aterat | Story Event

Entry tags:

Story Event - Nomes

Who; Mono and anyone! Open to all!
What; A Network Story and a Log for the event!
Where; All around Aterat!
When; Early August
Warnings; None to start, but if something comes up I will update.
Note; So I'm thinking this could provide some options. The network could be a fun chat story time, the log for after-story experience, or we could mix it up and people could reach out to Mono via the network if they come across Nomes and the log doesn't grab you. You are also totally welcome to do your own thing with Nomes if you want. Also if you want something personal written up, I’m happy to do so! My plotting post is over here

The Mystery of Nomes - Network Video - Open

[ Mono is not known for doing posts on the network on his own unless it’s strictly necessary. Not that he’s anti-social or anything, it’s just that the static feedback caused by his own abilities gets annoying and a bit hard to explain.

However, here he is with a slightly confused little scrunch of his nose. ]

Anyone ever hear of Nomes before? They’re these little things in my world, at least I think so. They’re a little smaller than me, and they got pointed hats that cover their faces… Kinda like those funny capped mushrooms you see sometimes? Or those hats they make kids wear in school when they do bad, I guess.

Um… Anyway, you see them in pictures and stuff around the pale city. But… I think I saw one once, maybe? It’s kinda fuzzy. I think it happened before a long time ago-

[ By which, the boy means a long time ago. Which is odd coming from someone who looks to only be about 12 at best now. But Mono is far older than he looks, and there are so many cycles he’s been through. ]

Back when I was exploring the hunter’s cabin, there was this little guy that hurried out of a drawer I had pulled out. It was really surprising, ‘cause of all the other stuff I saw in the cabin... So I followed it up to a different part of the attic. It made a funny almost squeaking sound. Seemed really scared, but I guess that’s fair since being little is scary sometimes and I’m bigger than them.

Its shadow was kinda weird, though. 'Cause didn’t match the shape of the nome, right? But other than that, it looked just like the picture I saw! Guess you don’t see shadows in drawn pictures unless someone draws them though, so that makes sense.

I dunno if it really happened or not, could’ve just been a dream too, I guess.

[ And the boy falls silent, tugging the brim of his cap a little lower and rubbing at an eye with a sleepy little yawn. ]

Dunno why I remembered them now… But I guess I was just thinking about stuff.

You get Nomes! And you get some Nomes! Nomes for everybody! - Log - Open

Mono hadn’t thought much beyond the weird need to share the story about the Nomes on the network. He put the tell-phone away, took a nap, and then tugged on his mail-carrier cap and grabbed the bag he used to carry the messages for work to head out the door. The boy almost misses the raspy squeak coming from somewhere in his bedroom, but maybe it’s one of the cats… They make funny sounds sometimes!

Plus, he doesn’t want to be late to the delivery service, so he glanced over his shoulder curiously but kept walking. Mono did stop long enough to grab the little lunch Ignis usually had packed on the kitchen counter before hurrying out the door for the day.

What he hadn’t expected, perhaps what no one expected, was that the day would entail far more than carrying mail. Either interrupted by texts asking more questions about the nomes for good reason, or being stopped on the street when someone recognized him and needed help with their newfound guests. “Huh? What do you mean you saw one? They aren’t here, they might not even be real in my world??” He started, but stopped when he realized this was Aterat and just about anything seemed possible here…

So colour the boy curious as he eagerly hurried to follow and see.

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They're...strange looking. In pictures they simply resemble strange little old men with long white beards. [ Which is distinctly not cute, at least in her own personal opinion. There were probably people out there that might see them as such, but Mitsuru was not going to be counted among them. ]

How interesting. Does it cause any sort of harm? [ All it seemed to cause in that moment was mild static. If that was it, then she couldn't imagine why he felt he couldn't talk on the network much.

Oh, wow! That’s really different!! Little old men sound a lot less cute than the nomes I know.

[ So Mono himself agrees, at least without having actually seen one before. The mental image of a little old man with a long beard is definitely less cute than the nomes. ]

Um… Sometimes my powers break things, so it could. I try to be careful, though. [ and Mono was at least reasonably sure the part of his power leak that affected people didn’t actually work here… He thinks. ] I made tvs explode a lot in my world.

Much less cute. Evidently in some areas people put little figures of them in their gardens as well. [ Though she can't really see the appeal of that. ]

It's responsible of you to try to be so careful. Do you not have the ability to control it?

Wonder why they’d do that? To attract real ones? Or maybe to make it look like that place is taken so they don’t try to move in!

[ Mono is only really starting to understand the idea of decorating, so his first thoughts about the whole idea had been what practical use they might have had. ]

Yeah, I guess… I like this place, so I wanna be real careful. [ Certain people thought it might be possible to learn to contain it, but the boy really wasn’t sure that was how it worked. He still tried, of course, because he wanted to make the adults around him happy… But he was less optimistic about it than he was about learning to control the rest of his abilities. ] I dunno if I can control that. Been trying though. I’m getting a lot better at controlling my other powers, just not that part.

I believe it's solely for decoration. Some people find them appealing?

[ Though she can't really imagine why. Or how that makes sense. It seemed more tacky than anything, at least to her. ]

As you should. It can be quite dangerous when one doesn't have control over their own abilities, particularly if they're strong. I take it you're not certain why your abilities cause that static?

Really…? Huh… I guess people really do got all different things they like.

[ Confusing, and weird. But… He guessed that’s why people from other worlds were so interesting to know. Everyone was different instead of all the same. ]

Yeah, it’s weird… I kinda understand a lot of my powers now, but I dunno much about that part of it. It just seems like it’s normal? I can use a toaster okay, but stuff like this gets static when I touch it.

They do, and sometimes it's very odd things.

Do you know where these powers come from? [ She pauses. ] I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't be asking so much.

Yeah, just like old men gnomes. [ He nodded sagely in agreement. ] I like hats.

[ The question gets a little pause before there’s a rise of his shoulders visible behind the static. ]

It’s okay, it’s kinda normal to be curious, right? I dunno how to answer though, ‘cause I’m not sure how I got them. I think I just discovered them one day, but remembering stuff from back then is kinda fuzzy.

Do you? I've never really experimented with them myself. I have a friend who wears a baseball cap fairly often.

[ He seemed unnaturally attacked to it actually ]

That's alright, truthfully it was somewhat the same when I awoken to my own abilities.

Yup! [ Mitsuru, let the small child show you the wonder of hat fashion! ] I got a bunch, some of them are fun to wear and other ones are kinda useful? Like I found a postman hat in an old post office once, now I wear it here while I work!

[ Certified best mail carrier! So professional!!

But he is rather curious to hear that. ]

It’s really confusing when you suddenly can do stuff you couldn’t before, I didn’t know you got abilities too?

I see. Does the hat have some property that makes you work better? [ Said as though she genuinely thinks this could be a possibility ]

That's very true. I was quite young when I came into my own, though I was at least helped by the fact that there were theories about my abilities existing. [ So, that had both helped and hindered her.] I do, they come from my Persona.

Yeah, it makes you feel more professional! Mail people wear uniforms, right? So, an official hat shows you’re a mail person!

[ Sorry, Mitsuru. The short answer to your question was ‘no,’ in the end. Now, of course, he’s curious about Mitsuru and her abilities. ]

What’s a persona?

I see. That does make a good deal of sense actually. [ There was a tiny amused smile on her face as she shook her head. ]

Ah. that's...quite a complicated question really. I suppose I could show you if you'd like?

It does! [ He sounded just a little proud of himself as she agreed with him! ] I guess powers are kinda complicated, especially when you gotta explain them.

[ He only felt half-successful when explaining stuff. He did understand, let alone the stuff he didn’t. ]

But if it’s easier to show, then yeah, I’d like that! But you don’t gotta right away. I know sometimes it’s hard to show powers and stuff if you’re somewhere that it’s dangerous to use them.

That's very true. Trying to explain the nature of my own abilities and where they come from has been something that some people have dedicated their entire lives to. [ Her grandfather was one of those exact people. ]

It will definitely be better to do it in a more open environment with more space. She's quite big.

Wow… People spent that long a time trying to figure it out?

[ If it took that long to figure stuff out, did he ever have any hope of figuring out his own well? ]

Really? How big?

They did and sadly they didn't actually figure that much out.

[ Which was quite impressive really ]

She's quite a bit larger than I am.

Is she really scary then? Or is she nice?

[ Mono definitely had his experience with much larger beings, and they made him nervous. There were still a few people in Aterat he hadn’t even talked to because they made him a bit anxious. ]

Well, she's a part of me. So, a bit of both I guess?

Oh… Hm… You’re not scary, so if she’s scary, I guess she’s not a bad kinda scary?

You know, I've had quite a lot of people tell me I was a bit scary. It's nice to hear someone thinks I'm not.

Really?

[ But Mitsuru wasn’t scary at all, at least not to the boy. He squints and stares for a moment over the network, definitely trying to figure out what people saw that was scary, then shook his head. ]

Nope. I don’t see anything scary about you.

I think you might be one of the first. Even Akihiko has said he finds me scary at times.

That’s kinda weird.

[ Did some people not know what really scary looked like?? ]

Well, I dunno why they do. But you aren’t scary at all to me.

Well, thank you, I suppose. I've never particularly minded being seen as intimidating, but it's nice to know some don't.

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monochromatically - 2023-10-13 10:54 (UTC) - Expand

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