libraryassistants: (Default)
Unfinished Library Mod & NPC Account ([personal profile] libraryassistants) wrote in [community profile] unfinishedlibrary2025-11-14 08:20 am

It's a beautiful day in the village - TAKE A LOAD OFF, LOG 1

Who: Readers and Actors
What: Beta Story Start - At the start of any particular Story, characters will be drawn to a section of the Stacks. Those inclined to resist will find themselves there anyway, through the shifts and changes inherent to the Library's structure. The Story manuscript will be laid out neatly on a side table, its pages lit by a faint aura that draws focus and beckons insistently to the Editors. Touching it will bring them into the Story.
Characters can either voluntarily touch the Story to enter it, or the Librarian will eventually sweep them in. Regardless of how long it takes them to enter, everyone will arrive at the same point in time.
When: November 14- November 27
Where: Woodhurst (UK) and the SS Radiance (in space!), 2019
Content warnings: Please tag warnings in comment headers!

In Woodhurst

It’s another Monday morning in Woodhurst, and as is often the case for the United Kingdom in the fall, it is raining. It is, all in all, a rather typical Monday morning. People shuffle off to work, dropping by the various cafes and shops for their morning caffeine. Polite (if meaningless) greetings are exchanged, vague comments about the weather are made. Heads down, trudging along, just keeping things going.

By midday, it’s clear that this Monday is a little bit… different. There are some people who seem especially cheerful and helpful. Perhaps you’ve just been served a free upsize of your morning coffee. Or a stranger held an umbrella up for you. People keep talking about the benefits of yoga? And it’s not just a bunch of people seeming to be having an especially good day and paying it forward (that would be strange enough). Some of your friends and loved ones aren’t acting like themselves, aside from being remarkably cheerful. They don’t seem to remember basic things, don’t know their normal rituals, and are generally just very off. You think one of them might have blinked sideways? Whatever it is that’s happened, it doesn’t seem right.

As for those ‘friends and loved ones’… The novices from the Interstellar Group are largely inexperienced with such a thing as covert operations. Fresh off the ship and with no frame of reference, their human disguises may have a few significant flaws.

However many fingers it is they have, they’re keen to help - perhaps a little too much so. Whatever it takes to make these human lives easier, whatever they can do to help them relax - the Group are on it! Hopefully they’ll catch on quietly.


On the IMW Group Supply Ship: Radiance

No plan survives contact with the enemy, is how the saying goes. But within the Interstellar Mindfulness & Wellness Group, the concept is usually applied to patients. Patients are, almost entirely across the board, unpredictable creatures - and while the science behind wellness is robust, there’s simply too much individual variation for a standardised approach. That being said, this particular plan seems to be going… rather more poorly than expected. It starts to break down once the word ‘kidnapping’ is brought up. It’s such an ugly word to use. The Group tries to avoid it. But in some of these cases, the humans need the Group’s own facilities! The idea was to convince the humans to follow them to a very not suspicious space capsule, or to get them to touch this particularly strange teleportation device, and they’d be on their way to recovery. However, most if not all the humans seem to be reacting… quite negatively to that. It’s almost like they don’t understand that this is for their benefit!

The ship is very nice, and perfectly designed to relax and comfort (--for the species the Group are familiar with, at least). Soothing music plays along the spaceship’s halls, which are lit in a soft violet glow. Potted plants are artfully displayed, though none of them are recognisable as any species found on Earth. For those with a sensitive nose, the flowers give off a bright, delicate scent; not unlike that of lavender and lemon myrtle. An entire stretch of glass is dedicated to the view outside, the Earth looking so serene from this distance; stars shining in the space around it.

For those Aliens aboard the mothership, maybe you’re delivering this hour’s yoga session. Maybe you’re leading a group chant or meditation. Are you perhaps talking humans into resting in the healing spa, or - for those so inclined - are you delving deeper, forming a connection, and really getting to know these humans? For the humans… well, at least the spa looks really nice, right?

[Space Spa Features:
Yoga - you’ve been herded into a room where a flexible alien encourages you to breathe deeply; holding it in your stomach and feeling your heart beat before letting it out in a big sigh. The routine is not very different to yoga on Earth, except… well, if you can’t find your proboscis, maybe that particular pose won’t work for you.
Sauna - the heat promotes circulation, but the temperature in here seems to be a little off.
Spa - you know what a spa is. Or, you thought you did. It looks like the aliens aren’t quite on the same page. Where there would normally be cucumbers, there’s a strange pink fruit. Where you’d expect water, there’s… a viscous fluid, gently rotating through a myriad of colours, that seems to soften and soothe your muscles as you soak in it.
And Others - the aliens have no shortage of remedies for what ails you! Since this is their first time experiencing humans, results may vary.]


Optional prompts (player-run):
An alien adrift, unsure what task to complete? Seek guidance from your leader.

In Woodhurst, unnerved and skeptical? Drop in at your local seedy bookshop to chat with some alien enthusiasts.

[Have a plan to drive the Story direction? Let us know, and we’ll add it to the list!

Info post can be found here.]
terraboo: (Whoa!)

2A

[personal profile] terraboo 2025-11-17 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Laina Guthart - her name stuck for this - is at the school, ENTIRELY unaware of Michiko's status, but between classes and before she'd had to suppress the urge to pull out her glaive, such ASSHOLES some of the students are hide when a fight broke out, she wasn't supposed to break things right, she hopes that's the case.

UNFORTUNATELY, this particular New Transfer Student wound up in detention too, for attempting to do a backflip for reasons that totally made sense until she broke a door. It's a more reliable way to seem cool than saying 'how do you do, fellow kids?'.

On the bright side, this got her to be aware of the Skate Park and more or less invited into the Troubled Teen Troupe! Because someone this out of touch has to have something wrong with their parents, right? They're so permissive it's like they don't exist!

She's watching Michiko with the skateboard, and just kinda impressed.]


How do you pull this level of cool off??? I thought knowing the memes was key, but...

[It probably doesn't help that some of her memes are from twenty years in the future relative to this story's timeframe.]
shelloflight: (happy)

all skating tips are lifted from a video tutorial I'll link in the discord

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-11-17 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
[She is just gonna. Bask in being the Cool Kid for once.]

I mean we're not posting on Chirp, so most of it's being yourself and hang the consequences. But if you want to pull of skateboard tricks...

This is gonna sound weird but could I see your shoes?
terraboo: (Erm)

[personal profile] terraboo 2025-11-17 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
[... Laina has genuinely not considered her shoes since she arrived. She is, in fact, still in her school uniform because she just didn't think to change.]

... These are not the correct shoes for skateboarding, are they? I have seen people use them before but... That's different than them being right.

[She also has no pads or helmet. She might have money?]
shelloflight: (are you sure about this?)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-11-17 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, no, those should be fine. It's heavy boots or heels that are the problem because if you're not used to it... ever tried ice skating? Or even walking on ice without skates? It's like that.

[She puts her board out.]

You try. Just standing on it and keeping steady for now. You may want this.

[She hands her a spare helmet. Her head's about the same size, right?]
terraboo: (E-he....)

[personal profile] terraboo 2025-11-17 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
I never really had a chance to try ice skating where I was from.

[Laina's head does indeed fit this helmet, and she quickly puts it on. She even gets the buckle on correctly first try, which she's secretly proud of.]

Okay. Okay, I can do this, Laina, just... One foot on, then-

[The board launches, because she put too much weight on the first foot. Laina at least knows how to land without, well, ragdolling comically like she did in one cutscene Hikaru may be reminded of when returning to this in his memories later.]
shelloflight: (love that for you mate)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-11-17 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
Easy!

[Since she clearly knows how to fall, she waits till Laina's done rolling before offering a hand up. Will she take it?]

Yeah, that's why you stand over the wheels. And start with the side wedged in the crack in the pavement.
terraboo: (Chibi Smile)

[personal profile] terraboo 2025-11-17 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Laina will take the hand after a moment, looking a bit sheepish.]

That does seem like it'd help, yes. Sorry, there wasn't a lot like this in my area.

[Did you know bicycles weren't invented until the 19th century?

She retrieves the board, and adjusts her positioning carefully. This time, she manages to stay on.]


I see how leaning makes the wheels shift...
shelloflight: (love that for you mate)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-11-17 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Just see if you can hold steady for now, we'll get to moving once you can stand.
terraboo: (Base Smile)

[personal profile] terraboo 2025-11-17 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
[... It becomes fairly clear, after a few faltering movements, that Laina's actually... Really steady. Dexterity builds yay.]

... Movement normally starts by, from what I saw... Turning one foot a bit forward, then the back foot...

[She doesn't kick yet, but at least seems to see what the idea is.

No way she makes it to kickflips before sundown, though.]
shelloflight: (happy)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-11-17 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
There you go! When you're comfortable, start bending your knees to lower your centre of gravity, put your arms out if it helps.

Rocking the board back and forth by adjusting your heels and toes is how you steer.
terraboo: (Chibi Smile)

[personal profile] terraboo 2025-11-17 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
Careful adjustments...

[Laina's stance would tell someone more experienced that she's more used to almost gymnastic-like motions. She rocks the board back and forth - almost enough that the wheels move a bit.

Slowly, she bends her knees...]


Welp. Nothing to do but try, right?
shelloflight: (love that for you mate)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-11-19 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
First, try getting off the board without eating curb.

Want me behind you to catch you?
terraboo: (Base Smile)

[personal profile] terraboo 2025-11-19 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. Because the board could rocket off easily.

[Her solution to this... Is to simply hop off, both feet almost at once. Ironically close to the motion for a basic kickflip, except not timed right, so the board shifts a little as she lands surprisingly neatly on her heels just to it's side.]

Once you start seeing the pieces...