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ph_memes2024-10-12 03:11 pm
TDM #8 - Harvest Havoc! [REPRINT]
Pumpkin Hollow Gazette
9/19/24 | TDM #9 - Harvest Havoc! [Reprint]
Weather Forecast: Detailed report within!
WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW
By Yorick Aberdeen
The crop for which the town is named.
TOWNWIDE - Hello and welcome, one and all! As time marches on and the ferry continues bringing newcomers to our fair land, we start our newest edition of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette with a warm welcome to anyone who has just made landfall in our accursed but cozy little town. It’s autumn, which means you’ll be just in time to join us for festive fall affairs such as Pumpkinfest and the Dance of Celestine! And we are predicting with 87% certainty that they will not go horrifically wrong in psychologically traumatic ways, per the recent numbers provided by the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety.
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!
WHO’S HUNGRY? AUTUMN HARVEST SEASON BEGINS!
By Timothy Stoker
A brief glimpse into the orchards of Starr Farms.
NORTHWEST HOLLOW (Farmlands) - Each season has its own unique charms, but few will argue the fact that fall is, without a doubt, the best season for food. And that’s never more true than when you’re living in a town with home-grown feasts finding their way from a local farm right to your table. Over the course of this year, Pumpkin Hollow’s farmers have been hard at work to provide for the town, and these next couple of months are when we’ll be seeing the payoff of their efforts here in town.
Due to high demand, it’s recommended you get your pumpkins early! They’re in no short supply, of course, being Pumpkin Hollow’s most iconic and abundant crop, but trust us when we say you’ll want to beat the rush for Pumpkinfest. There is a fantastic selection of pumpkins for carving and for cooking available at the market.
Last but not least, Pumpkin Hollow now has its very own u-pick apple orchard! The Mr. Mime of the former owners of Starr Farms, who were called back to the ferry some months prior, has turned their apple orchard into a lovely community feature with some help from friends and neighbors. For a small donation of wild berries for the little guy running the place, you can get yourself a hefty bag of fresh apples picked right from the tree by your own hands, including the first crop of “ghost apples” developed specially by the orchard. These pure white apples are said to be super sweet, great for eating raw or for juicing, and might even make you feel a little spooky.
Check the community bulletin or the information boards by the farm for apple schedules. Great as an outing with friends, as a date, or just as a way to get yourself some pie ingredients!
OCTOBER WEATHER FORECAST
By Phil Connors
A calm night after a long day's storm.
MARROW ISLE - We're finally getting a break from the heat waves, folks! The temperature is beginning to drop. Expect some chilly, foggy mornings, especially further into the season. That's when we could even start seeing frost on the ground. Don't put those umbrellas away just yet: the thunder might be done, but the rain isn't, and it can come on fast. Don't let it into your house. It just wants to sell you something.
SPECTRAL VISITORS RETURN WITH PLUS-ONES
By Cecil Gershwin Palmer
Strange, easily-befriendable creatures of all shapes and sizes!
LOCKWOOD FOREST - Making their repeat visit from their ghostly homelands, the spirits that visited us this time last year from Lockwood Forest--- the very same that have become near and dear friends to so many people in our town--- have returned! During this new stay in our forests, however, they've decided to bring along companions of their own. These new creatures, though distinctly more tangible, are not only just as mischievous as their counterparts, but are more emboldened to cause mild to moderate havoc in town, including thievery from our force of intrepid reporters. The little gem-eyed rascal that pilfered this reporter’s preferred pen remains at large.
The Gazette reminds residents that while these little guys are exceedingly cute, just so very cute, we do recommend an abundance of caution, an awareness of one's surroundings, and a keen eye on anything that you would like to have continued ownership of. They have also been known to cause collateral damage to their surroundings and to each other, via setting things on fire. Or crushing them under rocks. Or freezing them in ice. Or hurling shadowy orbs at them. Or shooting leaves at them. Or casting psychic spells.
RESIDENTS WARNED AGAINST WOODLAND TRAVEL AFTER REPORTS OF WOLF ATTACKS
By Yorick Aberdeen
A photograph of the animals taken in prior years.
LOCKWOOD FOREST - Though there are many delightful visitors in our midst during these fall months, the changing of the seasons hasn't come without the anticipated perils. This year, it seems as though the wolf population of Marrow Island has increased dramatically - not only that, but they've become quite aggressive, and have begun seeking out those who go deep enough into Lockwood Forest. First-hand reports have mentioned that the wolf population this year is not only larger in number, but also in size, and have a few somewhat-odd mannerisms, but seem to be otherwise entirely normal wolves.
For the time being, Town Hall has advised for most of our townsfolk to steer clear from any forest strolls beyond the edge of the woods, and for the farmers of Northwest Hollow to exercise caution on the forested edge of their land. Additionally, Town Hall would like to request the assistance of any adventurers to attempt to push back the wolves. Adventuring parties who are successful in doing so will be rewarded with free food and drink during this year's Pumpkinfest as thanks for their tireless work to keep our community safe!
DISCOUNT DRINKS FOR OPEN MIC NIGHT: NOW WITH REAL MICS!
By Timothy Stoker
The lovely interior of the Empty Pockets Music Lounge.
DOWNTOWN HOLLOW (Empty Pockets Music Lounge) - After a great deal of confusion between locals and newcomers about the use of the phrase “open mic” to describe their “volunteer performer nights” at the local music lounge, Empty Pockets is pleased to announce the addition of new equipment for their stage! Through a collaboration with offworlders to create drawings of what a “microphone” ought to look like and a commission project with local engineers, we have now officially reinvented the microphone for use in Pumpkin Hollow. The local music scene is a flurry of excitement about this development--- local luthier Juniper Sweetwater already has expressed an interest in electric guitars and amplifiers. Seems like music and electricity will be getting a big boom here in town!
In the meantime, owner Dottie Siward has announced that drinks will be 30% off during open mic nights in celebration for a limited time! Check out the Empty Pockets Music Lounge any Friday or Saturday evening during the fall to take advantage of a little liquid courage, and hey, maybe put yourself out there. Could you be Pumpkin Hollow’s next big thing? You never know!
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Pokémon
Befriendable Pokemon make their semi-annual return! For the fall season, we will be seeing Dark and Ghost type Pokemon (with the exception of legendary Pokemon) in the forest that can be befriended up until this TDM leaves circulation in early December. Any character can have up to six Pokemon friends, and pre-evolutions of Dark and Ghost types that don’t have the correct type yet are also obtainable. (ex. Sprigatito, who can later evolve into a Dark/Grass Meowscarada.) We do not have Pokeballs in Pumpkin Hollow, but enough snacks or attention should be enough to get one to follow you home! Any Pokemon that have not chosen a friend to stay with will leave the island at the end of November.Wolves
The wolves mentioned by Yorick are, contrary to his assertions, not normal wolves. They are actually monstrous creatures from another world known as Balverines, who were once people. The Wiki entry for Balverines can be found here, but we'll summarize them down below as well! While werewolf-like in many respects, there are several key differences. Balverines can change at any time, night or day, regardless of the status of the moon. Commonly when first turned, a person will become a “lesser” Balverine who will transform by force every night after dark and lose all sense of self to the urge for bloodlust. However, with training and practice, that person can eventually become a “greater” Balverine, capable of controlling their transformations and retaining their faculties. This “greater” status can also be achieved automatically if the person is changed within the hour of midnight. Additionally, if the victim is infected at midnight during a full moon, they can become an exceptionally powerful White Balverine, marked by a pallid coat of wiry fur. Infection occurs when a person is bitten by a Balverine while still alive. Dying to a Balverine bite or being struck with claws, which are more likely to happen during an encounter, do not cause a transformation. Existing greater Balverines do not intend to make many conversions to their fold, and lesser Balverines will generally only do this by accident, so actually acquiring the infection is quite rare. However, if this does happen, it can be cured by having silver placed inside the body, either via insertion (like with a weapon) or ingestion (such as swallowing silver shavings). Doing so is exceptionally painful and may result in death, but dying to any other means will not rid you of the curse. However, you may wish to stay a Balverine once the greater status is achieved, as Balverines are exceptionally powerful creatures. Things to consider! As previously mentioned, Balverines primarily fight with their strong arms and long claws with the occasional bite or lunge. They are also capable of jumping so high in the air that they remain airborne for several seconds and often use this ability to travel quickly or get behind enemies. They have incredibly thick skin and are challenging to kill without silver. They also tend to hide until they can lure prey into an ambush unless pushed to defend themselves. On very infrequent occasions, they may come into town to terrorize folks, but they will largely be attempting to get the jump on people who have gone into the woods. They prefer to keep their presence subtle and are also not necessarily accosting everyone who gets near. Good luck if you plan to fight them!Open Mic Night
Drinks at Empty Pockets can be handwaved for costs--- existing players can consider it part of their grocery budget, and test driving characters can just not worry about it. This prompt is just for funsies.In addition to all of the above, feel free to mine last year's Pumpkinfest post for prompts! Have a happy harvest, and may your lanterns ever be bright!
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Cat's out of the bag now, though. She owes it to at least try to explain what she does know.
"Don't know, to tell you the truth. I didn't get the chance to get all of the details from Daisy, but... I saw enough of it to know that you're probably not wrong about him causing it, and that you're not missing anything good by being here. The Fears got in and turned the world into personalized torture pocket-dimensions."
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"I mean who else would it be?" Well, Elias, maybe, but he spoke so much of how he hated getting his hands dirty unless forced. Slimy little— ugh, she doesn't need the bullet to want to wring his neck. Breathe. Process what Basira's saying. "All that time... I knew it. I just knew we were still playing right into something evil's hands the whole time. And of course it's personalized. Why wouldn't it be!"
It only makes sense, after... after what Elias so loved to do to people when his hand was forced. After how Jon ripped out people's trauma and trapped them in it. Of course it's personalized hell. Of course it is.
"Christ, okay, let's— let's sit down. I need it." Beat. "—wait do you mean Daisy's here too?"
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She offers her arm to lead the way, bumping Melanie's caneless hand with her elbow softly.
As soon as they do make the short walk, and seats are taken (though it's hard to say how long Basira will keep hers, as prone to pacing as she is), she lets out a quiet sigh. God, where to pick a place to start?
"I'm still getting caught up on a lot of it, myself, so--- sorry for where blanks wind up. I guess I'll just have to keep you as updated as I manage to be."
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Easier to take Basira's arm and subsequent help than most people's, really. For all that things got strained after the impromptu surgery, it's hard to forget six months of shared frustration and mutual support. The tangled twist of betrayal and trust is messy, but it is familiar.
She rests her cane between her legs and prepares to listen.
"I'll take what I can get. Seriously, last I knew I was standing in an Institute bathroom in the most pain I've ever felt in my life whilst Jon was outside waiting to call an ambulance. I think you and Daisy were somewhere arguing about those other Hunters again."
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"Better start at the top, then. From what I knew, you... got out successfully, went on to stay out of it. Jon got a tape on his desk, with a note and a key. One last recording of Gertrude before Elias killed her. There were some starts of plans, talking about the Millbank Prison and the tunnels, and everything fell apart all at once. The thing that got the Sasha that worked there showed up, and the other Hunters right after it. They were tearing through people on their way down. Jon went down below, and Daisy and I..."
Basira trails off, quiet for a moment. Even if she hasn't yet managed to push it fully from her thoughts, that doesn't make it any easier to talk about.
"...She pushed them back, and it only took a couple days from there for everything to go to shit. I tried to do what I could for the people left alive in the Institute, try to get some of them patched up where I could, and sent Jon and Martin up to one of Daisy's safe houses while everything got cleaned up. Tried to help manage the whole damn place buzzing with sectioned officers, since anyone even remotely in charge was suddenly dead or gone. I was trying to follow leads where I could to find Daisy when I wasn't there, and... I'm out when, while it looked like a storm was going to roll in, the sky opened up."
She leans back, and even if Melanie isn't able to see it, in her recollection, she tips her head up. It really gives a new appreciation for that clear blue of the autumn sky that sprawls overhead.
"A big eye looked back down at everything, and it all started to fall apart. I get out of London on Daisy's trail, and I couldn't tell you where I ended up from there. None of it looked like anything anymore. I guess that was probably the idea for some of it. Something got the jump on me, and then, I'm here. Apparently, so is Jon, Martin, Tim, the original Sasha, Daisy, and... you, now. Gerard Keay, too, the guy from all those statements. If there's anybody else, I haven't heard about them yet."
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Melanie is silent for a solid five seconds before coming out with a fervid: "Jesus fucking christ."
She sinks in her seat, dragging her hands over her face up through her hair as she turns all of that over in her head. The time paradox of it all is weird enough—if Basira remembers her being alive, then that at least means she gets home, right? But then there's the rest of it on top of that and honestly the idea of surviving suddenly seems a lot less immediately appealing if an apocalypse starts right after.
What does she even start with? Not like she can do shit about the apocalypse from here and well, she'd really rather that stays not her job to deal with in the first place, thank you very much, but... wow.
"...everyone's here. Seriously?" Let's start there. "The whole goddamn archives. Past and present."
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Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily. From everything she's heard and read in the statements she'd sifted through, she isn't sure that Pumpkin Hollow would be ready for whatever Gertrude Robinson of all people would throw at it to solve its problems.
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"If Elias was here, I don't care if I'm meant to be better now, I'd wring his smug, scrawny little neck the second I— well I was going to say set eyes on him but that would be rather difficult."
So, you know, small mercies. Better for everyone that he's not here. Bad enough that she's got to deal with Jon all over, and she's not exactly buddy-buddy with the older guard. At least she generally gets on with Daisy?
"And— are you all from the apocalypse? I mean, all of you that can be, I know Gerard Keay's been dead for far longer and obviously so have Tim and Sasha."
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"As far as I know, it's--- just me. Nobody else made it that far that they can remember. Daisy told me that she remembers the last few minutes before she went after the other Hunters, Jon's from the coma after the Unknowing got stopped, Martin's from one of the attacks on the Institute after that, and the last bunch are apparently from where you'd expect them to be, whatever. Don't have all the details on them."
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"Damn. I'm— I'm sorry, Basira, that's extremely bullshit." It was bad enough being just the two of them, back during those horrible six months of waiting, she can't imagine the horrific disconnect of being the only one around that understands what you've been going through.
...wait, Jon's from— wow that's awkward as hell, actually. Her expression wrinkles as she thinks this, but she doesn't say anything about it immediately.
"If Daisy's... here, though, is she— is she still starving? She looked ready to blow away in the next stiff breeze last I saw her."
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"She's--- better now. Hasn't been starving for a few years now. Apparently she got dragged somewhere else, and was able to Hunt without it taking her over. So she's doing--- good."
There's some hesitance on that last word. Basira believes it, of course - but it doesn't come without its caveats and complications. Calling someone embracing a Fear, to be stuck in that sort of state, good feels wrong. But it's better than the alternative, at least, and that alone has to be good enough.
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"Riiiiiight. 'Good' is certainly a word you could use for that, I suppose." If Melanie had eyes, she'd be staring Basira right in the face. As it is, she has to do her best approximation by sitting up, propping her arm on the back of the bench and aiming her head in Basira's general direction. "Is this actually good or 'I'm looking away whilst she does some murder' good? Because no offence, Basira, but you were very eager for her to fix this before and yet somehow you sound as dubious about it as I am hearing it for the first time."
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Knee-jerk defensiveness turns into a short, tense sigh. "She's not murdering. Not that--- I know of, anyways. She says she's just hunting animals, and that's enough to get by. It's good by being better than her withering away right in front of us. It's just..."
She weighs her words, and lets out another short, stressed breath.
"It's complicated. Always has been. You know that. But the complications matter less than her being alive and still herself."
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"Animals. So— is that like Jon and the paper statements? I'm guessing yes." Otherwise surely they'd have thought to try it before, send Daisy out into the nearest suitable woodland and get her hunting deer or something. "I mean. Yeah. Don't get me wrong, Daisy being alive? I'm glad. We talked and— she was trying. I know she was. Even if I still don't understand why she'd bind herself to that place so—"
She makes a vague frustrated noise. That was always the point the two of them really couldn't see eye to eye on, no matter how Daisy explained herself. After fighting so hard to get out of there for so long, it just... it made no sense to Melanie.
"—anyway. It's just— I mea it's complicated. Yeah. I know. How are you two— well, how are you two?"
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The question that follows it should have been an easier ask, but for a moment that's too long to be convincing, Basira has to consider what the answer to that is. No one's really asked. She certainly hasn't.
"We're fine," she answers, after that too-long beat of quiet. "Things are different, got some figuring out to do, considering the circumstances, but--- we're still us."
Just as Daisy had said to her, and she'd said right back. Even if she doesn't know what us means anymore, it's something.
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"Which means— what, exactly? Honestly Basira for all we've talked about it I genuinely do not know what that means besides you'd both probably die for each other. Sometimes I thought you were shagging when I was out but other times it was like if one of you touched the other you'd both explode."
This is what avoiding the serious matters that affect the reluctant Archives crew as a whole gets you.
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"I don't--- we're---" For how composed she manages to be, how often she picks her words with such care, any attempts at it utterly fail this time around. Time to try again.
"It's--- complicated." She's throwing that word around a lot today, and she's really starting to feel it. She doesn't particularly want to elaborate, but it isn't as though she hasn't been dwelling on it enough to have thoughts, and Melanie's never especially been the type to let a vague answer be well enough. "About as complicated as saying yes all of those assumptions at various points in time is. I don't have a better word for it. Or... any specific word, really."
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"Uh-huh," Melanie says, deadpan. Wow they are all complete hot messes, aren't they—she's not even ruling herself out of that, even if she has been trying to get less so. "Look, this is coming from the woman who had to go through non-consensual surgery and start going to therapy before I got it together enough to figure things out with Georgie: you have got to escape the lesbian situationship trap before it comes to— gnawing your own leg off or something, I don't know that metaphor got away from me rather quickly."
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"I know, I--- trust me, I know," she relents, lifting her hands in short emphasis out of habit. "I've been trying to. Where I can, anyways." Which isn't much of anywhere, but she doesn't say as much. "She's been busy with..."
Basira trails off, and for how certain she is about most things, this one still takes some finagling to put into words. Hopefully that'll get easier with time.
"Another partner. Open relationship," Basira's quick to clarify. "Who's been recently exposed to the town as a demon, or related to them, at least? Something like the Hunt. So she's been doing--- damage control, emotional support, that sort of thing. She's only back in the house two or three times a week."
Just peppering in the fact that they're living together, to some extent, is not really helping her against the lesbian situationship allegations.
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Melanie's mouth opens, closes, then opens again to say: "Well there's a lot to unpack there."
It really was too much to hope that they'd get an escape from the strange mix of supernatural and interpersonal drama for a bit, wasn't it. Bit hard when half the Archives are already monsters or came close, she supposes, but still.
"You're living together. Like. In a house."
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The uneasy silence that lingers for a second too long almost does more talking than her eventual admission does. There's a reason that she dodged the topic of her and Daisy as much as she could, but there's not exactly a way to do so now. At least, one that doesn't involve a hasty retreat and a 'Sorry, Melanie, just remembered I've got an appointment, goodbye, we'll talk next month and I'll pretend we didn't have half of this conversation. No, really, I'm so sorry, goodbye!'
She manages to not do this. She can handle it. She got herself into this mess (with help, of course), she can endure the social scrutiny of being in that mess.
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"Because she's living part-time with her other girlfriend. Who is also, like her, some sort of monster."
Melanie has just enough restraint to not go damn, girl, you sure know how to pick 'em or from wondering aloud if this is a sign that Basira has the most specific type in the world.
"Basira, with respect: you are straight up living out the kind of drama you'd find in a supernatural lesbian erotica on kindle unlimited."
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"It isn't--- like that." It is, and it's getting harder to argue that it isn't - but, her pride, tattered as it is these days, demands that she must. "We're starting to work it out. Making more moves towards it than we did when we were alive, anyways. It's just---"
She lets out a short, frustrated sound as the words escape her.
"We're not--- we don't usually talk about that sort of thing. We just get a feel for it, and that's always been it. Changing that is--- it's a process. You know how it is."
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"I do know how it is. Believe me," she laughs dryly, "if nothing else being the only person in our nightmare collective who's actually gone to therapy has taught me plenty about how easy it is to get stuck in a rut because the process of changing the things that got us stuck in the first place sucks complete ass. But, you've gotta do it. You've got to commit to a course of action. Or you're just going to stay stuck forever."
She lets that sit for a moment, just breathes in and out again, then adds: "Look. Daisy is obviously crazy about you. Sometimes she just sits there looking at you like a lovesick puppy for chrissake. You can work this out."
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Basira lets out a breath that's almost a sigh, almost a laugh, never quite committing to either, but leans back, sounding for all the world like she's throwing in the towel on pushing back.
"I'll try," she relents at last. "If absolutely nothing else, I'll try. And I'll let you know how it goes when I manage it."
A beat.
"Y'know, I can't believe so many of us are here, but I haven't seen Georgie yet. I guess it's good, considering she didn't die, but... still. I don't imagine she'd love being stuck sharing an island with this much of the archives lot milling around, though."
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