humiliatious | Cursed Night Market

Entry tags:

event,
night market

Cursed Night Market

Welcome

You’re not sure how you got here, but you don’t seem to mind. You feel a pervasive sense of calm with regard to your environment. You have entered what appears to be a night market. Perhaps the concept is familiar to you, or perhaps it isn’t. Colorful stalls, glowing with lantern light, line the path before you. You know what you need to do to return to where you came from. Investigate the various stalls - buy and sell what you have, until you’re able to purchase a path back. The merchants will take any currency that you have on hand. If you don’t have any, you will find some coins of an ambiguous nature in your pocket.

Rare Items

The first stall that you encounter boasts that you can buy and sell rare items. After trading a coin, the merchant hands you something - insists you take it. You don’t recognize the item, but the person behind you does. It is something extremely dear to them. If they check their person, they will find the item missing. If you attempt to return the item to them, you will find that you are unable to. Helpfully, the merchant offers that the person the item belongs to must tell the buyer a story about the item before it can be returned.

Fortunes

The second stall you encounter claims to buy and sell fortunes. Trading a coin, the merchant will relay to you a fortune, but, as you listen, you realize that it isn’t your fortune at all. With a cackle, the merchant explains that you must deliver the fortune with the person behind you. Neither of you can leave the booth until you have revealed to them their future.

Memories

The third stall you encounter claims to buy and sell memories. You can choose to sell the merchant a memory you would like to forget, or you can ask to buy someone else’s memory. Selling your memory will transfer it to the person behind you. In return, you will gain one of their memories. Buying a random memory will instead cause you to forget one of the people most important to you. In some instances, you might feel a great urgency to find someone, although you don't know who it is.

Dreams

The fourth stall you encounter claims to buy and sell dreams. Trading a coin at this stall will cause you and the person behind you to be transported into a shared dream. The dream may be about the highest point in your life or the lowest. It may also be about a close friend, there or gone. It may reveal your greatest desire or your greatest insecurity. Or any number of other things!

OOC notes

Suggestions on prompts: if you’re going to write one where someone will be seeing/receiving something from your character, it’s helpful to describe it in detail in the brackets in your TL. I know some of these prompts are probably a little confusing, but, I mean…it’s roleplay. Just fuck around. No one’s gonna police how you do things here.

Please feel free to top-level, tag in, and share this meme wherever you’d like - it is open to anyone. The four stalls mentioned are prompt suggestions, but you can go crazy and have any stall do basically anything you want. Please see/use subject line CWs. This musebox doesn’t have a dedicated rule list because it’s just for my personal shit, but please be kind, follow standard RP rules - just be nice! Do the right thing! If you have any questions, hit me up here.

code by Flyleaf ❖ inspired by event code by 10billionghosts ❖ background via unsplash

Threaded | Flat

[up for anything ~~i need samples~~! let me know if you want to share memories or fortunes. prose or brackets are fine, i will match!]

[hmu with whatever or an idea - i'm happy to write starters.]

rare items; cw: blood, gore

a.) [The item that is handed to the person in front of Armin is, quite simply, a conch shell; however, the person holding it will find that it's covered in blood, clumps of hair stuck under dried scabs. Armin's face pales with recognition; he's not eager to claim it as his own, though...

[It would be impossible to let go of, now that he's seen it.]

Sorry. [Genuine enough.] I believe that's meant for me.

b.) [The item that is handed to the person in front of Armin is, quite simply, a book. He looks stunned to see it, hand beginning a reach, though...he pulls it back.]

Sorry, I...I recognize that book. I think...it belonged to me once.

memories; cw: violence

[There are any number of memories Armin would like to forget, though he doesn't choose any of them. one comes to mind. It's not the first - not the worst, either - but it comes to mind, as he's standing there at the merchant's booth. He considers buying a memory instead, then decides it should only be a last resort, if other booths don't work. He turns to leave, not realizing the memory has been transfered.]

dreams; cw: threads will include unreality

[For his part of the dream, it is, as always, the sea. Armin stands knee-deep in the water, pantlegs rolled up, but still soaking. He doesn't seem to notice anyone there, at first. He barely remembers the night market, or the booth where he sold this dream, or bought it, or...however it works.

[The ocean stretches on in every direction. The beach is large, too, though, even as it disappears over the horizon, more waves can just barely be seen. It's a world of water.]

wildcard;

[You also might find him snacking on some good food, wandering around - eavesdropping, even. Maybe he's coming up to chat - looks a little too friendly. Hit me with anything!]

[ there are normal?? stands manned by normal people.

and there's a stall manned by a man in a bunny suit. with a sign that says MAGICAL MALLETS FOR SALE.

come buy his goods. ]

[Rare Items]

[To whoever picks up an ornate blue ring, a young boy, no older than thirteen (probably looks younger to those from a modern setting), appears next to them and holding out his hand very accusingly, and his tone isn't much better.]

I do beg your pardon, but that ring is mine, and I can assure you that I did not sell it. If you would be so kind as to return it...

[And here he is, five-foot nothing and looks like he could be toppled over by a spring breeze, throwing out demands like he owns the place.]

[Memories]

[While most of these stalls were easy to ignore, it was only this one that posed a temptation. What if he could just... forget it all? He wouldn't. He couldn't. He had to enact hold those accountable for what they did, and then after... well, there would be no after for him...

But... if he got rid of them would the nightmares stop?

So anyone could find him standing there looking conflicted.]

[Dreams-CW: Human Trafficking/Child Abuse/gore/death + Spoilers for chapter 130+]

[Well, he thought he'd found the solution to his earlier moment of weakness. Keep the memories, get rid of the dreams? Perfect right?

Well apparently not, because in a blink he found himself right back in the stupid dream he was trying to be rid of.

As once again, he found himself standing over his twin brother's corpse, though now he was older. The boy on the table was maybe ten at most. He knew a gruesome task was ahead of him as he pulled the knife from the chest of his late brother. Even though the entire room was awash with the bloodied corpses of those responsible for the atrocity... it did not make him feel better. It did not bring his brother back, it did not undo all that they had suffered..

But now he held the knife that had killed his brother in his hands. If he was to assume his position as Earl... he needed the ring his brother had swallowed to mark him as the heir.

He raised it over his brother's stomach, unaware anyone else was there with him. This nightmare was a recurring one after all.

Feel free to stop him any time.]

rare items;

[The merchant hands the person ahead of Oda in line a book. It's the third volume in a series (what good is that?), and upon closer inspection, the final pages seem to have been torn out. Oda recognizes it when he sees it, a subtle but discernible look of shock on his face. It couldn't be another copy, right? Oda had never been able to find one...

[After a few moments, his expression evens back out into calm. He's not quite smiling, but when he speaks, his voice is lighter than one might expect.]

It's a good story - a great one, but...if you want to know the ending, you'll have to write it yourself.

memories; cw: child death (multiple)

[Everyone has memories that they'd like to forget. Oda knows better than to trust the merchants of a black market, though the difference is, when he was alive, he had something to lose.

[He's made of unpleasant memories. He wouldn't sell most of them. There's no point in trying to erase the past - he's never been that sort of person. You learn from it.

[Still, he finds himself trading the coin for one reason - just one memory he'd throw away if he could.

[It's why he is where he is - here, dead, wherever. It's why - part of why, at least - he chose what he chose. Still, he'd like to forget; their faces, their pleas - he'd like to forget.]

wildcard;
((ooc: let's do stuff! I'm down for literally anything - voicetesting so idk what I'm doing YAHOO! hit me up pm or

pantheraliam to plot or w/e!))

(ooc: Slapdash info in journal. Let me know if you’re ok with endgame spoilers; I’ll default to a pre-end canonpoint otherwise.)

rare items, precious memories
[Basil’s hands wring as he stands behind you, and you are given a very precious book. He watches it intensely, and when the vendor reveals the stipulation, some tension cracks with a small, shaky sigh.]

Ah, that’s easy… I-if you look inside, you can pick a story for me to tell you!

[Within are polaroids upon polaroids, captions written in green ink alongside each. It might be good, happy fun—or, alternatively, an ominous black. If you open to the latter version, several pictures are missing.

[Either way, Basil appears none the wiser.]

fortunes, (un)fortunately
[This time, Basil’s in front of you. Whether the fortune he received was promising or ominous, tragic or hopeful, he turns back to you with a small, possibly-forced smile.]

Are… you ready to hear it…?

[He’s not much for bearing bad news.]

memories…
[Basil’s not standing in line for this one. Instead, when the merchant is occupied, the boy claws through what he assumes is the memory box, full of pictures from all sorts of places. He’s paying no attention to his surroundings whatsoever; the search is feverish. Is he looking for someone…?]

wildcard?
(Toss me anything without preamble! Pull Basil into your dream. Swap line placement wherever. Give him another memory; it’s okay, he can probably take another. Or maybe you just find him wandering about like a drowned stray.
(I also play a bunch of other disaster people, who I’m not topleveling for now; see members of this community for a full lineup. Feel free to request whoever may strike your interest. Happy to whip up custom starters, for Basil or anyone else~)

((ooc: lmk if you want to do something with this guy, and we can probably come up with something! I'm down for canon, AU, CRAU - any of it; let me know if you want pre-timeskip eren instead - that's fine too - and just hmu pm or

pantheraliam if u need to))

[ Tell me the version of Maruki that you want, the prompt that you want, and I will make you the bespoke starter of your dreams ♥ ]

[ Congratulations! You have the utmost pleasure of standing in line with a clean-cut boy in most of a prep school uniform. He's ditched the jacket, loosened up the tie, and donned a black beret for the occasion. His voice has a slight New England drawl and while his demeanor is generally louche with a lazy, aloof confidence, there is an ever-present undercurrent of rebellion that walks a fine line between mischief and anger.

Pick a line to stand in, any line to stand in: ]

i. rare item

[ Said schoolboy is peeking over your shoulder (or around you, if you're taller than him) to take a look at the book in your hands: A weathered and beaten forest green cover with a golden laurel around Five Centuries of Verse. If you open it before he can get his hands on it, you'll find an inscription. ]

Looks boring. I'll take it off your hands so you can try again, how about that?

ii. fortunes

[ Oh. He has your fortune? No thanks. He folds it up, and his hands tuck into his pockets as rocks back on his heels, smirks, shrugs. ]

Ever heard of being the master of your fate and the captain of your soul? A fortune isn't gonna tell you anything worth hearing.

iii. memories – cw suicide, emeto

[ He's a cocky, headstrong, aggressive person who still thinks he can forge his own path in a world tailor made to beat him into the shape his father and teachers want him to be. Under most other circumstances, he wouldn't even consider giving away a part of himself, no matter how ugly.

But he's also seventeen and grieving, so.

Of course he'll sell the memory of being the one who had to wake everyone in the middle of the night to tell them their best friend, their poetical leader, their figurehead, their Puck died. Of course he'll forget the endless snowfield, the silence broken only by Todd's screams, the slush he shoved in his mouth to clean off his acrid sick as he retched and babbled through his denial. Of course.

It's yours now, stranger. What's he get in return? ]

iv. wildcard

[ either hit me here or at mackleberry with whatever you want! please note: have not played charlie in ages, have not played straight up regular canon charlie in LONG AGES, bear with me. there is no info post in his journal. if you haven't seen dead poets society by now that's your damage. ]

Edited 2024-08-08 07:32 (UTC)

❀ Sakurament: The Secret Garden CG ❀
[ Welcome to BB's little Shop - it's decorated with Sakura blossoms everywhere but themed more blue, and fanatically astrological in a manner of speaking... Your eyes will see the sign implicated over her head going: SAKURAMENT. Rather than taking Sakurament as payment, it looks like, it's simply the name of her shop. BB intends for you to buy from her, and if you don't - well, guess you're stuck here then aren't you? In the background, you can hear this gaudy evil music.

Now, there are less intricate items decorated around her table, but she herself, is dressed in beautifully intricate clothing. If she sees you eyeing how beautiful she looks, BB will say simply: Eh? This? This is the dress my best friend got for me a while ago.

Otherwise, her wares seem to be anything you can think of that comes from Chaldea, Fate Extra, or etc verse. Familiar it can be - yes, and if you try to buy them. BB will stop you and says: No, you have to buy this one.

BB points to the highlighted item in her stall, it's a key. The key seems to be an item that opens up a Secret Garden.

[ WHAT IS A SECRET GARDEN? An Example. ]
More sexually intended ace attorney psyche locks - literally. With every correct break you make, the person loses more and more of their clothes, or flowers move out of their body, making them more distinctly vulnerable to the person stripping them (who has the key). Then after their vulnerability is exposed, the aftercare comes - and you reason with the information given into 'this is why you are like this.' In the end, the intention is that both will become closer and the bond between you and the key bearer will grow, or that truth will be revealed. That couldn't have been otherwise.

Some people have deep secrets and some do not. Honestly, do whatever you want with it - it's a free prompt idea. This is all a mental psyche thing. You are entering the mind of someone with the key, usually you need to make them vulnerable before ENTERING into them. So you cannot just go into their mind by taking a key, you need to make sure they are becoming vulnerable to you and then use the key. BB will explain all this, if you want her key. You will have to barter with her of something with equal value. TLDR; free prompt to play with have fun. ]

❀ Wildcard & Prompts ❀
[ Let me know what prompt you are interested in and I will write you a personal starter! BB is totes dressed up in her pretty dress for most if not all of it. ]

i. gateway:
[ Kurogiri feels a strange sense of calm as he examines the luminous stalls of the market, but also a grave certainty that he shouldn't be here. However—when he examines this conviction, he realizes he doesn't know where he should be instead. Or how he came to be here. Things are different here.

The drifting fog that covers every part of what would otherwise be his exposed skin—face, neck, hands, wrists—gathers around one of his hands, swirling slowly and deliberately. It soon expands, stretching out before him, then forming a vaguely round shape, a dark mass hovering in midair. Another moment, and the mass opens from the center outwards, like a gate opening in space itself, revealing a shadowy void beyond.

Kurogiri gazes into it, as if he might find an answer within, but he doesn't. He doesn't intend to go through it, either. It's dangerous to enter a warp gate, if he doesn't know where he is or where he needs to go. ]

It's come back.

ii. memories:
[ If you happened to take your place in line behind the neatly dressed man whose body is cloaked in dark mist, the unfamiliar memory that enters your mind will be dark and hazy, as if you're viewing the world through—a fog.

A tall man is standing in a dimly lit laboratory, gazing down at you. You can hear a low, buzzing machine noise from somewhere nearby. The tall man is partially obscured by the shadow of a large piece of metal and glass equipment (a medical device?) that rises up from the floor nearby. He towers over you—he must be more than seven feet tall. You feel small in comparison. If you can look away from the tall man and glance down at yourself, you'll realize you're stretched out on what appears to be an examination table. It's cold and uncomfortable. If you try to move, you'll find it difficult, your limbs and torso bound by restraints.

After observing you in silence for several moments, the strange man speaks.]

Do you know your name?

[ His voice is deep, resonant—and also oddly detached, as if he's speaking to an object rather than a person. ]

iii. dreams:
[ The world is gone. There is no earth. There is only, seemingly, the sky. You're standing on a cloud, and all around you are clouds—pillars, sheets, swirls, and walls of cloud. Puffy and pale, they look like ordinary clouds, but they're able to hold up under your weight. If you reach out to touch them, you'll feel some give beneath your touch, but there's also a strength to them, and they don't break, even if they do yield.

This place is strange, but serene. It has the feel of a refuge or sanctuary, if an empty one. Here and there, you can see the blue sky and golden sunlight through breaks in the cloud cover. At first glance, you appear to be alone here, but with the clouds piled all around you, you can only see so far ahead... ]

[[ ooc: or choose your own adventure! open to any and all canon points and AUs, including labyrinthum flavor. let me know if you want a custom prompt! pm or contact me on

teacuppity for plotting purposes. ]]

(ooc: Same mun as the bellismortis Basil further up. Kel has a more thorough infopost—and a paid, this month, so come get ‘im while he’s hot)

my stall now
[It’s anyone’s guess how a teenage boy ended up on the merchant’s side of a stall, but sometimes a fella needs coin, and he’s been set up with some real tasty delicious wares to sell!

[Reads the sign: ‘Milk.’

[He hates milk, is the thing.

[But! No matter! These cold glass jugs aren’t gonna sell themselves, and they’re getting warmer by the second, and that’s really no fun for anyone. So, at the first appearance of another soul at this less-traveled intersection, Kel quits slouching, jumps up, and waves his hands with a big ol’ grin.]

Got milk? I got milk! Getcha fresh dairy here, straight from… some unreadable mystery farm! Good for you, good for your bones—just one coin a pop!

wildcard?
(You know. One of the actual prompts. Or anything else! Toss me a starter or request one. We have fun.)

i. rare items (note: likely third semester spoilers in threads)

[Akira is placid, still, quietly observing as he waits in line. He's in no hurry, and he feels no urgency.

Until he sees the object in the hand of the person ahead of him.]

Wait.

[His hand is already extended, a burst of panic jolting through the calm that's hung over him like a heavy cloak up until now. He doesn't even think to check his pockets, but he takes a step forward and notices the slight weight that's always there is missing. Akira might not understand, but his hand is already darting into his jeans to investigate what he's already figured he'll find, eyes never leaving the person in front of him.]

...Have you seen that glove before?

[If he isn't prepared for that black leather glove disappearing in the first place, he certainly won't be prepared for the method he'll have to use get it back, either...]

ii. fortune

[Fortunes feel safer here than the items, at least. Even if he gets a bad reading, it should be fine. It's been predicted he'll die before, so honestly Akira thinks he's already gone as low as he can go.

Except... there's something strange about this, isn't there? It's full of people - maybe even places - that he's never heard of before.

But the fortune teller grins, teeth sparkling and full of mischief. "That one isn't for you, boy. It's for whose behind you. Best deliver it if you'd like to leave."

Shit. It takes some self-restraint, but he doesn't sigh somehow. It makes sense, he tells himself, considering how the last stall went... And he didn't expect it to be easy, exactly, to get himself out of here. It's fine. This is easy enough to do.

Is this his own calm... or is it the magic of the night market?]

I've got some news for you. It might be good, but at least half of it is bad. [He pushes up his glasses as he takes in the person behind him.] Which one do you want to hear first?

iii. wildcard

((ooc: give me any other prompts you like, or ask me for one and i can write it up for you!! i super want to do memories and/or dreams, but. i didn't write prompts for them because i didn't want to blast everyone with p5r spoilers LOL... you can hit me with anything you're feeling, ask me for a starter if you like, or hit me up at Yamadori for any extended discussion!))

Threaded | Flat

QUESTIONS

Nyaa Hashimoto || Osomatsu-san || ota

goro akechi - persona 5 royal - prince/third sem/laby flavor

Armin Arlert | Attack on Titan | ota (please see CWs in journal)

ravio | loz: link between worlds

Ciel Phantomhive | Black Butler (please check for CWs!)