cultor | (open & closed) sunny july event catch-all

Entry tags:

(open & closed) sunny july event catch-all

Who: sunny & YOU!!
What: july event catch-all
When: july 2025
Where: all around the city
Warnings: please see Sunny's CWs and use/mind subject line CWs

((ooc: hello! I'll be using this as my july catch-all for all event & related threads. I'll be posting top-levels & starting threads for each section of the event as they come throughout the month. as long as the subject line says (open) feel free to tag in! if you have any questions, feel free to hit me up via journal PM or on plurk at

pantheraliam; also please keep in mind that sunny is a silent character, so there will be little to no dialogue in his tags!))

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[Everything about this city is wrong. Animals of unknown species prowl with too many teeth, mouths full of tendrils, claws too sharp. Even the plants are unfriendly, toxic mold pouring from ominous spores that cling to buildings and crawl out of sewers.

[It isn't safe. And it's getting colder.

[Curious, then, that one should find a boy sleeping, right there on the sidewalk, amidst the growing chaos. It's quiet on this side of the street for now, but it certainly won't stay that way. Perhaps you yourself were on the run when you stumbled across him, curled up in a tiny ball, a dirty towel tucked around him like a blanket.

[The boy shivers, but doesn't seem to wake.]

Edited 2025-07-01 19:35 (UTC)

[ Ivan cranes over the child, studying his placid, sleeping face for any sign of expression, even just his eyes rolling back and forth behind eyelids. Is he still dreaming of that place? With the collapsing moon, and some other parts that were almost something nice? There, there were ways of conjuring what once was. This cold world he's come-to on the other side of it offers none.

Unequipped to be soft, maybe, but never so cruel, Ivan would wake Sunny if he seemed at all like he wasn't enjoying his slumber. Even as a creature swoops down and caws murderously, perching crookedly on a street sign with all seven eyes glaring, Ivan simply chooses to stoop down and start to scoop up the entire swaddled bundle of the boy.

He should move him soon, before that thing tries to carry him off— ]

[It became to much. That's all.

[Sunny wasn't built for a world like this. When the nightmare ended, and he woke up, only for a new nightmare to begin, Sunny shut down like an overheated computer. There are only so many things you can do when demons hide around every corner, lurk beneath every surface, crawl out from your very own eyes and ears like insects from a corpse; sleep.

[Sleep. Nothing can harm you, so long as you aren't aware of it. Just sleep. Dream. Go somewhere else. Everything is okay...

[Everything is not okay. He's lifted, and he isn't really sleeping at all. His body goes tense, but he doesn't make a sound, doesn't open his eyes. He tries to keep his breathing even, to play dead if that's what it takes. He doesn't know who's lifted him off the ground, where they're taking him, what they intend to do...

[Sleep. Just sleep. Sunny finds himself clinging to the body that carries him. He doesn't have to wake up yet. Just sleep.]

[ As Ivan maneuvers Sunny's body into both of his arms, he feels the tug of fingers anchoring themselves in his coat, but he doesn't think much of it. That someone would be pretending to be asleep while nature glares at their throat is unthinkable, after all.

The flying creature flaps down onto the asphalt when Ivan turns his back to begin seeking out a more suitable location for Sunny's slumbering. For every few steps his feet move forward, it takes a limping hop.

Like all things that don't live in groomed garden-cages, Ivan knows that it's probably hungry.

Soon, more of them start to descend from the sky, joining the first creature in audience. He hurries along a little faster, coming up to a broken display window belonging to a store. He steps through the jagged ingress with a mixture of obstinance, and of care. Behind him, another horrible, croaking caw sounds, and he turns sharply, the pointed toe of his shoe dragging through the rubble and kicking shards of broken glass at the cantankerous creature. ]

Edited 2025-07-03 02:25 (UTC)

[Through it all, Sunny is protected. He can hear the descending birds, the clatter of glass against cement, more squawking. He dares not open his eyes. He could only be dreaming (within this dream (within this dream (within this dream))), and he really isn't pretending...

[Just sleep. Will he be taken somewhere safe? Whatever holds him is no doubt scarier than those screeching birds. Sunny is at Ivan's mercy.]

[ The glass scares the gaggle backward.

What really stops them in their tracks, however, is the threshold itself. They don't seem keen on following their quarry into such a dark, enclosed space. Will they leave eventually? Surely, but Ivan realizes half of the way through the staring match between their multitudinous red-stained eyes and his own two: he's gotten himself stuck. They'll just have to wait each other out.

The crunching underfoot transfigures into a squishing sound, as treading deeper into the building means moving over the top of some kind of pale mycelial matter. It exists as a ghostly sheet that's long gobbled up most of the shelves and the merchandise with them. Because it's soft, it's pleasant enough to lean back upon. Ivan collapses in the most sheltered spot he can still see the street from. Sunny sinks into his lap in the process, prompting him to inspect him again, how unbothered the child is by all of the commotion.

His voice is drafty and deep, like lullabies. ]

You're quite the sleepyhead.

[They come to a stop, and Ivan speaks. Sunny recognizes his voice. They've met once before, in the dream before this one. Sunny's eyes open, and he finds he's pressed into Ivan, curled up so small that he really does look like a child.

[He freezes, his hands still balled up tight around loose fabric. That terrible sensation - this is really happening - washes over him again like a wave, and he shuts his eyes tight.

[Just sleep. He can't. Calm down. Calm down, calm down.

[Out of nowhere, he startles, releasing his grasp on Ivan's shirt and rolling off of his lap, onto the ground. It's dark inside the abandoned store, making it look ten times larger and a hundred times smaller than it actually is; he's afraid to look around. Sunny's heart races in his chest, and he holds up a shaking palm, his feeble apology.]

Just don't go outside, for now.

[ Ivan, of course, has already had the pleasure of recognizing Sunny. The boy had been wearing his mask a bit haphazardly before, so it was easy. Other than his own face no longer being hidden, Ivan looks largely the same as he did before, with the exception of a single key—and perhaps unsettling—difference: his white suit is stained by a vast amount of dried blood.

He acts as though he's fine, enough to switch from sitting to scooting a little ways toward the closest shelving unit on his knees, once his legs are no longer burdened with the weight of another human being.

Smiling is said to help others relax, so he does that. ]

Those birds want to eat us.

[He's afraid to look around, so he looks at Ivan.

[Ivan is covered in blood.

[Where to look, then? Sunny's eyes stay wide open, glue to Ivan's face, that reassuring smile.

[Those birds want to eat us.

[Sunny can still hear them cawing from outside, and he flinches. It's getting hard to breathe. Is something in here with them?

[He startles again, another delayed reaction. This time, when he throws his hands up, it's so he can cower behind them, scooting away from Ivan on the tile floor, kicking up spores as he goes. Sunny coughs.]

Relax, try this.

[ Ivan covers his mouth with his elbow, shooting Sunny a serious look over it as he demonstrates, and then points at this pose with his free hand for extra emphasis. Breathing in those spores might be bad! If he hyperventilates they'll enter his lungs even faster, and then who knows what will happen. It could be a slower, more agonizing death than being pulled apart by beaks, like when strays got sick and deteriorated until they died if they ate the wrong thing.

Ivan thinks for a moment about how terrified Sunny is now, and also about how seemingly scared he also was the first time they met, which had been over something that seemed so small then. ]

Is it your first time away from your owner, Sunny?

[ It would explain a lot, if he's never felt hunted, if maybe he's never even dealt with this much dirt and grime. It probably makes the world seem so much more unwelcoming to someone who's never seen it before—and it is, that's the truth. ]

Edited 2025-07-05 22:47 (UTC)

[Sunny picks up on Ivan's warning about those spores. He tugs the collar of his vest up and uses the fabric to cover his mouth and nose. He tries to breathe slow, but it's difficult. He needs to calm down, focus.

[Ivan asks about... Sunny's owner? The boy shakes his head, fervent - he doesn't have one! But he realizes that it will seem like he's merely answering the question as it's posed. He shakes his head again, unsure of what else to do.]

[ Sunny shakes his head enough to say no several times over, but that just doesn't fit Ivan's observations of him at all. "No, no, no, no, I've definitely been outside before" is not a claim someone who can barely calm down should be able to confidently make. Maybe if Ivan waits, an image will come tickle his inner thoughts, anything else to give the answer additional context.

After several too-long seconds of expectant staring, it seems safe to say that it's not coming. ]

I guess we can't do that weird thing anymore.

[ Fortunately-unfortunately, he has another idea. Leaning over, he starts running a finger through the slop on the floor. Ivan isn't half the artist that Till was, but thanks to the silver-haired boy's special talent he's seen how it's done. The first shape is a big blob with a bunch of squiggly appendages. Though his segyein guardian had only two legs, this is what more of them looked like. Next, he adds a small stick figure beside it, lastly connecting them with a line, a leash.

ＮＯ ? he writes. ]

[Sunny cringes as Ivan begins drawing in the sludge, but watches dutifully. Once the image has been fully constructed, Sunny observes it. He has no idea what the bug-like creature Ivan drew next to the ostensible human is, but he assumes the leash makes it an "owner". There's a moment of hesitation, but...after a beat or two, Sunny nods, then leans forward and adds the word "OWNER" under Ivan's "NO". He underlines them both. NO OWNER.]

Edited (HUMAN I meant lmao) 2025-07-08 02:26 (UTC)

[ Huh! Really strange. Really, really strange.

The only thing Sunny has in common with other stray humans he encountered in the slums is the fact that he doesn't speak. It took Ivan a while to get used to the idea of wanting to talk to anyone, even though he's quite good at it now. No owner—still young, spooked easily...

Ivan has another idea.

This time, he draws a box. Inside of it, there's the tiny stick figure all over again. $ $ ? ]

Not adopted yet?

[Ivan says "adopted", but his drawing says "bought". Sunny stares at the strange, blood-covered boy. He feels sad. When he shakes his head this time, it's gentler.

[He doesn't hesitate as much the second time he goes to draw in the sludge. He writes: I live with my mom.]

Your Provider, you mean? You're little, but I didn't think you were that little. [ Hahaha... Kidding, kidding! But really? ] I've never heard of a human who stayed with theirs that long.

[ After all, Ivan can't remember if he had one of his own — it seems like something that should've stayed with him if he did. He wants to ask Sunny all about it, but it would probably take too much time, plus more space than what's left on this section of the floor tiles to illustrate that answer. ]

Well, that's okay, I know how to survive out here if you want to stick with me.

Edited 2025-07-08 18:32 (UTC)

[Does Sunny want to stay with Ivan? He's silently thankful that there isn't enough room to ask about the blood all over his clothes. The smell of it makes Sunny's skin crawl, but those birds are still screeching outside. After a few seconds, he looks back at the boy and nods his head. Okay.

[But...if he's going to correct even just one thing...

[He writes quickly in the grime: 16. He points to himself, letting out a short huff.]

I was shorter than everyone else at that age, too. Worry not, some of us bloom late.

[ Ivan stands up as soon as he says so—coincidence? No, he's giving this little one something to look forward to. If Ivan's life is a misery and a mistake, his physicality is one thing that isn't. It's been great fun. Everyone should try shooting up to six feet tall in one semester!

But with the clock on exhaustion, hunger, and thirst ticking, it's also time to acknowledge that it's stupid to sit here. He helpfully grabs a handful of Sunny's sleeve to ensure the sixteen year-old can get upright again without slipping. ]

Deeper is where I'm headed.

[ Into the dark.

Last chance to chicken out. ]

Edited 2025-07-08 22:35 (UTC)

[Sunny's body flinches with a silent yelp as he's yanked up off of the ground. Even with Ivan holding his sleeve, his legs are shaky. Those birds still crow and caw outside. Ahead of Sunny, there's only Ivan and darkness.

[Last chance to chicken out. The terrible truth is that Sunny hates to be alone.

[He waits for Ivan to move, and then, he'll follow.]

[ No more teasing, at least.

When the atmosphere becomes near opaque, black past the point of what human eyes can easily adjust to, Ivan turns serious. His leadership is ungentle at times. Prodding, pulling, pushing. His actions are to assure that they make it.

Maybe it looks like he was headed to attend a ball, but he knows how to move swiftly and silently through the dark like a rat. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(open & closed) sunny july event catch-all

(open) week 1: I am caught, tangled in

no subject

cw: bugs, gross descriptions

no subject

if u ever need more please lmk >:3b

we gucci

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: human trafficking, poor conditions - blanket warning for thread

no subject

cw: human trafficking

cw: human trafficking cont.

cw: human trafficking cont.

cw: human trafficking cont.

cw: human trafficking cont.

feel free to move toward a wrap or we can keep going >:3b

sunny ditching ivan in a pitch black macy's speedrun any%

no subject

endcap