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ph_memes2030-08-05 04:14 pm
Pumpkin Hollow Pen-Pal Program
Welcome to the Pumpkin Hollow Pen-Pal Program!
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Letters have been something that has brought people across Concord closer together in spite of great distances. Being cut off from the greater world has not only left people lacking in outlets to write to friends and loved ones they may not have time to see every day, but left our local post office alarmingly dry of service.
That's where you can help!
By joining Marrow Isle's Pen-Pal Program, not only can you assist in revitalizing our postal service and help to keep our couriers on the move, but through our pen-pal lottery, you'll have the potential to write to an acquaintance, an old friend, or perhaps a new friend entirely! Participation in the lottery is entirely optional, of course, as you're always welcome to simply register and write to your current companions.
To participate, all you need to do is provide your mailing address via the form below, and the post office will provide you envelopes, paper, and ink, free of charge! We look forward to seeing new bonds formed through writing!
-Created with love by the Autumn Leaves Dormitory House, graciously hosted by the Marrow Isle Postal Service.-
To sign up for a pen-pal, all you have to do is:
- Create a toplevel for your character that will serve as their pen-pal inbox, filling out the form below! For addresses, you may either the specific address you picked from the reference sheet or just their neighborhood if you haven't picked one.
- Reply to the Lottery comment to be entered into the lottery before the listed deadline. New lotteries to be assigned a new pen-pal will occur monthly, so feel free to sign up every month, just once, or as desired! (Be sure to have your toplevel comment inbox set up before pen-pals are assigned!)
- If you do not want a randomly assigned partner, no worries! You can simply have one of your characters send a letter directly to another character's inbox.
- When you are given your recipient, send them a starting letter in their inbox, and you will receive one from whoever was assigned yours! It will work like Secret Santa, resulting in two letter threads.
- Letter threads can last as long as you want, but if you sign up again the following month, you'll get two more. Budget your energy appropriately!
INBOX: Shen Qingqiu
515 Meadowlark Lane
Northwest Hollow
Pen-pal Letter (August!)
Inside, the handwriting is a bit messy and the thoughts are a bit disjointed, but brimming with enthusiasm.
True to his word, behind the letter, with only a petal or two lost in transit, is a small pressed daisy, clearly placed with great care.
no subject
Shen Qingqiu's letter comes in the form of a folded sheaf of thick paper, tied with a string. His handwriting is thick and artistic, something of his scholarly calligraphy showing through despite the spell that allows Laios to read the traditional Chinese characters. At the back of the sheaf is an ink and brush drawing of a monster, appearing to a severed human head with spider legs sprouting from the base of the skull where a neck should be. It's mouth is open in what might be a scream or a song.
Dear Mr. Laois,
My, aren't you enthusiastic? I like that in a correspondent! Thank you kindly for the flower -- I put it in a frame and hung it up in my kitchen, as something nice to look at over my morning tea. As for your darling little sketches, I hope it will please you to hear that I've taken to using the envelope they came on as a bookmark. They're very pleasant to look at it, and I thank you for sharing them. I've taken the liberty of including a piece of my own work, in relation to the one of the topics I intend to cover in this letter; it is of a somewhat gruesome nature, but I hope it will appeal to your interests just the same.
It sounds as though these dungeon environments are very similar to the demon realm from my old world. It's a sort of parallel dimension, mirroring the human world but with vastly greater stores of magical energy, albeit of a different type than the magic wielded by humans. The creatures there are very strange, powerful, and frequently dangerous; perhaps we might compare notes? For instance, I wonder if your world contains anything similar to the ghost-spider spider? I have included a drawing of the creature for your reference. As you can see it, it resembles the head of a human corpse mounted on a spider's legs. It uses a cry resembling that of a human infant to lure its prey, and once they approach closely enough it uses its powerful legs to leap onto its victim's head and puncture its skull. A series of suckers on the underside of the head allow it to suck out the victim's brain and associated juices; the mouth is only used for its lure-cry.
However, despite its gruesome appearance this creature is relatively weak so far as demons go, and a skilled warrior can dispatch it with ease so long as they remain alert. If a queen ghost-head spider is in the area the situation is far more dire, as it will lead the others in a coordinated swarming pattern to take down large numbers of prey in order to feed their young, but outside of mating season these creatures are largely solitary and rarely seen outside the demon realm.
...I do hope this story wasn't too gruesome for you; sometimes my enthusiasm for dangerous creatures gets the better of me, especially when talking to a colleague. I imagine that as an adventurer you must have faced all manner of creatures, as did I. This is why I joined the enforcers upon settling in this world, although becoming a cook is also a perfectly respectable decision! I would love to try your cooking sometime; is there some hour I could drop by for a late lunch or dinner that wouldn't disrupt your schedule, so we could chat? I know the point of this exercise is to provide more business for the post office, but there's something special about a quiet one to one conversation, isn't there?
In any case, I look forward to speaking to you again.
Your friend,
Shen Qingqiu
no subject
His reply comes back without drawings, this time, but significantly looser penmanship - he's clearly more relaxed as he writes this one.
no subject
'Mister Shen' will do quite nicely, thank you for asking. I am used to a certain level of formality in my daily conduct but please don't let that put you off! I'm quite excited to have a friend as interested in discussing monsters as I am, though of course I'm also happy to talk about other things as well. As it happens I'm only working half-days this week -- the consequence of an injury received some weeks ago that I'm still recuperating from -- so I'd be quite happy to meet you around 3, perhaps this Thursday?
There's no need to make anything special for me, but if you happen to have any leftover fried rice or perhaps some savory noodles? I'm quite the fan.
Your description of mermaids and mermen is quite fascinating! Although I've heard legends of them from a variety of worlds, I think this is the first time I've heard them described as anything other than the two biological sexes of a single species. Do you happen to recall anything about the mermaids? What distinguished them from the mermen? Apart from the lack of kelp toupees, I suppose.
Unfortunately I can't offer much more on the habits of ghost-head spiders. They are rarely seen in the human realm, and when they do appear it's usually because a higher demon -- usually a hunting party or one of the nobility -- brought them along as assistants, in the way a human lord might train a pack of hounds. Demons as they exist in that world are a multitudinous breed, with far more variety than a single species or even a cluster of related species could contain. They're more like a separate order or even a kingdom of life, if you're familiar with that classification system. The world might be said to possess a kingdom of animals, a kingdom of plants, a kingdom of single-celled life...and in that world's case, a kingdom of demons.
Some have appearances and reasoning powers close to that of humanity, but far more powerful. Others are like mutated beasts, and still others are simply monsters, like the ghost-head spider, although I think you will agree that 'simple' in this case is a relative term. I once encountered a very strange creature which resembled nothing so much as a worm crossed with a human corpse. [And here Shen Qingqiu's letter interrupts itself, an entire half-page dedicated to a sketch of a long, narrow creature, with an appearance like that of a human corpse but squished and stretched until it matches the outline of a serpent. Its eyes rest on top of its spade-shaped head, while a crown of long black hair spreads and drags across the ground.]
It was quite startling, but I never actually got any sense of danger from it. In fact it had the most pitiful pair of eyes I've ever seen on a living thing, like it was constantly on the brink of tears. I felt quite sorry for it, honestly.
Anyway, I'll end this letter here, but if you'd like to hear more about demons -- or about cultivators, the people who train fight them -- then let me know. I'll see you soon, I hope!
Your friend,
Shen Qingqiu
September Pen Pal
Dear Mr. Shen Qingqiu,
For my own knowledge, is Mr. Shen the polite formal way to address you, or is it Mr. Qingqiu? The name looks Chinese, if it's from an Earth, but I know better than to assume that much in a vacuum.
We spoke briefly on the beach, at Kora's party, while I had my telescope pointed up, but I haven't had much opportunity to talk to you since. Which is my fault. This month has been
a lotfuckingbusy, with the visitor center open. No, that's not an invitation to go there and figure out which is 'my' ghostly visitor.I hope you're well. If you want to do more stargazing sometime, please inform me.
Dr. de Kuiper
no subject
It's so lovely to hear from you! Our little stargazing session came at a time when I was quite in need of comfort and solidarity, and your companion provided plenty of both. Thank you again -- and I would be quite pleased to repeat the experience, any time you're free.
Oh, but please forgive me! You asked me a question! "Shen" is my family name, and Mister Shen will do for casual conversation, although I wouldn't mind at all if you wanted to call me Qingqiu instead. I'll leave it up to you. And you are correct about it being Chinese; I grew up in Beijing, in fact. Have you ever been? And if I might ask, what language does "Siebren de Kuiper" come from? I can tell it's probably from somewhere in Europe, but not English, and that's about as far as my knowledge goes. You don't have to answer of course, I'm just curious!
Please do let me know when you're next up to go stargazing!
Your friend,
Shen Qingqiu
no subject
I have been to Beijing. I spent some time working for a megacorporation called Lucheng that was headquartered in a building called Lijiang Tower, there.
As for my name, it is Dutch in origin. Gerrit Pieter Kuiper, for whom the Kuiper belt is named, is an ancestor of mine. The Kuiper belt is a circumstellar disk, similar to the asteroid belt, but further out beyond Pluto. Erm, do I need to explain Pluto or the asteroid belt? I worry sometimes about overexplaining and talking down to people, but I also don't know where everyone's knowledge base is.
Not that those facts are relevant here. A different sky with different stars. It's infinite in possibilities. But that's fascinating, isn't it? Would you like to visit Crane's Ridge in the back end of this week? The moons are lovely.
Stay well,
Siebren
no subject
I suppose I should thank you both for your reply, and for so conclusively settling the question of whether we are from the same version of Earth! My parents were businesspeople you see, and I believe I'm quite familiar with every major company and conglomeration active in Beijin as of 2015 under the Gregorian calendar. And I don't recall ever hearing of a 'Lucheng' megacorporation or a Lijiang Tower, so either you're from my world's future -- which is also quite exciting! -- or we're from alternate Earths. I wonder if we can narrow it down?
But yes, I'm already familiar with the Kuiper Belt and Pluto. It was only a few years ago from my perspective that one of the Voyagar probes broke out of the heliopause, it was very exciting. And a few days before I -- well, before I died -- there was news that a different probe had sent back a picture of a heart-shaped formation on Pluto's surface, although people were still debating over whether it was real or some kind of hoax when I permanently checked out of the 24-hour news cycle.
Ah...I really can't recall if I explained my circumstances to you when we spoke before, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself. But to avoid future confusion: this is my third transmigration. I grew up in a world with cars and space probes and the internet, and no...let's say, no empirically-proven magic. Then I died at twenty-five from food poisoning and woke up in a world that very much did have magic, among other things. I was coerced into assuming the identity of a local and spent six years living like that, before dying again and waking up in Mortanne's office. And now I'm here!
I hope that's enough to account for any inconsistencies in my speech or apparent knowledge base. A friend of mine, Jonathan Sims, told me recently how jarring it was, the first time we had an in-depth conversation about magical artifacts and I suddenly made a joke about anime. I was enjoying the chance to speak without the need to censor myself.
Oh, before I forget! I would love to visit Crane's Ridge and view the stars with you. These pre-industrial worlds really have the loveliest skies, don't they? I've been working on a little pamphlet about that actually, something of a warning about the environmental impact of over-industrialization and light pollution, in case none of us are allowed to stay here and help after the island is saved after all. There are many things about my original world that I miss a great deal, but it would still be nice if we can help this one avoid repeating some of our more obvious mistakes, don't you think?
Anyway, give me a call and let me know when you'd like to meet. If you have no objections to having food and drink near your telescope, I thought I might bring some tea and snacks this time. I've been trading with the Limoncello for a few things from home that I'd be happy to share. Oh, but please let me know if you'd rather not partake, or if you have any allergies!
I think that covers everything! Do forgive me for rambling on, it's my greatest weakness in this format! I hope at least some part of this was interesting enough to make it worth the ink. Anyway! I'll close here before taking up any of your time. As always I remain,
Your friend,
Shen Qingqiu