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deercountry2021-10-08 06:14 pm
reddosmod) wrote in deercountry2021-10-08 06:14 pm
Entry tags:
- *event,
- abby anderson: c,
- anakin skywalker: michele,
- ange ushiromiya: jelle,
- anna amarande: celene,
- ariadne: wizera,
- catra: pink,
- childe: bean,
- diluc ragnvindr: samuel,
- faolan: teresa,
- fern: pan,
- flynn fairwind: teresa,
- goro akechi: kei,
- izuku "deku" midoriya: tea,
- kaeya alberich: daisy,
- katherine pierce: jade,
- kd6-3.7: moz,
- lance: charley,
- luke skywalker: skyla,
- lumine: trix,
- luna lovegood: cheryl,
- luz noceda: pedro,
- manabu yuuki: elle,
- mebh og mactire: oggy,
- nehan: ray,
- orpheus: qv,
- peter graham: jhey,
- ryan akagi: billie sue,
- savage opress: vette,
- soldier blue: elle,
- stiles stilinski: charley,
- the medicine seller: greenrivers,
- tsume: shade,
- usagi tsukino: jax,
- varian: tf,
- wanda maximoff: jade,
- wei wuxian: tohma,
- willow rosenberg: lucy,
- winter schnee: mesi,
- wu: mads,
- yuri lowell: mads
Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom
OCTOBER 2021 EVENT
IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]
WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE
LONELINESS KILLS: THE CURSE OF CLOVERFIELD
LEGENDS OF TRENCH
CODINGPrompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]
WHEN: During the daytime every day of October
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A
The Black Parade has begun in Trench. You will begin to see residents painting skulls and monsters onto their faces, even the ones who abide by practical lifestyles. By the first week of October, you won't see a single resident of Trench without facepaint or a mask of some kind obscuring their face.
"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."
Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.
Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!
Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.
It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.
QUICK FACTS
1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.
2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!
"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."
Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.
Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!
Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.
It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.
QUICK FACTS
1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.
2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!
WHEN: October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.
It is said that the Blood Moon reminds Cloverfield of those he has lost over the decades. They say that the howling wind is actually the sound of Cloverfield's cries and there seems to be some truth to that. He can be seen wandering the Farther Shores and watching the moon. If you seek out Cloverfield and offer him comfort and companionship, he will bless you with a worn picture of a loved one or someone you miss desperately or even just a place you miss...Even if it's impossible for such a picture to exist.
Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.
Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.
Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!
Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.
QUICK FACTS
1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.
2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.
3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.
4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.
5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.
Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.
Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.
Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!
Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.
QUICK FACTS
1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.
2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.
3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.
4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.
5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.
WHEN: All October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.
Unfortunately, not everyone can gain control of their loneliness. As blood is spilled throughout Trench over loneliness, this blood pollution festers and begins to claim poor souls. Corruption leads way to beasthood and people lost to this find themselves transforming into familiar, legendary ghost stories of old-world lore. These Legendary Ghosts come out primarily at night. As the Black Parade established, anyone who keeps their faces disguised with make-up or masks will be completely safe from the Legendary Ghosts. Though if you go after a Legendary Ghost in a costume, you'll only be safe until you attack them. It's not a bad move for a sneak attack though!
...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...
Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.
You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.
QUICK FACTS
1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."
2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.
While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.
3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.
...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...
Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.
You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.
QUICK FACTS
1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."
2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.
While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.
3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.
no subject
Let's see... that's four members for Team RWBY, plus three for Jaune, Ren and Nora. Then Uncle Qrow and Maria make two more, plus Penny and now Emerald...
All of them, with myself included, makes twelve. I, uh... I'm sure we'll be a sight once we're all out of Atlas.
[A part of him still refused to accept that half of that number would probably be dead in his near future on Remnant... and yet he hoped that the Oscar who remained on that world with a broken moon would find a way to hold everything together until the world righted itself again.]
no subject
[she lets that hang for a bit and shrugs. eh. whatever. hugs aren't terrible.]
It almost sounds like you guys are working on an army. But you all killed Salem a bunch already, right? So is she really that bad at home?
no subject
[About the commentary regarding Frodo and his Fellowship. For surviving a battle alongside the Ents, he sure knew nothing about Lord of the Rings.]
But yeah, Penny's a robot girl. She joined up with us pretty recently... [He trailed, not entirely sure how to explain that she was another for the garden.]
...I never thought of it as us making an army, but I guess we kinda are. Salem... she can't die. Not really, not in a way that's meaningful.
So she's planning to destroy our world and herself with it, so she can have that meaningful death.
It's as bad as it sounds.
no subject
You have my sword. If she ever shows up here, I mean. Either we give her a meaningful death ourselves or we get her into therapy. I get she's tormented, but we all have ghosts, bitch. [well, that's one way to break the solemnity.] Making more doesn't get rid of yours.
no subject
[Oscar said grim(m)ly, recalling those horrible days when he didn't know where Ruby had vanished to. That incident in the spring had affected them all-- in ways that were both visible and invisible. He shifted his weight uneasily, taking some of the pressure off of the prosthesis and easing some of the discomfort that wearing it for long periods sometimes caused.
He suspected a growth spurt might be incoming. His balance had been somewhat off lately.]
And, she did try to take those of us from Remnant down... and anyone else who got in her way. She ended up killed by one of our number multiple times. And, after facing whatever Death Deerington offered... I think she found what she needed.
She didn't follow us here.
But, I know that she's still at large back in the world we all started in.
[A sigh.]
I just hope the Me that is still there is able to handle the situation better than we all did in the dream.
no subject
He will. You made the plan with the information you had here. The information's different back home, so the plan's gonna be different, too. I haven't met the version of you back there, but I've met this version of you and I'm pretty confident.
[she takes her hand off his shoulder and returns it to her side. no need to overstay her welcome there.]
This girl I used to know once told me that there's peace in death, sometimes. I don't know how much I believe it... haven't died myself, you know? [but rose has, of course. there's a reason she's not going into details.] But if anyone's proof of that, Salem probably is. I trust you guys to figure out a way to give her what she needs without overdoing it.
no subject
[Oscar said, with an understanding nod. Death could indeed be peaceful after lifetime upon lifetime of strife-- not that he was eager to meet it himself at this juncture.]
It just seems like every step we've taken back in our homeworld is met with another, bigger obstacle. And that... get's tiring.
[A sigh.]
I know the man who started everything at the beginning is tired. My hope is that I can help him find his rest when everything's over.
[Ozma would indeed finally rest if Oscar had his way.... and, after hearing about what may have happened to Ruby, he wasn't sure if the Oscar who made it to Vacuo would even care about what that meant in the long term.]
no subject
That's the only thing I ever wanted for A2. I just kept getting back memories of battle after battle, killing and bloodshed and just... just so much pain and loss and grief. She tore herself apart from being the sole survivor of her squad, and from having to see so many androids die in front of her. Nobody could kill her, and she couldn't die.
Eventually I found out her story was already over, you know? That's the whole reason I was able to resonate with her in the first place. But I never learned her real ending, and I don't think she ever really, truly got to rest. [she's curling her hand against her breastbone again while she looks out to the water.] I think I gave it to her. I think I finally let her find some peace after I called on her for one last battle.
I can't talk to her or anything, though. So I don't know if I did. [a beat. maybe...] Can you talk to him?
no subject
[Oscar explained, patient. He was intentional about not connecting Ozpin to his problems when talking with others for the most part; he didn't want to attract more ire toward the man who had become his mentor.]
He has his own body, and he's the reason the place I'm living is green and full of broken clocks. But.. he's like me.
He's another link in a very, very long chain.
[A sigh.]
...I've never tried talking to any of the others. I don't even know if it's possible to do here.
no subject
[that shouldn't hurt to hear, but there's still a part of her that doesn't want to hear it. oscar isn't exactly like her, then, is he. she knew that going in, but it still doesn't feel fantastic. she doesn't go too deep into that reaction and tries, instead, to tie it back to Oscar.]
It just goes back until Salem, doesn't it? He was there when she was mortal.
no subject
[Oscar explained quietly, feeling the subtle shift in her tone and the hint of added distance. They were alike, certainly-- but they weren't the same. None of the others he had met who had similar struggles were the same.]
I don't know how many centuries ago that was. Humanity died, and had to remake itself again.
no subject
[she can tell she's irrevocably changed the mood with a single word. maybe damaged their friendship when she can least afford it. hopefully not, but this would be the time to do it, right? sigh. she really can't just let it go.]
If he weren't here, you'd still know? [...] You never worry he's gone?
no subject
[He sighed. It was completely ancient and prehistoric-- and it made Oscar wonder where the line between myth and history lie for his world.]
Ozpin will end up the same way eventually-- and I will too, if I can't end this cycle. Our personalities become one... and I have no idea what that means in the long term.
no subject
So do you know how to end the cycle? Or are you just taking guesses at it? [she pauses as she realizes probably the most likely solution. this, too, is salem's fault.] Are you two merging more now that you're here?
no subject
[Oscar offered a tired smile with his words.]
It means the Gods have no influence here... which is something of a relief, because I haven't figured a way to stop it on Remnant yet.
[The answer was obvious: defeating Salem. But-- if she, too, merely sought the release of death and had no means of reaching it, then...]
There's an all knowing being who will answer a few questions every hundred years back home. Her name is Jinn. Ozpin decided to ask her about how to end... all of this. But, her answer didn't help.
no subject
You could always try asking Never Mind. He's just chilling in the library and he supposedly knows, like, everything. But from what I've heard, he's just the kind of person to give you the answer outright. No sugar-coating or anything. So that's probably intense, you know?
no subject
[He cast her a quiet, sad look of understanding. The fact that she knew the answer meant that she had heard the same at some point-- and Oscar quietly shook his head.]
It's sad if that story is the same in different worlds. I was hoping it wasn't, because that would mean others didn't need to deal with the same problems we have.
...Jinn didn't exactly sugar-coat things either. She might be a tease, but she doesn't play.
[A sigh.]
Maybe we should go look for Never Mind, and see what he's got to say. It can't be worse than what we've already heard.
no subject
The important thing is that just because someone says you can't do it... well, you gotta wonder what's in it for them by telling you that you should give up. You know? [her eye narrows slightly; she's almost smirking.] Let's head down to Never Mind and see what he has to say.
And if we don't like it? Let's keep fighting anyway.
no subject
[A sigh.]
... The information isn't easy to access, but I believe that the others like her are similar. If they don't have specifics, they're not going to play by the rules we think they would.
[Such was the nature of dealing with beings beyond mortal ken, who had moralities that could only be comprehended by the stars... or the gods.]
We can always talk to Never Mind. That might help us find a way to understand our new friend a little better, too.
[He nodded toward the silent behemoth that loomed above them. Oscar wondered what was going on behind that impassive facade.]
no subject
[she grins at the idea at first, but then remembers that flash of raven's feathers from last month that led her down the worst jungle cruise ride of her life and the expression fades.]
Maybe I shouldn't test that. Like you said, no telling what rules he plays by. Maybe the better idea is to ask him that first and then start shooting off questions about the way the world works, or whatever.
no subject
[Oscar said, returning that smile with little hesitation. He felt confident enough that they could get the answers, if they worked their options right. This world had no reason to screw them over... not intentionally, anyway.]
Everyone here's a squid of some sort, right? Even if we don't understand the reasons at first, we should be able to figure it out. It sounds a little easier than dealing with demi gods, anyway.
no subject
That place has a god, too. Mariana, I think her name is. And there's a place back home called the Marianas Trench that's the deepest, coldest, darkest place on earth. [she is letting him put the admittedly extremely large and simple pieces together there.] We might need to go to her for answers sometime too. And the ocean is more dangerous than any of us know.
no subject
[He admitted, staring out at the sea and pondering the parallels between the various worlds. Mariana of Trench-- and the Marianas Trench. It almost sounded like a dream.
Except it wasn't.]
If you think we'll need to talk to Mariana, we'll need to be prepared.
no subject
[she's a little disgusted with herself for saying the rest of this, but it's true.]
I learned it from the first real job I had. You brown nose and make yourself useful and then the bosses know you're reliable and maybe they decide to give you a raise or a promotion or something. Hate that it works in the real world too.
no subject
[Oscar commented, nodding at this familiar refrain.]
Do what you can, and learn what you can as quickly as possible. But, with all of the crazy people in this town?
We'll be fine.
(no subject)