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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.]
angel_of_baal: (Default)

[personal profile] angel_of_baal 2025-11-26 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
Everyone can come to the fake drum circle to get therapynapped!

"That's exciting that everyone is so open minded here."

But Tsang is of course, not at all suspicious, and doing the best job passing as human. It entirely misunderstands that the book Shadow is pointing at and the question aren't quite related. "Me? Oh, this is my first time." Right now, having an experience with an alien species. It's so exciting!
ultimateedgehog: (pic#18137708)

[personal profile] ultimateedgehog 2025-11-27 11:12 am (UTC)(link)
A fake drum circle?! Count him out, he'd be disgusted by the trickery. (Notably not disgusted by the abducting.)

As far as Shadow's concerned, Tsang either thinks Shadow's an alien (Shadow also thinks that), or is admitting to being one himself. (In which case, Shadow is still... an alien... to him...??) Or, secret third option: the government is finally acting on Shadow's internet claims to have had alien DNA implanted into him, and has sent Tsang to do... something. (Conspiracy theories take time. Let the kid cook on that one.)

His eyebrows raise slightly, intrigued. Tsang will learn, eventually, that being interesting to a teenager is rarely a good thing.

"Your first encounter?" He clarifies. Mercury is in retrograde, it pays to be clear about things. And - unlike him - another question follows soon after, like he couldn't decide which one to ask first. "Where did you come from?"
angel_of_baal: (Default)

[personal profile] angel_of_baal 2025-11-29 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Well, they could do a drum circle, of course, because those are very healing!

Just not where they could be walked in on. Privacy matters!

"Yes, my first time." And it's doing a really good job of it so far! "I came from," oh no, what was the cover story again? It forgot! "Outer sp--" No, that wasn't it. "Out of town, in, er Spain." That's what it meant.

ultimateedgehog: (pic#18093914)

[personal profile] ultimateedgehog 2025-11-30 08:46 am (UTC)(link)
A private drum circle with Tsang sounds even weirder, actually. How about Shadow runs the circle instead, open invite to anyone walking by.

There is a moment wherein Shadow just stares at the stranger who has just claimed to be having his first alien encounter, and in the next breath, is claiming to be from Spain. With the man not having a hint of an accent.

Still, though. Is this a translation error? Is the man on drugs, perhaps? (A responsible alien enthusiast doesn't discount Earth-based conclusions out of hand. The man might be needing a doctor.)

"Hm. That must have been a long flight." His brow furrows. "How long did that take?"
angel_of_baal: (Default)

[personal profile] angel_of_baal 2025-11-30 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Listen, Tsang is TRYING. Just tell it what you want in terms of drum circles and it will make it happen, or die trying.

But right now, they were having a conversation! One of Tsang's first with a real human. It really needed to turn this conversation to the other's emotional needs, to get the work done, but it could do a bit more chitchat. "Oh I don't know. I was in stasis for most of it." Probably a few years, but Tsang was taking restorative cryonaps at the time.

Time to switch gears. "How do you feel about these aliens?" Just to interject the idea of 'feelings' into this.