Event Log: A Jar Full of Sunshine

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The Jar Full of Sunshine event
Where: Throughout the city
When: May 3rd-May 9th
Warnings: Fireflies as a conduit for drug use. Annoyingly catchy songs.

On May 3rd, you may wake up and notice that something is different about the cave. Are you sure it's the daytime? Maybe you didn't sleep long enough, because it still seems pretty dark outside. Or, of course, the gods are messing with the lights again.

This time, however, it seems like it's actually a good thing. Sometime around the afternoon, some smaller lights begin to appear around the city, trickling in from Delight's temple and flickering on and off. These fireflies are brighter than what you might be used to, but being illuminated by their light will mysteriously allow a small surge of joy to rumble through you.

By May 4th, the shops are stocked with large mason jars, and you can start distributing them and using them to catch these fireflies as you wish. They're most concentrated in and around Delight's temple, but by now, the delight-erflies are pretty fairly spread throughout the city.

Be careful (or don't) of how many you catch! 1-3 fireflies in a jar will be enough to give you a mild emotional boost, at 4-6 you might be able to realize that you're definitely happier than you used to be, at 7-10, you can definitely tell that something is making you more cheerful, warm and happy. Beyond 10 fireflies, the additional effect gets smaller the more fireflies you capture, but it will still continue to build until you may just spend the next few days wrapped around your firefly jar in a pleasantly drugged stupor.

Just, uh... don't forget to eat.

► This log covers May 3rd-May 9th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► Did you OD on fireflies (is that even possible)? Please remember to hit up our death post!

Comments

[whichend]

[ She's glad she gets to see Newt again, at least. She'd kept a low profile once everyone started trying to kill each other, moving from place to place, only really coming out at night.

Bastards? That's a harsh word to use on a firefly -- they're irritating, sure, and part of a larger problem, but Arya wouldn't go so far as to call them that. Besides, the term bastard, especially the way Newt is using it, has never been her favorite. ]

They're certainly naive. Gathering them up because they like how it makes them feel, but not remembering why it makes them feel the way they do. Forced happiness isn't any less dangerous than forced fear or rage.

[krangke]

(Maybe it was a little harsh. But this was something that hit a little close to home for Newt, like picking at the scab of a recently made wound, and he wasn't above being a little nasty about it. At least he's a oblivious to what a 'bastard' traditionally meant.)

No, it isn't. Doubt you'd be able to convince anyone of that though.

[whichend]

[ Arya shrugs. ]

I do not know if I would want to. There may not be a way to truly believe that, other than the hard way.

[ Arya's lived the hard way, and so has Newt. She figures he wouldn't want to wish that on anyone else. ]

[krangke]

That's true.

(Newt relaxed some after that, his eyes following after a nearby girl holding a jar of fireflies close to her face.)

I guess nothing can be done about it then.

(He thinks about how recently so many of these people had been out seeking blood. That's when he realizes- Arya had probably been one of those people. He had been and so had Peter. What stopped her from being impacted by Rage's scheme. He turns to face her, hands shoved into his pockets.)

Hey.

(He reaches out with his foot to lightly poke into hers in a small gesture.)

How have you been? I mean...That whole thing a while ago with everyone out for everyone's blood. That was intense.

[whichend]

[ Arya shrugs, watching the same girl. Unbidden, a pang of jealousy seems to strike her, and Arya realizes how much she'd like to enjoy the fireflies. She distantly remembers being carefree like that, once. But once a person has opened their eyes to what the world is really like, it's hard to shut them again.

Arya pokes Newt's foot back and snorts a little. ]

I suppose it was intense, although Westeros was a lot like that. I just kept moving and hidden. I am sorry I could not come see you.

[ A beat. ]

Did you -- [ kill anyone? Try to? ]

[krangke]

My world's human hunting went down a little different. Mostly just got ganged up on.

(Private assassinations were a luxury. Madness was the typical weapon of murder from his world. Whether it be a madness in the brain or a madness for power.)

Pff. Don't apologize for that. You had to take care of yourself. Besides, it was weird. Everyone seemed to have different targets and I would have never forgiven myself if I had wanted to hurt you.

(Oddly enough, that's what had horrified him the most that entire thing.

He pauses himself and stares ahead again, frowning.)

I wanted to. But I didn't. I thought. I thought I was getting sick again and that scared me right out of my head and I ran away before I could. But god did I want to.

(He chews at his lower lip, frowning.)

Did you?

[whichend]

That happens in mine, too.

[ Arya thinks of Syrio, one of the few people who had seen Arya as herself, and no one else. He's been ganged up on several of Cersei's knights, swords and armor and all. He had nothing but a stick to defend himself, and in the end, he couldn't fight them all off. ]

I never found my target. I hope it wasn't you, you wouldn't make a very good killer at all.

[ She wants Newt to know that that's simply true -- disease or not. Arya leans in, and then turns her body to give Newt a full- blown hug, squeezing as tight as her little body can. She pulls away slowly at Newt's question, and he can probably tell the answer by the way she doesn't look him in the eye. ]

Yes.

[ And what's worse, he was by no means the first. ]

[krangke]

(No one ever could in situations like that, it seemed. There were just too many people and no one could actually outrun death in numbers.

He smiles mildly at Arya and bows his head in silent appreciation. She's never seen him sick but then again, no one here has. It's something that might make one change their tune about him but from her tone, he understands that she means overall.

Newt really likes to think so too.)

I don't know. Another girl had me as her target. So maybe it wasn't me.

(The girl had been harmless enough. And he didn't hate her for it.)

For what it's worth, I don't think killing suits you either.

(Though she may be skilled at it, Newt always felt like he could see this gentle sort of creature buried inside of Arya. Somewhere where she struggled most with herself, maybe, and it came in the shape of how she hugged him. No, Newt thought, she wasn't a very good killer at all. He wraps his arms around her and gives her a squeeze right on back. It's been way too long since he's last seen her.)

That's okay.

(This is one instance where she shouldn't feel bad. She really, really shouldn't. He rests his hand against the side of her head to tip it up.)

Seriously. It's fine. Sometimes we need to kill people. If you get no joy from it then it's okay.

[whichend]

[ Arya can meet Newt's eyes at his last sentence. It's not joy she gets from it, necessarily, but she would be lying if killing was completely without a reward. There's a certain satisfaction that comes from it, a hollow sort, but exists all the same. Pride that the people who hurt her cant touch her anymore, happiness that justice has been done.

She wants to make them pay, and she knows how horrible that must sound to Newt. Arya has accepted the fact that she's a murderer, but she doesn't want anyone else to know that. She doesn't want anyone to judge her, even though she knows they probably should. She's not good enough for Newt, never has been. ]

Sometimes we need to.

[ Arya whispers, low and guilty and barely audible. ]

[krangke]

(Satisfaction, Newt thinks, is a good deal different from enjoyment. He could understand the satisfaction. If you were going to kill someone, it was always a relief to know when their heart stopped beating. And there was a certain happiness in the justice being paid, the sanctuary that death can provide. He understood that too. He understood that well.

So no, it doesn't sound horrible. Not when Newt wanted those people in the lab dead. Not when he wanted the Rat Man dead. There were plenty of people he wanted dead. He wouldn't judge her. Not when he's got the same feelings pumping in his own heart.)

Yes, sometimes we do.

(He confirms this without a flicker of hesitance.

He's had to put boys down before. He's done worse than just kill boys. People thought he was gentle, sweet. That he was all good. But really, if Arya thought she was tainted, then he was just as bad. He's given boys an execution sentence before back in the Glade. He's collared them up and shoved them out into the Maze to be killed by the Grievers. He reaches his hands out and grasps her shoulders. He hears that tone of guilt.

He lowers down to her level, eyes serious.)

We do things we have to to survive. We do things because they feel right. There's nothing wrong with that. You don't kill people just because you pointlessly want to see their blood drain. If you kill people, I can't very well imagine you doing it without a reason. If there's a reason, it's okay. I've killed people before, Arya. Before here. There's blood on my hands too.

[whichend]

[ Arya isn't going to make Newt recount all the people he's killed. That'd be painful for him, and wouldn't help her at all. But it does help her guilt, just a little, to hear that she isn't alone. Newt doesn't know the full extent of what she did. Hopefully, he never does. But he's at least pardoned some of her crimes, in a way. And because of that, Arya's burden is lifted, just a little bit. She smiles. ]

It might be terrible to say this, but I'm glad you came here.

[ She pulls Newt into a tight hug. She's been away for far too long, and it hits her that she's missed Newt. She's never met someone who is so genuinely kind, but understands her, in a way that no one else should, or ever could. ]

[krangke]

(Maybe not but then again, she didn't know the full extent of his own life either. There were still days he worried about her finding out about why his ankle limped. He was worried she'd change her opinion of him and take him to be a coward. One day he wanted to though- if only because she has shared so much with him already. Everyone had their secrets and Newt was no stranger to that. He'd respect hers and in the meantime, take care of her how he could.)

It's really not terrible at all. I'm happy to be here. Happier than I was back home.

(He means that entirely. He hugs her back tightly, tighter than he has previously, like he's locking onto her. It has been way too long since they've last spoken. He's had some rough times though. Leaving the house for a while had been.....very difficult. He smooshes his lips on top of her head in a dramatic kiss, complete with loud 'muuuwah!' sound effects and all and muses up her hair. Big brother style.)

You gotta come around again more often, Arya. Peter and I miss having you around. And I was thinkin' maybe we could start teaching other some things. If I taught you how to wield a spear, could you teach me how to work a sword?