TDM #11 - Unrestrained Summer Fun [FIRST REPRINT]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette: Summer Issue 2025

We ask that all toplevels include the age of the character (or at least a rough estimate) for TDM posts, to ensure that players both old and new can quickly make informed decisions about how to interact with a given character. We also ask that if someone lists a prompt as having an age preference, that it be respected. This is specifically for TDMs unless otherwise stated. Thank you!

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

6/13/25 | TDM #11 - Unrestrained Summer Fun [First Edition]
Summer Pokémon Types - Fighting, Water, Fire, Dragon

WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW

By Yorick Aberdeen

The crop for which the town is named.

Blessed summer, Pumpkin Hollow! Kora’s season is fully upon us, which means that it’s time for sun, sea, and seasonally appropriate supernatural incidents! (Hopefully less of that last one, but you know how it is around here.) This is also the time of year when we celebrate the anniversary of the very first offworld ferry to arrive in Pumpkin Hollow. We will be forever grateful for the mysterious ferryman and his deliveries of diverse and wonderful new community members. This place certainly is livelier after two whole years!

If you’ve just landed on the island, welcome! You’ve made it just in time for such wonderful summer festivities as the Cucumber Festival and the Summer Solstice celebration on the beach. You may also spot our local summer goddess, Kora of Summer and Sea, around town!

We invite you, as with all those who came before you, to enjoy your stay at the Oak & Iron tavern inn while you settle in. Please stop by Town Hall to discuss opportunities for work and more permanent housing! All newcomers get 100 Brass in their pocket upon arrival as well, so we encourage you to take advantage of this as well. Reach out to your neighbors for help if you need it, and don’t forget to pick up your copy of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette whenever you need the local news!

SUMMER WEATHER REPORT

By Phil Connors

Stunning art of Tawny Beach

Get ready for Nature’s big party! Summer is the season of being a little too cozy with the big fireball in the sky, so it’ll be our longest days and shortest nights yet. The temperatures will mostly be warm and mild, but don’t let your guard down! We’ll still get the occasional heat wave, and summer thunderstorms can roll in fast. Even still, the fauna and flora are lush and alive, and the generally-mild weather and long light means it’s the perfect time to spend all day outside. Go grab your friends and have a party, go on a hike, or spend the day at the beach! Just make sure you bring bathing suits in case things get wet and wild. Yes, to your backyard barbecue too.

UNDERWATER TREASURE HUNT OFFERED BY CALLOWAY'S CURIOS

By Timothy Stoker

An eerie scene.

Toward the end of May, one of our local fishing vessels made a surprising discovery using their on-board dredging equipment. The Mipha’s Grace, operated by Captain Zelda of Hyrule, has been commissioned by local oddities shop Calloway’s Curios for several years to do periodic “dredge days” in search of rare curiosities that may have been lost to the sea. While they often turn up small bits of underwater treasure and unusual objects, even the occasional artefact, it would appear that this most recent dredge has unearthed (unoceaned?) an entire shipwreck at the bottom of the Black Jade Sea.

While Gil Calloway, the owner of Calloway’s Curios, had a professional diver in his employ at one point some time ago, he currently has no such staff to retrieve the items. As such, he has decided instead to turn the shipwreck into a paid attraction. Because that can’t possibly go wrong, can it?

For the low, low price of 100 Brass, you can don a pair of goggles, down a Potion of Water Breathing, and take up a handy harpoon to try your luck at finding sunken treasure in the cracked hull of the Ruthless Advance. You can keep any treasure you find--- or sell it to Calloway. Likely for a fraction of the price he’ll sell the damn thing for later. Try not to die! But if you do, you can always have another go tomorrow.

BLUE ISLAND CRABS MAKE LANDFALL FOR LONGEST HATCHING SEASON ON RECORD

By Melanie King

There's a whole family of them that have knives now.

It's that time of year again, Hollowites: crab season is upon us, and this year it's looking to be a long one. Blue Island Crabs are infesting the island in record numbers, scurrying up from the beach and into your homes. Any open window, door or unbuttoned pocket is an invitation that they will happily exploit so that they can steal your stuff—yes, yours. Height is no barrier to them, they'll stack themselves up like a human tower. So if you think you're safe, think again, and check your locks.

This reporter has lost three styluses and one lunch already, plus keeps having to stop her cat from picking fights he can't win (I think his title gives him illusions of grandeur). If you find yourself being harassed by these pinchy blue menaces—grab a broom or something, you're kind of on your own with this one. Good luck!

THINGS IN PARADESIUM GET WET, WILD, AND WEIRD THIS SUMMER

By Timothy Stoker

In the words of an ancient proverb from this reporter's homeworld: YOLO

Seems we’re full of unusual discoveries this issue of the Gazette! According to a report to the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety from early June, local mine worker Ellen Ripley stumbled upon a new tunnel into Paradesium that led to some unique structures while looking for a secluded cave. (She did not specify to what end she was looking for said seclusion, but it is worth noting that Constable CT, head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, was with her at the time of the report. Do with that information what you will.)

For those unfamiliar, Paradesium is the name of a magical subterranean jungle located beneath Crane’s Ridge that was discovered some time last year. It has already proven to be full of numerous interesting things such as exotic creatures, magical stones, tropical fruit, healing herbs, and ancient ruins once belonging to a long-lost clan of Bedrock Dwarves. It is also home to your beloved neighbor and mine, Emersay the Sphinx. However, this new side entrance seems to house yet-undiscovered features that struck Ripley, 30, as “kind of resort-like”.

Inspectors from the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety, accompanied by a few volunteers with more modern eyes, have investigated the large campus of structures and have determined it to be a water park. This is further supported by the wooden signage at the tunnel entrance, which bears the phrase, “ACTION PARK PARADESIUM.” Apparently, the number of water rides set up there appear to be functional, if not a bit ramshackle, and even have running water that no one has been able to turn off. Safety Board members advise people to stay away from the park, as it is currently not staffed and has yet to be thoroughly inspected for adherence to safety regulations. But they’re also not telling you that you can’t, if you’re feeling adventurous. They don’t have the authority to fire me for saying so. Stay safe!

GIANT WATERMELON CLAIMS MAIN STREET

By Phil Connors

There are worse problems to have, at least.

You’ve probably seen the new addition to the Square by now. Most people have. “Is it real,” you might ask, and the answer is yes: a giant watermelon the size of Town Hall has appeared in the middle of town, here to quote an anonymous member of our staff as “a four-storey sticky-fest.” We’re not really sure what to do with several tonnes of water weight on Pumpkin Hollow’s front porch, but what’s a watermelon good for… except eating?

That’s right, grab your spoons and your scoops! No one’s going hungry for the rest of the season, because we’re chowing down! Some people have even decided on a more creative route: this reporter is looking out of the window of the news station and can see people carefully carving out some melon windows and melon furniture already. Next thing you know, we’re going to have a rival melon radio. Luckily, none of it seems to be going bad, so feel free to keep going until all of it is gone. Please.

INFAMOUS "TURNIP WITCH" NO LONGER AT LARGE

By Yorick Aberdeen

The culprit!

Breaking news! Two years after an infamous curse ruined the 16:53 Cucumber Festival by turning all the cucumbers into turnips, the notorious “Turnip Witch” has at last been identified as Yvette Ovoshchnoy. An extremely prolonged and arduous manhunt had nearly gone cold before mischievous cackling was overheard by the supernaturally acute hearing of Pumpkin Hollow Postal Service employee Kelaiah “Godpoke” Voxx while on their normal mail route. They discovered the home of the trouble-making turnip terror in the side of Crane’s Ridge near the notably dangerous Lake Sal-Co-Penn. Their filing of a request for a formal address to be established for the remote abode with the post office led to an investigation, which uncovered evidence of illegal vegetable magic taking place on the premises. Warrant in hand, the Pumpkin Hollow Constables were finally able to arrest Ovoshchnoy. She is currently awaiting trial for repeated instances of vegetation perpetration, with charges including tampering with community resources, violating magical consumables regulations, and obstruction of town functions.

Further investigation has revealed that Ovoshchnoy, 36, comes from a long line of Ozhivetan farming hedge mages. She is the first of her name to incorporate baneful magic into her family’s traditional practice, however, and immigrated to Pumpkin Hollow before the barrier, apparently on the lam for a massive chickpea heist in Evgiakti. When asked if she had anything to do with the giant watermelon in Town Square, Ovoschnoy made an obscene gesture at the reporter on scene with both hands and a “really wet fart noise,” according to Tim. “Like seriously, it was absolutely disgusting,” he continues. Regardless, justice is served for vegetables everywhere with the so-called Turnip Witch at last in custody.

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Further Details...

Shipwreck
[CW: art of spider-like creature contained in link]

The Wreck of the Ruthless Advance can be found just off the northwest side of the island, near the base of Ripjaw Falls. Rides out that way are available just once per day, in the early morning aboard the Mipha’s Grace. Captain Zelda is a DTNPC, meaning a formerly played character that was converted to an NPC upon drop rather than removed from the game. You may use her in your threads as you deem appropriate.

Once you arrive, the Mipha’s Grace crew will lower you into the water in a dinghy. The wreck’s location is marked by a buoy to which your boat can be anchored with the provided rope. You have a small vial filled with effervescent blue liquid, the color that the sea looks in dreams. Tropical fruit flavored, for your convenience. Down it to gain the ability to breathe underwater, then don your provided waterproof goggles and grab your net bag and harpoon, and descend into the water.

Resting peacefully on the seafloor, the corpse of a massive ship can be found, broken and battered. The side of it still bears its name in intimidating black font. The Ruthless Advance. How long has she slept here?

The interior is vast and dangerous, eerie and devoid of life or even death. No fish nor human remains can be found. Not even a stray bone. But there is hidden treasure, and, for those with worse fortunes, something lurking in the darkness. Something that yearns to be close to you. Something that will never leave you alone. Your new Constant Companion.

Once it latches on to you, the Constant Companion will follow you until you are completely out of the water. Despite its smallness, your boat is safe. You can kill the Companion, but unlike other creatures, it returns to life immediately. You have precisely 90 seconds before it reappears. It is best to flee.

Oh, and try not to get the bends. You are still susceptible to decompression sickness!

Roll a D20 to see how you fare.

20 - You find 1000 Brass! You also find a beautiful piece of jewelry or a vintage but well-crafted metal weapon, seemingly untouched by time.

19-16 - You find five bits of pretty treasure in good condition, which can be kept or sold to Gil Calloway for 100B each. You don’t have to sell all of it.

15-14 - You find a small, handheld item from your homeworld. It is waterlogged and crusted with salt, but not so damaged that it can’t be salvaged with some care. The item should be non-magical or have a small, simple, just-for-fun magic. If it is a weapon, it can’t be longer than your forearm. Otherwise, it’s up to you.

13-10 - You find 200B and a really cool seashell. You doubled your money and came away with a souvenir!

9-5 - You found some interesting junk. It’s not worth anything. But it’s pretty cool. Flip a coin to determine if you encounter the Constant Companion (heads no, tails yes) or decide for yourself if you’d like to!

4-2 - You found 500b worth of treasure, but you also found the Constant Companion. You may lose some or all of your treasure in your escape attempt!

1 - You found nothing but danger. You do not survive your encounter with the Constant Companion and spend the rest of the day as a ghost. However, when you return to life the following morning, you wake up on the beach, inexplicably finding yourself with a prize of your choice from those listed above! (If you choose the 20 prize, the amount of Brass is halved to 500, but you can still have the jewelry or weapon.)

Each character may only OOCly pay the 100B for a dive and claim a prize once per release of this TDM (3 times in total if present for all three months it runs), but ICly they can go multiple times if the player wants. Divers are strongly encouraged to go in pairs, and pairs of divers can roll once for a prize they both get (does not need to be split) or roll per diver for different prizes. Good luck!

Action Park

Welcome to Action Park Paradesium!

The entrance to the park can be found in the base of Crane’s Ridge, west of the train station. (Going east will land you at Lake Sal-Co-Penn, so be careful not to get turned around.) There is a warning sign near the entrance posted by the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety instructing residents to keep away… but a water park in an underground jungle? On a high fantasy Victorian gothic island? It might be a little hard to resist.

There’s no sunlight here, but the glittering glow of magical crystals simulate the summer sun in glimmering rays, and Paradesium’s tropical heat only increases the illusion. There are thatched cabanas and lounge chairs to enjoy, a changing room helpfully equipped with towels and swimwear of all sizes and even in more modern styles (you can OOCly choose the design), and even refreshment stands. They appear to be unmanned, each one equipped with a bell that says “ring for service” that summons no one. However, if you happen to speak what you’d like to order aloud after ringing the bell, you will find what you requested simply appears on the counter in front of you! Amazing! You don’t even have to pay for your soggy fries or sad nachos. Interestingly, all of the signage and food packaging has a 1980’s feel to its design.

The park itself seems to be built around and into the sides of a small rock feature, which resembles a miniature mountain. It’s dotted with lush flowers, moss, and palm trees that stick out between pathways, carved stone stairs, apparently man-made pools, and time-period-inappropriate fiberglass tubes.

There are a number of rides here. None of them seem particularly safe. But only some of them seem to be cursed or haunted.

The Grave Pool - The sign on it is supposed to say “wave pool”, but it has been vandalized to bear the aforementioned ominous nickname. This deep pool of water, equipped with setting-inappropriate inner tubes, pool noodles, and boogie boards, often stands completely still. However, whenever swimmers enter the pool, after about five minutes some sort of mechanism will begin making artificial waves. The deeper in you are, the higher the waves, and they grow in intensity and frequency before abruptly stopping after about ten minutes. Apparently this is intended to be fun.

The Skoot Chutes - A trio of slides consisting of metal chutes whose bottoms are lined with cylindrical steel factory rollers, like one might find on an assembly line. Water runs over the rollers from the top of the slides. Riders are equipped with a hard wooden sled, and infographic signs near the upper platform indicate a very particular way riders ought to sit. One might imagine the consequences of not sitting properly on one’s sled.

Backbreaker Falls - A row of relatively simple-looking body slides. They seem innocuous enough--- a steep drop with several small hills on the way down, seemingly intended for multiple riders to race on. However, the water pressure is high and the sides are low, making it very easy to fly out of one’s own lane or be flung into the splash pool violently. Some riders may also come away with small cuts, having slid over something sharp wedged in between the slide’s fiberglass sections. Are those… teeth? Eugh.

Unsocket Swings - Near the splashpool for Backbreaker Falls, there is a sort of rocky grotto made to look like a natural pool. Alongside several cliff-dive spots, there are also a handful of rope swings with wooden bars tied to the bottom to grab onto, allowing guests to swing and leap into the grotto below. These swings, however, have an uncanny tendency to yank a bit on the downswing in a way that is hard on the shoulders, earning these swings their name.

Hellsmouth Lazy River - An oddly ominous name for a lazy river, this looping lap-pool carries innertube-riding patrons on a strong current. Several small waterfalls are positioned along the course to potentially spray riders, but it is otherwise a relaxing way to tour the park. Unless, of course, you float down the part of the river that cuts through the mountain on which the park is built. Labeled “The Tunnel of Terror,” this long cave is extremely dark, and filled with frightful sights of the players’ choosing. What will you find in the mouth of hell? A tunnel of living, breathing flesh? A seemingly endless, incomprehensible void that unravels the mind? A cave of skittering insects? An abstract creature stalking you through the dark? Feel free to use these suggestions or create your own hell! The world is your terrible, terrible oyster.

Whiplash - An enclosed pipeline of a tube slide with many sharp twists and turns, the Whiplash boasts an impressive length and the highest upper landing. Riders climb into figure-8-shaped double inner tubes to ride down in pairs, descending into darkness on a fast-moving current. The light behind you quickly fades into nothing… and then, from behind you, you hear something else. In the darkness, a pair of human-like eyes with blown pupils and burning white sclera are situated over two rows of long white teeth. It’s hard to see its oil slick form in the darkness, but you can tell that it has many, many hands, and that it’s coming--- fast. Unarmed, wet, and trapped in the tube, you have only your downward descent to rely on in escaping from the creature. Work together to swerve through tight turns and speed down the Whiplash as fast as possible--- or meet the business end of those teeth, and a grisly fate.

Cannonball Loop - The most dangerous attraction here is probably the least haunted. It’s an enclosed-pipe body slide featuring a full loop in it that feels more like a thing you ride to survive for bragging rights than to enjoy. Just looking at it feels like a bad idea. There are at least three different spots in the slide that have escape hatches, and probably none of them are where you will need them to be if you ride this monstrosity and get stuck.

Create your own! - Players are welcome to invent their own Action Park rides, both magical and benign. Have fun!

No aspect of the park has any charges associated with it. The swimsuits and towels are free to use, as are the boogie boards, inner tubes, sleds, pool noodles, and the crappy “ACTION PARK PARADESIUM” t-shirts in the gift shop, and absolutely nothing is stopping you from taking any of them. Why the hell not? If this place is going to give you emotional damage or a traumatic brain injury, you might as well get some free snacks and a pool noodle.

Giant Watermelon

Definitely created by the Turnip Witch, this enormous watermelon seems resistant to bugs and rot (thank the goddesses), but not to stickiness. It’s the kind of juicy that would be a thrill to find in a slice of watermelon at a picnic, but significantly less so taking up an entire major street. It also seems to slowly regenerate when not being actively eaten or carved, which means that a fair bit of watermelon returns overnight. Removing chunks of melon from the main body of the watermelon will cause time’s normal impact on the stability and stinkiness of fruit to resume, so taking large portions home is not a viable strategy and will ensure that you get ants. But hey, free watermelon!

Pokémon

Each season, new types of Pokémon can be found in nature around the island! They cannot be captured as the technology does not exist on Marrow Isle, but they can be befriended and kept as pets. Since there is no PC, each person can have no more than six. You can befriend any Pokémon who has at least one type that matches the list at the top of the newspaper, or that can evolve into one. (Eevee can be caught in any season.) Legendaries are off limits for obvious reasons, and mythicals can be encountered for fun but not kept! Evolutionary stones can be found in Paradesium, the magical subterranean jungle beneath the mountain to the North. Every type will be available at some point throughout the year, so if you don’t have access to your fave yet, check back next season!

Comments

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/CONCERNS

[pumpkinhollow]

Kora | Local NPC, Goddess of Sea and Summer | ~4 Billion

[psalmofseasons]

[ It's summertime in Pumpkin Hollow! Which means that the local summer goddess is out and about. Feel free to come have a first-hand encounter with the local religion, and decide for yourself whether your character recognizes her from stained glass windows at the Temple! ]

-Beach Bum-

Most evenings, there is a woman lying on the beach in one of the aging wooden public-use chairs. Her feet are buried in the sand, long legs exposed by slits in billowing blue and white skirts, and an enormous feathered hat is pulled down to shade her face. Interestingly, the crabs don't seem interested in bothering her. Not out of fear--- they still hang out around her. But despite her inattentive demeanor, bottle of liquor in hand, and numerous trinkets, they don't steal from or even pester her. Seems like one even fell asleep by her leg.

If she sees someone approach, she'll raise her bottle in a toast. "Ahoy there! Here to enjoy the waves?"

-Action Park-

There is a joyful shouting coming from the Skoot Chutes.

Raven hair streaming out behind her, a woman in knee-length trousers and a linen shirt with the sleeves and midriff ripped off sails down on a wooden sled. She looks delighted, utterly confident in her riding skills as she rockets down the chute. She hits the upward curve and arcs into the air, flying gracefully towards the splash pool below and----

Completely wipes out, pitching forward and landing on her face in the water.

But still, she comes back up laughing, waving to whoever just watched her beef it. "Hello! I've been hoping I'd run into a riding buddy. Want to go on the big one with me?"

Dr. Moira O’Deorain | 50 | Overwatch 2

[seoemothoil]

Arrival

Why surrender to fate, when I have seen firsthand that my will can be made manifest?

Tall, imposing, with hair like fire and mismatched eyes, the good doctor would make quite an impression walking down the street if she weren't already sharing a setting with artificial life forms, highly intelligent animals, and beings of dubiously supernatural nature. She doesn't stick out horribly in Pumpkin Hollow, either.

Dr. O' Deorain doesn't try to make small talk as she heads down the road towards the Oak and Iron, nor does she idly make eye contact with those she passes by. Still, who's to say she'd brush off a local who happened to say hello? But her focus, her objective, is to get to a secure place, a roof over her head, and baseline resources. From there, perhaps she consider what merits might be found in idle gossip.


An Exceptional Specimen

Fascinating. Of all the traits the species might have selected for, "the ability to wield knives" was not one Moira would have anticipated in a seemingly-wild crustacean population- nor could this be explained, she thinks, by the interbreeding of crabs trained domestically to wield knives with their wild counterparts. Knife wielding behavior is not itself a genetic trait, even if an aptitude for knives can be supported by various physical and cognitive factors.

Then again, the population of Austrailia may be genuinely selecting for knife ability, but she's only got a generation or two of data to work off of on that subject. The genetic trajectory of Junker culture is, for the moment, both irrelevant and inconclusive.

She's equal parts tempted to capture them and to simply follow them around, observing while causing minimal disturbance. For now, the latter seems to be the plan.


An Exceptional Specimen... Again

At this point, she's making idle chit-chat to the ends of getting herself a jar and, though she knows it's a long-shot, silica gel. She needs to get a sample of this melon and sufficiently dehydrate it until she has a proper lab up and running. She isn't about to let this mystery melon's miraculous nature elude her.


Wildcard

[Hit me!]

Arrival

[aghostinthemachine]

Would she say hello to a giant calculator on a wheel? Because that's who rolls up to the table Moira happens to be sitting at. He'd been people watching off and on, awestruck by the fact that he was among humans. (Besides Frisk, that is.)

He stares for a moment or two, hands perched on the end of the table, before he finally speaks in a voice one wouldn't expect to come from a giant rectangle. is that Tim Curry

"HELLO! I DO APOLOGIZE IF I'M INTERRUPTING ANYTHING BUT I'M RATHER ME HERE SO..."

A pause to drum his cartoony-gloved fingers against the table and his bottom screen almost curls slightly into a frown.

"... I'M EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT I'M A BIT LOST ON EVERYTHING."

Wildcard?

[checkyourmath]

While the man isn't paying her any mind at the moment, staring intently at a scrawled paper map, the sight of someone else from her own world is likely to catch Moira's attention.

Siebren is dressed like the locals, neat linen and sturdy canvas, his cybernetics visibly altered by the arcane nature of the Emerald Isles. Still, the man would be unmistakable even if he wasn't flying. He looks worried about something, which is hardly unusual, fingertips toying nervously with the hem of his shirt.

An Exceptional Specimen- Crabs!

[ss_buttcrack]

Crichton certainly hopes they aren't self-selecting for knife wielding abilities, since he happens to be the progenitor's number one most hated target. That has apparently been an inherited hatred because, behold, Crichton beating feet across the beach with a swarm of the little knife wielding crustacean bullies hot on his heels.

"Hey!" he calls out to her, "Little help?" He already tried shooting them but he ran out of bullets and barely hit any of his targets first.

Three Characters, Details Below | OTA

[tehilim127_1]

Hot Bread Summer (Zivia Birnbaum | OC | mid-40s)

After successfully demonstrating at summer camp how to bake bread in a pot in the ashes of a campfire, Zivia has decided to finally take a step she's been contemplating for some time, and propose a cooperative baking partnership of sorts to Max Maximum. This decision sees her stepping into his new cafe, waiting until he's got a free moment, and broaching the subject with "So ... do you by any chance know how to bake bagels?"

Over the next couple of weeks, you might encounter Zivia making some slightly unusual purchases in town: sprouted barley, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, huge amounts of white and whole-wheat flour, two very large mixing bowls, an alarmingly large stockpot, and -- if any place in town carries them -- a spider. Want to ask what she's doing?

---

Hither and Thither (Cassandra de Rolo | Critical Role | early 20s)

So Cassandra has recently come into possession of a startling magic item: a hand-held device that creates something very like an Arcane Gate spell. She's been testing it here and there about town, cautiously at first -- creating portals fairly close to one another and tossing a pebble through -- then experimenting with surfaces at different heights and different angles to each other. She's still mostly putting objects through, but occasionally, more daringly, stepping or hopping through herself.

And, perhaps inevitably, at some point she winds up studying the sign about the shipwreck and wondering idly whether this device will work underwater.

---

Dead Man's Chest? (Edgar | Snowpiercer (2013) | early 20s)

Edgar's also contemplating the shipwreck and the potential for exploring it. He's not very good at swimming, but the part he's not good at is keeping his head above water; if he can breathe water, he reasons, then that part's less important, isn't it?

You might find him by the water, on the days he isn't helping at the summer camp (in a tag that hasn't gone up yet <.<), considering the possibilities. Or, if you talk him into it, maybe you can explore the wreck together.

---

[OOC: Three characters, one player, one prompt! Please specify which of them you're tagging in for, and by all means feel free to wildcard any of them -- hit me up on discord or surprise me!]

Hello Edgar!

[tartaros_avatar]

Stefan sat by the docks, eating lunch. He'd taken an early shift at work today to clock off at noon, rather than be stuck around the forge for the hottest part of the day. He was still in rough work clothes, skin smudged with a little soot from the fires. It was hard work, even with his natural muscle enhanced by a little supernatural strength. But he was still fresh enough to consider the idea of another go at the wreck.

He hadn't believed anything about the advertisement when he first saw it. A magical potion that would let you go loot an undersea shipwreck? It sounded like a con. The operation was making money, but the magic had seemed implausible. Drugging would-be treasure hunters made more sense, getting them suggestible enough to trick them and just letting them splash around in the water for a while.

That was the simplest explanation, but it turned out the world was more honest and wild than Stefan had expected. He'd been talked into it, he'd actually breathed water, and he'd come back with treasure from the wreck. He'd been able to get himself more comfortably established from that. And thanks to Shen Qingqiu's money, he had an extra bottle of the potion he was holding onto. He'd be better-prepared for a second dive, as long as he had a partner for it. Lucky for him, a likely candidate had just arrived.

"It's dangerous down there," Stefan said, gesturing with his half-eaten sandwich. "They don't tell you what to watch for down there. But it's doable. Made a tidy profit off of it. I wouldn't go alone, though. Need someone to watch your back?"

Hot bread summer!

[maximumcake]

Max greets her warmly, but his smile is somehow even brighter when she asks about the bagels.

"Yes, I do. Sorry, they're sold out for the day already, but I'm planning on starting a new batch later. Did you want me to hold some for you when I do?"

Hither and Thither

[ss_buttcrack]

Crichton just happens to be out by the water right now, too, playing with his own raffle prize. He's just touched down with the loud nasally voice of his nozzle, FLUDD, informing him, snarkily, that he almost ran out of water before he landed this time.

"Yeah, but I didn't," he replies casually as he starts to refill. Then, louder, to Cassandra, "Oh, Hey Cass. You look like you're planning something. What 'cha up to?"

Hot Bread all year please

[luckandmybruder]

While he is a relatively new face around the village, Samuel has already done a bit of networking, and gotten a tip on where he might find proper baked goods that would be familiar to him. Max had come highly suggested, and he had been in once before to see if there was anything that would make a suitable breakfast, but as Sam stepped inside to see if pretzels had been set out just yet, the greeting that he calls would be all the more familiar to the collaborator on site:

"Shalom alekhem," he calls to the shapes in the back without a second thought.

Jimmy | Mouthwashing | 32

[thishurts]

[ A Bunventure (Giant Watermelon) ]

Somewhere nearby where the Giant Watermelon is, for a few days, Jimmy will go out every morning and set up two pens under large umbrellas, each pen has several bowls of water as well. And inside those pens will be baby bunnies. Female on one side, Male on the other... as best as Jimmy has been able to tell, at least. Trying to sex baby bunnies is an imperfect science, and he's not a master at it by any means.

Have I mentioned that he just has entirely too many rabbits on his hand? There's a sign nearby where Jimmy's set himself up a seat, it reads the following:

"Free Rabbits. Good for pets or farming. Not for showing.
Sex of Rabbits not guaranteed. Neuter and spay your pets."

Jimmy will be sitting around, looking tired and weary, and not like he really wants to be there, or near anyone, really, waiting for anyone to approach him about the fact that he is now the main provider of rabbits in Pumpkin Hollow and it was entirely by accident.

And yes. He will feed them some of the Watermelon, thank you very much.


[ An idealic evening...? ]

In one of the evenings, after he's gotten the rabbits who haven't been adopted for the day home, instead of just heading straight to be he feels strangely restless. So he heads outside and leaves his farm.

Jimmy doesn't really know where he's going, but when he ends up there, at the beach, the waves crashing up on the beach, the sun setting in the distance, he isn't sure if he should laugh or grimace to himself.

The last time he saw a setting like this was on a big monitor which was supposed to simulate the real thing. With an axe through it. Though even without the damage the axe had caused it had felt more oppressive to be surrounded by a huge screen rather than calming.

But now he can feel the wet soggy damp air on his clothes that needed to be washed yesterday. A slight breeze that moves through his hair and manages to briefly skim the back of his neck, making that spot that's still soaked with sweat feel a moment of reprieve from a days hard work.

He realizes that this is actually nice. Genuinely nice.

And that he doesn't deserve a goddamn minute of it.

Bunventure

[seoemothoil]

A tall, rather butch woman stops in front of his sign, looking the rabbits over.

“Not much use telling people to slay and neuter their rabbits if you aren’t going to separate them out, unless they do so promptly.”

She picks up one of the rabbits with a surprising amount of competency; most people don’t know how to pick up a rabbit, but she’s clearly done this a hundred times before. She looks the creature over, then seems to nod in approval.

“I’ll take this one, and be back for another. Would you like assistance in sexing your rabbits, Mr…?”

Giant Watermelon

[imjustaman]

An Eevee walks up to the rabbit cages, long ears twitching. She looks in curiously and trills hello to them! Eevees looking like fox-rabbit crosses, she probably thinks she's talking to some relatives.

A tall man with long silver hair soon approaches with an Umbreon and a Vaporeon trotting alongside him. "Hello," he greets. "I hope Lucy isn't a bother." Will the rabbits get nervous or upset by an Eevee? Or will they just deadpan?

John Crichton | Farscape | Mid-30's | Current player character

[ss_buttcrack]

Sun's out, (water) guns out! [Action Park]
Crichton recently won F.L.U.D.D. as his prize at the Pickle King Day raffle, and he's been a menace around town with it ever since. But, hey? Where better to play with a giant water jetpack than in a waterpark of dubious safety?

"Cowabunga dude!!" he cries out from above as he uses the water jet to shoot up into the air above the wave pool, only to let himself drop into the water cannon ball style.

He's just as reckless on the slides, using the FLUDD water jets to rocket off of them like ramps, and to far exceed the speed he should be going on these things.

"WHOO!!! YEEHAW!" he hollers, mid-air, as he launches off the backbreaker falls like a bat out of hell. How has this man not concussed himself?

Just when it seems he can't get any more death defying, he sets his eyes on that looping tube slide. "Bet I could make it." A good friend would talk him out of trying, but his best friends know to go grab the camera and start recording.

Lord Erik Osborne | OC | 1000+ years old (looks roughly 27) | Current character player [slight nsfw]

[lordoftheozarks]

Shipwrecked: A special offer

His usual business (premier town whore) has been a little slower lately since people have a lot of options for entertainment when the weather is this nice, but that's okay because he's come up with a new service to offer.

"Going to the shipwreck?" he asks from his place on the dock where he waits for anyone who looks to be headed out on Mipha’s Grace. "For only 50B plus 5% of whatever you find, I could accompany and protect you from the dangers below. I need no oxygen to live and I see perfectly in the dark. What do you say?"

The offer is posted on the bulletin board as well. Any takers? It's a small price to pay for good protection, after all.

Max Maximum | OC | 30's - Current Player - Come get your coffee shop AU

[maximumcake]

The Grand Opening of Le Cafe' Citrioulles!
[OOC Note: I'm still putting together an official info post about what the cafe looks like/offers, etc. For now picture a quaint French corner cafe attached to the bakery building with through traffic, and a nice patio space that's fenced in and covered. The color theming is all bright royal blue with gold and pumpkin orange trim.]

Summer Specials!
In honor of Max winning Pickle King this year, he has created some limited time specials. Such offerings include salted dill macarons with cream cheese filling, grilled cheese with extra pickles, fried pickles on a stick with mustard, and, most horrifying of all, dill pickle cheesecake(Video). One need not wonder why these items are on limited run.

For those who may be looking for a more normal kind of special, Max is also taking advantage of that huge watermelon in the square to infuse many of his summer specials with watermelon flavors, too. He's offering watermelon smoothies or juicers, watermelon dipped in dark chocolate on a stick, sides of the fruit with yogurt and honey, and just simple slices of it with any entre at no charge. (Doesn't feel right to charge for a free resource, after all.)

"What will it be?" he asks excitedly from behind the counter, "Something safe or are we feeling adventurous today? Oh, by the way, did you see we have a patio now?"


Oh, Crabs! [crab boiling]
Unfortunately, his new cafe is also popular with the cast of crabs that have been coming ashore and helping themselves to everyone's stuff. Max has half a mind to start putting crab cakes on special, too.

"Shoo! Get out of here!" he shouts at a swarm of them as he brandishes his new broom. He's trying to sweep them out the door, but they keep pinching the bristles and clinging on.

"I'm getting the boiling water in a minute!" Sorry, Ody, he likes you but your knife-wielding offspring are a problem that butter and salt would deliciously solve.

He was really hoping to make the cafe patio the biggest feature of his new cafe grand opening, but no one wants to get their toes pinched while drinking their coffee and tea.

Summer Specials

[imjustaman]

Well, grilled cheese with pickles actually sounds normal to Sephiroth, and he eyes that hungrily, picturing all that cheese oozing out of the toast.

"I will have the grilled cheese with pickles and watermelon in dark chocolate," he says. "I did see the patio. It looks very nice."

Ralsei | Deltarune | 15-ish

[theonewhosuffers]

The sun was...so much brighter than he ever could have imagined. And Ralsei was more at a loss than he'd ever been, even when one of the Lightners he'd sworn to guide and protect ran off on her own, or declared she was going to be a bad guy instead of a hero. That had been unexpected, but...it still fell in line with the prophecy. But there were no prophecies about what happened to Darkners after death, at least not any ones that could be trusted to speak with real authority.

Several Darkners had their own ideas, of course, but Ralsei wasn't one of them. He had his duty and his responsibilities...and sometimes, when he was alone again after one of his adventures with Susie and Kris, and couldn't stop himself from thinking anymore about what the future held...at moments like that he thought it might be kind of nice to just stop existing. It wasn't like he was a real person, after all. It wasn't like he has a SOUL.

But then...well, it seemed that when it came down to it, Ralsei didn't really want to disappear after all. That girl with the white hair had been very kind, and even hinted that he might see some familiar faces once he reached Marrow Island...but it made his stuffing ache a little, to think of Kris and Susie going through the same thing he had. He'd...oh no, he'd forgotten to ask the girl where he could find them! And he'd been so busy feeling bad that he'd completely spaced out through his conversation with the mayor! He had no idea where he was supposed to go. This is why Darkners weren't supposed to give into their emotions!!

...Well. Maybe if he just sat quietly in the town square -- and accepted a slice of watermelon, apparently, since someone had left a big gourd in front of town hall and someone else was cutting off chunks for free, how nice of them! -- maybe if he just sat quietly and nibbled his melon, Kris or Suzie would find him.

Or someone else could take notice of this lost little goat-kid (apologies for the redundancy!) and bring him up to speed. That'd be fine too.

Re: Ralsei | Deltarune | 15-ish

[heartofadreemurr]

Renovations concluded, Kris had been back to living in the dorm house for a while now.

It's summer, but there's still school. Instead of taking prolonged breaks, schools in this world just had substantially shorter days. Which suited Kris just fine, not having to be up as early and class ending right around the time when they'd usually get too overinformed and understimulated to continue processing information.

Like right about now.

From the third floor classroom, they let their attention drift to that big stupid watermelon that has been ruining their life (affectionate) for the past month and some change. But what catches their eye this time isn't the jewel red of exposed fresh fruit gleaming in the light of the summer sun---- it's white.

Kris's throat tightens. How? Is he even real? In the darkness, Kris had tried so hard to force their eyes to see his shape, and only found beasts that wished them harm. But there he is, in broad daylight. The Light World. Would he even recognize them, looking like this?

Before their Soul can decide on a reaction, Kris pushes their way free of its influence, standing sharply. Mr. Pennyburrow asks what's wrong, Susie asks what they've seen, but Kris is already in flight, staggering from the abrupt disconnect from their Soul but no less determined.

They run. They run, and run, and run, and run, shoes barely touching the staircase. Their Soul makes no effort to interfere. Even if it did, Kris wouldn't hear it over the pounding of their own heart in their head and an endless, driving chant in their brain.

Ralsei. Ralsei. Ralsei. Ralsei. Ralsei.

As they get closer to the front door of the large building, time slows down, and the way their mind calls for him grows more insistent.

Ralsei! Ralsei! Ralsei!

Kris's hand touches the handle, and they spill like an overfilled teacup onto the street, rounding a corner and----

Without a word, they scoop him up, all one fluid motion. They hug him like no tomorrow. Their face feels wet. Only then do they speak. Quiet, fond, and shaky. "You're late again."

[aghostinthemachine]

Mettaton's strolling around town, busying himself with... who knows what, when he wheels past Ralsei.

Then stops.

The wheels backwards to do an unnecessary double take. This kid looks... a lot like the King. Maybe the same monster species? Are they from the Underground? It would be kind of nice to have someone else from his world here, as cruel as that may be.

He clears his throat and gives a friendly wave. "HELLO THERE! ... YOU LOOK KIND OF LOST. ARE YOU LOST?"

cha cha real smooth

mr. (ant) tenna ★ deltarune ★ old *

[montyhall]

* ( tenna's exact age is uncertain, but what we have here is essentially the spirit of an older middle-aged guy who is desperately out of touch with the current generation and desperately trying not to be. )

as seen on TV

There, milling about in the town square, is an unreasonably tall automaton with an oversized cathode ray tube display for a head.

Surprisingly (or not?), few appear to be nearly as disconcerted over this situation as the automaton himself. For one, tall as he is (between seven and eight feet or so, not including his antennae), he’s rather accustomed to being even taller, fair well towering over his crew and even the Lightners... Oh, and the Lightners — there are so MANY of them, and how!! Sure, sure, he’d gotten the same run-down as anyone else waking up to find themselves in this place, somewhere that almost certainly was not any manner of Dark World but didn’t seem to much resemble what he knew of the Light World either... But hearing about it is one thing, and seeing it entirely another: seeing all manner of Lightners going about their daily business, almost none of them monsters, almost none of them sparing a glance his way, except...

And there, there’s another pain point, another unfamiliarity causing him to be so disconcerted: no one seems to want to look his way. On the seldom occasion that someone does give him a look, it isn’t with excitement or cheer or any indication that they particularly want to be looking at him. Oh, sure, in most cases people have been polite enough, and only rarely has anyone really eyeballed him as if his screen had a nasty case of burn-in (which it doesn’t, right?), but that’s hardly the same thing, is it?! No Darkners looking at him with the fear — no, adulation he duly deserves, no Lightners smiling at him like they really mean it, no, no...

Well. Bad as things are, they could be even worse, perhaps. They could have turned him loose in this strange place without reattaching his arms first; then he might really be in trouble.

Regardless! Mr. (Ant) Tenna is a showman above all else, and this is NOT his first time facing adversity, and even if the solution to this problem isn’t nearly so clear-cut as reversing a dip in his ratings or dealing with the latest Pippins to try ripping him off, he WILL figure something out. You can do anything on TV, after all! Who’s to say this will be any different!!

Step one: figure out what he’s meant to do with this tiny spoon he’s been given and the giant watermelon getting carved to pieces right before his non-existent eyes. The juxtaposition is almost crushing in its sheer comicality, a fact which he might more readily recognize if he himself weren’t the butt of the joke. As it is, he’s only managed to wave off any invitations to partake with the most half-hearted of deflections; not only has he been divested of his trademark suit and tie, he doesn’t even have any gloves to shield his delicate finger joints from any sticky fruit juice spills, and he’s not keen to test the craftsmanship of any local repair shops just yet. Come on, Ant, all you have to do is come up with the perfect witticism and maybe that will get you out of this...

A slight tug at his pant leg snaps Tenna out of his thoughts, drawing his attention downward to the source: a curious little creature, all shell and spindly legs, attached to his trouser cuff by one of its oversized pincers. His antennae perk; it’s yet another unfamiliar thing, but the novelty of this unfamiliar thing is welcome.

“Well HEY there, little fella!!!” His voice is practically buzzing as he swiftly scoops the creature up in both hands, palms outstretched. “If you wanted to say ‘hi,’ didn’t you know all you had to do was ASK!!! Or maybe you wanted an autograph—”

The crab’s answer is to deliver its hardest pinch to the most sensitive part of Tenna’s thumb joint.



Tenna’s voice continues to buzz, his speaker outputs peaking as he shouts a litany of swears he could never have dreamed of swearing while his parental controls were still active, swinging his arm wildly in an attempt to rid himself of the offending creature. The crab, of course, remains steadfast. Somebody please help this man, as he is doing very little to help himself.

paradise, paradise

At some point, eventually, there is no longer an unreasonably tall TV-headed automaton terrorizing the local populace in the town square. This is precisely because there is, instead, an unreasonably small TV-headed automaton moping on a sand dune down by the beach.

All told, it’s a perfectly lovely little beach. Of course it’s not as perfect or lovely as the beach he’d crafted just for Kris and Susie and little Ralsei, but...well, it is a real beach. It’s something tangible, beyond the world of pixels and phosphor light; something that exists without his or anyone else’s say-so, day in, day out, without his input, without his presence...

Everything had happened so suddenly, he really hadn’t had any time to process it: from ruling over his studio, his Dark World, where everything and everyone hung on his every word, to every last one of his friends and employees (hell, even MIKE!!!) turning their backs on him when he needed them most — and so what if he was being a bit of a petty tyrant at the time? He still needed them! — to finally, finally glimpsing the first bit of hope he’d had in so, so long that he might have a future after all, that he WOULDN’T be thrown out like so much garbage, to...to a world where everything had gone to static, and then to black, and then...

A chiptune plays through Tenna’s speakers, though the sound is even tinnier than usual given he’s shrunken himself down to less than twelve inches tall, and even that tinny sound is overtaken by the sound of the actual waves lapping at the actual shore right in front of him; it’s an attempt to distract himself, and it’s not working. His screen has dimmed to black, his already-limited facial features gone, his head propped up on both hands propped up on his knees as he sits and watches the sea. Any concerns he might have about sand getting into his vents or another nefarious crab snatching him up in its claws are far from his mind at the moment; heck, after everything that’s happened, maybe it’s only fair that something like that should happen to him. Maybe it’s what he deserves. Maybe he should just sit here and let the tide wash him out to sea, and then everything will be just hunky-doody, for everyone, forever. Maybe...

Tenna turns up the volume on his tinny little speakers. He’s fine!!! Everything is just fine, and if by any chance you might hear what sounds like some terribly bitcrushed sniffles and sobs coming from that sand dune over there — no you didn’t!!!

Kris, 15 || Paradise, Paradise (HIIIII WE'RE SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU)

[heartofadreemurr]

Kris arrived second.

Susie first, then Kris, then Ralsei. As such, they've had little excuse not to be alongside their friends nearly every waking moment. Except for their part time job. So sometimes, when they just need a moment to catch their breath from all the chaos, they take a detour or two on the way back to the dorm house.

"Dorm house" is a funny word for "orphanage." Makes it sound like college. Like where Asriel lives. A dormitory. Kris thinks of him often, missing him but glad he isn't here. In order to be here, he'd have to be like them. He'd have to be dead, or standing on the precipice between life and death. Would he see angel wings and a pillar of dark eyes on the backs of his eyelids, too? Do Susie and Ralsei?

Lost in thought, Kris returns to reality to the sound of chiptunes. Familiar ones, in fact, hearing digital waves crashing to the rhythm before they hear the real ones. Dang, 8-bit sure does carry. Is that little red and white thing in the sand what Kris thinks it is?

Unceremoniously, they plop down next to Tenna in the sand with a little "oof", sitting cross-legged beside him. Side-by-side, rather than face to face. But that same sitting position he's seen them in for hours at a time. It's funny what changes and what doesn't.

"Hey dude. Bad day, huh."

As Seen on TV (ALSO HELLO I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU HERE <333)

[aghostinthemachine]

This is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife not like the time that didn't happen in this place where Mettaton critiqued this strange fellow-bot on his choice of clothes. That occurrence doesn't exist.

No, instead, this time, Mettaton is in his EX form, still nowhere near as tall as Tenna is but still decently tall at a good seven feet. It's really everything that catches his attention. The massive robot, the giant watermelon, the very loud scream that is clearly clipping speakers by this point.

Followed by the string of profanities, Mettaton quickly makes sure there are no children present because that is not family friendly! But after being aghast for a moment or two, he rushes over to attempt to help.

"Here, little dearie, have someone more fun to pinch on to!" To which he offers a knife. crabbattle Why he ever thought that was a good idea, who knows, but it does get the crab off of poor Tenna's finger.

Although now it seems to be debating whether or not it should stab either of the robots. Mettaton keeps an eye on it for a bit then carefully nudges it away with his boot. Shoo shoo! Miraculously, it seems to work and the crab scuttles away with its new found weapon. Phew.

"Gosh, that sounded painful. Are you alright? The metal wasn't damaged, was it?"

King Halo | Uma Musume | 18

[overtookall]

Today of all days you will see a girl walking about. But she's not just a girl. Strangely enough she has horse ears and a tail and is going to find it more unusual when YOU question it. After all, she's a first rate Uma Musume. Haven't you heard of her and her prowess on the race track?

What, you haven't?

In order to try to adjust to her new surroundings she's going to be around and about a few places in town.

First Rate Shoes

The shoes she appeared wearing, given to her by the goddess of death of all people, did have a slight flaw with them.

They didn't have horse shoes attached to the bottoms.

It seemed like a fatal flaw but she, like other Uma Musume, are used to hammering their own horse shoes into the bottom of people shoes.

So she'll be there. At the blacksmiths (after doing a lot of talking with other people to figure out WHERE you find horse shoes anyway) trying to explain that she needs them for her own shoes.

"What do you mean you're confused?" She sighs in exasperation, "Listen, I'll explain it once more. I need them to be quite a bit smaller than what you're offering. Why you would make them so big is beyond me, they would never fit any Uma Musume I've ever met... what do you mean you don't know what an Uma Musume is...?"


Meeting a Nemesis

Leaving the blacksmith's, King Halo manages to spot a horse pulling someone's supplies from one side of town to another.

Yes. Not a Horse Girl, but a real horse.

After doing a double take, She quickly runs off in the direction of said horse, faster than you've ever seen any human run, to confront said horse and the human in the carriage.

"Excuse me!" She says after flagging them down, "But can you explain this? This creature? It's a horse...? I don't understand."

Without thinking twice about it King Halo grabs one of the horse's feet to look underneath, and before almost being kicked in the face, she does confirm her worst fears.

A horse shoe is stuck to the bottom of this so called horse's foot, an uma's foot.

"That is not a way to treat your King!" King Halo shouts at an indignant horse, who looks away from her in a haughty manner.

The owner of the horse looks mortified and she's beginning to attract a crowd around her. Sure, the residents of Pumpkin Hollow are used to seeing strange different variations of humans, but it's the commotion she's causing in public that's gathering a crowd...


Aftermath

King Halo makes a hasty retreat to the Oak & Iron. She had already arrived earlier, took a look at her room, and complained about the accommodations but she hadn't settled in beyond that. She takes a seat at the bar and orders rhubarb pie. (It's pie and it's on the menu, and she loves sweets.) Upon trying it she does look a little happier at least, but still.

She really hadn't seen any other Uma Musume here at all. Was she alone? Did she really die? If so, how? She couldn't quite remember it... and she was much too young to die of old age! Did she miss out on the wrong afterlife and somehow end up here? In some afterlife full of humans?

King lets out an exasperated sigh and stares into her pie. What about racing? It's true she had achieved all of her goals but that was just the start for her. She wanted to race more. But with no other Uma Musume to race... what would happen to her?

All these thoughts and more, while sadly chewing on a piece of rhubarb pie.

[ Ye this is Yarrow. About her age: Nothing that I've found gives concrete ages on the Uma Musume at all but I've taken her from the good end of her career in the mobile game. In that she's ending her Senior year of school so I figure 18 is as good of a guess as any.

I don't do nsfw with horse girls anyways bc a lot of the jockies who cared for these horses irl are against it and I wish to respect their wishes. ]

Nemesis

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth is out doing a normal patrol when he hears something very … abnormal. He goes over, quirking an eyebrow at the commotion.

“What is the problem here?” he asks.