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thecrossinglogs2025-04-19 09:44 am
thecrossingmods) wrote in thecrossinglogs2025-04-19 09:44 am
THE CROSSING #2
THE CROSSING #2
It's that time again.
For more detail on the particulars of the event, be sure to refer to our info and planning post!
For more detail on the particulars of the event, be sure to refer to our info and planning post!
always keep moving
— CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON
The Desert is sprawling. If you've ever gotten turned around in the rolling dunes, it may have once felt endless. But in the weeks and days before the descent of The Crossing, something appears on the horizon: first a dark smudge of storm clouds, not unlike the others that have rolled through before, then growing — wider, darker, and more threatening.
You feel it, too. For some of you the feeling is new; for others it's a reminder of a trial you've been through before. It's a weight in your body, a solidity of your self, a vulnerability to whatever is approaching.
The storm overtakes the oasis. As the first drops of rain begin to fall, The Ferryman speaks in your mind.
It's time. Those who are prepared to pay the toll are instructed to gather on the bank of The River. As for the rest of you... we hope you have a plan.
taking refuge
— THE RIVER OF MUD
The storm hits hard and fast. Even as you gather around The Ferryman, the rain grows from spitting droplets to a desert monsoon. The Ferryman's protection only goes so far: even if you're promised safety from danger, you'll still have to cope with the cold, the wind, and the water.
As before, The Lantern's Light grows dark. As before, The Ferryman gathers memories one by one, consolidated into a mote of light in their palm that becomes the new center point for the growing temporary bubble of safety. But this time— what it was too dark to notice in the Cavern before— you realize that The Ferryman themselves is changing, too. Their form fades as the light in their hands grows, becoming as fuzzy and insubstantial as mist... not unlike the wraiths, outside of The Crossing.
The sparkling white salt flat before you begins to melt and grow murky, exposing the sticky, grasping mud beneath. The Ferryman glides out over the roiling muck of The River, and so do you, your steps as light as if there were still a crust of salt to separate you from the mud before.
You must keep moving, though. Linger too long, and you'll start to sink... and the mud might not let go, this time.
— A HAVEN FROM THE WANTS AND ILLS OF LIFE
The journey is arduous, and the storm is unrelenting. The Ferryman, unfamiliar as they might be in this form, leads confidently through the blur of lightning, wind, and rain. As before, the mote of light created from your memories follows in their footsteps, illuminating the path to follow along the wide expanse of The River.
Even with The Ferryman's protection, it is exhausting work. It's as mentally taxing as it is physically draining. As such, when the path forward begins to shudder and shift, it may come as a reprieve. The wall of wind and rain finally breaks, the Desert around you replaced by... somewhere else. A place you may recognize, or may not.
Whatever stress or fear you may have been feeling from your journey wanes, replaced by feelings of calm, peace, or joy. If the place you are in is unfamiliar, the feelings are muted, as if they don't quite belong to you... but surely this is better than returning to the monsoon? Perhaps you can rest a while. Play a game, recover in shelter, or take a meditative walk through a maze. What's a few minutes, anyway? Time hardly means anything anymore.
Just don't forget: if you linger too long in any one place, the mud of The River will start to suck you down. It's best to stay alert— and to keep an eye on those traveling with you, as well.
storm chasers
— SWEPT AWAY
The Desert isn't designed to weather a storm like this one. Beyond the pounding rain and cracking lightning, those of you who have decided to travel without The Ferryman must also navigate the environment itself. Flash floods sweep through lower-lying places in the dunes, where the sand isn't able to absorb water quickly enough. Creatures that may have been docile before are now panicked, and might impede your progress, or even lash out themselves.
And, of course, there are the wraiths.
They're easier to spot this time around, across the rolling dunes. It's easier to make out just how much they've changed as well: the claws, the teeth, the exaggerated proportions... and the unmistakable pain and fury in every movement, in every shriek and wail.
You are vulnerable to any and all injury during this time, whether from the wraiths, the wildlife, or the elements. As long as you follow your gut, you'll know where to go — but we hope you have a strategy, all the same.
— AN EYE IN THE STORM
At least in the Cavern, you had cover. Nooks and crannies, branching tunnels, rocky outcroppings... But out here, beneath the wide-open sky of the Desert, there's very little in terms of shelter. The odd plateau, or cave entrance, or inexplicable feature might grant you some reprieve, but there's always more sand to cross in-between.
On occasion, however, you may spot a strange sort of wraith watching you at a distance. Some of you may even recognize it: an eerie, dissembling creature that some have dubbed the Smart Wraith. Its form, like the others, has solidified into something grotesque and painful, as if its body has been plucked like clay by a particularly spiteful child. Unlike the others, though, it does not attack, or even approach. It simply watches, as it always have.
If you have the presence of mind to notice, however, you may find that there are occasional reprieves from wraith attacks, especially across longer stretches of dunes. They're brief, but often crucially timed (such as when someone is significantly injured, or when a flood has just rolled through), and always correspond to a moment when The Wraith can be found watching from some far-flung vantage point.
It's odd, certainly. But do you have the luxury of looking a gift horse in the mouth?
stormbreak
— CLEARING SKIES
Eventually, the storm calms. Your body lightens. The atmosphere realigns.
The Crossing ends.
The thick, sucking mud of The River has become shallow and waterlogged. It's easy to wade through now, if a touch... unpleasant. Fibrous plants and reeds line the sloped banks, inexplicably dotted with bright orange flowers. Light is low, though the sky has cleared, as if wherever you are now lingers in perpetual dusk.
If you were traveling with The Ferryman, the mirages that dogged your journey finally fade and stay gone. If you were traveling on your own, any wounds you sustained heal rapidly on their own. As before, the healing is natural, but on fast-forward, and thus may not always resolve perfectly.
For both groups, memories bleed away from you - perhaps literally, perhaps not. Anything you found in the Desert, unless given to you by The Ferryman, is gone from your pockets.
When you look again, The Ferryman appears just the same as they were before The Crossing began. Let's take a break, they say. It's been a long journey.
It certainly has.
Image credits: 1, 2 + OMORI'S STORY, and stock imagery unless otherwise noted
The Desert is sprawling. If you've ever gotten turned around in the rolling dunes, it may have once felt endless. But in the weeks and days before the descent of The Crossing, something appears on the horizon: first a dark smudge of storm clouds, not unlike the others that have rolled through before, then growing — wider, darker, and more threatening.
You feel it, too. For some of you the feeling is new; for others it's a reminder of a trial you've been through before. It's a weight in your body, a solidity of your self, a vulnerability to whatever is approaching.
The storm overtakes the oasis. As the first drops of rain begin to fall, The Ferryman speaks in your mind.
It's time. Those who are prepared to pay the toll are instructed to gather on the bank of The River. As for the rest of you... we hope you have a plan.
taking refuge
The storm hits hard and fast. Even as you gather around The Ferryman, the rain grows from spitting droplets to a desert monsoon. The Ferryman's protection only goes so far: even if you're promised safety from danger, you'll still have to cope with the cold, the wind, and the water.
As before, The Lantern's Light grows dark. As before, The Ferryman gathers memories one by one, consolidated into a mote of light in their palm that becomes the new center point for the growing temporary bubble of safety. But this time— what it was too dark to notice in the Cavern before— you realize that The Ferryman themselves is changing, too. Their form fades as the light in their hands grows, becoming as fuzzy and insubstantial as mist... not unlike the wraiths, outside of The Crossing.
The sparkling white salt flat before you begins to melt and grow murky, exposing the sticky, grasping mud beneath. The Ferryman glides out over the roiling muck of The River, and so do you, your steps as light as if there were still a crust of salt to separate you from the mud before.
You must keep moving, though. Linger too long, and you'll start to sink... and the mud might not let go, this time.
— A HAVEN FROM THE WANTS AND ILLS OF LIFE
The journey is arduous, and the storm is unrelenting. The Ferryman, unfamiliar as they might be in this form, leads confidently through the blur of lightning, wind, and rain. As before, the mote of light created from your memories follows in their footsteps, illuminating the path to follow along the wide expanse of The River.
Even with The Ferryman's protection, it is exhausting work. It's as mentally taxing as it is physically draining. As such, when the path forward begins to shudder and shift, it may come as a reprieve. The wall of wind and rain finally breaks, the Desert around you replaced by... somewhere else. A place you may recognize, or may not.
Whatever stress or fear you may have been feeling from your journey wanes, replaced by feelings of calm, peace, or joy. If the place you are in is unfamiliar, the feelings are muted, as if they don't quite belong to you... but surely this is better than returning to the monsoon? Perhaps you can rest a while. Play a game, recover in shelter, or take a meditative walk through a maze. What's a few minutes, anyway? Time hardly means anything anymore.
Just don't forget: if you linger too long in any one place, the mud of The River will start to suck you down. It's best to stay alert— and to keep an eye on those traveling with you, as well.
storm chasers
The Desert isn't designed to weather a storm like this one. Beyond the pounding rain and cracking lightning, those of you who have decided to travel without The Ferryman must also navigate the environment itself. Flash floods sweep through lower-lying places in the dunes, where the sand isn't able to absorb water quickly enough. Creatures that may have been docile before are now panicked, and might impede your progress, or even lash out themselves.
And, of course, there are the wraiths.
They're easier to spot this time around, across the rolling dunes. It's easier to make out just how much they've changed as well: the claws, the teeth, the exaggerated proportions... and the unmistakable pain and fury in every movement, in every shriek and wail.
You are vulnerable to any and all injury during this time, whether from the wraiths, the wildlife, or the elements. As long as you follow your gut, you'll know where to go — but we hope you have a strategy, all the same.
— AN EYE IN THE STORM
At least in the Cavern, you had cover. Nooks and crannies, branching tunnels, rocky outcroppings... But out here, beneath the wide-open sky of the Desert, there's very little in terms of shelter. The odd plateau, or cave entrance, or inexplicable feature might grant you some reprieve, but there's always more sand to cross in-between.
On occasion, however, you may spot a strange sort of wraith watching you at a distance. Some of you may even recognize it: an eerie, dissembling creature that some have dubbed the Smart Wraith. Its form, like the others, has solidified into something grotesque and painful, as if its body has been plucked like clay by a particularly spiteful child. Unlike the others, though, it does not attack, or even approach. It simply watches, as it always have.
If you have the presence of mind to notice, however, you may find that there are occasional reprieves from wraith attacks, especially across longer stretches of dunes. They're brief, but often crucially timed (such as when someone is significantly injured, or when a flood has just rolled through), and always correspond to a moment when The Wraith can be found watching from some far-flung vantage point.
It's odd, certainly. But do you have the luxury of looking a gift horse in the mouth?
stormbreak
Eventually, the storm calms. Your body lightens. The atmosphere realigns.
The Crossing ends.
The thick, sucking mud of The River has become shallow and waterlogged. It's easy to wade through now, if a touch... unpleasant. Fibrous plants and reeds line the sloped banks, inexplicably dotted with bright orange flowers. Light is low, though the sky has cleared, as if wherever you are now lingers in perpetual dusk.
If you were traveling with The Ferryman, the mirages that dogged your journey finally fade and stay gone. If you were traveling on your own, any wounds you sustained heal rapidly on their own. As before, the healing is natural, but on fast-forward, and thus may not always resolve perfectly.
For both groups, memories bleed away from you - perhaps literally, perhaps not. Anything you found in the Desert, unless given to you by The Ferryman, is gone from your pockets.
When you look again, The Ferryman appears just the same as they were before The Crossing began. Let's take a break, they say. It's been a long journey.
It certainly has.
Image credits: 1, 2 + OMORI'S STORY, and stock imagery unless otherwise noted
no subject
What are their names?
[Not knowing anything about TVs besides what he just said, she assumes that every story it shows is meaningful.]
LOL not me having to deep dive because I actually haven’t seen this movie
His mind liked to wander, even before it became a necessity.
Because of this, it takes a moment of staring, watching the children walk on the railroad tracks, for him to recall.]
Gordie… Chris… Teddy… and… Fern? [The last one he’s unsure of. It sounded right in his head, but wrong once said. Oops.]
Oh no... but now we know!!
Will they ever find their friend?
CW: brief mention of movie child death (Now we know! ^^)
And yet, as he stared at the television, watching the four children walk down a mundane path…
Sunny frowned. Feeling like something was dragging him down, almost.]
I… don’t know… [The boy was dead. The four children didn’t know that, still searching with curiosity and vigor in an unfriendly world.
And Sunny had to wonder… if Omori and his friend of friends (if him and their close knit group) would ever find Basil.
That… was what he was supposed to be doing, right? Except Mari hadn’t reminded him, because there was no picnic blanket here. And that thought had him glancing around, worry in his gaze, as if searching for one-
This place should be safe. But… it wasn’t safe. The lone tentacle sprouting from one of the holes in the floor waves, as though trying to get his attention.
Sunny ignores it. She was cast out. There were more important things.]
no subject
Let's go upstairs, shall we?
no subject
He tugs on Frieda’s sleeve, shaking his head.]
N-no… up… is out… [Out into the storm or out into the rest of Headspace, he isn’t sure. Maybe she would like to go on an adventure, but Sunny is afraid if the answer is the latter. What did it mean if they all ended up in Headspace for real…?]
no subject
Who's that present for?
Me making things up, here we go~
He walks over to it, staring, and then turns back to Frieda.]
Mine. And yours. [Is that true? Who knows. There isn’t a tag stating who the gift is for. And, in spite of the plurality of his answer, there is only one gift.
If Frieda insists he should open it, he shakes his head.] Yours. [Insisting. He looks like he might want to pick the box up, but pouts.] Too heavy. [And yet - if Frieda picks up the present, it’s light. Opening it presents an equally strange sight: the box is empty.]
♡
I'm sorry, Sunny, it's empty. See?
[She puts box and ribbon back on the counter, then inspects the thing next to it - a stylised face. Is it a plush toy, a pillow..?]
I’m awful but…
white and blank strands mix together in the bottom
The teen places the lid back on the box, heart hammering, before turning to answer Frieda’s inquiry.]
It’s… Sweetheart… [Back home, there were a bunch of movies on her, and Sunny’s overactive imagination had coupled with his shipper brain to make a made up crossover in Headspace with her and Captain Spaceboy…
Why that was a good idea, he wasn’t sure anymore… but Sweetheart had way more cameos in his dreams so far. He’s somewhat pouting at the thought.]
RIP Sunny... he keeps going through it!
Sweetheart? Is she a person from a story, too?
As Frieda likes to think often, Sunny’s always going through it XD ><‘
[She also, oddly enough, reminded him of Miss. Candice, the candy store owner, though whether the resemblance is intended or not is something he’s never figured out.]
Hobbeez… had… toys and DVDs. [The place that Kel’s safe haven was? That place.
Then, maybe the most unhinged though.] She’s a… donut.
no subject
I'm sorry, Sunny, I don't know what half of that means.
[She may just have learned what movies are, and even the Walls' children have toys, but DVDs and donuts elude her!]
But if she's here, you must like her.
[She tries to commit everything in this room to her memory, knowing that Sunny will forget it all... it may not be any use, but even so, she'd like to remember the things that were meaningful to him.]
no subject
Um… movies… moving pictures… DVDs… are copies… of movies… or shows… donuts are… fried… bread…
[It’s maybe too much information, and maybe she’s glad that - when she brings up Sweetheart - he stops and thinks.
Sweetheart… was such a polarizing character. She constantly got in their way when searching for Basil, she was flighty, though… if she is here, he liked her once upon a time, right? And his shipper brain liked shipping Captain Spaceboy and her together, even if it hadn’t been destined to last…]
no subject
She's a donut?
[He explained that already, but now she understands! Sweetheart is an endearing anthropomorphised fried bread character! Sunny looks a little exhausted from having to explain all of this, though... of course, she once again doesn't know what's going on in his head, so she feels like some appreciation is in order.]
Thank you for telling me about all of this!
Don’t worry Frieda, I was shocked by that revelation too XD
Thanks… for… not laughing…
Anybody would be!
[She's grateful to get to see these things! Once more, she looks around the room, her expression warm. That odd little pondlet catches her attention... is that a creature sticking a limb out? How deep can the water be below the room? She approaches it and crouches down.]
What's this, now?
no subject
But not Frieda, and that was enough for him.
As the other approached the tentacle curiously, Sunny’s own is tempered by a certain nervousness.]
Um… [Who was that? The tentacle waved, child-like, without a word, and he seemed to settle.] A… friend…?
[Sunny seems unsure of this. And yet… everyone in Headspace existed for one reason or another, whether Sunny himself was aware or not.]
no subject
How big is this friend? I can't see down there!
[She tries nonetheless, hoping to catch a glimpse at a fascinating underwater world.]
no subject
Instead… the teen looked down into the hole. The tentacle extended through that purple-blue space for some time and then… darkness. Total and deep, for as far as they could see.]
Very… big… [Was the only answer he could come up with. Sunny… hadn’t been to that depth of his mind. Was it dark because he hadn’t explored it? Or simply because it was? There was no way to get there from here… not unless they went up the stairs and entered Headspace itself…
That wasn’t possible though. Was it?
Sunny’s gaze flitted back to the colorful staircase. Water was starting to run down it in little rivulets.]
no subject
Noticing him get restless by her side, she follows his gaze, and the sight of the water trickling down the stairs alarms her. Has the storm caught up with them? Is the river flooding into even this sanctuary?]
I think we have to go, Sunny. Are you ready?
[She gets up and offers him a hand, smiling faintly. She isn't looking forward to braving the tempest once more, but it's the only way to the other side, wherever it may be.]
no subject
The water makes Sunny nervous. Not just because he’s afraid of it but… his gaze, sad, trails around the room.
What would become of this place, once he left?
Sunny somewhat knew the answer: he wouldn’t remember it. He had given it up, and now… what would happen in Headspace? Would anything…? Or would some part of his subconscious always know this space, like an ache in his heart?
He couldn’t ask Omori, couldn’t be Omori to find out so… it would (for now) remain a mystery.
All Sunny could do was take Frieda’s offered hand.]
no subject
I'll tell you about all of them. Alright? It won't be the same, but you can at least still hear the stories of them.
[Not that she'll have a great plot to regale him with, seeing how cryptically little information he shared about all these odd friends... but she'll at least describe them to him!
If nothing else, she wants him to experience the ascend of those rainbow-coloured stairs once more, so she leads the way up, the cold rivulets announcing the storm waiting for them.]
(Wanting to wrap here or with yours?)
Reluctantly, he nodded, taking her hand.
Frieda was always there, patient, making sure he moved forward. And, as he watched her back as they made their way up the rainbow staircase, he hoped she would remember this place for him. Even if he no longer could… maybe that was enough.]