JANUARY MINGLE

[stellafortunamods]

January Mingle: A Ballad in Goblets
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
You open your eyes to an unfamiliar sight. A cool breeze flits through rustic buildings and sunny streets, carrying the smell of flowers and wine. The very air itself seems charged with mana, the warm pulse of the land palpable beneath your feet. This is a new world, a world where the elements compose all of reality. Before you is a bubbling fountain, and a key is entwined between your fingers. And that weight on your hip? A sparkling bauble that you've never seen before, yet it feels natural, as if it had always been there.

Asking around nets you the name of this world - Teyvat - and the name of this city - Mondstadt, blessed by the Anemo Archon, Barbatos. Your new home is accessible with the key placed in your hands, though this also brings to mind another question. How will you get money? Food isn't free, after all.

Luckily for you, there's plenty of jobs available for the enterprising Traveler. Be it taking requests from the Adventurers' Guild, or working part-time at one of Mondstadt's many food establishments, Mora is to be had when hard work is involved. The cuisine of Mondstadt is best paired with its wine, served at bars or enjoyed in private with a few friends.

And about that shining gem. locals will tell you that it is a Vision, a sign of favour from Teyvat's elemental gods. With the Vision on hand, you find yourself capable of commanding one of the seven elements. What will you do with this newfound blessing? Use it for good... or for evil?

Mondstadt's liveliness doesn't diminish when night falls. Bards sing through the wee hours of the night, and the lights of the city help keep most evildoers at bay. All seems peaceful, a pastoral idyll of a life that seems more at home in a storybook. Yet for those Travelers who venture out beyond the city's walls and into the ruins dotting the landscape, they may discover hints of a bloodier past now forgotten.

Glancing at any of the calendars in the city will tell you the current date. August 10th was the day you arrived. As soon as the last minute of August 16th slips away, the world around you changes. A blink, and time itself rewinds by seven days. Looking outside, the mown lawns have regrown, the windmill needs fixing again, and the well is once again full. Just what is happening here? It seems only you, Traveler, remembers the week that never was.

State of the World

For the first two weeks of the game, IC time will be looping from August 10th to August 16th. It's currently late summer in Mondstadt, and the trees are just beginning to turn out their autumn colours. The weather is cool and pleasant, with light showers on Tuesday (11th) and Friday (14th). It's also a good time to go out gathering berries and nature's bounty from Mondstadt's forests and valleys.

These two weeks will let us trial out our commissions and regains system and craft improvements for February onwards. There will be no activity requirements for January, so all threads started during this time period can be used for regains!

For all questions regarding January's mingle and events, please head over to our OOC post.

Comments

[eolja]

[LOOK......... hwi's right, but also]

It's not important. At the end of the day, what I experienced in that place isn't relevant to the situation here.

[trauma??? we're gonna Repress That. Friends?? We're also gonna repress that, anyway]

The only thing is that there are others from that town who woke up in this place, but some of them don't even remember that they were there. [SO IT'S EVEN LESS RELEVANT!!! seonho can't believe that he still has to remember --] It might as well have been a dream. You said it yourself, Hwi, that you didn't even notice that I was gone.

[hwisal]

Because you were not gone. [ does he sound a tad petulant... he is?? shh don't perceive him!! he definitely would've noticed if Seonho had gone missing, alright? especially for three months!! this magic mumbo jumbo really offends his sensibilities!!!!

but he realizes that's not the point Seonho's trying to make, and thus continues (less petulantly) a moment later. ]

If you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to. [ 'relevant' or not... he had been somewhere vaguely like this place for three months. that was a lot, right...? he has a feeling it wasn't as 'uneventful' as he's making it seem, either...

n-not that he cares or anything, baka...

never mind the unspoken, 'but we can' that goes after his last statement, though, ]

[eolja]

[would hwi really have noticed that he was missing, hm!!! seonho's sure he would have been too busy with his new army bros to care about him... n-not that he cares or anything, BAKA (T__________T)

He can hear that unspoken offer in Hwi's words though, and for a moment he considers pushing him away. yet again. it would be so easy too. instead of dropping back into the habits of that time of his life he treasures most, he could swerve right into "how to be an asshole to my best friend, and really BE that asshole" yet again.

then again, that wouldn't be conducive to their already uneasy alliance they've just agreed to like a second ago. he really does think it isn't relevant -- his stay in fogtown, usa, that is. so he can't imagine why Hwi wants to know more about it. why is seonho so stupid,]

Resolution. The town was affected by our guilt somehow, and we were told to resolve those feelings before we endangered ourselves.

[now it's seonho's turn for an unspoken "you can imagine how well THAT turned out". his lip quirks up a little, unsmiling.]

Most of us assumed that if we did 'face our guilt', then we would be able to return home.

[hwisal]

[ closes my eyes why are they stupid,

watch Hwi as he watches Seonho, and mention of "guilt" is definitely triggering a big fat ironic alarm bell. but, at the same time... this is the first time Seonho has hinted at that guilt in a long while. they were never the best about discussing their emotions-- they were better at sparring them out or sitting in silent solidarity or providing distractions, most of the time, but...

...well. it's a little hard to muster up the urge to be petty or angry at that. so, his response when it comes might be a little gentler. ]

Did you?

[ face your guilt, Seonho...? maybe not completely, considering how abruptly he seemed to depart from that place, but... had he come to find any peace? this is an earnest question, complete with the Sincere Face, the one that says Hwi is asking with Genuine Concern, so enjoy that and gl lying to him, ]

[eolja]

[okay first of all how dare you with the puppy eyes,

Seonho likes to think that he's pretty resistant to Hwi's sincerity. (studio laugh track). After all, he hadn't relented when Hwi begged him to tell him the truth about Yeon's fate, hadn't flinched when he watched as Yeon tore Hwi's heart to shreds. And he hadn't even looked sorry when he told Hwi that he was beneath him now.

But there's a difference between being immune and not being immune at all, and just pretending you are while feeling guiltier and guiltier about your actions -- and oh boy, is this not the reason why he was panfandom kidnapped and taken to that town?

Seonho grits his teeth, because Hwi's sincerity hurts even more than his hatred or pain. those are the feelings Seonho knows he deserves,]

...I was alone.

['you and yeon weren't there'.]

And facing one's guilt without having to answer for it is just self-satisfaction, not resolution.

[hwisal]

[ it isn't like Hwi is a cruel person. he has done cruel things, cold things - things that have put Seonho in danger, as much as he has also done things to protect him during the past few years. and no matter how much the relationship between them had changed from 'best friends' to whatever identifier could be placed on it, now...

he had never stopped caring about him, and genuinely wishing the best for him. deep in his heart, he believes Seonho wants the same thing, that he still cares just as much as he always had in his own way. even if he didn't agree with his reasons or motivations, the cold and cruel things Seonho had done to him could be forgiven, because they were also done... in part... to protect him or Yeon.

he wants to be able to say he forgives him. he wants to be able to nudge his shoulder and smile and laugh it off. maybe one day when everything is long behind them and Yeon is well and truly safe, they'll get that chance.

but today isn't that day. ]

Then, maybe that is why you are here.

[ he cannot extend a whole-hearted forgiveness and wipe the slate clean. but... ]

Because I am.

[eolja]

[It all feels so surreal, and yet so familiar.

Seonho with a hand pressed against his wound, telling Hwi that he was the one thing in his life he could not bring himself to truly sacrifice. And now here he was with him again, still thinking the same thing.

The wounds might not be visible anymore, but they're still there. Seonho, with a tentative hand to his metaphorical heart, wondering if Hwi really means the words he says, and if he does, then how could he possibly mean them -- after everything Seonho's done? 'There is no point to resolution when the people I owe it to the most aren't here' he remembers saying.

But like he said, Hwi is here.]

...All these years, and yet some things never change.

[if Seonho sounded cold and closed-off before, then now he just sounds exasperated. and painfully fond. ...It still feels too raw to broach this subject that remains between them. Not with how Seonho's left things back home between them, (but would it really be impossible to start over... here?)]

Perhaps I was brought here for your sake. To curb that trusting nature of yours, that thinks so well of everyone.

[including seonho... why hasn't hwi 100% broken up with him now that they're here, Seonho will never know. but you know................ it doesn't feel so bad.................. weird........]

[hwisal]

[ for some reason, the expression on Seonho's face only makes his chest ache in a peculiar way. is it the familiarity of it, coupled with that response? something teasing and almost light-hearted to mask the heaviness beneath...? ]

Would it be so bad, if it was?

[ in a normal world, on a normal day, that wound be a whole-hearted joke. but here they are... sitting in a home so different than any other either of them had called 'home,' so far separated from anything familiar it was almost comical.

so maybe... he asked in jest, but there is an earnest inquiry beneath it.

...would it be so bad? ]

At the end of the day, there are much worse people I could have ended up sitting beside. [ despite everything that had forced them down separate paths, Hwi could still trust Seonho with his life. he believes that. so...

'i'm glad it's you.'

despite it all, he still... can't help but think it to himself. ]

[eolja]

[Are there really people worse than Seonho who could be here? How can just a word from him inflict such pain -- and happiness?

His throat feels tight, and he swallows despite the sudden constriction,]

Careful. [he replies to Hwi's jest with one of his own, and with something earnest lying underneath there as wel,] Whoever brought us here might hear you, and then we'll both have to deal with someone troublesome.

[He'd never let himself think on it before, but now that Hwi was here... His thoughts naturally stray to the only other person he's missed. ...what will Yeon do, with both of them gone? Would his father still take care of her -- if the person he was using her for was gone?

or perhaps neither yeon or his father had noticed them missing. if Hwi hadn't, then who could say it's not still the same back home?]

[hwisal]

[ those words inspire a rather sobering thought. Hwi isn't used to these jamjar rules and the prospect of those who weren't here already suddenly showing their faces is a bit... well,

he could definitely think of a few people he'd like to see far, far less than Seonho. it would be Nam Jeon's kind of luck to be freed from incarceration like a slippery eel through some otherworldly means, wouldn't it? what would happen, if he were to come?

he heaves another sigh, ]

Could anyone be as troublesome as you?

[ in the end, he decides not to let that dark train of thought settle in earnest. like everything else... he-- they-- would cross that bridge if it ever came. they had more than enough on their plates without worrying about "what-ifs" of that variety. just one more thing to worry about, huh? ]

If I can put up with you, I can put up with anyone.

[eolja]

[For Seonho, anyone who could be arguably worse than him definitely includes his father and also Yi Bang Won, also the king.... He absolutely doesn't want to see any of those three here -- though there's a dark, petty satisfaction at the thought of seeing his father in Mondstadt with absolutely nothing to his name besides a key to a itty bitty house and a Vision -- on second thought, he doesn't want to think of his father having the power of magic, hm.]

We should practice using our Visions tomorrow too, while we're exploring.

[he glances around the room, registering half a beat later that it's probably Hwi's since he was in here first, then gets up from the chair to pick up his sword.]

If we sleep now, then we can get up before the sunrise. [what was that about putting up with him, hwi?]

[hwisal]

[ ........sighs internally,

SIGHS EXTERNALLY this is like the 209380984th time in five minutes... ]

Before the sunrise? Are you becoming a rooster? [ SEONHO?? he knew you were a cock but pls why would he want to get up before dawn??? ]

Then you will bring breakfast. [ he is NOT waking up at the crack of dawn without you feeding him, sry, them's the rules. ]

[eolja]

The same way you're turning into a frog. [seonho immediately shoots back, go see a doctor about all that sighing, hwi!!!

he considers hwi's rudeass demand, and then shrugs.]

Fine. But you're not allowed to complain when I do.

[you think seonho can cook?? seonho of the rich dad, seonho of the instant cake mixes and weird brownies??]