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

[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!