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

[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