quaranmeme | MISTLEGLOW: a kissing meme

Entry tags:

!mod meme: holiday

MISTLEGLOW: a kissing meme

mistleglow: a kissing meme

Some residents may remember that back in September, a love-drunk and confusion-spell-addled newlywed mage from Gramarye Magic Research let loose some pretty little fairy lights that trapped people in the city in little invisible bubbles until they kissed (and any kind of kiss would do). Well, the same slightly-less-newlywed but no less romantically-inclined mage happens to really, really enjoy the winter season, and thinks it's totally romantic. That particular sentiment is pretty common in the Quarantine - while Hygge is the celebration of familial love, the residents of the Quarantine all agree that that family often includes partners and lovers. Besides that, the folklore of mistletoe as being representative of love and friendship is something that the Quarantine has in common with the universes many residents inhabit.

So, as the last week and a half of December rolls around, residents around the Quarantine will see the result of the resident romantic trying to share a bit of Hygge love - small, glowing sprigs of mistletoe will be floating around the Quarantine, ready to trap people up and make them share a bit of affection.

how it works

● Two or more characters walking under one of these glowing, floating sprigs will get stuck for one hour, trapped inside an invisible enclosure with an approximate three foot radius. The only options are to either wait out the hour, or to kiss! Characters will know they're meant to kiss, because part of the magic spell is the sudden and intense knowledge that they should kiss in order to break free. There is no compulsion to kiss, just the knowledge that that's how to get free. This time, instead of any kind of kiss working, there will be different types of kisses that will work to release the trapped residents depending on the color of mistleglow:

RED: MOUTH ● ORANGE: NECK ● YELLOW: CHEEK
GREEN: FOREHEAD ● BLUE: HAND ● VIOLET: BUTTERFLY

Trapped residents will not know what kind of kiss will work for each color and may have to experiment before finding the right one.

● Post up a top-level for your character with the types of kisses you're interested in threading out, and then go forth and have your character kiss (or refuse to kiss) others!
● This meme is for characters already accepted into the game to play with the mistleglow prompt from this month's test drive meme. If your character is not yet accepted into the game, please use the TDM post!
● This meme is GAME CANON, so any threads played out in this meme can be carried through into the actual canon of the game.
● Much like the TDM, threads on this meme can count for Activity Points, but not the monthly Activity Check.

header image is from santa's factory by Clement Danveau

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Deal with the coat, Lola. It's better than freezing to death. It's better than starving to death.]

Well, that's not happening, so we're stuck here. We can count down the minutes if you like.

[Sarcasm, thy name is Rey.]

Maybe it wasn't the right type of kiss? [Like she's one to talk, she's only kissed....

Well, she's only kissed Lola, and that was a peck on the cheek. Whatever.]

Or maybe it's a different type of plant, who knows.

And when I'm out tomorrow I'll bring a heavier coat.

*It isn't Lola's fault someone is doing stupid nonsense with magic again. Lola's clearly in a mood cause her hair got a little darker with that, it's still pink but getting closer to red.*

If we have to try different kisses in different places this'll get all weird. And I'm trying to avoid that. As much as I can.

Plus it'd take a while to try all the different kisses people regularly do with other people.

[ Not her fault, but Lola should have donned a heavier coat to begin with. ]

Did your hair always do that? Change colors?

[ Something else to focus on because mentioning other kisses in other areas made Rey stiffen. ]

No, it’s already weird enough and I’d rather not try anything else. We can stand here and just....talk.

I got it done here, back last spring. Not sure if it's the weather or my emotions that have it acting all funny.

*Lola takes a breath and tries to calm herself down a bit. Her hair settles into a nice ice blue instead of her usual richer blue.*

Why is it already weird?

No, just curious. It looks fine.

[It feels like Lola is always concerned about her looks. As though she has to look good all the time. Why was that a priority for her, Rey will never know.]

Haven't seen your hair do that before, so ....there.

It takes a little focus to keep it settled into one color. Otherwise it listens to my subconscious and she doesn't care what I'm wearing.

*Because looking good is important. Which explains why Lola's wearing just the right amount of make-up and looking her best all the time.*

Well, normally I'm a little more focused. Or a little less... unsure about stuff.

Why is so important for you to care what others think?

[Why is looking good important? It's something Rey cannot wrap her head around at all. If she has food, if she has shelter, and some clothes, then that's fine. Anything else was a bonus. Yet, for Lola...does she plan out every single thing about herself?]

I mean, you look fine. [Granted, she is wearing Rey's heavier coat and looks childish, but it's better than being dead.]

The person people see is still a part of you, even if a lot of people try to pretend it doesn't matter. And I care about all of me, even the parts people call silly or pointless.

*Lola could not see the world through a lens where appearance didn't matter. What people saw defined you more than anyone wanted to admit, Lola didn't have this problem. She didn't like being seen as someone other than herself, and she knew who she was, more or less.*

I look like a ten year old in her older sister's coat. But since being out here isn't my choice, I'll deal until I can get to my bike.

[Appearances could be very misleading, at least that's what Rey learned during her time on Jakku. The sentiment held true for her, when people underestimated her, thinking she was weak, and she used it to her advantage.

It's not that she sees Lola as silly or pointless--okay maybe a lot of pointless, but rather shallow. But if this is how she wants to be, then that was on her. ]

You look like you're warm, you're well fed, and you're taken care of. That's what you look like.

[Take it from the orphan girl, Lola. It's a big compliment.]

*There's a brief moment of confusion on Lola's face. Trying to turn that into a meaning, something that goes with what she's seeing. Rey is strong but not... well maintained. She's pretty but not because she tries to be or anything.*

Oh, you're from one of those places where everything tries to kill you. Survival is a very low bar, there's so much more to the world than just 'nothing has killed me yet.'

Maybe I'm a little greedy, but I wanna be happy.

[ Rey has to take a moment to figure out if Lola’s tone is dismissive or not. She doesn’t know the girl too well, so aren’t does have to gauge her carefully. ]

Exactly, more to the world than caring what others think as long as you can survive and protect those you care about.

[ ...greedy isn’t the word she’d use but okay. ]

There’s a difference between needing things to be happy and simply being happy.

*It was a little dismissive, but more about putting a puzzle together. Lola should just assume she's the exception, not the rule. But it always takes her a little while to realize when someone is a survivalist and not someone like her.*

It isn't about things, well... a little, but in that way what you can do with things. I don't do well alone, I like people. I wouldn't be happy if I were ever alone.

So the things matter because I can use them to help others, make things better for them. Even if I can't do much but look nice and smile.

[Rey was trying to grasp what Lola was saying, but it wasn't making much sense to her. Lola thought by looking nice and smiling, she could make others feel better? That train of thought didn't really lead anywhere]

....Right.

[Oh heavens...this was going to be a long fifty five minute wait for this to end.]

*Lola sighed and considered for a moment. She wasn't doing a good job. Explaining herself wasn't her thing. Not... really. Especially not when she was already annoyed at things.*

I don't fight, I'm not a doctor, I can't build anything amazing or figure out how to fix this city. Get anyone home. I'm a dumb girl from a cushy life with a dad that loves her. I can cook, and I can try to make people feel better.

I haven't had as hard a life as anyone, so all I can hope to do is find ways to help people calm down, feel better, and try to be happy. But what's good about making others feel better if I can't do anything for myself. Looking good, looking like I want, helps me. And I hope that looking like I know what I'm doing means when I talk to someone else, try to help them... they listen.

What's the good of survival alone? Without happiness to make surviving worth anything?

You're not dumb.

[The words easily slip out of her lips, finding herself believing those words even though she barely knows Lola.]

You know what you're doing when it comes to cooking. You're not dumb.

[It's a stupid thing to be passionate about, but Lola has potential. She isn't stupid, naive maybe, but not stupid. Rey can see that. To hear her on things like believing she could make people feel better by looking good herself...it doesn't make sense.]

That's the thing about survival, you focus on making it to another day. Your happiness comes second. You can't be happy or experience happiness if you're dead.

[A harsh way to put it, but someone had to give Lola that perspective.]

*Lola isn't too bothered one way or another being dumb, so while it's nice trying to cheer up Lola's self-image, but she doesn't need it. So it doesn't get her focus.*

I do get that, that you have to not die first. Or save your loved ones, or the galaxy. But from what I've seen everyone seems stuck, in that mode. They don't really seem to realize that most of the time things here are just... annoying, not life or death.

How to really enjoy being here, even if it isn't where you want to be. Try new things, try to find something fun and simple and good for themselves.

...Not here here, I mean the city. The forced kissing strangers thing is super annoying and really not very fun. Especially when some strangers are hugely inappropriate or scary. And when the weather isn't really outdoorsy weather.

[Rey wants to say something, to tell Lola that this thing, this setting, was temporary. It could change at any moment. They could have to scour for food, or prepare to defend their homes. It's not something that could easily be turned on or off, like the flip of a switch.

But...she would be wasting her breath.]

Of course not here, but we have another... [She's counting the minutes in her head.] Forty-five or forty minutes left of this.

Let's simply focusing on the remaining time and hope it goes by quickly.

Well... what do you want to do?

*Lola tilted her head, confused. She leaned back against the barrier.*

You realize if we focus on the time it'll just feel longer right? So it'd be better if you pick something and we can kinda run with it.

We can't really do anything.

[Hence the barrier. They were in a small area and just...what could they do except talk or stand in silence?]

Pick what exactly? There isn't much we have in common....

[Just pick anything, Rey. Anything that could help pass the time...]

What's your world like?

Well, the part I live in is peaceful? Like, there's crime and people trying to take advantage of others, but for the most part people are good, and things are alright. There's racism and hatred but nobody seems to let it win, most of the time anyway.

*Lola always feels a little lame being asked this, partly because she still views her world as 'normal' and everyone else's worlds as crazy nonsense. Partly because she sucks at politics and keeping up with world events when she could watch fashion vlogs and look at the latest make-up tutorials online.*

Other parts of the world are all horrible and bad. But nothing to the scale people coming here seem to say. No galactic evils or really obvious bad guys. Just a lot of... complicated politics stuff. I spend my day at school, my afternoons working at my father's restaurant, or hanging out with my friends. Talking about boys we like or about things to do together.

I've never learned to fight, it never came up. Never seen anyone die or had to do anything I regret. My world isn't that interesting.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

MISTLEGLOW: a kissing meme

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject