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bottlecaplogs2025-04-16 10:09 am
bayhelpers) wrote in bottlecaplogs2025-04-16 10:09 am
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APRIL 2025 EVENT LOG
The sun rises, and a gentle breeze blows. A day like any other arrives in Bottlecap Bay, and for many of the pokemon that so recently arrived it is a now familiar process. Members of the various guilds flock to the Quest Board, in search of tasks to better provide for the town. Others, maintaining businesses of their own within the small settlement, start to open their doors for another day of work.
There is something different about this day however, and it is a difference that defines the next number of them. There is never truly a dull moment here after all, and it’s time to get involved.
DONATION DRIVE
As spring fully settles into the bay, the clinic begins to advertise for additional activities on the Quest Board. A call for donors is made- but donors of what? Pokemon arriving in response to the request will find that answer to mean “anything and everything that can be given” - along with potential medical samples to help with further research into the mysterious illness, there are a great many things that can be made from shed feathers, brushed-out undercoat or trimmed horns and claws.
Or even sweat, alarming as that may seem.
Those willing will be given small interviews in which they determine what to donate, and after the process (however involved), be given a small boxed treat as compensation. And of course, they’ll record the contributions with their guild leaders too!
⟡ WHAT NOW?
Donated materials can be used for a great many things, and throughout the later half of April local businesses will be happily showing their relevant crafts off. Pokemon are invited to try their hand at sewing satchels made using Spinarak threads, spinning yarn from Stufful fur, or stuffing pillows with Ducklett down- and perhaps if they donated anything themselves, they can even make something of their own.
Literally.
NO “I” IN TEAM
With the need to re-evaluate the results of recent expeditions through the surrounding forest before making the move to branch out further, the leaders of the three guilds have come together with some training exercises to better pass the time. Rather than sit and wait between tasks determined by the quest board, the last weeks of April see various events hosted through the city with one goal in mind:
Team Building.
A. ⟡ SHOW-AND-TELL
As part of an effort to encourage understanding and community, the Guilds each host various meet-and-greets in their personal buildings- or in the case of the Lum Guild, the public Archives. It’s a chance for pokemon to show each other where they sleep and eat, to share a little of their lives with their fellows from other guilds.
There are also more awkward sharing activities- tossing a ball in a circle and giving a fact about oneself. Tying each other limb to limb and performing races. Or even gift exchanges with the donor crafts! Nothing says community like a present from the heart.
B. ⟡ STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
As an extra step from simply showing what each guild room looks like, sleepovers will be encouraged through the remaining month as well. Perhaps it’s time for a repeat of the great Oran Sleep-Pile- or maybe a sequel hosting can be held in the Canopy with the Cheri Berries.
It’s a little trickier with members of the Lum Guild, with each one having their own apartment of sorts, but just ask! Surely a few friends can pile together in their Lum buddy’s house.
C. ⟡ THE GREAT ESCAPE
Polteageist is thrilled with the success of the ‘escape rooms’ from March. As such, the existing courses and challenges have been since repurposed in order to encourage pokemon to work together, improving on the initial project. Once again working in pairs, dangerous (but not lethal!) challenges await those who wish to sign up for them. As with before, there are three different rooms to choose from, and experienced rescue Pokemon will be on call the entire time. Anyone who takes longer than the allotted time will be rescued.
⟡ Ocean room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up in a small cave beneath the water, with pockets of oxygen for those who need them. Upon waking, they must work together to escape the labyrinth of caves beneath the water and make it back to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: a maze-like cave system with misleading routes, paths with less or no sunlight, strange plants that may inflict status effects, agitated or disoriented wild Pokemon, and varying water temperatures/underwater geysers. It has an hour time limit, so good luck!
⟡ Forest room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up in the center of a dense forest, with tree cover blocking most sunlight. Upon waking, they must work together to find their directions, navigate through thick brush and forest, and make it back to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: the fog, collapsed floors into cave systems, sudden steep drops, aggressive Pokemon and plants, vines, thorns, poisons and toxins. It has a two hour time limit, so good luck!
⟡ Cave room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up far beneath the city, in one of the many tunnels belonging to the mines. Upon waking, they must work together to reorient themselves and find a way out to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: unstable sections of mines leading to collapses, a vast assortment of tunnel directions leading to disorientation, extreme temperatures, lava pits, and lessening oxygen levels. It has an hour time limit, so good luck!
OOC NOTES.
⟡ CWS: body horror, medical imagery
⟡ Though dates specified cover only the last two weeks of April, players may assume continued donation drives and crafting projects to be available through the start of May, though less frequent.
⟡ We of the Bottlecap Bay Help Team would like to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone for their patience during the transition of tasks concerning the upkeep of the game. Current events have been taking a significant toll on many, but we are hoping to finalize Exploration Quest responses within the next few days. Thank you again, and happy threading!
⟡ CWS: body horror, medical imagery
⟡ Though dates specified cover only the last two weeks of April, players may assume continued donation drives and crafting projects to be available through the start of May, though less frequent.
⟡ We of the Bottlecap Bay Help Team would like to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone for their patience during the transition of tasks concerning the upkeep of the game. Current events have been taking a significant toll on many, but we are hoping to finalize Exploration Quest responses within the next few days. Thank you again, and happy threading!
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[That color stuff again... they can definitely tell colors apart and know what she's talking about. Absolutely! Nothing weird about them here!]
But it's got the same ears. And mouth, and those cheek circles.
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[And yet she is holding it, and the crocheting implements are still close at hand.]
At least... I don't think I did. I was trying to make a scarf...
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It doesn't smell like anyone else. [Not that they can tell, anyway. Except for the previous owner of the former fur or wool, and that's drowned out by all the handling Shoka did to get it turned into yarn and then crochet it.]
You don't remember making it...?
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I—...! I don't even know what this thing is supposed to be...
[That would be a no.]
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Did you go out into the fog again recently?
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[And then... Nothing. There's a gap between then and now. How long has it even been? Maybe the fog is still in her head, somehow? She glances up at the sky, then at Siffrin, before exhaling a harsh sigh, at once embarrassed and unnerved.]
Ugh! Whatever, just... forget I said anything, okay? [For a moment, she considers tossing the doll... but somehow, she can't bring herself to. So instead she withdraws it into her disguise, to store it inside the hollow of her false head.] I'm... just gonna go back to sewing...
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[Feels familiar, down to the unnerved tone in Shoka's voice. Siffrin's ears fold backwards, then flick forwards again. Maybe it's not just that their memory is bad, maybe they've also had something like this happen to them before...?]
[If it was them, they wouldn't want sympathy or concern, they'd want - yeah. For it to just be treated like it didn't happen. They can do that.]
...so. If you're the sewing expert now.
If someone's making pants for a Growlithe, do they have four legs, or just the back two?
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[That choice in subject change is so jarring that she actually forgets all about the sewn Pikachu and her unease for a moment. She hears herself snort an almost-laugh.]
... You're the one with four legs. You tell me.
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I'm not wearing any pants. [Or anything else, besides, you know, the full coat of fur.]
Maybe I need advice!
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[She flexes her fingers for a moment, trying to alleviate the dull ache that's started in her hands (how appendages that are barely even solid can ache at all is beyond her), before reaching for the materials to sew another satchel with.]
Well... The thing with sewing your own clothes is you can make whatever the hell you want, pretty much. That's kinda the point? So it just depends on what you think you can pull off, I guess... And if you wanna be able to wear a top with your pants.
[Even after saying all this, she still hasn't started sewing her next satchel. She's just holding and considering the fabric, as if worried that it, too, will also somehow morph into a Pikachu if she starts too quickly.]
To be honest, I've seen all kinds of pants here—both kinds you mentioned and more. Four legs is nothing. You should see the pairs Spinarak wears sometimes... If you can even call 'em pairs.
[Six legs!]
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[They have seen Pokemon wearing things like pants, but if only for practical reasons, most seem to have cute little accessories instead. Scarves, bows, caps, satchels like the ones Shoka was making. By the time they realized pants and tops were an option, they'd gotten used to just the fur.]
I... miss my hat? [They haven't really seen anything similar around, though... and, of course, they miss their cloak and eyepatch too, but replacing those definitely wouldn't be the same. The hat was a bit less personal. It was just nice to have a large brim to hide behind!]
[Oh, those are the spiders, right! They raise a paw to snicker into.] Alright, so how many does it go up to?
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[On that note, she has to ask:]
What kind of hat?
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[No further elaboration!]
[Were they a wizard? Also no! Or at least not any more than literally everyone else from their world.]
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So... Pointy, wide brim? [A pause.] Stars on it?
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[Uh oh. They were about to say "darkless", out of reflex. but they've never heard anyone else here use the term. People use those "colors" instead, but they haven't been able to figure out any logic to them, and they don't know what "color" their hat would have been.]
[........they've paused for too long and now it's even weirder, just say something Siffrin,]
Darkless. Though I guess that really doesn't matter much. [They should've just left the part about shade out. Ugh. Too late now.]
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[She tilts her disguise-head, one ear perked. Eventually, Siffrin does manage to finish that sentence, but her confusion remains.]
And "darkless" means...?
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[How do you even explain darkless, stars. Like! It seems very self-explanatory! You just look at something and it's darkless! Or lightless! Or various shades of dark or light, and okay the latter two sometimes can get very elaborate in description when you're telling various nitpicky little shades apart, but darkless?]
When a shade doesn't have any dark in it? [They are functionally just rephrasing the actual name but,]
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You mean white?
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[...]
Yes. That.
[They do not say it with great hope that they'll sound convincing and confident. Hahaha uh oh they've been caught being the weirdo]
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Maybe she should keep it to herself—say nothing and move on the same way Siffrin did for her before. But if she's going to offer to sew anything for them, she has to know.]
Just a guess. But are you color blind?
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[She doesn't seem to be asking judgmentally, as far as they can tell, but they still don't like - they don't like feeling like the weird one out. The only one who doesn't get something, who's just missing something important.]
["Color blind." Mmgh.] Maybe...? I don't know what "colors" are supposed to be like.
[...]
I don't think they exist at all, where I'm from. Or... maybe nobody could see them?
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[She might have wondered next if they'd always been like that, or if it was just a Shinx thing—but they answer that question for her before she can think to ask it: in their world, colors might not even exist at all.]
Huh. I mean... Colors definitely exist where I'm from, but there are still plenty of people who're color blind. Enough that there's a word for it. [She shrugs.] No big. As long as the shade or whatever of the material is right, then even a copy will feel like the real deal, right?
[This implies that she's already thinking about recreating the hat for them, because she is (never mind that she isn't a sewing expert at all, really, and she's never made any item of clothing).]
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[They totally haven't realized she's thinking about making the hat yet, because why would she?]
[It does make them wonder what other people are seeing. And now that here's someone who's managed to squeeze their admission of colorblindness out of them, there's no reason not to ask:]
I'm... colors too, right?
[Someone mentioned a color in relation to their fur, early on, and they immediately forgot. No guarantee they'll remember it this time, but they should probably avoid getting into "and at this point I'm too afraid to ask" territory.]
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[After a moment's hesitation, she fishes the crocheted Pikachu doll back out of her disguise and briefly holds it up next to one of Siffrin's ears.]
Yellow's the same color as this. [Then she withdraws it again, holding it up next to herself.] But not the same as me.
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[They squint between Shoka and the doll. Without being able to see any sort of saturation, they really can't pick up much of a difference. Eventually, hesitantly, they decide:] It might be a little bit lighter...?
[Hmm.]
Blue is like the ocean, or the sky during the day, right? I've heard people say that. Even though they're really different shades, unless it's stormy...
[But people say "the sky is so blue today" mostly when it's super bright! It's so weird. Still - whatever it is Siffrin's not seeing, they don't hate being the same "color" as the sea and sky. Sounds kind of nice!]
What else is black?
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