raiamods: (Default)
raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-05-21 04:56 pm
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◣ OPEN ◢ HATCHING LOG 001

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia, get interrogated, and settle in at the basecamp.
WHEN: May 21 onward
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: Potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.


HATCHING LOG 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

Players who participated in our TDM are welcome to keep their CR and the content of those threads. Please make sure to chat this out on the OOC intro & CR meme before making assumptions. Please take your time reading the hatching and basecamp bullets, as some items have been altered or expanded.

❀ HATCHING


Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:
Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning. If you would like to thread this out, please reply to CAPT CHILDE'S top level comment! A caveat: threads will not go beyond (TEN) NPC replies, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. If your character composes a genius jailbreak, you are welcome to submit it in the MOD QUESTION comment to work out how that might go with the NPCs!

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything that seems human-made will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about the acid rain and inhospitable wildlife that they'll face if they venture beyond the shade of the dragon's wings.

❀ RECRUITMENT FAIR



You've been here for a week, had a chance to show your mettle. Maybe you've demonstrated a propensity for fixing gadgets (or plumbing!) or you have the command of a natural leader and the ability to wield a gun (or a tire iron!) to great effect. Either way, the Adamant's survivors are eager to put you to work so they can have their first real 'days off' in three years! Survivors have set up their various areas in the hopes of catching your attention and (possibly!) bolster their numbers! Feel free to wander around, talk to other PCs, and get the lay of the land.

ENGINEERING CORPS

Thorkil has welded a sign to a post out front, cheerfully painted by a gaggle of children to say "WELCOME!" The children are crowded around the area, and Thorkil is telling them stories about one of his many tattoos as you approach — he has a magnificent eagle tattooed on his arm, and in a hush he is explaining how it landed on him and tried to bite him like a mosquito, and how he slapped it and it just splattered right there on his arm and he's never been able to wash it off!

The children seem mesmerized by the story (maybe you are too?) and will scatter at the story's conclusion, tugging you over to the various areas, pointing things out excitedly. What is an Ehlers-Chau sublight engine? You're about to find out whether you like it or not! Or maybe you can teach them a thing or two. Those who seem to know their stuff will be eagerly invited on board by Thorkil.

The Engineering division has salvaged its tools and scrap from the Adamant’s wreckage, so it has all of the essentials from metal mills to CNC routers to circuitry tools. A holo projector throws schematics on the wall — a drill, a few potential shelter ideas for long-term settlement, and a new communications tower.

SECURITY DIVISION

Rémi has barely deigned to participate — and seems to have done so only at the request of some of his companions. He's sitting at an unadorned table and he is cleaning a variety of weapons. He will scowl if approached, and seems openly mistrustful of your intentions should you speak to him. Questions about how a conversation with Rémi might go may be posted to the MOD QUESTIONS thread. (Note: We will not be threading Rémi, so these questions will be handwaved!)

Characters who make a positive impression on him will open up the avenue to work for the Security Division later, but he will not be extending any offers now — please allow for a realistic period of development here!

Feel free to lean into another PC's space and comment on how frosty that dude seems! You can also survey the various weapons stored in racks, help out with building spears, the usual suspects.

THEATRE

The theatre doubles as a childcare center, and many of the NPCs bustling about seem very excited and eager for the chance to talk to anyone who ventures in to visit. The theatre is bright and cheerful, paintings have been done on the walls of scenes from children's stories featuring colorful characters.

The thespians will not only try to recruit you (for acting in a play, for teaching, for script writing, for drawing on the walls or caring for children) but they will actively put you to work if they see you standing idle longer than a moment! Your character may find themselves with a paintbrush in hand, or taking part in a recital for a play (you're free to invent one, or put a new spin on an old classic! Romeo and Julio, anyone?) or building a set piece for one of the many local productions.

The Theatre doubles as the protective hub in times of need, so beyond arts education and babysitting, your character may also be tasked with shoring up those defenses, helping to fortify the walls, or other such tasks. And who knows, they may be paired off with someone else rather unexpectedly!

AID STATION

Sunya Hyacinth is the local medical doctor, fueled by coffee and spite. She doesn't have the time to recruit personally — she's flitting about the aid station seeing to the injured.

If you follow her, she will put you to work. Hold this stent, articulate this dislocation, take this blood pressure reading. If anyone appears to have a proficiency for this sort of work, she may inquire after credentials — and anyone who seems to have medical experience is going to immediately be handed the medic's armband, a white band with a blue cross emblazoned on it. This armband will grant any PC an extra amount of respect and trust from the Adamant's survivors — but you'd better be able to live up to it!

Feel free to treat any injured PCs, converse with other 'recruits', help pin that white and blue arm-band on... you know, anything under the sun. Some of the patients in the medical bay seem to be suffering from the adverse effects of some of the local flora — itching hives or burning pustules. One unfortunate soul seems only able to speak in limericks, which the medical staff will admit is one of the odder things they’ve seen.

SANITATION

CONTENT WARNING: DRUG REFERENCES

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! There are always latrines to be dug, pipes to be repaired, general maintenance to be done on the various sanitation systems.

A nervous-looking janitor will approach your character almost shyly, and ask if you wouldn't mind giving her a hand. If you are willing to help her (fix a pipe, dig a hole, etc), she will gradually warm up to you and seem more animated and lively and very, very grateful. Won't you please consider working with the Sanitation crew? Sure, it's not as glamorous as some of the other duties, but they're the backbone of the Basecamp and they could really use the help!

She'll even let you in on a little secret if you really butter her up or show an interest — the Sanitation Crew? Totally has a little underground greenhouse where they're growing marijuana. They're totally willing to share...

Feel free to dig latrines alongside your fellow PCs, or maybe even share a joint. It's a way to pass the time, right? PCs serving in sanitation will also have an easier time overhearing the gossip that spreads around the base, since no one looks twice at them.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO MASS DEATH

During their first two weeks in the basecamp, any character who stops by one of the various houses of worship (in addition to a church, a synagogue, and a mosque, there is a temple with small statues to fifteen different unfamiliar deities, many of whom seem to be from different faiths), the gymnasium, or the mess hall will come across a stand that hosts a dozen or so packages.

Wrapped in the black emergency blankets that many bring with them to and from the bunks, these packages are about one cubic foot and contain folded clothes in roughly the same sizes. The styles are all different and highly individualized. Some are luxe, some are basic, and some are clearly the undershirt (but not the proper outerwear) for uniforms of the Adamant’s crew. Warm-faced folks eagerly give out a single package to each new hatchling. Along with the clothing and blanket, hatchlings will receive basic packages containing basic toiletries — bar soap, a toothbrush, a straight razor, etc.

Come by at the wrong time, and you might see a fight break out. A young person, red-faced, shouts at the volunteers working these stands, “Those were our people! Our families! We should be the one to decide what’s done with what they left behind.”

In hushed tones, clearly trying to keep this from becoming a conflict, the lead volunteer insists, “Take it up with Captain Childe.”


A few notes:
Feel free to have your character sign on to help out with any of the listed divisions, with the exception of security.

☆ Characters may collect one (1) care package from the community outreach program. If your character intends to come back for more, please let us know in the Mod Questions thread.

☆ Feel free to ask for light NPC interactions in the MOD QUESTIONS header; we can give you a general idea of how a conversation might go! Like with the Captain Childe threads, none of these threads will be lengthy, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

❀ THE DREAMING

You are standing at the edge of an immense, underground lake. Water laps at the shore, echoing in the cavern. There is a sense of peace and warmth and — welcome.

A creature emerges from the lake and approaches you. Its gills flutter, its eyes are a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness. It reaches out to touch you — one long, elegant finger presses against your chest. It feels as if it might crack your sternum open and ferret beneath your bones as if looking, looking for something. Yet, there is no malice from it, and you feel no fear.

But the creature relents. It backs up. Bows to you once, and then turns and walks back into the water.

You stay for some time at the edge of the lake. Eventually, it seems as if another person is here with you, or perhaps they simply came into focus after being here just as long as you. Should you speak with them?

A few notes:
PCs may interact with one another in the dreams. They will be in a semi-conscious state, not wholly aware they are dreaming and not wholly under the impression of its normalcy.

☆ Your character will wake up naturally from the Dreaming, they will feel peaceful and refreshed.
The lake, if they choose to swim in it while dreaming, would be perceived as the perfect ambient temperature for them — some characters may prefer it to be warmer or colder!

☆ If they duck below the water, they will see far-off glittering city lights, but no matter how they try to swim towards them they will never get any closer!

☆ If your character tries to drink the water, they might notice that for a few minutes after they wake they can hear little snippets of NPC thoughts. Weird!

☆ Every character will have a small, pale lilac mark where they were touched on the chest. It will fade over the next few days.

❀ FETCH QUEST

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO LIGHT APHRODISIAC EFFECTS

A small, perky woman corrals you somewhere near the latrines. "Hey!" she says insistently, pushing her hat back and sending a spill of inky curls askew from her forehead. "We need a hand. There's this plant we get for Sunya — the Doc? You met her yet? — it's a painkiller. Go through a shitload of that, which I'm sure is quite surprising," she says all this in a single breath, and her expression is sour despite her cheery tone.

"You any good at botany? We need another round of Starspire root. Can't harvest the ones we've got in camp, they've been a little cranky lately. You'll have to go about four kilometers due west, towards the old Adamant wreck. Just watch them — if they start to sweat, you'll need to get under cover, means the acid rain is coming. I'll upload the specs to your Comm."

Seems like you're being partnered with somebody else for the run — another person looking perhaps about as equally haggard as you, and at least as equally voluntold. Hopefully you won't run into any difficulties — how hard can retrieving one plant be?

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to have random monster encounters along the way! Don’t forget to wait for approvals on bestiary submissions before incorporating them into threads.

☆ The plants are at a high elevation, so they will exist on rocky outcroppings along a cliff-face. The landscape here is mostly high desert, which means it is full of thin, calf-high grasses, scrub plants, and non arable land polluted by dense, alkaline soil and rocks. Be creative in how you get there!

☆ Somebody gets hurt? Here, chew this root! They said it was a painkiller, right? What's the worst that could happen? (People can get a little ... flirtatious, shall we say.)

☆ Or you could go one step further and try exploring portions of the Adamant! Remember, the ship itself was built to house seventy thousand people — it's the size of a city, and it cannot be adequately explored in an afternoon! If you'd like anything specific to come of this, or if you’d like to know specifics about the Adamant’s layout, please consider submitting a plot request!.

trassel: (51.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-06-07 01:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It does explain everything. Even if 9S' support floats in the air and Matthias' walks on four legs and chews on his boots. In a place full of frightening, surprising things, he's been latching on at once to anything remotely familiar. And he knows the language of war. ]

I see. Good that it came with you. Have you done much exploring?
fortyforged: (memory slipped)

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-06-07 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)
At least Banshee doesn't look like he's anxious about someone else handling the weapon. The most he'd really hope is that the man doesn't accidentally shoot anyone, but it's clear from the way Matthias looks it over that he's being most careful.

A war? He hadn't considered it to be a war, not a full-out one like the Red War with the Cabal just some several years prior, or Twilight Gap centuries past. But then they'd still been in conflict with so many for just as long if not longer. It's all very exhausting just to think about, and it shows as the Exo sags a little. But he nods. That none of that conflict has carried over to here is something he can agree on.

"Yeah. Looks like these people got enough problems. War don't needa be one of 'em."
morozova: [ used with permission ] (pic#14854881)

[personal profile] morozova 2021-06-07 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Neither.

( lightly. there's no reason to sidestep further other than habit, so he lifts a hand, indicates their surroundings. )

I had thought to investigate the technology here but then found myself pressed into service, working on the reinforcements.
morozova: (pic#14876602)

[personal profile] morozova 2021-06-07 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I see.

( her voice remains steady, calm, but it's the resolve of someone that knows that they're about to share something that could be taken very badly.

if he's honest with himself, he hadn't given much thought as to how she had escaped, only that she had. how foolish of him. )


Tell me what happened.
nonscriptum: I'm an ordinary man (the truth is)

[personal profile] nonscriptum 2021-06-07 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, you can say that again.

[ Based on precious little else outside the delivery of that statement Nate can, at most, tell that the guy doesn't want to induce additional gratitude and would probably prefer to move on from this venture as soon as humanly possible. More than happy to oblige he keeps pace just behind him. ]

I hotwired a spaceship once but that's about as high-tech as it's ever gotten for me.

[ Even then, he'd had the help of a couple really good pilots with experience in alien technology. ]
nonscriptum: I'm calling you the parrot from Aladdin (What the hell is Othello?)

ye ye ye ye

[personal profile] nonscriptum 2021-06-07 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The kid keeps up well. Really well. It's apparent he's used to traveling light and traveling fast, with a charming sort of exploratory pep in his step and a little robot that sits on his shoulder, only occasionally hopping off to scan something of interest and bank it some internal database.

It sorts of reminds Nate of the droid Poe used to talk about with such immense fondness you'd think the guy was referring to a beloved girlfriend. What was its name again? Bee-Bee something? It's possible they're from the same world, but these days he doesn't like to make assumptions having opened his perspective up to hold a whole host of new universes and timelines.

Nate is adding a small note about the spiralized pattern of the petals when Cal speaks over his shoulder, and the huff he responds with probably isn't sufficient.
]

It's, uh- yeah.

[ The sketchbook is worn and the page is in the latter half of the journal, so he knows he's getting close to filling it up. He tips the paper in Cal's direction. ]

I'm sure they've got their own records, but I kind of like to have a personal one.
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-06-07 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not a secret worth anyone getting killed over.

[ and that's the line for alina. she can help, so she will. no matter how hard it may eventually make things on herself. it doesn't mean that she's not going to try to keep it as quiet as possible outside of that.

they reach an intersection. she frowns, glancing one way and then the other. it's quiet. the kind of eerie quiet that instead of suggesting comfort, suggests that another pack of those rats might be down any one of the tunnels.
]
sunmon: (pic#14873539)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-06-07 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you? [ alina thinks on this a moment, and her expression scrunches up as she realizes that she might well be the treasure she's stealing in this metaphor. she's the thing which all of ravka wants to protect, and all of fjerda and shu han want to destroy. it's not especially inspiring. ] Well, if you find a tea pot here, let me know. I would kill for a cup of tea, no matter how warm it is.
morozova: [ used with permission ] (pic#14956905)

[personal profile] morozova 2021-06-07 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
( dryly: ) Is anyone truly fond of the king?

( she'd met the man. and, even if she was still ready to overlook his glaring lack of character, she was close with genya safin. clever little genya would have filled the blanks. )
brosbeforeprose: (under pressure)

[personal profile] brosbeforeprose 2021-06-07 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm afraid I'm not hearing the most satisfying parts of it. I'm not sure how we're all hearing the same tongue, but it's bloody convenient.

[And makes him appreciate all the more that the common tongue is so widely spoken throughout Thedas. He's becoming aware that there's a wide variety of languages being spoken here, apparently flattened into one for all their benefit.]

Hello, Mopsy. [The nicknaming work was clearly done for him long ago, why mess with it more than necessary?]

Need a second pair of hands? Or someone to reach the low shelves, maybe.
sunmon: (pic#14854130)

cw: child sexual abuse reference

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-06-07 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Some more than others.

[ she tips his chin up forcefully. it is impossible not to think of genya. as angry as she is with the king for what he had done to her, she is twice as angry with the man who'd put her in that position. twelve. she'd been twelve when she started serving the queen. ]

If only the front had need of a tailor. [ they can't all run away from os alta when they have had enough of being crushed under his boot. ] But the king is still the king. Should you really be saying things like that? [ treasonous things. ]
brosbeforeprose: (radio gaga)

[personal profile] brosbeforeprose 2021-06-07 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"If they have, they're keeping quiet about it. But it looks like they're keeping quiet about almost everything."

He steps back to admire his handiwork; it's...fine. The fence is wobbling a bit, complaining about Varric's mistreatment.

"A few years back a boatful of-- men from another land washed up shipwrecked in my city, Kirkwall." He was about to say Qunari, but he's adapting to his audience. "Without a ship, they were stuck in Kirkwall until their own people could collect them, so the city gave them their own little compound and sealed it off completely.

"I suppose we should be grateful we're being treated better than the Qunari."

He meets his companion's eye a little grimly. "For the moment."
morozova: (pic#14888098)

[personal profile] morozova 2021-06-07 10:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Are you going to report me?

( he pointedly ignores the rest. genya's mission is ...unpleasant, but it's also crucial, and she knew that. knew that she was the only one that could get that close. )
sunmon: (pic#14852770)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-06-07 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ she should reassure him. your secret's safe with me. but she can't claim that she would have done that either way. what she wants to do is leverage it for genya's safety, her reassignment. but that's unrealistic for the same reason her reporting him is — ]

Who would I report to? [ they're not in ravka.

she lowers the razor and steps out of his way, going to the next sink down to rinse it off.
]

Take a look. [ she's pretty sure they're finished, though. ]
neversmall: (003)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-06-07 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ...how very strange. He appears to be consistently readjusting a period of five years. That sounds like something a bit bigger than a first conversation, at least, for information she doesn't need to weasel out of someone, so Nina chooses to let it be. She hasn't always had the liberty to leave people with their secrets. She is choosing to try and build something different now. ]

A counselor for veterans - does that mean an advisor for them?

[ It's strange to think about - the only people she knows who have counselors are royalty or high military officials. ]
cryptoherpetology: (006)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-06-08 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ Alex shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. The arrangements of their ages in relation to his own meant he was a little more naturally close with Verity than Antimony (with Antimony being a little hyperaware of it and more than a little resentful), but he'd still do anything either of them needed him to in a heartbeat.

Then he hears the word "theme." And callsigns. He thinks about the robot. Speaking of his sisters, this enough like Annie's comics that he has some 4-color visions of himself in spandex and winces. ]


I'm alright with nicknames, but I made a pretty binding promise to myself about never wearing a costume again if I can help it after I gave up historical re-enactment groups. [ He hadn't wanted to join in the first place, but his college fencing team had gotten into the school paper, and that was enough for him to have to find somewhere lower-profile to keep learning swordsmanship. The Covenant keeps an eye on just about every martial art and professional sport to monitor them for disguised cryptids and potential recruits. The SCA though? No one ever expects the Society for Creative Anachronism. ]
neversmall: (116)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-06-08 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ Not that it's time to talk about it, she finds herself cobbled. Her tongue feels like it's been coated in lead. How can she take something so precious and so private, compress it, and hold it up for view and judgement? How can she convince him of the rightness of this thing?

She can't, and she knows it, but she wants to try. There is no justification for having her heart beat for the enemy... except that he is no longer the enemy. ]


Before the shipwreck, during the storm, the Captain ordered one of the young drüskelle to kill us so we could not escape. I worked even harder at my bonds and managed to free myself before the ship broke apart, but when it finally did and I looked for survivors, the only one I saw was the same drüskelle. He had disobeyed that order, and so I saved him. [ It wasn't quite that simple. He'd been dying. That had been wrong. She couldn't just let that happen. So she hadn't. ] We worked together to get to shore and from there we proceeded on foot. We saved each other's lives - many times. He's unlearning the hatred that Fjerdans are fed about Grisha. He's changed. And [ she tenses, shifting her stance slightly as if to be ready to move ] he's here too. Please, sir. Let's not bring our war with us to another planet, not when there's another way of winning it, not when he's changed.
unclesam: ((76))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-06-08 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
More like therapy.

[ Sam blinks, holds up a hand and chuckles softly at himself. ]

Yeah, hold on, just occurred to me that might not mean anything to you either. Okay, so... war damages people, right. [ He doesn't phrase it like a question at all. ] Ain't a single person who's seen war and not suffered for it. You bring back baggage, 'cause you see some horrible things. Sometimes you do some horrible things. So maybe you come back, but fireworks sound like explosions, or when you hear certain sounds you think you're back in combat. Maybe every shadow looks like a threat, even long after you've come home from the frontline. Maybe you still have nightmares and can't sleep. Maybe you lost a limb. Maybe you lost people. All that shit affects you, one way or another. It's all trauma, it's all like a wound on your mind and your heart, and wounds gotta get treated so they can heal right, yeah?

[ Sam shrugs a shoulder, glances at Nina to see if she's following what he means. He doesn't know if she has the words for PTSD, for triggers and flash backs, depression and anxiety, but assumes she doesn't. ]

Counseling veterans means trying to help them find ways to cope with all that. To find ways to let those wounds heal best they can, find a way to adjust back to life outside the war.
unclesam: ((135))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-06-08 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
What, you got things to say about costumes?

[ Sam gestures down at himself and looks almost offended for a moment, but then just shakes his head with a small, quick flash of a grin. ]

Nah, I'm just messing with you. Though Falcon's actually from the Air Force, long before the superhero gig.

[ And that last part he says with a totally straight face. Yeah, no spandex in the superhero business unless you're literally super powered. Sam's suit might look nice, but it sits on a regular ass human - and the fit doesn't quite hide that it's tac gear.

He's come some ways from strapping on his wings over jeans and a t-shirt. ]
unclesam: ((131))

alright, just wanted to place this here as a finish line bc it so cute

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-06-08 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's always quite something, to see that hint of something softer in hardened people. It reminds Sam, however briefly, of teasing an actual laugh out of Natasha, or what friendship and sunsets do to Bucky's face.

Sam's face relaxes into a genuine smile at that. He invites Matthias to meet him in the gym when the fair wraps up - better for a demonstration.

And when Matthias takes him up on that offers, Sam spends some time with him in the gym, demonstrating the vibranium wings, solid metal that seems so oddly light in flight, weaving between the floating rocks and eventually just sitting with the wings loosely folded around him so Matthias can look at them, touch them. The technology might be far beyond what Matthias knows, but the wingsuit does have much simpler origins, and Sam's happy to explain.

And if he can put that brief wonder back on the guy, well, Sam will consider that a win for the day, truth be told. ]
unfastens: (what i'm given)

pinch off the string

[personal profile] unfastens 2021-06-08 05:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ Spice Girl is awesome, he would agree. After all, it did save his life (or "life.") He has no doubt Trish could be an excellent Stand user with an ability that versatile -- he just also wants her to have a life where she doesn't need to be. Unfortunately, being stuck here means she'll probably have to use it again.

Bruno nods. ]


I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it. Something called "nen." He didn't share the details, but it was like a Stand. [ he had no reason to pry deeper into Illumi's business, so he didn't, even if he was curious about how it worked. He didn't seem particularly eager to have a friendly chat about it. ] It may be that humans from all different worlds have the same potential, even if we use different words for it.

[ it's the only way it makes sense to him. ]
unfastens: (whose ammunition)

[personal profile] unfastens 2021-06-08 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ honestly, he raises a good point. Bruno's personal perspective on it all is heavily skewed because of his circumstances, so to speak, but when he considers the raw deal that's been given to, say, Trish, then Illumi's words certainly ring true. He hums in acknowledgement, undeterred by their bluntness. ]

... When you put it that way, it's hard to argue.

[ perhaps it's because he's a softie at heart that he didn't question the duties they were foisting on him, too. He looks at these people and sees a group out of their element and stretched thin, not a bunch of kidnappers, but they're undeniably both. ]

They still haven't given an explanation that satisfies me, either. [ a pause. ] I want to know how we crossed time and space to end up in a bunch of eggs.
unfastens: (do you think about the life you live)

[personal profile] unfastens 2021-06-08 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's surprisingly refreshing to actually be outside. He's still exhausted from that awful goop, and he still has only the faintest idea of what's happened to him, but he's focusing on the present: the air is warm and dry, and it's a relief after being stuck in stale cells and showers, even if there's something slightly off about it. Maybe they really aren't on Earth. Somehow.

He continues keeping his mouth shut for the duration of the exchange, figuring the best way to continue being allowed to tag along is to be unobtrusive, and it looks like it works. Balthier's making himself enough of a handful for the guards to mostly ignore Bruno. Which is nice. Now he's wondering if he even should bother sticking around to help move boxes when they've been given an opening this big... He'd rather just go back to the cell.

the comment gets a small smile out of him. ]


Falling in with troublemakers is a bad habit of mine, [ he replies lightly. ] Just don't tell me you're planning a prison break.
figlia_morbida: ([sugar man])

and ill do it again too

[personal profile] figlia_morbida 2021-06-08 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Spice Girl saved the gang! Even if not all of them were alive at the time. Or if they died immediately after...

Trish didn't get to feel cool for very long...

Thinking about Stands has Trish wondering as well if maybe, Bruno can show her how to better use her own Stand...although Spice Girl is perfectly capable of coordinating with her, and mumbles as much from the periphery of her senses. Still, Spice Girl could benefit too! Besides, Bruno saw the utility of Stands like Moody Blues, so he must have advice that isn't all about combat...

But first, Bruno is explaining other people's powers, which is terrible news, really.
]

That's true, isn't it? We're from different places and times, but we have a lot in common. I guess Stands are a constant too.

[Trish is just gonna lay back on the stage so she can stare at the ceiling. Which she immediately regrets, because the stage is cold on her back.]

And the people without powers have incredible technology.

[Including the natives, even if it's not doing so hot in its current state. That being said, Trish frowns at the ceiling.]

Did the person you're talking about seem dangerous?

[As in, could they be trusted? So far the hatchlings all seemed like amenable people, but Trish wonders how fast that could change.]
Edited (Phrasing,) 2021-06-08 08:02 (UTC)
figlia_morbida: ([inner universe])

[personal profile] figlia_morbida 2021-06-08 07:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Maybe it seems sudden to him, but Trish hasn't stopped thinking about the feelings of the people around them. If anything, she hopes such a gesture voiced aloud will garner...something. But she'll have to offer proof to those words, so if she can maintain something as little as a shirt...maybe trust will follow.

And she assumes most people wouldn't be interested in participating unless the onus was on her, or at least that's the impression this guy gives her. It still remains to be seen if he'll even seek her out after this. Hopefully he does...she'll need the practice.

Of course, on the flip side, he may make her regret her arrangement, making statements like that. She blinks, and sure, she's heard of the acid rain and awful creatures, but seen them?
]

Not very much, admittedly. There hasn't been any reason for me to venture far.

[Yet.]

Why do you ask?

[She's eyeing him somewhat curiously. She expects this place to be unkind, what else could he be suggesting?]