mingle: vault 117 and the folk horror funfest

[smormon]

SUMMER'S END FOR VAULT 117

the experiment should have been simple: test and perfect brand loyalty, and ultimately create the perfect Vault-Tec consumer for the world of tomorrow. unfortunately, "simplicity" and "Vault-Tec" have never been comfortable bedfellows, have they?

by 2080, inter-vault communications had failed. two years later, a programming feature designed to push Vault-Tec branded content glitched and caused the vault's historical records and databases to erode, little by little, until its entire library had been cannibalized by advertisements- enough to drive even the most stalwart supporter to the brink. but fate had yet crueler twists in store for the residents.

more of the vault's functions began to fail. faults in its very foundations allowed the ventilation and water filtration units to become contaminated by radioactive fungi springing up across the cave system the vault had been built into. rather than killing its inhabitants or even twisting them into ghouls, however, these psychotropic lifeforms began instead to poison their minds with hallucinations. within a decade, the world of vault 117's dwellers had been reduced to a bunker, a green glow and the smiling face of Vault Boy plastered over almost every wall, promising a Better Future. with Vault-Tec their only remaining cultural touchstone, it wasn't long before the residents formed a strange new religion centered around the messianic figure of Vault Boy himself, who would return and bring them to their "Better Future".

generations have come and gone. now, at last, that time has come. out of nowhere, vault 117 has opened its door to throw a bizarre party in the forest outside, celebrating the coming Tomorrow. somewhere between a summer fair and a religious festival, visitors have been pulled in from all across the wasteland to worship Vault Boy and experience his wisdom for themselves. full of lights, festooned with flowers and buzzing with pure joy, it might actually make a fun little escape from reality. eat, drink, be merry- for the Future will be Better.

THE FESTIVITIES

the residents of vault 117 couldn't be happier to share their culture with visitors- the more the merrier! forget all about those nasty rumors and join the fun. there's so much to see and do! perhaps you'd like to help them construct a giant Vault Boy out of junk? or you could kick back and watch a heart-stirring dramatization of Robco and Vaultiet, among other dubiously Vault-Tec themed performances.

feeling creative? dress up! make a flower crown! said flower crown might also have strange glowing mushrooms growing out of it. said mushrooms are hallucinogenic, and prolonged contact or ingestion may induce mood swings and vivid hallucinations. they're also cooked into most of the goodies on offer, so maybe go easy on the brownies. funny, it's almost as if the vaulties want to get you high. don't worry, there are plenty of comfortable places to crash out and share your visions from Vault Boy.

come evening, there's music and dancing before a bonfire is lit around the Vault Boy idol. while the locals gaze upon it with fervor and awe, perhaps you'd prefer to get cozy with a stranger... if you can ignore the sounds from outside the festival grounds, that is: hissing, gurgling, the rustle of undergrowth that seems only a whisper away. not that it seems to spoil anyone's mood: in fact, they don't seem to hear it at all. nor will they acknowledge when a visitor vanishes without a trace. and visitors are vanishing.

TOMORROW, TODAY

the atmosphere shifts, subtly, on the second night. the otherwise genial oddness of the vault dwellers seems to have taken on a nervous energy of sorts. the festivities continue, but with strange new twists. favored guests are selected as Kings and Queens of the Future, crowned and dressed in Vault suits and treated to all kinds of luxuries... until midnight. with all the Kings and Queens gathered together in the center of the festival, it's announced by the Overseer that- guess what? you're going to be sacrificed to Vault Boy! you'll have to escape, or hope that someone else is willing to fight for you!

only a single throat is cut before a roar bursts forth from vault 117's door. at long last, their Vault Boy emerges from the darkness of vault 117's caves: an enormous glowing Lakelurk, a thick shell teeming with mushrooms sprouting from its back. this, it seems, is what has been infecting vault 117. while the vault dwellers seem unperturbed by their beloved god's decision to turn its worshipers into scarlet confetti- most of them rushing forth to greet him and their promised Future- you might want to fight back. careful, though. the Vault Lurk's claws are razor sharp, and its sonic scream is not only disorienting but can cause induce yet more hallucinations

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Comments

ooc

[smormon]

[welcome to vault 117! pick and choose what you want to play- don't want to do any horror-related prompts? this is just a weird Vault-Tec themed fair.

leave any questions here 💚💚💚]

ooc

[sheepsquatch]

DRUGS 4 JOSHUA "10 END" GRAHAM?

[smormon]

no because the baby jesus says he's not allowed to feel joy

[wastelandwander]

i thought that said ebay

ebay jesus

[bugminster]

[ A bright orange pickup truck with a stake-sided bed pulls up, and all but a few (left home to play guard) of the Big Top crew (accompanied perhaps by a dog) climb over the tailgate one by one by one by one by one by one by one...

When the clown car finally seems empty, the cab doors open and even more people climb out: the captain and his officers and the janitor, who was driving because it's his car. He gets left behind with a book and a gun to guard the getaway vehicle while everybody else has fun: somebody has to be the designated driver. Cabaji promises to come back and bring him snacks at some point.

The carnies, in their glad rags, scatter to raid the snacks and get themselves into trouble. Buggy is rolling up fully prepared to get himself white girl wasted on somebody else's dime. Cabaji and Mohji are fully prepared to have to carry their captain back to the clown car ]

[wastelandwander]

[Lucy is playing the pet to the Freak Show-- not mooching, not free-loading: working! And being fawned upon. It's pet stuff. She'd somehow gotten herself a little bit of facepaint and dolled herself up like a clown from one of Paulie's pre-war books. A PIERROT!

In the Vault, she belonged to the Gymnastics Club, so a little tumbling was right up her alley!]

Robco and Vaultiet?! They stole our show, Buggy!

[but then she is distracted by fire and drugs.]

Most mushrooms are only edible once. Because you die.

[bugminster]

Yeah, that's OUR child suicide comedy, the bastards! Let's eat all their food and take all their drugs and shit to get back at 'em.

The shrooms are prrrrobably alright, I'm seeing townies eating em...

[A grown ass man with responsibilities should probably know better than to take mystery drugs at a strange vault, but Buggy has the right to fucking live a little!!!!]

i shall stop denying myself the joy of lucy. also i hate brackets, to hell with them

[wastelandwander]

Lucy really did enjoy being with the clowns. It felt like it was the greyest area she could be in, while being the brightest and loudest thing in the wasteland. Along with the fact that she was enjoying the performance aspect immensely.

Sometimes she wanted to hold Buggy's hand. Or maybe even the corner of his jacket. Not for her safety, maybe for his own. She looked up at him (way up). "My experience with drugs was just Buffout, the steroid? It made me so strong, so fast, so funny." To demonstrate, Lucy does a high-kick in the air.

For the record, the dog and the bird are somewhere safe and not participating in drugs. Because that's fucking crazy. Anyway here's a deathclaw in a tutu.

[smormon]

[Joshua doesn't think he's ever seen any working vehicle in the wasteland before- maybe an old Highwayman in the distance, closet to New Reno, but never up close. The novelty alone is so distracting that he doesn't even realize who it belongs to until he finally notices that there's a clown in the driver's seat. Its existence, apparently, is not absurd enough; of course it has to belong to the circus, too.

Sure enough, it takes less than an hour for Joshua to spot a familiar orange hat among- or, rather, above- the crowd.]

Buggy.

[Unlike just about everyone else in the immediate vicinity, Joshua has neither a drink nor any form of fungus-based snack in his hands, though a few stray flowers have managed to attach themselves to his vest.]

You ought to be careful with that truck of yours. Certain factions would shed blood to get their hands on it- the Brotherhood of Steel, for one. I'm not sure how far the nearest chapter's influence reaches, but rumors can travel further still.

[bugminster]

Ice mummy! How are ya? Still frosty? Imagine running into you here. Tiny-ass fuckin wasteland! You got your man with you somewhere?

[ Buggy is clearly already feeling it, and, like, that was the goal of being here. He and his crew have a system worked out when they go get fucked up as a group: nobody's ever supposed to be alone - buggypirates gotta have buddypirates - and they rotate in and out of the captain's company so that he, too, keeps buddypirates with him.

Incidentally Lucy's great and they love her and they're looking after her as one of their own, but she doesn't count as a buddypirate when they're bodyguarding their leader. At the moment he's directly flanked by Cabaji and a buff, bald, mustachio'd man in a ruffled sleeveless shirt whose name is Diego. Cabaji gives Joshua a nod and Diego waves with a hand that's holding a half-eaten brownie which is actually Buggy's. ]

It's the janitor's truck. He gets so mad if it's my truck, I gotta say it's our truck.

[ a fond memory... it's funny when people get so mad... ]

But that's why we never leave it alone in a parking lot. I gave him the good gun so he can babysit his truck. I dunno where he even got that thing, he came with it, like an action figure. It's flashy as shit though.

[herr_doktor]

It's not been that long that he's been in this new world, and even less long that he's actually started wandering more than a few hundred feet away from his vault, so Dr. Speichel is perhaps a little overzealous in choosing his equipment for what is ostensibly a town fair: he's wearing a dented old doughboy helmet, what seems to be a fishing vest on top of his doctor's coat, and carrying (quite awkwardly) a large gauss rifle. Still, the rumors about this vault were far too enticing to pass up, so here he is. Surely they must have plenty of interesting things to see, especially after all the trouble he went to to get here.

[sheepsquatch]

Aries arrived with his crew (Follows-Chalk and very possibly Joshua) but ditched them the moment he saw some funky mushrooms.

He sees the Doc and makes a beeline.

"Where'd you get a gauss rifle??" Aries asked accusingly. The man wore a gas mask (hopefully that doesn't invoke Pyro feelings at Speichel) His voice was scratchy and almost had a static layered over it, perhaps it was just the echo of the mask.

The tone in his voice shifted to be more joyful, "Because I want one!"

[herr_doktor]

The doctor sees Aries approach and gives him a wary smile. The question about his rifle makes him hug it tightly against his chest and frown, though.
"Nein, it is mine! It was ze only one we had in ze whole vault."
He eyes Aries up and down. Something about him reminds him of an old friend...
"And who might you be?"

[brokeassgoing]

Festivities

[not one for weird hallucinogens he couldn't control, or flower crowns, Badou spends the majority of his time at the vault involved in the fun and games...the food...and finally settled at the bonfire, peering into the flames solemnly when he isn't staring into the dark]

Tomorrow, Today

[he really should have left as soon as it started to get late. but when you eat a lot, drink a little, snoop a looot, time gets away from you. so away that you're getting chased through the vault like this is the texas chainsaw massacre, and you aren't in texas, and there are crazed vaulties after you--]

DO I LOOK LIKE A FUCKING SMOKED BRAHMIN?! FUCK OFF!!!

Festivities

[bugminster]

Are you trying to look hard-boiled?

[brokeassgoing]

What?? [whirls around] I'm always hard boiled.

their convo is cute and ben won't leave the void

[wastelandwander]

Lucy approached Badou from the dark, near the fire. She realized a little too late that she was coming at him so fast and from the side he had an eyepatch on--

"Hi! I made you a flower crown!"

YESSS!!!

[brokeassgoing]

There's a bit of a strangled scream when he sees her, but upon recognizing Lucy, he strangles the sound.

"Whu-- Lucy...you-- a flower crown?"

[smormon]

festivities

It should have been child's play for Walks-the-Rivers and Crow-Eyes: find out what was happening near Vault 117 and report back. Yet somehow, days later, two of the Dead Horses' most experienced scouts had yet to return, and Joshua Graham would not rest until he found out why.

With Aries and Follows-Chalk in tow, he'd followed their breadcrumb trail of markings through the forest... and straight into some bizarre, almost ritualistic carnival. Locating their missing scouts had been straightforward enough- Joshua had found them collapsed by the fire, talking complete nonsense in broken English to an audience of vault dwellers- but they'd been in no state to travel. Sobering up would take time, and that meant they weren't going anywhere.

Needless to say, Joshua is not in the mood for a festival. With Aries at his side he's somewhat more approachable, but otherwise? If you aren't alerted to his presence by the sheer disapproval coming off of him in waves, like a nuclear reactor running entirely on abstinence, the occasional squeak of shock and awe from the fascinated vaulties he passes might tip you off.

He can be found resting by the bonfire or picking through the food in search of something untainted- anything to avoid the Vault's flagrant idolatry. That said, when one of the dwellers tries to rope him into one of their activities- creating a flower crown ("for your girlfriend in the hood!") for instance- he's too polite to really resist. Maybe help him with that? Or the dancing? He's not very creative.

tomorrow, today

Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen, said He: let them save you in the time of your distress. Vault 117 had sealed its fate the moment they turned their back on the Lord. Their guests, however, were another matter.

Joshua leaps into action, pistol in hand, as effortlessly as if his Legate's cloak had never turned to ash on his shoulders: he's already barking orders to semi-conscious partygoers and frightened locals, directing them away from the Overseer and her abomination.

Whether you need cover, help or just another bullet to put in the lakelurk's head, he's here to help. Yet those fighting beside him might notice an almost feverish glint in his eyes, or the way he scarcely reacts to the blood splatter that reddens his shirtsleeves. Make no mistake. Joshua Graham is in his element.

tomorrow, today. i am bad at figuring out the format and participation shit lmao

[bugminster]

Buggy with his beautiful blue hair is ready and willing to be crowned king of fucking whatever, he's down for it, but his buddypirates don't want to let him be taken to a secondary location without them. They're trying to explain this to him but he's, of course, experiencing this as them betraying him out of nowhere just to keep him from taking his rightful place as king of fucking whatever the fuck he's supposed to be getting crowned king of over here? Why would they do this to him?! He thought they loved him, and he was literally just thinking about how much he loved HIS CREW and then they BETRAYED him -

His crew win the battle, though, because the vaultdwellers leave his crying ass behind and take somebody else in his place. It's the worst day of Buggy's life, and that's before the shit really starts going.

When it does pop off? Well, Buggy's on his 36th hour of psychedelics and even the tripsitters among the crew have picked up contact highs. Cabaji's HUD has given up on trying to interpret shit and he's just existing in the world with a little warning in front of him that his sensory inputs are currently compromised, so he's even worse-off than the meatballs who are at least used to not having a working HUD. Buggy and Cabaji are being each other's trip buddies now (this distracts Buggy from remembering that he's not being coronated) and the emergence of the big glowing mushroom monster that screams at you has them grabbing each other like a pair of fucking scooby doos and confirming that the other one also sees very similar shit and then these two very high individuals are getting their guns out together.

Mohji, unfortunately, tries to enter the line of fire, armored-and-faux-furred "paws" raised high, attempting some kind of mirelurk body language communication bullshit. Surely this creature can be horsegirled!!!

i want to put the illustration here

[bugminster]

aries and buggy's various freaks annoy joshua to death

[sheepsquatch]

Aries had been waylaid by all sorts of rescue-mission bullshit. It was how he met that Vaultie in Appalachia! He also was pleased to have a buffer between Joshua and himself. New romance (and in Aries' case, first reciprocated non-robot imaginary romance) was strange, and Follows-Chalk could ask Aries a million questions. What is Moth Man? Why bottle caps? What is the purpose of a base ball bat?

As soon as they rolled into the forest, Aries squirmed where he stood, like a toddler that had a potty emergency. It was so much like home! Closer to Point Pleasant, with all those cultists. Cutie cultists, he calls 'em. He for sure would love to hike his mask up and have whatever they're having~

He gives Follows-Chalk an out (tell Crow-Eyes that joke about Walks-the-River that I told you) Once the kid is gone, he has to figure out how to ditch his beloved boyfriend (or lover, but that word bums him out).

Why did he have to keep using this excuse?? "I have to pee."


Aries returns to see Joshua and Buggy (3 freaks deep??) speaking. He saunters up like he's not wearing a flower crown (it's nice, made of Candykill flowers).

"What are you talking about!"

On the way to A Place To Pee, he had peeled his face from out and under the mask; now it rested on top of his head-- the hood pulled back and the flower crown wrapped around the respirator (now looking at the sky like one of them dumb thrasher-turkies).

If that's not subtle enough: his broken teeth are caked with brownie, his scarred nose and cheeks keep scrunching as he grins stupidly.

[bugminster]

Buggy gets the first word in, and the words he says are a broadly-grinning, vaguely-obscene-hand-gesture-accompanied "Pre-war pianist!"

[smormon]

It is a nice crown. Joshua would like to say as much- indeed, would like to paste himself to Aries' side for the rest of their stay here- but he is trying to exercise trust. A small frown does descend upon his face the moment he realizes that Aries has begun indulging himself already, but only because he knows how tedious it is to be the only sober man at a party.

"There you are." He resists the sudden and decidedly possessive urge to take the man's hand and looks instead to Buggy. "I'm sure Aries would have appreciated your joke- assuming you two are capable of behaving around each other."

Don't think he hasn't seen the Three-Caps-Boggy exchanges.

Tomorrow, Today (or: MacCready really, REALLY hates mirelurks and all their variants)

[mackreedee]

MacCready doesn’t care for crowds anyway, but this one is especially weird. He had successfully dodged an attempt to crown him with a bunch of flowers and mushrooms — does he look like a flower crown sort of guy? — but things have gotten exponentially weirder.

Then he hears it: an undeniably-familiar, blood-curdling roar that shakes him to his bones.

Goddammit.

“Does it ever end?” he mumbles before swinging his rifle around front and into position.

He settles the stock against his shoulder, slides his finger over the trigger, and crouches from behind a metal beam, preparing to eliminate whatever fresh hell awaits him. He can handle most things on his own, but as the Mirelurk-esque creature emerges, a chill runs down his spine, and he successfully forgets everything he’s trying to do to better himself.

“What the fuck is that?!”