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.]
dreamquestion: (I /will/ fight you)

[personal profile] dreamquestion 2025-11-19 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
It is, and he can't help but mourn the decades he's lost to the nymph he was raising, against both their better judgements, being the model Kai needed.

His hand rests on the counter and drums out a different beat. Not the heart-rhythm of the planet but his own, syncopated and steady - but different, just enough, to how Kai remembers it, to know Ranndurand has changed since they've been apart.

"Surviving, initially," he says plainly. "Couldn't get in touch with anyone back home, so I made sure I was presentable and started living here instead."

There's a lot he won't say in public, despite the rumours surrounding himself. He's been here too long to risk it all, even now.
bashasasdemon: (Kai [Taken aback])

[personal profile] bashasasdemon 2025-11-19 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
It is different, and that makes sense; Kai's is different too, tempo quick and lively as it always was but something more measured to it, held in check by his own training and a better understanding of his emotions than when he was younger. That doesn't mean he likes it.

He likes what he hears next even less. "You were stuck?" he says, because stuck is a more neutral word than stranded, in case anyone is listening. He doesn't want to have this conversation in public, because he would like an honest answer to his next question. "What happened?"

(He'd thought Ranndurand had just left. It never quite fit, he could never quite make himself truly believe it, but he hadn't had the context to know otherwise. This is already a lot.)
dreamquestion: (Just /listen/--)

[personal profile] dreamquestion 2025-11-24 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
"Why don't we have a proper talk? I've got a basement we can sit down in."

Because there's literally no space to do it in the main shop. "It's got my old drumset down there," he adds, with a teasing that's not part of the bit. "So it's nice and soundproofed, almost impossible to eavesdrop on."

He nods his head towards a curtain hidden by happy accident from view of the front door, and leads the way to the basement door behind it.
bashasasdemon: (Default)

[personal profile] bashasasdemon 2025-11-24 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Kaiisteron turns and looks at the curtain, which he tries to cover the confused noise with a cough. Why, why is he like this.

He winds up sighing as he pushes back the curtain, following 'Randolph' down the stairs to the basement. He won't sit, too active and agitated for that, at least to start, but he will wait to talk until it's indicated it's safe. "...Have you been here this whole time?" he asks, and it's surprisingly quiet. He's having a lot of feelings and he doesn't like it.
dreamquestion: (Just /listen/--)

[personal profile] dreamquestion 2025-11-26 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
It's easier, to feel less likely to be overheard, but still. He can't escape the feeling of being trapped with Kaiisteron, despite the fact he is genuinely happy to see him again.

"Ever since the ship crashed," he sighs, tugging the stool out from behind the drumkit to sit on it. He might not be human but he's still old. "I managed to salvage the ship's holographic projector to disguise myself, but I had to strip the rest for parts to pay my way through surviving here."
bashasasdemon: (Default)

[personal profile] bashasasdemon 2025-11-26 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Kaiisteron sighs, running a hand through his hair in agitation. "What were you even doing?" he asks, looking over at the man, "I-- no one had any idea what happened to you."

Don't get him wrong, he's glad he's alive and well, but that doesn't mean this isn't bringing up a lot of emotions he'd thought he'd long buried or gotten over. It shouldn't surprise Randolph that the whole thing triggered Kai's abandonment issues, after losing his family.