TDM 2 ⬡ The Little Match Girl

[liburuzaina]

	Casting Call The Little Match Girl Hans Christian Andersen »» "A picture of misery, poor little girl!" Name: The Little Match Girl Casting Call: Characters with a Lawful, True, or Chaotic Neutral Alignment Physical Notes: Young - 15 years old or younger. Small and slight. Malnourished. Dressed in rags, and not wearing any shoes, gloves, or hat to ward against the cold. Personality Notes: Passive to the extent of not being forceful or insistent, but still very determined. Compulsions: To not go home until she's sold all her matches. To periodically light a match in an attempt to keep warm, and to hallucinate from hypothermia as a result. «« »» "Grandmother had never been so grand and beautiful." Name: The Grandmother/Angel Casting Call: Characters with a Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic Good Alignment Physical Notes: Old, with a very kind face. Radiant and loving. Possessing of any desired "Christmas Angel" features while taking The Little Match Girl to Heaven. Personality Notes: Kind and loving. The only one to show compassion to the little girl, both in life and as she's dying. Compulsions: To look after her granddaughter one last time, and carry her off to heaven in comfort and warmth as she passes away. «« »» "No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen." Name: Passers-by Casting Call: Characters with a Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic Evil Alignment Physical Notes: Varied - Could be any age, appearance, or social standing. Living, humanoid. Personality Notes: Predominantly indifferent to the plights of others, more focused on themselves. Will typically only offer pity and condolences when it's too late. Compulsions: To not buy matches from the girl, and to ignore her plight. To gossip amongst themselves the morning after she's passed away, and once her corpse is found. «« code @ efryndiel The Streets ⬡ Common Cast All characters are likely to originate in The Streets. ⬡ Literary Description "It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Evening came on, the last evening of the year. In the cold and gloom a poor little girl, bareheaded and barefoot, was walking through the streets." ⬡ For Your Exploration The Streets are an endless row of street and sidewalk, hedged on either side by tall buildings, much like one might find in a large city - London, New York, Chicago, or the like. It's bitter cold out, and snow has already fallen several inches, and shows no sign of stopping. It's dusk, though the light is quickly fading, and people are slowly but surely going in for the night. The buildings are not residential - they're all little shops and restaurants, or the entrances to more private businesses. The time and place are ambiguous. The city could be a modern one, a medieval one, a Victorian one, but it will be simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar to the first character to manifest in the space (i.e. the starter-writer). Only the Grandmother/Angel will have powers, and those powers will be limited to what might be expected of a stereotypical Christmas Angel - Flight by way of large, feathery wings, an ambient glow, and the generation of warmth and good feelings. The Corner ⬡ Common Cast All characters are likely to originate in The Corner. ⬡ Literary Description "In a corner formed by two buildings, one of which projected farther out into the street than the other, she sat down and drew up her little feet under her." ⬡ For Your Exploration Eventually, once night has fallen, the Little Match Girl will find The Corner. It's tucked in and out of the way of the main sidewalk, and the brick walls block the wind, to an extent. Huddling here will make her less noticeable to Passers-By, but it will provide some small respite from the cold while she tries to warm herself by striking one match at a time. The cold will bring her hallucinations of pleasant things, brought on by the striking of a new match, and taken away when it putters out. Eventually, her kind Grandmother will appear to her, and take her away as she succumbs to the cold. In the morning, Passers-by will finally find themselves caring about her, but only enough to gossip about her hardships, and about how she tried warming herself with simple matches, once they see her corpse. Like the Streets, the time and place are ambiguous. The city could be a modern one, a medieval one, a Victorian one, but it will be simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar to the first character to manifest in the space (i.e. the starter-writer). Only the Grandmother/Angel will have powers, and those powers will be limited to what might be expected of a stereotypical Christmas Angel - Flight by way of large, feathery wings, an ambient glow, and the generation of warmth and good feelings. ⬡ Hallucinations The Little Match Girl's hallucinations will come and go as she strikes matches on the wall. They'll all be pleasant for her, and will lessen her pain while they last. They may contain - but are not limited to - her believing there's a warm stove or fireplace nearby to warm herself, a great Christmas or New Year's feast to eat, or a kind and loving family to spend the holidays with. The Tree ⬡ Merry Christmas? Mysteriously, on what would be the 24th of December, for anyone capable of keeping track of the passage of days, a massive Christmas Tree will appear on the first floor of the Library, immediately visible to anyone walking in the Paseo entrance. It seems to warp the space around it - appearing to be several stories tall all on its own, and yet not reaching the ceiling. For characters already milling about the first floor, the tree will appear when they look away from the space - or even when they simply blink. As this setting is part of the Library itself, characters will have full access to all their powers. ⬡ Presents? The base of the tree will be surrounded with piles and piles of gifts. For anyone looking closely enough, these gifts will have clearly marked tags - and you might even find one for you in the pile! Contained in these gifts is an additional item from home, for everyone in the Library. As characters are originally only brought in with the things on their person, this gift can be anything else they could possibly want from their home world. If there is nothing else they would want from home, it will contain a generic Christmas Gift - a soft and practical sweater in their favorite color, a stuffed toy, a pillow or blanket, slippers, warm and fuzzy socks, etc. The only restriction on gifts is that it cannot be a food item (it's not in the cafe, after all!) and any weapons brought from home will come in the form of a note written in a card, thanking the character for their contribution to the gallery their weapon will then be found in. Characters will be unable to open gifts that do not have their name written on the tag. The Tree and all unopened gifts will disappear as easily as they appeared when the clock would strike midnight on January 1st. navigation • premise • reserves • faq

Comments

[victorytune]

Yeah alright. Your treat.

[ That's just how it is. You extend the invite, you're paying. Ichi gazes out the window solemnly for a moment.]

So what's the deal then? Why pay any attention to a stranger?

[ Not that he endorses it, but he knows how people are. He's got crazy hair (perm gone wrong), the same dirty suit he was shot in, and he shows his emotions around strangers like he's got no damn shame. ]

[spalten]

[ he can't exactly eat with the mask, so he removes it. the face is handsome enough, though scarred, running over the side of his cheek and the bridge of his nose, down to the side of his neck.

vidar calls over for an order of coffee for two. ]

I suppose you can say I'm nicer than I look.

[ nice, until he's not. ]

[victorytune]

[ Ichi does take in the scars on his face. ]

You syndicate or something?

[ They're clearly not in Japan here, so there's no reason to assume Yakuza precisely, but the mask and scars suggest organized crime to him. Then again, he's from a crime drama. ]

[spalten]

[ he laughs. ]

No.

I suppose, if I can make a comparison .... I'm more of a cop. [ a tilt of the head. ] Or a politician. Pick either one.

[victorytune]

Cops are assholes.

[ Maybe that makes it clear enough why he asked about organized crime, huh. ]

[spalten]

Very true.

[ he won't deny it. ]

Even a heart of gold won't hide our true natures regardless. Fortunately, none of that applies here.

[victorytune]

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

[ Too cryptic for this himbo. ]

[spalten]

[ he laughs a bit. coffee is served; vidar drinks his cup carefully. ]

It means we can be friends, if you're alright with it.

[victorytune]

What's in it for you?

[ He doesn't enjoy being cynical, but he just doesn't get this guy so he's trying to suss out what the hell is going on. ]

[spalten]

[ vidar shrugs. ] The opportunity to cultivate a bond between two men.

Really, though. Don't complicate it.

[victorytune]

Whatever you say, man.

[ He sits back in his chair, more cradling his coffee than drinking it but every once in a while he raises it to his mouth. ]

Maybe you should start by introducing yourself?

[spalten]

You can call me Vidar.

[ and if he looks completely detached from his name and the idea of it, that's because he is. it's something convenient he picked up, for the time being.

not the kind you want to explain to someone you just met, anyhow. ]

[victorytune]

[ This makes him laugh. ]

And people think my name is fake. You're pretty sketchy, Vidar.

[ But he's still smiling, and he ducks his head in a bow. ]

I'm Ichiban Kasuga.

[spalten]

What makes your name sound fake?

[ his, at least, is pretentious enough that one can be suspicious of it, but he's not familiar with the language to say that it is. ]

[victorytune]

[ Another faint chuckle. ]

'Ichiban' means number 1, or the best.

[ And Kasuga is something like 'spring day', it's a strange name. ]

Kasuga-san probably meant well naming me that, but it makes me sound like the number one brand of ramen.

[spalten]

Is that so?

[ vidar gives a soft hum. ]

Someone named deliberately like that has a lot to live up to.

But you seem enthusiastic enough for the challenge.