Opt In/Opt Out (Come Sail Away Specific)

[tempingainteasy]

OPT OUT: Weird Faces

Some of April's icons may involve the absence of facial features that should be there, or features that shouldn't be there, or are other wise distorted (think thatcher effect, excessive eye imagery etc). If seeing that at even a 100x100 resolution is uncomfortable for you, please let me know here and I'll post with her more normal icons when threading with you!

OPT OUT: Besties

April's best friend and coworker yourexoduslaughing is now on the ship, and may or may not jump into threads with April if the timing is right. Let us know if that's something you'd like to avoid!

OPT IN: Get Haunted!

Part of April's deal is that she is basically a living creepypasta image. Part of how she sustains herself is by taking 'cursed images' or making them cursed by being in them.

The result ranges from:
- I saw this creepy picture/video too late at night and it's been a week and I still think about it when I close my eyes
- something is wrong about this picture of me but I can't think of what it is and it's destroying my self image
- I saw this image once and screamed and don't ever send it to me again
- This face is showing up in my nightmares and I'm legit having trouble sleeping
- normally photoshops don't affect me but what the FUCK
- Okay so there definitely wasn't an extra person there when the picture was taken, I'm going to be looking over my shoulder for awhile.

- Visually, think the 'identifying an alternate' segment in the mandela catalogues or the emotions advert on blue channel.

The idea is that it lingers in a person's mind in an upsetting way, those spooky image edits you've seen that mentally scar you a little bit.

So! with that said, let me know here if you want your characters running into that with April!

EDIT It turns out writing horrible things for someone else's character completely blind is hard, so if you'd be so kind as to fill out the following:
<u><i>What scares your character?</i></u> <b>Image distortions:</b> (i.e., scribbled out eyes, grin too big, feeling like the eyes in the picture are looking at you, etc) <b>Superstitions:</b> (i.e. Particular ghosts, urban legends, unlucky images they'd be creeped out by) <b>Self-image:</b> (i.e. is there a role your character feels pressured to fill, an image they feel they can't perfect? or is there something they're afraid of becoming?) <b>Unwelcome Guests:</b> (i.e. Anyone they would be troubled to see in the background of a photo? Dead or alive? Behaving normally, or is there a way they'd emote/appear that would upset your character?) <b>HARD NO:</b> what YOU THE PLAYER don't want to see/play out a reaction to, ever.
Thanks!

How much her images affect your character and what your character does about it is entirely up to your discretion, too. You know your character's constitution best!

(Consider this a volunteer sign-up sheet for pursuing this sort of story with them, or permission to have your characters mention being unusually disturbed by a picture they saw, this isn't an immunity check!)

But my character can't see these pictures!

April:


Then this especially does not apply to you at all! Enjoy your cruise and the company of your absolutely normal cruise friend, April!

Comments

[configuration_birdwatcher]

I'm fine with your spookiest of icons, and I'm enthusiastic about the concept of seeing that stuff in-character, but alas, I find it difficult to imagine Bastion getting a lasting case of heebie-jeebies from seeing a cursed image. Side effect of being a robot, more than personality or past experiences. (Might be fun for her feature distortions to incorporate inorganic elements when she's talking to them, though?)

I'll get back to you on the hauntings ifwhen I app in a second or third character with a meat brain!

[tempingainteasy]

Oh, whether your brain is meat or not doesn't matter as much as whether you're capable of feeling fear! :)

... But! Not everyone is afraid of the same things! So in that sense, if Bastion is unbothered by the (human) uncanny valley, then yeah they won't be bothered by April's works. ^^

(that's a neat idea for April's face distortions though 🤔)

[configuration_birdwatcher]

True! This bot is full of fear, just not that particular fear.

[tempingainteasy]

oh no baby.... ;-;

[configuration_birdwatcher]

I HAVE AN IDEA, if the colors were off so that they look like they're painted in orange camouflage patterns or their optics are glowing red (observe icon) that would freak them out :)
This leads into what they're afraid of and conveniently also who they're afraid to become:Turning into a mindless killing machine, or having their actions controlled by someone else (with or without being aware of it while it happens) to similar effect.

Superstitions: this part doesn't really apply

Unwelcome guests: Any of the German armed forces' Crusaders, i.e. big burly people in huge suits of power armour wielding rocket-powered hammers who were entirely capable of demolishing a dozen Bastion units in like two minutes flat and in one of the cinematics a young Reinhardt Wilhelm did exactly that. The late Balderich von Adler, his commanding officer, was even scarier (and more recognisable thanks to his custom mech suit) but more disciplined about when to go beast mode. Most of them are dead now except for Reinhardt, who joined Overwatch and, some twenty years later, answered the recall and was days away from being Bastion's coworker before they showed up here. (An area in which they do not envy their original timeline counterpart.)

HARD NO: nothing that's likely to come up in this context I think

[serialskiller]

Fine with all your icons.

- Your spooky shit will apply most to Johnny and Undine.
- MB has a digital memory; some of the weird mental effects may be hit or miss, because it won't doubt itself in the face of certain fuckeries.
- Bash is divine in nature and has a significant Willpower+Integrity(+Legend) roll to resist weird mind shit.

[tempingainteasy]

Well, the interesting thing about April is that they effect image capturing devices, including digital cameras, and it's a supernatural thing, so as far as image capturing goes there's that, but remembering them as a person... that's interesting... I might have to hammer out the details of how this plays out on discord some time but I'm not opposed to April having an instant person they dislike on this ship for being able to recognize them lol.

April is not from a stats game so I have no idea where to even start rolling but as I write this I just remembered this is my opt-in post so I think what this means is you're not signing Bash up to be haunted? XD

[serialskiller]

Bash is going to be resistant, ask at the time before pulling shit on him, I think.

[theotherright]

I sure do love my absolutely normal cruise friend, April :)

[winepouring]

Please feel free to haunt Shi Qingxuan's images, it will absolutely unnerve and unsettle him. uvu Especially because he'd love pictures.

[tempingainteasy]

HEY SO trying to write about horrible pictures without any knowledge of a character or their canon is hard, so if you're still interested in this would you mind filling this little chart in real quick? ^^; or summarizing or requesting things, whatever works!
<u><i>What scares your character?</i></u> <b>Image distortions:</b> (i.e., scribbled out eyes, grin too big, feeling like the eyes in the picture are looking at you, etc) <b>Superstitions:</b> (i.e. Particular ghosts, urban legends, unlucky images they'd be creeped out by) <b>Self-image:</b> (i.e. is there a role your character feels pressured to fill, an image they feel they can't perfect? or is there something they're afraid of becoming?) <b>Unwelcome Guests:</b> (i.e. Anyone they would be troubled to see in the background of a photo? Dead or alive? Behaving normally, or is there a way they'd emote/appear that would upset your character?) <b>HARD NO:</b> what YOU THE PLAYER don't want to see/play out a reaction to, ever.

thanks!

[ss_buttcrack]

Spooky icons are A-okay. Also, please haunt the fuck out of my characters (Number 6 but especially Crichton.)

Specifically for Crichton, it might lead to interesting places if April's weirdness stirs up Harvey. This boy has two sets of minds to mess with. Lucky you!

[tempingainteasy]

Well, as you might notice, the pictures with Arthur (and April, because April is there) look kinda like they had an accident during development, a little colour burned or motion blurred, weird janky stuff. Kind of creepy, but like clearly accidental, right? Just kind of a weird thing to happen, right?

ha ha, hey, speaking of Harvey, don't look too close at the background of some of the beach party photos because there's some unfortunate combination of the white sand and twigs or shadows or something that might look like a BDSM face thong in the background of one of them.

But that's just that human tendency to spot patterns that aren't there, y'know? That same thing that makes a sink and two screws look like a smiley face? Yeah, looking close at those pictures there's nothing there at all, it's only in that blur of a passing glance, so there's nothing to worry about.

[ss_buttcrack]

He sure is going to feel SOME KIND OF WAY about those patterns showing up in the pictures. Cool, cool, cool. That's totally fine and normal and not going to drive him closer to insanity. (Prepare to eat well.)

[tempingainteasy]

[konpeito_aji]

Maximum cursed! -- For both Nobunaga and Rose Tyler please.

Nobunaga will FOREVER be in denial. "Nah it's nothing. I just hated my teachers and it's affecting my memory."

Rose will be unnerved etc. (Reverse Cassandra?!)

[tempingainteasy]

HEY SO trying to write about horrible pictures cold has turned out to be a struggle, so if you're still down for any of this for either of your characters, would you mind filling this out for them? ^^; or summarizing, whichever works!
<u><i>What scares your character?</i></u> <b>Image distortions:</b> (i.e., scribbled out eyes, grin too big, feeling like the eyes in the picture are looking at you, etc) <b>Superstitions:</b> (i.e. Particular ghosts, urban legends, unlucky images they'd be creeped out by) <b>Self-image:</b> (i.e. is there a role your character feels pressured to fill, an image they feel they can't perfect? or is there something they're afraid of becoming?) <b>Unwelcome Guests:</b> (i.e. Anyone they would be troubled to see in the background of a photo? Dead or alive? Behaving normally, or is there a way they'd emote/appear that would upset your character?) <b>HARD NO:</b> what YOU THE PLAYER don't want to see/play out a reaction to, ever.

thanks!

Nobunaga Oda cw: tldr: cults, untouchables, genocide, religious hatred, Demon King of 6th Heaven

[konpeito_aji]

What scares your character? Nobunaga is straight up paranoid as FUCK. He is, and has been, under CONSTANT assassination attempts since he was a child, and it got worse, not better, the more power he accumulated. He does fear the fires of hell, but more or less embraces it as a self-defense. He has PTSD, and ANY sudden jumpscare things will cause him to reflexively reach for the gun, swords, or hit the deck. Same with simply being told "get down!" even in a playful manner * (has now been told by Crichton, it means dancing, not threats, still will reflexively react first.) He is always on the offensive, expecting attacks from any/all sources, and even just watching him will make the hair on his neck stand on end and the paranoia to find the source is GREAT. That's a bit exacerbated on Serena Eterna with the ghosts etc. He doesn't fear animals/bugs/spiders EXCEPT he has a sane fear of Lovecraftian deep sea/deep space monsters because krakens, and the like are generally terrifying shit. He fears now losing his soul (wtf he hates knowing he has a soul now lmfao) and becoming a ghost, or not coming back from dying, and his greatest fear is failing his mission. - Which was on Earth to prevent the Ikko Ikki ideals of castes and austerity to spread and he wanted to ensure prosperity for Japan, so seeing WW2 defeating Japan would hurt him (especially the bombing of the wall he built by hand that lasted until then etc.)

Image distortions: EYES FOLLOWING HIM - at his most paranoid, he'd be inclined to scribble on them graffiti style purely because Fuck THAT!

Superstitions: -- THIS IS THE MOST COMPLICATED. OTOH: he spent his whole life trying to show people superstitions are stupid, and not real, OTOH: he is not going to go into full denial of reality and pretend evidence to change his mind doesn't exist just because it means re-assessing his world views. So he is in a 100% state of *flux* in CSA trying to figure out how much is real/not. He reflexively hates religion, has to re-assess "how much" of WHOM was right/wrong. His father was a monk, some of his brothers are monks / though none of them are of the same religion, and he's on great terms with a bunch of European missionaries. However, he still has some severe hatred of Taoism/Buddhism/Confucianism, and esp. wrt castes, and tries to suppress it, hating your enemy is bad. ATM: he just got through a lot of Lovecraft (thanks Natsuno Yuuki!!) and is VERY VERY scared of deep sea / deep space ELDER GODS and madness. Losing his sanity is the biggest, so in general it's "pretty easy" to just make him doubt himself, but otoh again, the more he DOES, the more his back gets pushed to a wall where he gets stubborn and "I've always been insane, I can't get worse," to the point of actually being willing to go with the flow.

Self-image: DEMON KING OF 6TH HEAVEN BWAHAHAHAHAAH -- okay so this is complicated as fuck. 1) You have to know the Buddhist Heavens -- There are 6. 6th Heaven is the top. This is how 7th heaven means going above and beyond into nirvana. Because Tao is obsessed with 7s. Moving on. 2) you have to be born (reincarnated INTO) supreme wealth/power/privilege and the TOP TIER caste. You get this way ostensibly by being SUPER SUPER DUPER pure holy and reincarnating multiple times (however many it takes!) to get better and better. So being born into this royalty status WAS believed to have been a reward for past lives. 3) EXCEPT: Nobunaga, in combination of many factors (personality, possibly having a psychotic break as a child, who can say?) went all in on tearing this apart. He believes and WILL SAY SO: that the teachings about 6th Heaven are PURELY to try to reinforce status quo, it helps NO ONE, it tries to teach the royalty to be submissive and fear losing their positions rather than HELP people and raise them out of it, and indeed, enforces the untouchable status as a means of "Don't step out of line or you'll be like THEM. He tries not to hate. He hates this. Hatred is the most demonic thing you can be. Ergo... (he's a demon KING)
- When fighting the Ikkou Ikki (a Buddhist cult led by Kennyo see below) Nobunaga called for their surrender to try to save as many lives as possible. Instead they took to calling him the Demon King of 6th Heaven, and doubled their efforts to fight back against Nobunaga. They believe in austerity, piety, A] NOT Production! B] NO: Wealth / materialism C] They believe starvation is literally good because then you will definitely be imitating Buddha and able to ascend through the heavens really fast! - One meal of plain rice and tea was enough for Buddha, be like him and ffs definitely don't eat CANDY (Nobunaga wants a Japan so prosperous anyone can have as much candy as they want) or drink alcohol HOW WASTEFUL AND BAD D] CASTES E] FATE/DESTINY F] NOT art/music/love of life G] Be only one role (ie: soldier/farmer) and don't cross the streams EVER AT ALL. Experimenting with FUN SHIT? NO! BANNED.
- || So while they started calling Nobunaga the Demon King of 6th Heaven to rile up their own side and try to convince the people "He's Buddhist Satan, be the exact opposite" Nobunaga leaned in SO HARD on this, he accidentally convinced himself he has literally turned into the Demon King, and more than just "rolling with it" he started going even harder in on being the super villain of the story of his own life (wtf he's so weird, I'm sorry) and embodying what he wanted others to do to fight back against religion.

I said superstitions was the most complicated, and it is, but bear with me, because it's a big part of where the identity thing gets fucky.

- Oichi (see below) and others (even KENNYO) have tried to save Nobunaga from idk. Himself. Ish. "Save his soul." (see above, he hates knowing that souls is actually a fucking real thing.) He LITERALLY SAYS IN CANON: the dead cultists were a blood offering to call him forth as the Demon King. VERY NORMAL SHIT. He has MIXED FEELINGS about all of this. He always does, he always WILL. It's no simple thing to resolve. Usually he leans in extra on "I know what it means, no one else has to," but VERY smart people who try to understand it, do throw him off (he expects fear & hate not understanding, but does WANT it). So then he thinks more and more about it and creates a self-questioning spiral about what it means, especially when it's not in furtherance of his goals (after all: defeating the Ikko Ikki = CHECKMARK DONE. FUCK THOSE GUYS.)

- Identity Crisis: so he leans INTO being evil, unrepentant, demonic, all things supervillain. But in reality, he's just a very chuuni WEIRDO who got emotionally stunted twice. 1) when he was 6 and was in his first war battle with his father (they were ambushed, his Mom was pissed), 2) Again at 13 when his Dad died and he had to become clan leader and fight a war against his brothers + Uncle. He spared his brother at his Mom's request and then his brother tried to kill him and overthrow him AGAIN so after that he killed his brother, and exiled his mother. Instead of breaking, he just sort of... mentally broke. And decided "Why yes, I AM a super awful monster, thank you for noticing!" But he doesn't seek farming hatred, or constant 24/7 murder/genocide, he wanted peace, he hates war. HATES war. Hates hate lol. okay. // AS BEST as he can comprehend it; there's the childhood version of himself that others called "Baka-Dono no Owari" or Fool Lord of Owari. Like village idiot, for the whole country. Yeah. This is the him that is super enthusiastic gusto (chuuni) and loves sugar and life and exploring (his dream) -- and it's been at war indefinitely since he was 13 with the Demon King of 6th Heaven in a literal battle for his soul. Maybe. MAYBE. Both sides are disinclined to be subservient, respectful, pure, polite, reasonable, austere, and anything less than "EVERYTHING TO THE MAX AND THEN SOME MORE." So all the teachings about religion and how to preserve his soul... RIP? Because he's not going to stop being himself. He can't. Also fuck that? SO HE'S JUST DAMNED. GREAT. Not really loving the fear of Hell, and how does he fight Hell again without just doing the subservient thing? HMMMM. ++ Stubbornness is a literal Demon King of 6th Heaven TRAIT. He HAS to be the most stubborn EVVVVVVVER. OF ALL TIME. OR else who/what is he?? SO NO. HE WON'T STOP BEING STUBBORN. COME FIGHT HIM GOD(S)!

He gets tripped up when people see him as the opposite of the Demon King. Cute. Konpeito. Anything fucking soft. Powerless lol. Blushy fucking moe // He HAS to be competent, USED TO have to be powerful; whatever the cost in order to GET SHIT DONE, there's a lowkey phobia that he's just a squishy lobster inside of his tough armor shell and that if you crack him open and boil him just right, he's not that deadly/poisonous at all. (he would straight up laugh if his own pictures are replaced with a lobster version of himself though) OTOH: He also fears losing his soul to becoming DEMON KING or whatever, and does not want to be a ghost. All of this is part of his trying to understand what's real/superstition/leaning too hard into the method acting oops. // Seeing him as cute/blushy/not as tough as he acts, knowing he IS scared somewhere under all the constant bravado and DEMON KING and murder-stabby-shooty-pinchy-lobster DOES make him embody that side more, for the same reason seeing him as Demon King makes him lean into it. He just shows people himself, via course of actions, and lets them define it for him, which gets weird. (I AM SURE APRIL UNDERSTANDS THAT BETTER THAN HIM LMFAO)


Unwelcome Guests: Kennyo Kosa is always in the back of Nobunaga's mind on certain Demon King & cult leader topics (which comes up a lot more than you'd think on the ship). He's supposed to be dead, but spoilers: isn't.
- April being called Sensei by Nobunaga also occasionally reminds him of Masahide Hirate his tutor who killed himself to shock sense/guilt into Nobunaga. This has an additional effect of Nobunaga just worrying he's imagining/fearing the tutor, and has had none ever since. -- disambiguation: in IkeSen Nobunaga's father died when Nobunaga was 13, before he was married to Kichou, though Masahide still killed himself out of protest/shame for Nobunaga's actions at Nobuhide's funeral.
- Oichi is his baby sister younger by about 13 years to the dot, so he practically raised her, ESPECIALLY after warring with his brother and uncle (seeing bro and/or uncle wouldn't affect him because he'd just ignore it 100%) Nobunaga exiled his mother Gozen to religious retreat so that Gozen wouldn't get caught up with the rest of the war(s) for Japan. (Seeing his Mom won't bother him much more than a "that's weird.") He MOST DOES NOT WANT Oichi on board, and can't stop thinking about her either, because others accidentally bring her up a lot, and it's the closest he has to resembling regret, especially knowing he'll never see her again (this version) and still NOT WANTING HER AROUND. IkeSen version doesn't marry Nagamasu, and Pokemon Conquest probably has the closest to how she is in his head/heart. Very cute, sweet, stereotypical princess, and he always feels powerless against her. He'd still murder her or anyone wearing her face, probably, but seeing her trapped on the ship but only in photos esp. when he can't find her FOR REAL would bother him ENDLESSLY.

HARD NO: Dolls please! Can't deal lol thanks! (Figurines/plushies are fine.)

Rose Tyler (in which it's obvious I play her for being the opposite of Oda)

[bigbadrose]

What scares your character? Being left behind/forgotten. THIS IS KIND OF HAPPENING. So I might update her to just fearing the Doctor turning into a monster/hard which was my original intention oops. || DALEKS + Cybermen + Krillitane + Time Paradoxes
Image distortions: just the uneasy feeling she can't figure out, that she's missing something OBVIOUS and if only ~the Doctor~ were here he'd know what's wrong etc.
Superstitions: BAD WOLF
Self-image: Rose wants to be cute, strong, and badass. She gets annoyed with constantly having been in positions of minimum wage + unskilled labor and being dismissed as incapable of helping.
She has a love-hate with her Bad Wolf self (see above) due to its broad implications. It was something she literally did to herself, but it KILLED THE DOCTOR, and possibly worse things, and it makes her a magnet to villains who can sense it sometimes, (werewolves in particular) and has no practical useful application since she has no control/will over it at all. "Trust yourself" yeah ok whatever. BUT WHAT IF NO? Because what if someone else just tries to trick her with it? So NO.
Unwelcome Guests: Cassandra might fuck her up the most lmfao. TBF Wouldn't you be weirded out too?!
HARD NO: DOLLS please no, and thank you!

[inhairently]

What scares your character?
Image distortions: Literally any kind of image distortions would freak him out or at the very least unsettle him
Superstitions: Nothing like that. He would find electrical disturbances creepy/unsettling.
Self-image: On the surface he's a really confident guy but he's dealing with graduating, failing to get accepted to any colleges or even tech school, getting cut off from his parents' funds, working a dead-end job, and generally having a bad time. He's getting a touch of the "maybe i peaked in high school" itis.
Unwelcome Guests: No particular people he'd be troubled to see, per se, but if he saw his friends (who are regular ol humans) but wrong that would disturb him, if that makes sense
HARD NO: nothing in particular!

[tempingainteasy]

Excellent!

"good" news for Steve offhand, there's definitely pictures from his first day on the ship where he was lurking in the ice cream store, only he's in his uniform and maybe does he look older? nah it's just the picture quality.

Also, there's a few pictures after his fun times sailing into the void where his image looks grainier than everyone else in the image. weirdly specific error, huh?

That's it for now, we'll see what happens when the october dust settles

[firewalled]

For Omori!
What scares your character? The truth of his sister's death. Heights, spiders, and drowning. Long hair. Something watching him.
Image distortions: He wouldn't particularly be scared, but similar images of eyes and mouths being blacked out or entirely blank faces like what we see in game may concern him.
Superstitions: Not particularly!
Self-image: Omori is afraid of becoming a (visible) monster, seen in the section marked "Fear Polaroids". He has a role to fulfill as Sunny's defender and as the god of Headspace, and he's done terrible things to several people (including killing multiple copies of his friends and resetting the world dozens of times over) to ensure his success. He already knows he's a monster, but he's afraid of everyone else seeing it.
Unwelcome Guests: Mari and Basil particularly would upset him. Basil having red eyes or being a shadow, and Mari having a twisted neck, long tangled hair, or otherwise looking like she did at the time of her death would be almost too much for him.
HARD NO: Can't really think of anything in Omori's canon that I'd like to avoid!

And for Rich:
What scares your character? Fire, androids. Electric shocks, and the loss of control.
Image distortions: Smiles that are too wide, or have something else off of them. Glowing eyes, particularly if they're blue. Circuitry imagery.
Superstitions: Something about 'step on a crack, break your mother's back' always got him.
Self-image: Rich has an obsession with his strength. He's afraid of appearing weak or worthless, so anything related to his strength will get to him.
Unwelcome Guests: His mom, particularly if she's transparent or has a sort of glow to her.
HARD NO: Probably anything to do with Rich's Gender issues would be best avoided! Also nothing sexual. I doubt it'd come up, but downplaying Rich's abuse in canon probably wouldn't be great either.

[takethatnature]

What scares your character? Animate shadows, the idea that some things are truly unknowable and unquantifiable, big aggressive dogs or wolves especially if they're twisted into a not-quite-doglike shape, losing his mind permanently, some of the more dangerous animals and monsters from the Constant like spider monkeys, depths worms, Clockwork Bishops or the Dragonfly - also the tactile sensation of being immobilised, grabbed or picked up, but it'd be challenging to incorporate that one into a photo. He doesn't like spiders either, but it has to be either a huge swarm of them or one spider as big as a horse to really scare him these days.
Image distortions: Black scleras, his eyes reflecting light in the dark, a full set of pointy teeth, clawed fingers, his hair forming into shadowy grasping hands or flamelike shapes, dark stains down his fingers and arms if they're exposed (dealer's choice of smooth gradient or concentrated along the veins), black markings on his face, distorted proportions and his body appearing to merge with his clothes. These are all things to stick on Wilson's image specifically, you can just generally go nuts with the creepy faces on other people in the picture.
Superstitions: He doesn't adhere to any specific superstitions, though he's nowhere near as perfectly rational as he thinks he is.
Self-image: His idea of himself as a brilliant scientist is poorly substantiated and he's really insecure about it beneath a veneer of confidence. Also, unrelatedly, he doesn't want to turn into Maxwell 2.0 and become an evil shadow sorcerer.
Unwelcome Guests: Glowing white eyes in the darkness, any of these guys, the rest of the monsters I singled out in the first section
HARD NO: idk, child abuse I suppose?

[tempingainteasy]

Merry Belated Christmas, Wilson! We recommend you don't look too closely in the shadows of the pictures from the winter resort, especially if you hung out near a fireplace at any point. Sure, it's likely that it's just a bundle of pine needles casting that shadow and not the hair of a Shadow Watcher or anything like that. It's just the poor lighting or inexplicable use of flash that's made the shadows of the curtains in the background take the shape of Mr. Skitts. And the little pale flecks in those shadows are probably just damage on the photo itself! weird that it happens in pairs, though. None of the shadows are blatantly, magically dark, they're about as dark or dim as you'd expect normal shadows to be, it's just the shape that seems a little odd.

It's really funny, isn't it, how quickly human minds latch onto patterns, whether or not they're really there. Looking too closely at the picture doesn't make it any clearer whether those are real or just misinterpretation... So that's probably the latter then, right? Yeah.

[takethatnature]

Haha, yeah, probably!

[tempingainteasy]

Nothing to worry about! (seriously though use these whenever feel appropriate for whatever you're up to with Wilson, i just finally got around to this today lol)

[takethatnature]

😎👍

[astrogator]

Hi! Just found this after I was looking up April info to reply to your tag :D it might never come up depending on how their CR goes, but here we are for future reference anyway just in case.

Definitely okay with weird faces in icons.

For Ari:

What scares your character? 'Space sickness' or going insane, hallucinations, loss of control, imprisonment, scary authoritarian governments.
Image distortions: Seeing L-space distortions in normal space (basically Lovecraftian 'the geometry is wrong!' stuff), facial features that are only slightly unnervingly uncanny valley-style wrong so it's harder for her to dismiss as photo editing.
Superstitions: She'd say she isn't superstitious personally, but culturally - unknown monsters lurking in the deepest black of space, probability distortions that cause repeated misfortune, cursed starships, ghostly starships, a lone (insane) person awake on a ship with everyone in cryosleep, being 'shareholder 27', number 27 in general but especially associated with anything corporate.
Self-image: She wants to be seen as a capable and determined starship officer. She's afraid of losing herself on the Serena Eterna, of giving up and accepting the idea of never leaving - although I don't want to make her believe this will actually happen to her as the effects on her long-term mental health would be too tough to play out. The idea of endless sensory deprivation in the Nothing seriously terrifies her.
Unwelcome Guests: Frozen corpses from space, especially if they're wearing Tradeline uniforms like hers. People who are currently dead or alive, either is freaky, let me know if you ever want a name.
HARD NO: Images where Ari herself is the one with a distorted face - too close to body horror for me to want to play out! I can't think of anything else likely to come up.
Notes: Ari never looks at the images in Photos At Sea, so pictures on April's (or someone else's) phone are the best way to get to her with this. Also I don't know how April gets the fear knowledge to make the images, but a couple of months back Ari got a mental block ability that blocks all empathic/telepathic type powers from being used on her. April could have information dating from before then if it's something like that, however!