FEARbruary 😈

[parrygripp]

🔪THE FEAR MEME 🩸 There are two kinds of fears, rational and irrational. Being afraid of realtors is an irrational fear. — Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events HOW TO PLAY: Comment with your character. In the body of your top-level, your character is forced to admit their biggest, darkest fear. Maybe they assumed no one was listening, or perhaps this is the work of a magical truth serum. Either way, it's out in the open now. Other characters can offer comfort, judgement, or probing psychological questions to delve into the root of this. An especially evil character might look for ways to exploit this newfound information... but you wouldn't do that, would you? Anything involving images, especially spooky images, should be linked and tagged.

Comments

[serperiority]

Oh? Spooky how? [Now, this gets Trip's attention! He's very keen!]

[flatcola]

Well, I don't like a noisy restaurant either, but I have a few friends y'know.

[ Unfortunately.

Those friends are the ones dragging the spooky shit after them. ]

...it... it's kind of delicate to explain.

[serperiority]

Oh... that's good. [Friends, huh...?]

Delicate as in private or delicate as in you think I can't take it? [Is there a slightly ofended tone to that second half? Yes, yes, there is. He can handle it...!]

[flatcola]

I - I don't think explaining it would be too much, no.

[ Which.

Didn't lead to her immediately explaining it. Difficult to gauge where to start. ]

[serperiority]

[The reticence is... interesting. At least, she hadn't really said anything that'd be demeaning or patronizing, so he's calmed down, but he doesn't miss that she still won't tell him.]

... it's fine if you just don't want to. I'm sure you have your own reasons.

[There, see? He can manage some maturity!]

[flatcola]

I don't like reliving it. And it's - there's still a lot that I don't understand. That no one understands.

[ At least he's sensitive enough? ]

It seems to be some kind of force or entity that exists outside of our subjective reality attempting some kind of interaction, but interacting with it changes people. Even before it started exploiting our fears, the first people to discover it...

[ She shivers a little. ]

[serperiority]

... that sounds awful. I'm sorry.

[It kimd of reminded him of his Frillish and his Night Shade attack, trapping the opponent in a nightmare.]

I think I can understand, actually... is it like seeing an illusion or nightmare, exploiting your personal fears...?

Even at Trip's worst, he knew not to take advantage of an opponent's fear to win (well, outside of Night Shade, as it worked thst way on everyone, so it didn't feel as unfair as, for instance, taking advantage of Oshawott's fear of opening his eyes underwater...), so... he treated her kindly, if in a rather aloof way. Trip didn't like to make physical contact, so he couldm't really pat her shoulder despite being the same height as him sans his heels, Kozakura is tiny! or hold her hand... so he just spoke gently.]

[flatcola]

It's physical enough to have to fight. With a weapon.

[ ...she's not admitting to a stranger that she owns a shotgun. ]

It's been using - and this might sound strange - specific kinds of online horror as a basis. Stories of deeply questionable veracity, that people post to bulletin boards anonymously.

Right now there's still something of a chicken-and-egg question with it.

1/2

[serperiority]

... that does sound pretty terrifying.

[Is it wrong that he finds the concept a little exciting? If he could capture and train it... (Trip, not every monster out there is a Pokemon!)]

[serperiority]

If you defeat it, do you think there's any chance you could harness its power? Maybe get it to join forces with you...?

[flatcola]

...no.

[ Sigh. ]

It's too big and abstract for any concept of 'defeat', and if you try to harness it you'll probably wish you only lost your mind entirely.