. Just a good strike, that was all she wanted. Knock a snowman over, obliterate some snow and ice. That's all.

So imagine her surprise when she strikes something far more solid than snow. It's hard enough that she flinches back, yet the snowman topples over, snow spilling away to reveal the rictus grin of a robbie, unmoving on the ground. Red seeps from the side of his head, staining the snow. Blood.

The shovel is most definitely dropped. Cass's hands suddenly forgetting how to hold it. For a moment, she forgets how to do most of anything.]

What-?!

[B; locked to Rapunzel and Archer]
[Things do not get better from there.

The cold that grips Santa Rosita by the teeth is not letting up by any means, and neither are the supernatural happenings. The doorways to the Christmas village are still open, leading to a place that looks even worse than the "real" world does. For now.

It's little wonder that there's immediately trouble. Bless whatever strings of fate that drew Cass into the village and down to the lake... and whatever got her and Raps through a door and back into the suburbs just as quickly. From there it was a coin flip.

Archer won, and he just needs to claim his prize; it's drenched in ice-cold water, and held tightly in Cassandra's arms, all while she's doing her best to kick Archer's front door in.]

L-let us in. [Cass's teeth chatter, her lips a dark blue. But she's not the worst looking one.] Now.

[C; Run Rudolph run]
[As soon as the snow started it drew up some... unfavorable images in Cassandra's mind. Images of Corona, blanketed in the same harshly falling snow, no end in sight even when you could see beyond your nose. It's a grim reminder that if the blizzard doesn't let up eventually, they'll all be buried. No, she did not come this far to die like this.

She can't stay put. For whatever reason, to check for supplies or people left behind, Cassandra ventures back into the village.

Stepping around snowdrifts and poking at what remained of the reindeer she'd seen racing around this place, Cass at least came armed this time; a baseball bat clutched in hand. Not her favorite weapon but the kitchen knife in her boot would be far better in close encounters.

Which is what happens as she tracks a trail of fresh viscera to it's source. Coming many footsteps short as the sight, and the smell, of the thing desecrating one of the reindeers hits Cass in full force.

For a moment, Cass is winded. She steps back. Something crunches underfoot. The thing looks at her. She starts running.

The wind lashes at her face, taunting her with its howling laughter in her ears, though that could have also been the beast on her tail. Every footfall of it muffled through the snow but clear enough - It is behind her, and gaining.

Maybe you've ventured out to the village, or maybe you're just on your way back to town. In either case, you may spot Cassandra, madly scrambling away from some kind of monster that's clearly gunning for her. She could definitely use an escape or, if you're brave enough, some assistance.]

[D; Wildcard]
[got something you want to do with me that doesn't match any of these prompts? Put it here!]

thinking b

[undiagnosed]

[unaware of what's happened with his "wife" and her best friend, archer's just been hanging at home, slowly getting drunker and enjoying the heating being on. at least-- you know, until the fucking electricity drops out again then he's busying himself hobbling around the place and doing all he can to make sure the heat stays and the place won't burn down with stupidly placed candles.

ugh, but all they have are those shitty artificially scented ones from the store, so the whole place smells like plastic-y spices and--]

Jesus, Stallone, will you calm down? It's not... [it takes him a moment to get to the door (after his own dunk he's been a little stiff from the frantic kicking and pushing himself way too hard to get back) where he immediately steps to the side for cass to get in. doesn't take a genius to work out what's happened here.] Shit! Main room. Now!

[thank fuck he's had basic training on how to deal with this sort of thing, not to mention falling into icy water's happened to either him or one of the agents he's been on a mission with a good amount of times in the past. god, their agency sucks.]

There's blankets by the couch. Get her wet clothes off and watch her breathing. Does she have any open wounds?

[hoshikiri]

i. let it snow, let it go (cw: depiction of drowning and ptsd)

[The one mercy Takame had here was that his time in Ishgard prepared him for the harsh conditions of a blizzard. He was used to not having the luxury of electricity, bundling by a hearth instead and using torchlight and his sharp eyes to see through whiteout conditions. He still didn’t like the cold, even without his scales, but preference didn’t matter in the face of surviving. That was the ever present truth of his life.

He trekked through the storm despite how strong it was just as an instinct to find something to make the experience less uncomfortable for his housemate, but finding every shop to be closed he returned to their home. Only to open the door, step through and have his system shocked by a piercing cold that seeped through his thick coat that half stuck, half flowed away from his body.

He was… underwater? A product of the realm, he imagined, inhaling through his nose naturally only to have his nostrils filled with water falling into his throat, making him cough just to fill his lungs even more of it. He tried to hold it, bringing a hand to touch his neck and chest but he had no breath left to hold and instead flailed wildly in the water, desperately trying to push it out of his mouth as if it would matter.

The more he tried, the more his vision went dark. It was like being caught in smoke, the same sensation of suffocation… the same burning pain singing his left flank, but this time it was through his entire body. Impossible… He could breathe in water… he could breathe in water…

In his wild and weakening flailing as the depictions of the Scions and his sister figures slowly flashed in his mind, he felt something. Twice. Once against his foot. Another against his hand. Ice, it’s ice, it’s ice, it’s ice, break it, destroy it, eliminate it.

Not unlike his final encounter with Emet-Selch, with all his might he struck whatever was above his head, a heavy blow that put his blow to the Ascian to shame, shattering the ice and clutching for his life at the corner of it, anything for leverage to bring himself up and into the air again. Greatest strength comes at the brink of death, that bit of grip he had was enough that he could bring his face out at least, enough for one thin breath and a loud scream once muffled by water.]

Aaugh!! Nghh--! [He submerged once more, almost being pulled by something, but his need to stay alive came out of hibernation and he kept trying to claw his way out. In this state, though, he couldn’t on his own.]

ii. Run, rudolph, run (cw: aggressive violence)

[For as reluctant to leave through any doors as Takame was given what’s happened, he was the Hero of his realm. A hero went out and helped people, right? Or perhaps he simply didn’t want to think about what happened and sought to keep himself busy. It didn’t bear thinking about either way, this was still his duty.

He didn’t have to go far to sense death given what was outside his door. But the long dead humans and the recently deceased animals had a widely different scent to them. What he wouldn't give to have his sword back, but he didn’t have it and nothing would change that.

He saw them. The monsters that looked like voidsent whose claws and teeth matched the mangled animals he saw. And while the few who sought him out were dispatched without notice, when he saw one from a distance charging towards someone defenseless, he didn’t waste time in rushing forward himself, shoulder tackling it, grabbing it by the neck with nails firmly dug into the rotten flesh and the aim to smash its head into the nearest hard surface until it bled out. It wouldn’t go down without a fight, and as he struggled against it he gave a warning to whoever its original target was.]

Fall back!

iii. wildcard

[[ so I was thinking about robbie-ing takame for a bit, but i’d like to keep that prompt to one, then maybe do some kind of aftermath post later on. If you’re interested in that feel free to poke at my linked plotting post or hit me up at bonpuns ! This also applies if you had any other idea for anything else, heck they can do ACTUAL christmas plans. But he’ll wanna be keeping busy after this. ]]

I

[righthandstand]

[There's movement below Takame.

Okuyasu had only a warm sweater on, just having come home and taken off his coat, and the plan was to go to his room and change into something lighter. His face was still red from the cold when he opened the door and fell forward into a cold pool.

The sudden shock knocks out most of what breath he had in him, and nows he's going to die, trapped in some nightmare realm of water-

But there's light he can see light above. It'd a pool, maybe a lake. All he had to do is swim up. He shuts his eyes ands pushes himself upward, reaching out for anything to grab onto, a sign that someone is up there.

At one point, he grips Takame's shirt, pulling him down. Okuyasu opens his eyes and oh fuck it's another guy; maybe he is going to die here and end up like him-

In his panic, his hand emerges from the lake, thanks to Takame's earlier efforts. Okuyasu flails around, searching for the edge, and breaks off a smaller chunk.

All he had to do is grab the edge and pull, and he's free.]

Kipo | Kipo | OTA

[purplejaguareye]

[The Lake cw: drowning warning]

[Kipo hadn't prepared very well for the frozen temperatures - mostly because she wasn't planning on going outside. But in an instant, she goes from the warm comfort of her home to frozen water. And just like that, her brain barely catches up with the fact that her lungs are filling with water. She frantically starts swimming, thrashing in the water until she hits the ice and breaks through.

But she can't seem to get up onto the surface, coughing and freezing in the cold water. She won't last very long if she can't get out of the water.

Help her?]

[Snowmen]

All right. The first one was kinda cute, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.

[After recovering from the lake, Kipo's had enough of the snowmen popping up all over town, especially outside of her house. They're pretty much blocking her way out.]

Okay, I get it. We're gonna have to do this the hard way - hiyah!

[Kipo delivers a punch to the head, and is a little surprised when she hits something a little more solid than snow.]

Huh?

[She digs at the snowman's face, feeling something hard - frozen - and sees two very human, very dead eyes.]

Aghhhh!!!

[Run Rudolph, Run]

[There's pounding outside your door, right around midnight, as a girl frantically shouts from the other side.]

LETMEINLETMEINLETMEINLETMEINNNNN-!!

[There's the roar of something that follows, getting louder as the girl either pounds the door or in desperation just lets herself into the house.]

run rudolph run

[demonicmiracle]

[It's fortunate that he's awake, winding down for the evening, when he hears footsteps on the porch. The sound has him at the door just in time for Kipo to start knocking, and while the memory of the dead children at the door should make him pause, she sounds young, and he can't ignore that.

So the door opens, Crowley already standing aside to give Kipo room to come inside.]

C'mon, in you get.

[He quickly closes the door behind her, locking it and leaning his weight against it, listening for the sound of... whatever she was running from, even as he regards the girl now in his hallway.]

Take a breath, you're alright.

[Trying to be reassuring, and trying not to look too concerned about the roaring he can hear coming from the street.]

[13thcommander]

B. Up on the Housetop

[Ever since he took that unexpected dip in the lake, Erwin has been feeling wonderful. Sure, the cold water wasn't all that fun, and neither was hauling himself out of the lake, but that little store he'd warmed up in? Fantastic. Absolute A+ hospitality, the best he's ever had, and Erwin laughs now to remember how he'd been before. He'd been so suspicious! So ungrateful! Who wouldn't want to live in Santa Rosita? It's so peaceful here, so quiet, so... perfect.]

[Look at how the town is decorating! Someone is taking advantage of the snow, and building snowmen everywhere! Erwin takes to wandering the streets, a wide, vacant grin on his face, his eyes glassy and glazed, admiring the decorations on people's houses and all the snowmen. He can't understand why more people aren't out in this! Christmas only comes once a year, after all, and everything looks so festive with the snow everywhere. They just don't appreciate the good things in life.]

[If he spots anyone else out in the snow, either out walking or watching him through a window, his grin will widen, stretching until it shows all his teeth, and he'll wave vigorously at them.]

Hi, neighbor! Quite the weather we're having, isn't it?

[Please don't mind the tears running down his cheeks; it's just the wind that's causing it. No one smiling like this could possibly be upset, could they?]

C. Run, Rudolph, Run

[Erwin's long, meandering loops through the city--he just hasn't been able to sit still lately, it's like he's compelled to keep moving, like he's trying to outrun something attached to him, trying to shake his own shadow--haven't stopped because of the reindeer. In fact, he likes them! Sure, they get a little aggressive at times, but he's found that a firm pat on the nose and then knocking over a snowman keeps them from getting too pushy.]

See here now, boy, mind your teeth! I'm not your dinner! HA! HA! HA!

[Erwin does feel a little bad about knocking over all the snowmen for the deer; someone worked hard to make those, after all. When he catches someone watching him from the safety of a house, he'll smile and lift his arm to wave at them.]

Sorry about the snowman, neighbor! These pesky deer are a bit of handful, aren't they?

[His sleeve is sodden with blood and gore, his hand cut in several places from shattered reindeer noses. Isn't it funny how sharp their fur is?]

D. Closed for Archer

[You know, Erwin feels a bit badly for how he acted before. He was terribly rude to Ray at the gala, terribly rude, and that just isn't neighborly. Since he's been taking loops through town, it's only a matter of time before he runs into the man, and when he sees him, Erwin lifts his arm to wave frantically.]

Ray! Ray, old sport! I simply must speak with you!

[He's been out in the snow for awhile, and has icicles dangling from his earlobes and the scraggly little beard he's grown. His coat is frosted with snow and ice, and all his exposed skin is white as a bone.
That doesn't keep him from smiling, though, when he sees his good pal Ray!]

giv me d (phrasing)

[undiagnosed]

[archer, meanwhile, is in his front yard, shoveling snow. the indignity of it all, but he'd rather not slip and break his neck. dying in a pool after being shot by veronica deane? kind of a cool way to go. tripping on an icy patch? shitty. shitty, shitty, shitty and shitty.

then he hears a familiar voice calling a familiar name and-- is ray here? archer looks around, confused, then sees a... snow zombie?

he holds the shovel out, poking erwin lightly in the chest with it.]

Nope. Not here.