Eda Clawthorne (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
edalyn) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
apocalypsehowcomm2023-07-19 10:50 pm
edalyn) wrote in apocalypsehowcomm2023-07-19 10:50 pm
Log | July Catch-all | Open
Who: Edalyn Clawthorne + maybe you!
When: Throughout July
Where: Around Gloucester + the ADI
Summary: Eda helps with a Christmas party, has a bad experience with candy, checks out the Wolfe seal, and fights geese. Eda also starts to look increasingly tired and miserable.
Warnings: arachnophobia, body horror (including one instance that isn’t but potentially looks like self harm), animal attacks, possible harm to geese, supernaturally induced depression/anxiety/loneliness, mental/physical health degradation, emotional breakdowns
Holly Jolly
a) It's finally happened.
This place has officially broken her down.
Edalyn Clawthorne has compromised the last of her remaining standards.
Because she used to draw the line at novelty costumes.
Unfortunately for her, Pam looked sad. And Eda may or may not feel just a little bad about stealing certain access codes. So here she is, delivering people little gifts that she really, really hopes aren't cursed. Someone is going to have a hell of a lot to answer for if they're cursed. But it's fine. Probably.
She's also dressed like an elf. And, perhaps more notably, in witch form. While she's been trying to avoid unnecessary magic, sometimes she has to burn some power off. And since it seems that's going to get her in less trouble than it used to, she's decided she could use a break from having to duck under every doorframe.
Which means she also looks, more or less, like an elf. With a long fluffy weasel tail. It seems that she's stuck with that whatever she does. At least there are worse fates—she’s pretty sure she makes it work.
Perhaps you catch her in the act of dropping a little gift off for you, or perhaps you simply pass her in the hallway and get a look that dares you to say something.
b) The fact she’s still dressed this way later, at the actual party, is less Pam’s fault and more Raine’s. They insisted she should participate in the local customs. And also bribed her about it. Unfortunately, she’s weaker to their charms than she’d like to admit.
Which leaves Eda, still dressed like an elf, eating whatever a roast beef pizza is, and looking deeply awkward in this restaurant. If nothing else, the decorations are fun–she likes the shiny objects, at least. And might be caught batting at a plastic icicle like a cat once or twice.
Her own ‘gift’ is sitting on the table near her as she eats; a tiny mechanical ornament of an old bearded man who appears to be fishing. She assumes it’s festive for some reason that would make sense to a human. If it has a matching partner, she doesn’t know what that would look like.
A New Spin
cw: arachnophobia, body horror
Given the incident with the chocolates, Eda should probably realise that it’s a bad idea to eat unattended candy around the ADI.
But she’s also been getting most of her sweets–and the occasional cooking ingredients as well–from Bumble Gum for months. The shop may have strangely mixed opinions from the humans, but she’s yet to find anything supernatural about it. In fact, it’s nice to finally have some food that wouldn’t be out of place on the Boiling Isles.
And if there’s often something just slightly spiteful in the way she crunches down on candied spiders, in particular, well, that’s just a little bonus. They’ve simply become a creature that she’s less fond of since getting here.
Either way, she’s hardly thinking when she idly begins popping fried, sugar-coated spiders into her mouth. She’s entirely surprised by the sudden feeling of more limbs than she normally has.
When she looks down, even turning around trying to see her whole back, she doesn’t see anything. Even when she tries to move the phantom limbs and feels them move. She’s on the ADI grounds, so it isn’t a matter of glamour. But whatever it is, she doesn't like it. She slowly puts down the rest of the spiders with a slightly shaky breath.
Murderous Geese
cw: animal attacks, possible harm to animals
Eda tends to spend a lot of time in or near the woods—the ones that aren’t part of Dogtown at any rate.
By now, much of the local wildlife knows to avoid her in much the same way they avoid free-roaming cats. She’s a menace and, at this point, ultimately a fact of life.
Some things are braver, of course. She’s used to getting yelled at by various birds.
The loud hissing still startles her, though. Even for geese, the flock stepping into her path seem especially bold. She’s relatively sure they’re unusually toothy for Human Realm birds, too.
She hisses back. This can only end well.
Accidental Archaeologists
Eda’s last visit to Hammond Castle wasn’t exactly a great time, and she’s definitely planning to give any taxidermy she happens to see a wide berth.
But on the other hand, she’s a little worried about people digging up anything Dogtown related, especially after the rash of artifact incidents. Wolves have been a running theme around here, too. Even if it’s spelled a bit differently from the towns.
Eda can be found with her nose near the glass of the new display, peering suspiciously at the wax seal.
A Breakdown
i. my nerves are wrecked and coming unwound
cw: supernaturally induced depression/anxiety/loneliness, mental/physical health degradation
Anyone who knows Eda particularly well may start to notice something by the mid-point of July. Even people who only know her in passing may start to notice by the end of the month.
In short, she doesn’t look good.
She starts to seem worn, unusually tired. Then again, that could be said about a lot of ADI employees in the wake of recent revelations and missions.
The circles under her eyes become more noticeable over time, like she’s not sleeping well or as often as she should—or perhaps simply not getting enough rest even if she does.
At first, she actually seems slightly more talkative. Willing to engage and spend time with people more often than is usually characteristic for the oft-prickly woman, even now that she’s made friends here.
There’s an almost desperate edge to the way she grasps at connection.
And then, eventually, that changes.
Eda becomes more withdrawn, and more secretive. Notably anxious, and quick to insist that she’s fine in a way that she’s been, until recently, learning to stop doing.
ii. does everybody have it together or are we all pretending?
cw: prev + emotional breakdowns
At some point, you might spot her suddenly breaking down in tears, when she thinks there’s no one around to see it.
Huddled behind a building, or perhaps a shelf in the archives, if she thinks everyone else in research has gone home for the day. Nothing in particular seems to set her off, as much as she just… in the middle of whatever else she was doing, cracks.
She sinks to the ground and buries her face in her arms, muttering something that sounds a lot like I can’t keep doing this.
iii. i rip myself apart at the seams / i find one weak spot and start unraveling
cw: prev + mild body horror, not actually self harm but could appear that way
Or, perhaps, you catch her doing something that might or might not be more concerning to most people.
Eda seems distant as she idly picks one of her hands apart, joint by joint.
The segments separate cleanly, bloodlessly, with little pops. She doesn’t react like there’s any pain when she does it. Despite the nature of what she’s doing, her mannerisms appear more like an anxious habit than anything else; akin to fidgeting, just in the strangest possible way.
Watch long enough without disturbing her, and she’ll start putting it back together, reassembling her fingers with a practiced ease.
When: Throughout July
Where: Around Gloucester + the ADI
Summary: Eda helps with a Christmas party, has a bad experience with candy, checks out the Wolfe seal, and fights geese. Eda also starts to look increasingly tired and miserable.
Warnings: arachnophobia, body horror (including one instance that isn’t but potentially looks like self harm), animal attacks, possible harm to geese, supernaturally induced depression/anxiety/loneliness, mental/physical health degradation, emotional breakdowns
Holly Jolly
a) It's finally happened.
This place has officially broken her down.
Edalyn Clawthorne has compromised the last of her remaining standards.
Because she used to draw the line at novelty costumes.
Unfortunately for her, Pam looked sad. And Eda may or may not feel just a little bad about stealing certain access codes. So here she is, delivering people little gifts that she really, really hopes aren't cursed. Someone is going to have a hell of a lot to answer for if they're cursed. But it's fine. Probably.
She's also dressed like an elf. And, perhaps more notably, in witch form. While she's been trying to avoid unnecessary magic, sometimes she has to burn some power off. And since it seems that's going to get her in less trouble than it used to, she's decided she could use a break from having to duck under every doorframe.
Which means she also looks, more or less, like an elf. With a long fluffy weasel tail. It seems that she's stuck with that whatever she does. At least there are worse fates—she’s pretty sure she makes it work.
Perhaps you catch her in the act of dropping a little gift off for you, or perhaps you simply pass her in the hallway and get a look that dares you to say something.
b) The fact she’s still dressed this way later, at the actual party, is less Pam’s fault and more Raine’s. They insisted she should participate in the local customs. And also bribed her about it. Unfortunately, she’s weaker to their charms than she’d like to admit.
Which leaves Eda, still dressed like an elf, eating whatever a roast beef pizza is, and looking deeply awkward in this restaurant. If nothing else, the decorations are fun–she likes the shiny objects, at least. And might be caught batting at a plastic icicle like a cat once or twice.
Her own ‘gift’ is sitting on the table near her as she eats; a tiny mechanical ornament of an old bearded man who appears to be fishing. She assumes it’s festive for some reason that would make sense to a human. If it has a matching partner, she doesn’t know what that would look like.
A New Spin
cw: arachnophobia, body horror
Given the incident with the chocolates, Eda should probably realise that it’s a bad idea to eat unattended candy around the ADI.
But she’s also been getting most of her sweets–and the occasional cooking ingredients as well–from Bumble Gum for months. The shop may have strangely mixed opinions from the humans, but she’s yet to find anything supernatural about it. In fact, it’s nice to finally have some food that wouldn’t be out of place on the Boiling Isles.
And if there’s often something just slightly spiteful in the way she crunches down on candied spiders, in particular, well, that’s just a little bonus. They’ve simply become a creature that she’s less fond of since getting here.
Either way, she’s hardly thinking when she idly begins popping fried, sugar-coated spiders into her mouth. She’s entirely surprised by the sudden feeling of more limbs than she normally has.
When she looks down, even turning around trying to see her whole back, she doesn’t see anything. Even when she tries to move the phantom limbs and feels them move. She’s on the ADI grounds, so it isn’t a matter of glamour. But whatever it is, she doesn't like it. She slowly puts down the rest of the spiders with a slightly shaky breath.
Murderous Geese
cw: animal attacks, possible harm to animals
Eda tends to spend a lot of time in or near the woods—the ones that aren’t part of Dogtown at any rate.
By now, much of the local wildlife knows to avoid her in much the same way they avoid free-roaming cats. She’s a menace and, at this point, ultimately a fact of life.
Some things are braver, of course. She’s used to getting yelled at by various birds.
The loud hissing still startles her, though. Even for geese, the flock stepping into her path seem especially bold. She’s relatively sure they’re unusually toothy for Human Realm birds, too.
She hisses back. This can only end well.
Accidental Archaeologists
Eda’s last visit to Hammond Castle wasn’t exactly a great time, and she’s definitely planning to give any taxidermy she happens to see a wide berth.
But on the other hand, she’s a little worried about people digging up anything Dogtown related, especially after the rash of artifact incidents. Wolves have been a running theme around here, too. Even if it’s spelled a bit differently from the towns.
Eda can be found with her nose near the glass of the new display, peering suspiciously at the wax seal.
A Breakdown
i. my nerves are wrecked and coming unwound
cw: supernaturally induced depression/anxiety/loneliness, mental/physical health degradation
Anyone who knows Eda particularly well may start to notice something by the mid-point of July. Even people who only know her in passing may start to notice by the end of the month.
In short, she doesn’t look good.
She starts to seem worn, unusually tired. Then again, that could be said about a lot of ADI employees in the wake of recent revelations and missions.
The circles under her eyes become more noticeable over time, like she’s not sleeping well or as often as she should—or perhaps simply not getting enough rest even if she does.
At first, she actually seems slightly more talkative. Willing to engage and spend time with people more often than is usually characteristic for the oft-prickly woman, even now that she’s made friends here.
There’s an almost desperate edge to the way she grasps at connection.
And then, eventually, that changes.
Eda becomes more withdrawn, and more secretive. Notably anxious, and quick to insist that she’s fine in a way that she’s been, until recently, learning to stop doing.
ii. does everybody have it together or are we all pretending?
cw: prev + emotional breakdowns
At some point, you might spot her suddenly breaking down in tears, when she thinks there’s no one around to see it.
Huddled behind a building, or perhaps a shelf in the archives, if she thinks everyone else in research has gone home for the day. Nothing in particular seems to set her off, as much as she just… in the middle of whatever else she was doing, cracks.
She sinks to the ground and buries her face in her arms, muttering something that sounds a lot like I can’t keep doing this.
iii. i rip myself apart at the seams / i find one weak spot and start unraveling
cw: prev + mild body horror, not actually self harm but could appear that way
Or, perhaps, you catch her doing something that might or might not be more concerning to most people.
Eda seems distant as she idly picks one of her hands apart, joint by joint.
The segments separate cleanly, bloodlessly, with little pops. She doesn’t react like there’s any pain when she does it. Despite the nature of what she’s doing, her mannerisms appear more like an anxious habit than anything else; akin to fidgeting, just in the strangest possible way.
Watch long enough without disturbing her, and she’ll start putting it back together, reassembling her fingers with a practiced ease.
no subject
He is quite worried about what she saw, but as much as he would like to talk about it, he's not sure if it's safe to bring up. She had seemed very upset when he found her in the kitchen; he doesn't want a repeat of that if she's not ready to talk about it. He can be patient.
Focusing on this other thing had helped. It was as much a distraction as a necessity (in his mind, anyway.) And of the two topics, maybe this one is the easier one to tackle.
"You...have a dad, right?" She talked about him some when they were working on Flapjack.
no subject
Dell isn't her favourite topic by any means, but that isn't the kid's fault by any means, either. She doesn't want to let herself avoid the topic, wherever he's going with it.
"I do, yeah," she agrees, "I guess I mentioned him before," she realises. Maybe he's thinking about the palisman lessons? That would make sense, come to think of it.
"Why'd ya ask?" She does her best to sound casual, and ready to talk about him. It's probably not going to be anything awkward, after all.
no subject
Hunter isn't looking at her - his gaze is locked on a thread sticking out of the couch cushion - so he misses her reaction. He doesn't even know why he asked. His plan had been to figure everything out and then surprise Eda and Raine with being a competent ward. If Peter or the turtle-demons were still around, he'd have probably asked them.
"I don't know..." He needs to stop saying that. "Just...I guess, I'm wondering, what was it like?"
no subject
Apparently Eda still has no idea where this particular conversation is going, because she wasn't expecting that question, either. But then, it would make sense for him to wonder she supposes. From what she knows the closest thing to a guardian he had was Belos, which shouldn't count at all.
"I might not be the best person to ask about that," she points out with a snort. If there's derision there it's directed at herself, not him, but she realises she should probably make that clear.
"I mean... it was nice. Until I got cursed," she explains. "Then things got uh, complicated. And I didn't exactly see him much for a while." She doesn't mean to make it about her own set of problems, though. Just explain why she might not be the best person.
"But it was nice, when he was home. He taught me a lot. What was it like is a pretty broad question, though. What'cha really want to know, kid?"
no subject
The only thing that he recognizes from his research is that Eda's father had taught her things, and he already knows about the carving. It's not very helpful, as it just reinforces what the role of a parent should be, but not the child's obligations.
"When you were..." He flails a moment, draws a breath, and tries again. He sounds frustrated. "After what the Visionary showed you. I didn't... I didn't know what to do. And I should have been able to do something. I feel like...I've failed somehow."
no subject
But on the other hand, it doesn’t escape her that that sounded an awful lot like implying he sees her as a parent. That makes her feel warm, and protective, in a way that isn’t really new after King, or Luz, but still catches her off-guard at the moment.
She decides not to point it out, though. She’s pretty sure it would make things more awkward than they already are. She'll probably tell Raine, later.
"You've been around Luz too much, kiddo," she began. She knows there are likely other, worse reasons he tended towards this kind of guilt, but she isn't about to bring those up. That, and the similarity was true.
"Look, taking care of me isn't your job, Hunter," she continues, a bit more gently.
"And besides. It’s not like you didn’t do something. You did the right thing calling Raine." Which was a hell of a lot better than if she'd been left alone. She's pretty sure it really is the best choice Hunter could have made.
“There’s nothing to beat yourself up over.”
no subject
"Was it?" She says he did the right thing, and he desperately wants to believe that. He feels a bit hopeful, though there's still doubt in his tone.
"I took care of Belos when he had...episodes." It's not the same, he knows. His role mostly consisted of getting Belos somewhere private and giving him palismen to feed on. But he only says it because he's not incapable of stepping up. He should have had some inkling of what to do.
no subject
But she answers his question while she debates whether she actually wants to try and unpack that.
"Yeah, it was," she says, firmly. "They're an adult. And my... well it's more their job than yours." It's not as if Hunter doesn't know they're together, but that doesn't mean she's entirely sure what to say about that either. But that's not the point, right now.
"Anyway. Do I even want to know what you mean by 'episodes?'" she asks, after a beat. She wants to give Hunter the space to talk about it if he wants to, because that might be good for him. But she doesn't want to push the subject, either.
no subject
He guesses she probably doesn't want to know. But she's also made it clear that he can talk to her about these things. He looks down with a sigh. "The curse would take over sometimes." Was it even a curse? He's not sure anymore. But he doesn't know what else to call it.
"He would...change. Physically. He would turn into a monster...like an abomination but rotting and skeletal and he had these horns and eyes all over..." Hunter shudders. "He would lose control and lash out." He frowns. "I think...sometimes he had more control than he let on."
no subject
Not that that had been a perfect decision—King not knowing why he shouldn't have stolen her elixers proved that. Still, she'd had reasons. She'd never wanted him to feel like she might, well, lash out—hurt him. And she'd never wanted to make it his responsibility to help her with it.
Perfect way to handle it or not, she stood by that reasoning.
Which only makes her angrier over what Hunter is saying. Even before that last part casts the whole thing into a very different light from her own situation regardless.
Her jaw tightens, and she makes a frustrated sound in her throat; almost a growl, but she bites it back, not wanting to potentially make Hunter nervous.
"Even if he didn't, that shouldn't have been on you. He had plenty of people working for him." People who weren't children. And that's without even getting into the fact that, from what she knows about grimwalkers, it was likely he'd chosen to make Hunter a child.
"And if he did..." Eda wants to say exactly what she'd like to do to the emperor if she ever gets her hands on him. But she's not sure if that would make Hunter feel better or worse, at the moment. "You didn't do anything to deserve that."
no subject
Belos did have plenty of people working for him. But... "It would have looked bad, if it got out how bad it was..." Not that that excuses any of it. Of course not. He's not even sure how much of the Emperor's condition was common knowledge. Not enough to deter those who supported him and fell for his rhetoric.
He bites his lip. "I...I know. I know I didn't." Though knowing this and actually believing it are separate matters. It's practically ingrained, something that he didn't realize would be so hard to overcome.
no subject
"And I don't care how bad it would have looked. We both know he would have found some way to put a spin on it, just like everything else."
If nothing else the man did lost him public approval, she doubts that would. If anything he probably would have used it gain extra sympathy; given the way people reacted to the 'scar' on his face, he practically did.
She looks irritated again, but then lets out a sigh. She doesn't really want to let on that Raine had told her about their conversation with Hunter back at Steel's event, but the fact she did hear about it makes her worry. Especially the part about still feeling unable to get away from Belos.
"Look, Hunter. I get wanting to help, trust me. But you're not there anymore. You don't have to... earn anything. Not with me or with Raine. Okay?"
no subject
But that's not what makes him forcefully sigh and twist his hands in his lap. Nothing is just...given. It has to be earned! That's...that's how things work.
Or maybe it is. He can't recall Camila ever expecting anything from Luz or Vee. Or any of the kids.
Still. It's frustrating. It's a departure from what he thought - always knew - was true. (He's not there anymore. He doesn't have to play by his rules anymore.)
"Okay. I..." He sighs again and finally looks up at her. "I don't quite understand, but...I believe you. So...okay."
no subject
"Well... that's a good start," Eda decides after a moment. She doesn't want to push things, even if she wishes he did understand. She knows how hard it can be to believe people actually care as much as they say they do.
"Like I say, it wasn't your fault or your problem. It was... tough, but that's Sky's fault," Eda added, with a half joking grumble at the end. She's trying not to blame the Visionary too much, either.