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Unfinished Library Mod & NPC Account ([personal profile] libraryassistants) wrote in [community profile] unfinishedooc2025-12-20 09:27 am
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TEST DRIVE MEME #2

Welcome to the Library

Those who are new awake in the stacks.

You’re not sure when you fell asleep, and the memories of the last things you were doing are hazy at best. But now you’re here, and all you can see is books in every direction, the bookshelves teetering high enough above you to reach to the sky.

A helpful sign points you in the direction of the main circulation desk, and even if you try to ignore it and go in any other direction, the desk is where you will find yourself. A figure sits behind the desk, not even looking up as they sort through books and other media; they look, to your character, to be the exact picture of what they expect a Librarian to be.

Trying to ask the Librarian a question will get them shushed, but they’ll point down a hallway to the side, leading to a kitchenette and what appears to be a dorm room, where they’ll find they’re not alone in this strange place. But once they’ve looked away, when they look back, the Librarian is gone.


The Lobby

Those who are already familiar with the Library will see the Lobby change for the second time. It’s not paper plate UFOs and metal walls this time. Instead there are cheerful garlands strung about, and a stack of books shaped into a Christmas tree taking pride of place. The Help Desk is closed, the ‘Back in 5’ sign once again a bald-faced lie, but there is a menorah sat behind in the window, conveniently just out of reach of anyone who tries to get it. The candles are lit in a… somewhat sporadic fashion, the correct order but with no rhyme or reason to what ‘night’ is being represented. Either time is strange here, whoever’s in charge of it doesn’t know what day it is either, or they simply don’t care. Or some mix of the three.

Those two particular winter holidays are not the only ones represented either; characters will find a smattering of decorations or festive accessories from a great number of holidays, from their own worlds and beyond. There is what looks like a cabinet with instructions to pick your fortune from one of the many drawers. For some reason, there are a number of what looks like a child’s toy ponies placed on and around the cabinet. There are also some posters declaring in bold, decidedly upsetting typeset: “THE GOD-EMPEROR WISHES YOU A FESTIVE SANGUINALIA!” complete with a picture of a certain Library resident in all his feathered, shining glory. (The poster is not remotely shiny, but there are helpful accent lines to show that he should be shining.) And, for some reason, there is also a giant straw goat in the garden now, surrounded by festive strings of lights. Please do not set it on fire.

The Kitchens

It seems the decorations are not the only thing in the holiday spirit. The kitchens, usually bereft of anything but the most basic foodstuffs, are now full to the brim with a variety of holiday foods. There is always a tureen with hot mulled wine and a try of sweet pastries near by it, there’s ham and latkes in the fridge to be heated up, jelly doughnuts, moon cakes, pies, and an assortment of other delicious things. If your character would expect to find a certain thing within the stash, they do, regardless of how niche it may be. Christmas chili? Of course there’s christmas chili!

Oh, and that mulled wine isn’t the only alcohol around either- champagne, sake, hard cider… again, anything anyone might expect to find. Just try not to overdo it too much, alright? Everyone still has to sleep in the same room, and the Assistants aren’t going to show up to hold your hair back.

Crafts and More

What good are holidays without crafts? The Maker’s Space has been specially supplied with anything you might need to make your festive crafts- this includes everything you’d need for a gingerbread construction! (You’d think this would be in the kitchen, but don’t kid yourself- those things are not for eating.) There’s strips of colorful paper rings and instructions on how to make your own, little things of clay and paint and directions on how to craft your own dreidel, ’stained glass’ paper lanterns, and more. Oh, and glitter. Obviously there is a lot of glitter available.

There are also snow globe kits, mostly generic winter themes- trees, presents, and the like. Strangely enough, however, when they’re complete and shaken, they’ll show a memory from the person who shook it- a memory of a holiday, or snow, or generally something that invokes the feeling of the season- light, and hope, and togetherness. It’s fragmented, almost stop-motion in between the falling bits of ‘snow,’ but once it has settled the normal, basic scene inside returns.
aetherweaver: (smile)

Fortune

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2025-12-23 03:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Meanwhile Nara'a seems to have gotten 'small fortune'. He shrugs and tucks it into his pocket, glancing over at Wreck tying his to the 'tree'. These ones aren't as detailed as the ones he's used to, but whatever works.

He wanders over to the other, smiling. "For what it's worth I've always found these to be relatively inaccurate... so I don't think you need to worry."
awreck: (I can't live a lie; running for my life)

[personal profile] awreck 2025-12-23 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Since Nara'a seems to understand his drawn fortune wasn't ideal, Wreck concludes that he must have remembered what to do with a bad fortune correctly. Even with the hope that it might not be true, he can't help but feel a little anxious, so better to make the bad luck wait or however it's supposed to go.

"Drawn your fair of huge misfortunes and lived? Or maybe had the promise of excellent luck that didn't quite come true?"

He is trying very hard not to look too much at the cat-like ears.
aetherweaver: (eh?)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2025-12-23 04:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"Both." His ears twitch a little and he chuckles. "For instance, this past year I drew 'misfortune' and... while yes, there was some of that, I made new friends and fought exciting foes. I wouldn't call that 'misfortune'. Or perhaps I'm simply an optimist."

It could be either! He's not going to knock peoples' beliefs. "I don't really like to rely on luck myself anyway. It's a little too unreliable."
awreck: (All you ever did was wreck me)

[personal profile] awreck 2025-12-23 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
They're definitely real ears, aren't they? They must be. It's been a while since he's felt quite so rude for staring, so he makes a better effort to make it less obvious how fascinated he is by those ears.

"I get that," he says slowly, looking at the tied fortune. "Better to make your own luck or something like that, right? Things happen outside our control all the time, but what matters is doing what you can."

Easier said than done, he supposes.

"This is the first time I've ever drawn a fortune. It'd be a great way to sum up things before I arrived here, but..." Mm. No. He's not thinking about any of that. "...but you're right. Honestly, coming to the library has been a blessing for me, in spite of the Stories and this place absolutely hating things that are finished."

Wreck returns his gaze from the fortune to Nara'a.

"Can I ask what kind of foes count as 'exciting' ones?"

It's for research!
aetherweaver: (confusion)

Dawntrail spoilers up to 7.3

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2025-12-23 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh gods, let me think... this year..." He holds up a few fingers. "An 'evil genius' child who uploaded his memories and wanted to convert every person into an 'Endless' like him, several people who used feral souls to transform into various amalgams of themselves and monsters... was the giant door this year? Yes, I think so... as well as several scientists or the consciousnesses and or corpses thereof who confounded my senses with various chemicals. Oh, and a giant rabbit-monster that punched a huge hole in the ground. Just to name a few."

There's a lot more... this isn't even counting the previous year.
awreck: (I will always want you)

[personal profile] awreck 2025-12-24 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
This year, he says! Wreck knows people whose literal, paying job it is subdue villains, and he isn't sure even they would find enough fights very memorable, at least not enough to count them on their fingers like this.

"What kind of life do you lead to run into such... well, maybe not world-ending disasters, but those all sound pretty serious in the span of a year. Except for maybe the... giant... rabbit-monster, you said?"

He pauses briefly, then asks hesitantly, "Are you a hero?"
aetherweaver: (tilted up)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2025-12-24 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
"Uh." Well. "I mean, that's what people call me, I... wouldn't call myself that. And I do run into world-ending disasters more often than you would expect... and yes. The Lunipyati, as the locals called it, was a large rabbit-like monster called a tural vidraal. And this was a calmer year... last year was even more intense."

He just wanted a summer vacation, maybe helping someone on another continent where no one knew who he was... "But I am my world's Warrior of Light. ... Or Darkness, depending on whom you ask." His gaze flicks upwards as he hears a chuckle from Ardbert. "Once tasked by a powerful entity to stop an Empire, it's... escalated, to put it lightly. I've been at this for over seven years."
awreck: (All you ever did was wreck me)

[personal profile] awreck 2025-12-25 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
"I think... whether you want it or not, you've definitely earned the hero title. What else could you be after doing this for seven years and saving your world multiple times, apparently?"

Wreck smiles faintly, almost a bit wistfully. "At least you're taking it all in stride. Although, after all you've experienced, you must be bored out of your mind in this library. Or are you actually enjoying the relative peace and quiet?"