fall for me from reality [open]

[hauntedsavior]

Who: Anna Amarande and you
What: November catch-all!
When: Throughout November
Where: The Entertainment Feed; Anna's usual club; other locations TBD

Content Warnings: Manipulation, blood + oil, lacerations, restraints

a. hold shut the wounds of the past [for murderbot]

An android walks into the Entertainment Feed. Stop me if you've heard this one before. She's wrapped in a heavier coat than usual, black fur around the collar, and she's wearing a new-looking pair of black jeans with no holes in it except for the ones that the guy who made them put in there for her feet and torso. Her boots are the ones she used to sail with, and her jeans are tucked into them. And, because she's committed to her own brand, she's got a white t-shirt with a faded picture of yet another robot on it.

"Anna Amarande," she says to one of the drones, identifying herself like she'd been asked. "Fantasy Twitter user rin should be expecting me? We have some things to discuss."

b. to the rhythm of eternity [open]

Anna usually limits her performances at the bar she's taken to calling her home in Cellar Door to three nights a week, but lately, she's felt a little more inspired than usual. She's chalking that one up to the Tower's influence, and she'd feel a little ungrateful if she didn't bump it up to five nights a week for at least a little while. She's playing most of the songs in her repertoire over a given week, her voice and her bass on full display with any other instruments covered by backing tracks from the glowing projected screen of her Omni.

Of course, maybe you didn't walk into this bar to listen to Anna play music. Maybe you're here for a conversation—maybe something important, maybe just catching up with old friends. If that's the case, she's glad to wave you over to the booth that she's stolen for herself in the back, dimly lit but private. She's got a bottle of beer in her hand as she does it, and she tilts it towards the bartender as if to say "one more for my friend".

"Hey, glad you could make it. C'mon, let's take a load off for a bit. What's been up with you?"

c. there are burning cathedrals [for makima]

This is going to be interesting, she thinks. She'd met Makima online in a curious conversation about godliness, and she wonders very much whether it's going to play out the same way in person. Right now, she's dressed as normal; it's a little bit colder this morning, so she has her thick, fur-collared coat over those new black jeans and Hatsune Miku tee, and she's looking around the coffee shop for anyone who looks even remotely like a Makima.

"Hey," says the woman with more souls than eyes once she's pretty sure she's got the right person. "Sorry, usually the places I hang are a little... grungier than this. Hope I didn't keep you waiting long. You're Makima?"

d. turning the skies into glass [friend of mine]

"All right," Anna says, in the heavier coat she's been wearing this whole time. She shrugs her shoulders up to wrap the collar around her neck properly, and she adjusts the strap over her chest that secures her katana to her back. "We're here to find something to help the Tower. Thanks for coming along." She turns her head towards her companion and smiles appreciatively. "I'm not in the business of walking into danger alone anymore. So—"

She reaches into her pocket and slips the crescent necklace she'd gotten from the Reckoning over her head, around her neck. "This can make sure that at least someone already knows where we are, in case there's an emergency, but how are you with tracking? I don't think a lot of us have been out this deep in the woods before." She looks back out ahead of them; the trees might be starting to die off, but that doesn't make the thicket of branches before them any less intimidating. She rolls her neck until it cracks, then starts walking forward, because there's nothing else for it. "Let's save a god's life."

e. i cannot pretend that i never think of you [for ange]

She's lost track of time. The zealots didn't seem to enjoy what they found when they'd cut into her side very much, and she can still feel the blood and oil oozing out of her very slowly. If nothing else, she thinks, they know how to keep people alive enough to actually treat them like a farm. She would find it funny if there were anything to laugh about, that this is the second time this year she'd ended up strung up and in restraints waiting for something mysterious to return and do whatever it is that they want to do.

Right now, Anna feels woozy. Half-awake, really, with her head lolling and her white hair streaked with red. The zealots, from what she can remember, had left her alone for the moment to try to figure out what exactly it is she has inside her. She remembers frenzied talk about how the Tower can't accept any of this because it's not flesh, it's not real, and she can only assume that they're waiting to commune with whoever, whatever to get a real answer. Her thoughts are going in circles right now. She misses her friends, her loved ones, her family. She wishes that she weren't here. Hell, she doesn't even have her katana with her, so even if she found some way to get out of these chains holding her upright, the ones on her wrists spreading her arms wide and the ones on her legs binding them together, she wouldn't be able to do anything but tap into the teachings of Sensei Lawrence.

She laughs dry into the darkened, empty room. Someone's going to save her. Right?

Comments

hold shut the wounds of the past [11/02]

[offinventory]

Murderbot winces at way Anna Amarande refers to it. It's not a fantasy character, but it supposes Trench counts. Twitter must be the name of a non-fantasy social media network, which is ridiculous, because where—outside of Fantasy—would birds sing your social media entries?

The irony scans. Yeah yeah Eden Rin isn't its "real name." It doesn't have a "real name." SecUnit is what kind of construct it is. Company SecUnit is the make. No further name besides the identifier in machine language that humans cannot even properly process (if all computerized systems disappeared, bond companies like the Company would have a hard time telling their SecUnits apart)(not that it would matter since they were gone)(sorry, that wasn't a well thought out hypothetical situation, but you get the point). Its personal name is personal and private and not for public knowledge by which it means anyone's knowledge outside of people who take advantage of it forcibly shutting itself down not to murder said people and then look through its inorganic memory system. Moderate hard feelings, Gurathin.

Murderbot steps into the lobby and waves a social greeting at Anna. "Would you prefer a private room on the floor for books or for music?" it asks.

Technically there are private rooms on all of the floors, but the movies/serials and gaming floors are more heavily trafficked. Plus, Anna's coming to where it lives and does business. It can give her that much choice over the meeting spot.

[hauntedsavior]

"Oh, wasn't expecting the choice," she says honestly, her head turning and her eye meeting Rin's. Her eye's got a crinkle to the bottom of it; she knows how to be pleasant, and she's smiling like they aren't about to talk about something very serious. One of the inside pockets of her coat has a notebook in it that feels just a little heavier.

She approaches, closing the distance in the conversation and giving a half-wave. Very casual. "Let's do music. Would love to see what you've got going on up there, and maybe I can introduce you to some more, or something." She tries not to look too sheepish as she admits, "I don't think I know how you've got this whole place working, really."

[offinventory]

Murderbot shrugs, its gaze landing first on Anna's eye patch (because it is not an eye but is in the location of an eye and would seem like a great choice except for misinterpretations) then her ear, the far ear from the functional eye. It's already awkward, and this is the 'easy' part.

It returns toward the stairs since it figures Anna, like it, can handle multiple flights. "I have a lot more digital offerings than physical media," Murderbot says, "Physical media is more fragile, difficult to get a hold of, and fewer people can use it at a time." It may prefer digital because that was the only option it had for so long and because then it doesn't need an external device, but it was around in its universe. Like hard currency cards.

"The Feed still has some, don't worry. As people request specific items in physical formats, I accommodate them as much as I can," Murderbot adds. It pauses as they pass a couple people on the stairs. Not that anything they're talking about now is a giveaway, but what it wants to say next could still be a clue, something suspicious, something interesting.

"I have a lot of experience working with shitty technology," it says, "Broken technology isn't that different."

B

[onekindsoul]

Ruby Rose wasn't one to not make an effort to visit her friend at least once while she was performing. And at least for the moment Ruby hadn't been in the heckling mood. She had however cheered her heart out and clapped like a maniac between songs. As any good friend should.

She's quick to slide into the booth once Anna is settled down. She crosses her arms when Anna says one more and quickly chirps in. "Just a soda for me, thank you."

And then she turns back to Anna.

"Oh you know. Just- Getting used to the changes in life you know? Thought I'd come support a friend."

[hauntedsavior]

Anna looks past the two of them towards the bar and sees one of the people there staring back at the table. Extremely rude, she thinks, but doesn't say; her attention is back to the two of them.

"I appreciate it, Mrs. Rose-Ushiromiya. Thanks again for inviting to your wedding," she says with a smile clear on her face. "We've needed a celebration like that for a while." And she leans forward on the table, now that she's settled in a little. "So how's married life treating you so far, anyway?"

[onekindsoul]

"Of course- Gosh. That's a mouthful, I'm so used to my name rolling off the tongue." She didn't sound upset about it. It was just a change and change was good thing. "It was great to have you, and everyone else too. We need more reasons to party here." She let's an elbow rest against the table. She hears someone speak up from the bar but it's mostly slurred so she ignores it.

"Married life has been good. We found a nice little place in Cassandra that we're going to move into. It's- I mean it feels the same but kind of lighter you know. You aren't just looking out for yourself anymore. Someone's always there and has your back."

b

[cuddlery]

Scorpia was aware that the couple would be performing together eventually and was excited at the chance to watch the duet in action! Not to mention that it's a good reason to listen to and support a fellow musician of Trench. And she just really is feeling the music vibe even more than usual this month, it's wild!

On the night in question, she gives them a standing ovation, complete with cheers and whistles. "Woohoo!! Bravo! Bravo!! Bravissimo! You guys killed it!!"

[hauntedsavior]

Anna laughs as the song finishes, and she decides to come down a little bit on the stage (since it's a natural lull in the set anyway, and she wants Kainé to have the chance to breathe) and sits on the edge, with her feet dangling a couple inches off the ground and her bass in her lap.

"Hey there, big girl," she says like she hasn't missed a beat. "Long time no see. You having fun here tonight?" she asks like it's not plastered all over everybody's faces. "This is probably a little different from the last time you saw me play, huh?"

[cuddlery]

Scorpia grins, calming herself and waving with a pincer while coming up closer to where she's sitting on the stage.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Somehow it's been about a year since she first heard her perform those unexpected songs! She'll probably try to catch her performances more regularly from now on, though. "Oh yeah, you definitely changed things up. Still great music, but a different genre of greatness! I'm so glad I caught this."

c !!!!!

[overlies]

[ makima doesn’t forget things. she knows she’s marked coffee with an online stranger, so anna is right on the money when a woman with braided red hair and a long leather coat large enough to hide her curves happens to meet with her. or, rather, makima smells her. she’s not like the others, and she’s the only one asking for her. what exactly is she—?

she’ll have to find out through a thorough coffee date. as prim and quaint as ever, makima smiles the way she always does to greet people— perfectly, and for what seems like too long, she doesn’t blink her wildly colored, ringed eyes. who doesn’t know hatsune miku? ]

Bull’s Eye. I wouldn’t call you grungy, Anna. [ a pause, ] Unless you meant musically?

[hauntedsavior]

Well, I try to clean up when I'm meeting new people.

[that's a lie, and she says it with a smile that's probably genuine enough to make it an obvious joke. she settles into the chair across from makima and keeps that pleasant demeanor as she takes in this new person. she looks good, is the first thing anna notices. interesting eyes; her guess isn't the only thing that's a bullseye, is it?]

I don't really do grunge. Nevermind dropped, like, half a year before I did. I'm more into, like, scene and emo, stuff like that. Mid-two thousands, you know. [she's talking like she already expects makima to know what's going on.] One of the bands I used to be a little into just did a collab with Miku, apparently, so I thought I'd celebrate. [that part is not a joke.]

You into music much yourself, Makima?

[overlies]

[ attentive and seemingly piqued with those very eyes unblinking, makima might as well be denoting that she knows exactly what anna's talking about. when you have free time on your hands to build knowledge, movies, music, those places are where she learns the most about people. through their expression and creativity. anna seems the artistic sort, herself. she played. possibly scraggy rock with the screams and such. ]

Hmm, [ a beat, ] it's hard to say what I dislike unless I've listened to it. Music is just as important as history. [ she'll take just regular old tea of whatever sort they're serving here, if someone comes to greet their table. ] What was your turning point?

B (I'm totally showing my age, but hearing that Poe again just gives me FEELS man)

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz was not one for usually going to bars, but getting some early hallucinations have already got her looking for something that would distract her from that and the chill in her bones. She popped over to Cellar Door, a place she was starting to get more familiar with and happened upon a singer she hadn't heard before.

Before long, Luz was humming along, and had a little bit of fire now than she had.

When she stopped singing, Luz walked over.

"That was really good! You sing here often?"

listen, it's not november until i start spinning up haunted again

[hauntedsavior]

Oh hey, that's a new face approaching her. Anna scoots herself to the edge of the stage and looks down with a big grin, like she's feeling more free than she has in a while. "Three nights a week most of the time," she says, trying to get a read on this new person and hoping desperately she hadn't been performing that Sons of Butcher song when she'd walked in.

"Bumping it up to five days to see if it helps the Tower feel better," she adds, like she's paying some kind of tribute to him. "Plus to kind of give it back to him, you know? But yeah, me and my bass usually hang out around here most nights. You feeling anything I've played so far?"

Re: listen, it's not november until i start spinning up haunted again

[imaglyphwitch]

Nope, Luz had missed that lovely song! But that was probably for the best, as Luz's poor Disney ears could only hear so many swears (and she heard enough from her girlfriend so. There's that).

"I'll try to come by and hear you sing! It's really nice. And I agree with that: looks like Tower could use something to cheer 'em up. I think I really liked the Sea Shanties though, and that one about inviting that girl to ride through your world!"

That just made her think of taking Lexi on a staff ride!

[entreats]

It's Ange's second time finding herself in here.

The second time this year, anyway. She remembers it from last year, already dreaded its return, only to find herself there with Ruby, having to jank the girl away from an even worse fate than she had already suffered so far. And now she's here again. Waking up in the stall (luckier than other times, finding herself pre-processing, no wounds or cuts on her), she absolutely does not waste even a single moment to free herself, to start quickly moving through the halls of this place. Even the way this place seems to dull any sense of her darkblood is familiar, but Ange doesn't mind it.

After all, even without her blood, she is still a witch. A witch whose magic can feed on love - but on the opposite too, like the sheer hatred she feels towards the zealots.

But it's not any of them Ange comes across. No, instead the halls are eerily quiet when it comes to any other footsteps. There's just her own, and the groans of the people being kept here, some mutilated beyond recognition. A part of Ange wishing she could free them all, but at the same time knowing that it's beyond her capability. That she just has to check and see first if there isn't someone she knows somewhere in here, somewhere between all these bodies.

Someone -- like a familiar laugh, hollow and dry. Just familiar enough that Ange starts pacing more quickly, until she finds herself outright running without even consciously having decided to do so. Moving through doors, into another room, only to find--

".. Anna."

She breathes the name out like it's the least breath Ange will ever take. She stands there in the doorway, frozen for a moment. In surprise, clearly, judging by Ange's wide eyes, by the way her entire body suddenly seems tense to see the other in this position. The blood, the cut, the ties that bind her - they leave her speechless.

[hauntedsavior]

Anna looks up, and she tilts her head to one side like she's a dog trying to recognize her owner. Her hair falls to one side, and she doesn't hear the sound of it brushing against fabric, and it's only then that she realizes they stole her fucking eyepatch. What were they going to do, harvest her eye? Good luck, assholes.

Her thoughts swim for a moment longer before she lets her lips part in an exhausted kind of relief. "Ange." She would recognize her sister's voice anywhere. Maybe this time asking for help wasn't a mistake.

She hears the blood that's oozing down her side dripping into a puddle that had already started to form. The wound isn't healing, or maybe it's just taking its time, or maybe maybe maybe maybe. She doesn't know. It's hard to think right now and she hates that. She hates not being clear. She hates not knowing what's going on in her own head.

Anna hears herself say, "I'm sorry they got you again." Like she's not the one strung up and chained against what feels like... she's not sure. It's the wall, right? It's probably the wall and the ceiling. Or something. She feels distant from her own thoughts. "Are you safe?"

[entreats]

"Why are you asking me that?"

There's definitely something offended in her tone. But rather than being driven by any real anger, it seems to fed more by desperation. Even though Ange knew that someone important to her could be stuck here - again, again - maybe there was a tiny part of her that was hoping it wouldn't be the case. That she could just get out of here, maybe save a few random people she doesn't know, people she doesn't have to think about as much.

Instead she's confronted with the sight of Anna like this. Hurt, treated like cattle, just like everyone else in here. Treated like something disposable, even though that's Ange's sister.

She steps closer, feeling her breath growing a little harder as the emotion swells within her. Ange raises a hand, and with a cloud of golden butterflies a strange weapon appears in it - a stake, though it looks more like an ice pick.

"I'm f--" She starts, ready to let out that default fine, like she'd do in any situation.

But she isn't fine in the face of this, now is she?

"I'm furious!" That's better. Actually feeling the word feels like a release, Ange not even bothering to keep up a pokerface. The worry about Anna is as clear as day on there, accompanied by an intense energy. She steps closer until she's right next to the other, hitting the spot where the chains are connected to the wall with the weapon in her hand, hard enough to completely sever the connection, freeing one of Anna's hands. "How could they do this to you?! Why do they think they can just do that?!"

Wildcard-ish, November 11, let's say, cw: self harm, hallucination, insect related body horror

[foulhussy]

Kainé is uneasy on her feet as she stumbles back into their house, and not because she's drunk— her body won't let her get to that level of impairment, not with alcohol anyway, and that was before she was a Sleeper. The fog of ethanol would be a mercy right now, if it could stop the bugs from crawling out of her skin, keep her from seeing people from dying in the streets, stop her from weeping and screaming as she feels it all coming undone.

She disappeared without warning last night, but she'd been secluding herself away from Anna even the day before that. She spoke in whispers or cried wordlessly with distress, unable to find all the words for what's wrong. She's infected. Corrupt. It's not safe. Her skin was so pale and her eyes so red, self inflicted scratches and cuts all up and down her arms. Sometimes the chime of bells accompanied her step. She refused to eat. The terror has been with her for days, but it's reached a level where she feels like she's breaking apart.

It was finally Anna telling her she'd bring her to Lumenwood that got her to flee. It's filthy. There's too much blood, too many bugs. Too much death in the streets. She'll handle it, alone, like she always does.

But she comes back this time. A moment of lucidity, a pang of guilt and longing. She slumps down against the wall in the hallway, weeping as she sees the dark haired girl for just an instant. She doesn't know who she is, but seeing her makes her brain hurt with grief.

You gonna just cry, Sunshine?, the voice in her head asks. The world is breaking. It will drown in blood and corruption. Kainé feels herself opening up along familiar fault lines, too.

[hauntedsavior]

She knows people at Lumenwood, she'd insisted. She goes down and donates blood there and the doctors know her. They already helped one person she cares about recover, she'd told Kainé, but Anna's words just hadn't gotten through. And she would've loved to say that she didn't understand, but... but the hallucinations, whatever was actually happening, whatever Kainé was seeing, she knew how real it could all come off.

It broke her heart, or it would've if she could, to see Kainé in a place like this were she couldn't even accept any of Anna's help. It hurt, more than that; Anna tore herself to pieces to help others, almost to a fault, and knowing that her girlfriend wasn't even willing to take her help had hit her like a dagger plunging into her sternum.

Kainé's return (because she would know her footfalls anywhere by now, no matter what, no matter where) jerks Anna out of her bed. She kicks off the heavy blanket and stumbles over, out of her room, next to Kainé. (She sees no dark-haired girl.) "Babe." She says it insistently, propping herself up by placing her palm flat on the wall as she sinks down to the floor in front of her. "Babe, talk to me. Is it getting even worse?"

She doesn't touch Kainé; she's a little afraid to. She would love to be angry with her for the way she just left, but Anna can't bring herself to come close to that right now. She can be angry later, if at all. Right now, she needs to show love. "Kainé." She worries that her voice will scratch and claw and bite at her like her beloved's own nails have torn red lines across her body, down her face. "Please, talk to me."

[foulhussy]

Kainé isn't a stranger to Lumenwood herself, and Anna would know as much. She's visited the convalescent on a couple occasions, fought beasts in its streets, and driven by Anna's example, managed to work herself up to giving blood as well.

But right now it's too dangerous. She can't let Anna go out there too. It was bad enough seeing the bugs crawl from her skin, having to ask if she was really okay— bad enough suspecting that she was lying, that the sickness had really come from Kainé, and finally deciding that she things will get better for her beloved if she was just gone. The bugs would follow her and leave Anna alone. Right. Lumenwood. That's dangerous too. She can't let Anna go. She would always come and go from their house, to patrol or shop or for any number of reasons. This time she just wouldn't come back. For how long? As long as it takes.

But there have been moments of lucidity. Eventually those added up. (The moments when she missed her weren't worth mentioning— that was almost constant.) It was in a clearer moment that she was able to find the way back home.

Aww, look, Sunshine. She's worried about you. She hopes it lasts. Or at least that she can stay here this time. She looks from Anna, to Julia, and back again, her eyes bewildered and puffy with tears shed, carved in ugly lines down her cheeks.

"Sorry. Sorry." Her voice is quiet and cracked. "I was afraid it would spread to you and I..." She swallows hard, rests her head on her knees. She feels too ashamed to even look at her.

slides in here late with starbucks. B.

[bolstafir]

[Qrow doesn't spend a lot of time in bars anymore. He finds little point in it, now that the primary attraction of them is something he avoids. But it's also been two years, now, and he's also less skittish about being near them anymore, either. He's certainly far from the man who had a panic attack in a Deerington supermarket after Misfortune flooded an aisle with the smell of spilled wine, anyway.

So when he's wandering about town one afternoon, hopping instead between cafes and bakeries trying out new snacks, he happens to spot a sign advertising Anna's concert, he decides to drop in and check it out. Qrow doesn't really know her nearly as well as any of the others in his family who are close to her, but he sees her around from time to time, and it seems like fun.

And ultimately, he does consider her one of his own even if simply by extension. So when she waves him over sometime after her set, he's pretty cheerful as he slides on into the booth across from her.]

It's been pretty quiet since the wedding, actually. Especially with the girls moved out, tend to find I've got more hours to kill than hobbies when nothing's blowing up in town.

[It's still a very strange experience, having the time to be bored, after decades of fighting for your life and for the fate of the planet. Even after two years, he's still not used to it.]

[hauntedsavior]

[see, qrow had been a bit of a surprise. she's playing in a bar, and she's been sort of ambling alongside the wagon for the past several months, and when she realizes she's flagging down qrow she flashes another signal to the bartender to cut the booze order and just get some water or something to the table.]

Yeah, I bet so. I think we're all looking for a little less excitement lately. That's why I'm mostly sticking to this... when I'm not helping your nieces rebuild their house or anything like that. [she definitely feels like she's in better spirits from the last time they'd talked, but she would have to be, because that was... not her absolute lowest, but an easy second place.]

You get hit by any of the fallout over the summer? I know it's been a bit since we caught up, so, like. Probably a lot of things to go over, you know? [she's hoping, very quietly, that qrow had managed to avoid that stuff. mostly for his sake and partially for her own.] Either way, I know I'm doing less miserably bad about things since the last time we talked, at least.

b so belatedly omg

[faceblocks]

Vi has come for both things, and she's looking worse for wear - though it's not as if there's much to compare that to, as they've not met in person yet. Of course, there's no mistaking Anna for anyone else - she's on stage - it's easy mode to figure that out. She finger guns at Anna during the song, nodding along even if she doesn't know the words. (She can look those up later.)

She has also come for the beer, of which she's grabbed two at a time, and pardon her as she's double fisting it with drinks, it doesn't dull her appreciation of the music any. Vileblood tolerance is a whole thing: it's real. It's a welcome escape from a world of hurt, and a head full of worry. Maybe she cheers a bit too loudly - is there such a thing, though?

[hauntedsavior]

Oh, hell yeah, okay, okay, nice. Anna loves seeing people party, and she recognizes someone she'd invited, and as she sings out "one more down, let's go now, time to—" for the last time and lets the prerecorded instruments come to an end, she leaves her fist hanging in the air and bows her head in front of the microphone.

"Thank you all so much for coming out tonight," she says quickly, almost out of breath. She lowers her hand and brushes her hair out of her face, then lifts the neck of her bass with her other hand. "Go get some drinks, get some food, and I'll be back on stage for the second half in a bit." She takes her instrument off and rests it on a stand in the stage, then grabs her omni and slips it into her pocket before hopping off and heading towards that boisterous shock of pink hair in the crowd.

"Hey! Vi, right? Glad to see you made it out." She doesn't extend a hand only because she sees that Vi's are both going to be occupied, but her whole demeanor is casual enough even as she's bringing her breathing down to a normal level. "How's the vibe on this end of things tonight? You having as good a time as it looks like?"