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itsmeevie01 · 5 years ago

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Bio!dad Bruce Day 7-Fashion Show

Marinette laughed as she linked arms with Alix and hurried out of school. Today, the girls had arranged to go out for the evening, and they were insistent that nothing would ruin their fun, even an akuma. As the shorter girls hurried away, Alya watched from where she stood on the steps. When she had transferred, she had hoped that the girl she had made a connection with would become her best friend. Now, as they neared the end of April, she had resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t part of the other’s inner circle.

Although she was friendly with the entire class, Marinette had quickly proven to be hard to get close to. She had her life out of school, and she had her life in school. They didn’t mix.

Unknown to the rest of the school, Marinette’s birthday was coming up. Every year, she would do something small with Tom and Sabine. Sometimes she would invite a friend over. Mostly, she kept her birthday quiet. The teen knew that if she offered, her class would love to celebrate with her, but she didn’t see it as a big deal. three years earlier, Bruce had asked her if she wanted to do anything for her birthday. When she had mentioned that she didn’t really celebrate it that much, he had nodded in acceptance. Each year, he flew into Paris and took her out for a day of shopping, an amusement park, or a fancy dinner. This year, he had invited her to join him in Gotham so that her brothers could come along. Since the event earlier in the month, Bruce had been more at ease when talking about many of the things going on in his home city. Now that he knew that Marinette was already entrenched in the hero life that he had been working so hard to keep her out of, he had opened up about the times that the family had vanished during her visits.

When Marinette had eagerly agreed to join him in Gotham, Bruce had asked his daughter of she had any preferences on what they did. The girl, as expected, shook her head and told him to surprise her. As long as they were together, it didn’t really matter. Imagine her surprise, when she got home from her late-night movie with Alix, to find her parents waiting for her, both buzzing in excitement.

“Mariette! Oh good, we were afraid that you would be out later. Bruce got in contact with us, he is going to fly you our for the entire weekend, instead of just one day!” While the bakers continued to gush about how wonderful it was for Bruce to fly Marinette out for her birthday, the girl paused. Usually, as much as she enjoyed her brothers, they were very upfront with her. When she had asked if they knew what Bruce was planning, they had been cagey. Now, he was flying her out on a Thursday, and bringing her back on a Tuesday? That was a long time considering she still had school.

Later that week as she packed her carry on, the noirette crinkled her nose in concentration. She had been doing the best she could to figure out what it could be, but she still had found nothing on their plans for the next few days. Once she had finished, she plopped the bag next to her suitcase. Whatever her family had planned, she could only hope that she was ready for it.

The next day at school, Marinette rolled her eyes as Alya started to chatter at her. The girl was nice, yes, but Marinette had seen what had happened when she had started to zero in on information. Alya was not likely to let anything go, which sadly, meant that for the sake of her secret identity, Marinette had t keep her distance. When Nino plopped into his seat in front of her, he turned to flash Marinette a grin. “you ready for your trip, dudette?” Marinette smiled in return,

“So ready! I finished packing last night, so Maman is going to pick me up at noon. That makes sure I have a little under four hours to get on my plane.” Nino nodded in understanding.

“International travel is nothing to mess with. You may be joined by Chloe; she is flying out to visit her mother. Where are you flying into?”

“New York! They said that they would meet me there, and that we would head back after whatever surprise they’ve been planning.” Nino snickered at his friend’s frustration. It was well known within their friend group that the girl liked to know what was going on so that she could plan accordingly. The last time they had tried to surprise her, Kim had ended up with a broken arm, and Alix had gotten enough blackmail to last a lifetime. It was also pretty common for the girl to refer to her family in vague terms. As much as she trusted her friends, her class was more than willing to dig into her personal life in an attempt to force friendship. Because of this, Marinette tried to keep her personal life a vague as possible. In situations like this, she was grateful that Nino understood what she meant, because Alya had caught onto their conversation and started to ask as many questions as she could. Thankfully, Chloe must have gotten the notice from Nino to rescue her, because the blonde swaggered into the room and made a beeline for the duo’s desk.

“So, Mari trash, what this I hear about you leaving the country?” while Alya bristled at the name that the heiress had thrown out, Marinette sent her friend a secret smile. Chloe sent her a nod before returning to riling up Alya until Madame Bustier made her way in, effectively shutting down all conversations.

The girls giggled as they hurried through the airport. When they had realized that they were on the same flight, they had agreed to meet up at the airport and wait out the extra time together. As the duo sat there, they chatted and traded pictures, and discussed fashion. When Chloe mentioned that her mother was taking her to meet a ‘rich client who she wont name. Ridiculous!’ Marinette paused. “Chloe, that’s not the only reason that your flying out, right?” the blond gave an undignified snot.

“Honestly Mari, I wish! She’s dragging me to her ‘secret fashion show for the ages’ as she calls it.” Soon the girls were giggling and discussing the latest trends. When the flight attendants called for first class, the two girls gather their bags and made their way over to the line that was forming. When they had gotten settled (conveniently next to each other, which spoke of manipulation to Marinette, although she refrained from mentioning it to the diva next to her), they each pulled out a book and got ready for their flight. Thankfully, they both made the transatlantic flights enough to know what to expect.

That evening, when they arrived, the girls hurried to get through security and collect their bags. As they exited the baggage claim, both girls started to scan for their rides. On one side of the airport, was Audrey Bourgeois’ personal assistant. Next to her stood the stately figure of Alfred Pennyworth. While Marinette threw herself at Alfred in a hug, Chloe nodded to the frazzled looking brunette who had greeted them. The girls hugged and parted ways, promising to meet up on Monday if they didn’t see each other before hand.

While Chloe settled in her mother’s penthouse, Marinette was buried in a pile of hugs from her brothers. When they had finally given her room to breathe, her father introduced her to a girl who had been standing nearby. Cassandra (her sister!!) smiled at her and waved shyly. Marinette had sent her a smile worthy of the sun and given the girl a hug in return.

The next morning, the two girls were the first to join Alfred in the kitchen. Was Marinette caught Alfred up on the last few months, she started to help him with breakfast. Cassandra (Cass, Marinette scolded herself) settled on a stool to watch her move through the kitchen with a fluidity that spoke of many, many hours of experience. Once Bruce and they boys had joined them, the group settled at the dining table.

When the food had been cleared up, Marinette turned to her father, “you know, you made it really hard to pack for this trip, when I had no idea what we are going to do!” Bruce smiled at her ire and easily brushed aside her worries.

“it’s a good thing that we’re going shopping then, isn’t it, Marinette?” the way the girls face lit up made Tim snort.

“B, you really shouldn’t have said that, now she’s not going to sit still for the rest of the day.” The teen made a face at the look sent his way and Marinette huffed at her older brother.

“At least I know how to dress myself nicely without having someone pick my clothes out for me!” Dick sniggered at her response before wincing as she directed her fury his way. “don’t think I’m ignoring you, Richard.” The man froze, because his sister had used his first name only once and that occasion was not to be brought up unless the world was ending. “your fashion choices are even worse than Dad’s!” As the family started to argue about the validity of her statements, Marinette slipped away, beckoning for Cassandra (Cass!) to follow her.

Once they were in Marinette’s temporary room, the girl handed her sister (!!) a small wrapped package. “Tim gave me a heads up that there was a new addition to the family, and I wanted to make something for you.” The other girl studied her for a moment before hesitantly ripping the paper. Inside was a small journal that was leather bound and had the name Cass written in an elegant script (A/N Cass is probably the character that I am the least familiar with the origin of. That said, I’m going to run off the assumption that she is learning to read when she is brought to join n the Wayne family. If I am wrong, lmk, for now, this is what we are vibing with). The quiet girl gave Marinette a tentative hug as a thank you before Tim knocked on the doorframe.

“Time to go, ladies. Your chariot awaits.” Marinate rolled her eyes at their brother while throwing a pair of balled up socks at him.

“We’re coming, boy genius. Be fearful though, this is the start of an alliance. Soon, maybe ill be able to finally compete against you boys on game night without rigging the games!” Tim spluttered at her declaration as she strode past him. He huffed and hurried after the girls, bemoaning Bruce for making this trip a ‘family affair’.

Three hours later, Tim and Dick were each carrying handfuls of shopping bags, as the family of five re-entered their temporary living space. The girls were walking together, Marinette explaining some of her ideas for different designs. Alfred smiled at them as they all stood talking together, until an unfamiliar ringtone broke the low ambiance. The brothers looked at each other in confusion, while Bruce raised an eye at his youngest daughter. The girl flushed in embarrassment and dug into her purse for a long moment before pulling out a phone that was very obviously not her own. “hey! Is everything ok?” her immediate switch to French made the others pause and zero in on her conversation. “Oh, you caught it. How much damage was there?” A pause and then, “do I need to- I know I’m supposed to be on vacation but- oh fine! Leave it on my balcony in the jar, ill take care of as soon as I can.” A beat, and the girl made a face at whatever the person on the other end of the phone said. “stay safe, and call me if you need me, yeah?” once she had hung up, the girl turned back to them with a raised eyebrow. “what? Are you saying you don’t have a second phone for emergencies?”

The next day, Saturday, was a whirlwind, as Alfred got everyone up and moving by7 am. When asked what was going on by Marinette, the butler simply smiled and moved to lure Dick out of bed. When the family was once again gathered around the breakfast table, Marinette turned to her father and demanded an explanation at the reason for a wakeup call before what she considered ‘reasonable hours’. The man smiled in return, “Today, Marinette, we are going to celebrate your birthday. As promised, this year, the entire fairly will be able to join in.” the girl protested at his declaration.

“what was yesterday? I thought that was us celebrating my birthday without going overboard!” Dick laughed at her shock before jumping into the conversation.

“well, Net, yesterday was part one. Today is part two…and the part that we think you’ll like the most.” At her confusion, Tim leaned over from his spot across the dining table, pushing a stack of six tickets towards her,

“were going to Audrey Bourgeois’ secret fashion show.” The screech that came from the youngest in the family was well worth the suspense.

As the family approached the hidden venue, Marinette felt excitement bubble up once again. She had spent the day making sure that the entire family was dressed appropriately for the event. Somehow, Bruce had managed to buy a dress on the sly for her, after catching her gazing longingly at it for the duration of their time in the shop. As for the others, for the most part, they had the necessary pieces to put together a look that would be presentable at the secret show. The door was opened once they had handed over their tickets, and the Wayne family were handed a stack of passes that they hurriedly settled around their necks as they were show their way to their seats.

When the catwalk lit up, Marinette sat there, frozen, anticipating the beginning of the show. The lights blacked out, and a spotlight followed the first model on her way towards the middle of the room. Marinette’s breath caught in shock at the beauty of the coat that was trailing down the runway. As the next model made his way out, Marinette lost herself in the world of fashion.

After, Bruce turned to the girl and raised an eyebrow, “so…was this too over the top for your birthday?” the 14-year-old smiled at her father.

“no,” she breathed, “it was perfect”

whew! that was a long one! obviously, this one is not compleate, but it’s other half is going to be coming soon! any feedback is more than welcome, im going to try to keep these a little longer if i can...

also, what did y’all think of Alya? i’m not her biggest fan, but didnt want to make her a villian?

#b!dbwm2020 #b!dbwm #miraculous ladybug #maribat #My writing #shit this was supposed to be short #i love Chloe #so she will probably play a bigger role in mari's life #idk where this came from man...

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impassiveesper · 4 years ago

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What was your first impression of the roleplay community on Tumblr? And what’s your impression of it now?

Mun’s Asks: RP Edition

1.) What was your first impression of the roleplay community on Tumblr? And what’s your impression of it now?

[OOF STRAP IN INTREPID]

I’ve been on this hellsite since the beginning but I really only started RPing here after a few years. Probably in 2012 or 2013? I can’t remember exactly when but I remember being very intimidated by the idea of RP on this platform in particular. There is a bit of a steep learning curve in terms of etiquette here that is even steeper when you factor in the near requirement for tumblr-literacy. Like you basically need xkit to RP and you need to understand what kinds of asks get eaten and when/how cuts work and what behaviors do and don’t cause notifications and how ask posts work and how the block/blacklist features do and dont work and what tags tumblr will and wont index etc etc. When you’re a tumblr old head it’s easy to forget newcomers don’t immediately know things like that. It’s part of the reason why I tend to be very basic in my approach compared to what is popular at the moment. I was one of those fabled newcomers at one point.

I don’t really think that tumblr RPC is any better or worse now than it was back then, just different. A lot of what’s popular now was a thing back then, but now it’s more commonplace in a much smaller population of RPers. I wouldn’t say that the RPC has many new problems as much as I would say the old problems have intensified.

When I started out I was in a fandom that was very cliquey and made me feel like shit a lot and those spaces probably still exist on tumblr but the difference is I know what my boundaries are and what behaviors I will and wont tolerate on my dash. Overall the RPC is much better at talking about things like that than it used to be imo. That same fandom I just shit on was also a lot of fun and taught me that it was okay to not take RP too seriously and not be too worried about if it looks pretty enough or was fancy enough. I’m really grateful for people who would RP with me back then even though I unknowingly broke a lot of tumblr RPC’s unwritten rules.

That’s why it’s very important to me as a seasoned RPer to be as approachable a blog as I can possibly be. In this the lords year of 2020 I still feel myself being set in my ways and avoiding trends that are ultimately harmless, but there is an extent to which I have to participate in order to be courteous to others so I do my best to be open minded about Neo RPC Trends. I end up being of two minds just about everything that’s popular right now.

Take for example reblog karma / I AM NOT A MEME SOURCE type rules. I think that’s shits dumb, you guys can reblog anything you want from me, in fact reblogging it from me heightens the chances of me sending you one whether you sent me one or not. I’m not gonna get mad at you for using the website as it is intended by the devs to be used, but also if somebody else’s rules say it bugs them to have memes rbed from them, then I think their feelings are more important than my opinion on the matter. People are more important to me than policies in cases like these, so of course I’ll reblog the meme from the source instead of you or w/e.

But at the same time, that idea about feelings also includes the feelings of people who are new to RP and maybe don’t even know the etiquette well enough to know they’re messing up. There’s a lot to get mad about in the current state of tumblr RP but even when I agree that I want this particular tedium done, I don’t really agree with the idea that I should make it a rule that forces other people to stay away from me. Yes I dont want to be ponging an ask post back and forth. Yes I want our posts cut. But also, I wont get mad if you rb an ask instead of putting it in a new post. I’ll just put in a new post myself. I wont get mad if you dont cut a post, I’ll just cut it myself. It’s not hard to do.

Take also graphics, banners, and all manner of fancy formatting. RPC has really really leaned into that a lot more than back in 2013. On the one hand, I think that’s great. People are so creative. Their stuff looks so pretty, and I really like the work people put in. I don’t think it’s a bad thing necessarily, but on the other hand it does heighten that already steep barrier for entry imo, especially in circles that require it and judge based upon it. For me it’s more important to avoid looking like that’s an expectation of mine. Like, I can do that stuff. I do sometimes, actually. I make icons in batches of hundreds, I take commissions for RP graphics, don’t tell anybody. I’m a freelance illustrator and I know my way around the adobe creative suite-- I CAN make these things and I do for other people, but I can’t be called to do it for myself in most cases. When I see a blog with very nice graphics I immediately assume they don’t care to interact with me. In fact I still tend to unfairly think this even when they’ve shown me otherwise. If we don’t have a long term rapport and you’re a blog with nice graphics and I reply to your posts, what you’re seeing is a neurotic prey animal that is afraid of you signaling alarm. For whatever reason I tend to interpret very fancy looking blogs as confident and happy in their own existing bubbles with no particular interest in newcomers. I know that’s not always a fair assumption to make--it’s a problem with me that I need to work on--but also I know other people deal with similar feelings. That’s why I don’t feel particularly called to make much beyond the most basic of graphics most of the time and I’m highly avoidant of anybody who seems like graphics are a requirement for interactions with them. Not everybody has photoshop. Not everybody is skilled at that sort of thing. I don’t want people to think that I will judge their style based on what my own style looks like, so I don’t invest much in it. Again, there’s nothing wrong with graphics, but it’s more important to me than anything else that I am approachable and I make other people on the dash as comfortable as I can. I’m glad that it seems like a requirement for cohesive graphics has waned over the last few years.

But, yea. I’d say this duality--the “this is cool but also I have reasons I feel I shouldn’t participate”--is how I feel about pretty much everything that’s big right now. And like don’t even get me started on the anxiety RPC has around things like soft blocking and mutuals and multiples and “quality”. These things in particular aren’t that new, but a lot of Neo RPC etiquette and trends surrounding those types of anxieties represent a whole quagmire that I try to avoid as much as I can, often to a fault, and lately I’ve realized that in my blanket avoidance I am actually missing out on some things I really should consider doing. My icons could do with some light color retouching. I do want to get my tags together eventually. Permanent starter calls, interests checkers, banners to make asks more easily rebloggable-- these things are functional and can be fun and make RP easier and help people feel emboldened to approach. Like, there are a lot of newish things that are actually cool and I should maybe consider trying them out, but being an oldster has really made me slow to adapt.

So yeah, idk if that was clear at all lol. Take these many, many unnecessary words to say that again, I don’t necessarily think that the current RPC is better or worse in an objective sense, but I do think a lot of the anxieties and trends that were starting in the old RPC have really caught fire now in a way that makes them hard to abstain from even if you want to. Since the RPC is so much smaller now than it was in 2013, you really do have to play ball on these things more than you used to have to in order to find partners. There is a lot of etiquette and anxiety that goes unspoken in the RPC and so I often avoid fairly harmless RPC trends as a means of mitigating that anxiety and clarifying the unspoken as much as I can. Tumblr already has a barrier for entry by being a broken website that hates its rp users, I don’t need to pile on any extra factors to make that barrier to entry look any taller.

#[ooc]#[Munday]#posts an opinion and waits for the hard blocks to roll in #not that I said anything more controversial than ''I'm down for whatever''#but u kno #long post #pawnshopsouls #[Asks]

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aromoji · 5 years ago

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FAQ

(Pwease no rebloggy, this is subject to change)

[Insert any invasive question about my ethnicity]

I’m Ghanaian American. My parents were born in Ghana and I was born here. For some reason both black Africans and black Americans seem to have a problem with that. I will not elaborate on this.

I sent you an ask and you never answered it!

It’s likely that

I never got it

You were blocked

I’ve already answered this

It’s a random positivity ask (which I appreciate but not sure how to respond to those)

You were rude in your ask and I didn’t feel like answering

I forgot until it was too late, which happens when my inbox gets a lot of asks at a time.

You sent it to the wrong blog (I.e, sending asks about my ocs to this blog instead of @ochood )

Non is just a prefix, black people don’t have a monopoly on the term! I suppose you think nonbinary people are racist huh?

This person explains it better than I can. Plus we’re talking about marginalized groups here. Black people are a marginalized group. Binary people as a whole are not so the term nonbinary isn’t appropriative at all. Also shut up, racist.

Follow up: If we can’t use non-[marginalized group], what can we use instead?

There are other words to describe the people you’re talking about

non-transfem- TME

non-lgbt- cishet, or people who aren’t lgbt

non trans - cis

etc

Black people don’t have a monopoly on the acronym nb! I’ll call myself nb if I want to!

I’m always gonna mean nonblack when I use the acronym nb. Die mad about it.

Hey, the op is [insert post] is [someone on my dni]!

I usually double check myself, just to be sure. If the person’s url is uncensored I’m not going to post the ask

Have you heard about [someone who is mutuals with someone who is mutuals with someone I’m loosely connected with]?

Most likely, no. And unless they’re an immediate danger to someone or they’ve got my name in their mouth, I don’t care.

Are you an anti?

Yes. Here’s why

Please don’t send asks about this

Are you an inclusionist/exclusionist?

Yes and no. I do think aces + aros are lgbt but they still should have spaces outside of the lgbt community because they have issues that both overlap with the lgbt community but are also different as well. Idk wtf is going on with the inclus community, but exclus are nonetheless insufferable, I’ve never met a single ‘respectful’ exclusionist who doesn’t thinks unironically calling themselves an aphobe is a personality trait or doesn’t reblog from people who feel that way. As someone who’s definetly not cishet in any sense of the word, I don’t believe the acecourse is about the “cishet aces and aros” like they claim.

Also as an addendum: I don’t like being called queer nor do I agree with calling people who do not reclaim the term as such, but that doesn’t mean people who are comfortable with the label shouldnt be allowed to reclaim it for themselves and take pride in it. Unironically calling yourself a queerphobe is cringe bro, and calling people “kweers” is disrespectful to asian queer people who use it as a personal identity

I’m also pro-pansexuality, no I don’t think pan people oppress or harm me as a bi (and trans) person. Yes, they should check their transphobia, but that is the case for people of any orientation.

Please don’t send asks about this. I am not a discourse blog, and I’m trying to stay as far away from any lgbt related discourse as possible, but I want to makae my stances clear for anyone that wants to follow me and must know before doing so.

Do you need dysphoria to be trans?

No. Next question.

Please don’t send asks about this

Are you pro/anti mogai?

I dont personally engage with the mogai community (and I’m pretty sure a lot of the identies people make fun of are literal trolls. Come on, no one’s actually calling themselves audiosexual...right?) but people who use mogai as an insult or run flop accounts are cringe.

Please don’t send asks about this

Why do you continue to use the ace flag even though known homophobe David Jay made it?

He didn’t. It was created by a user named standup on the AVEN website, who has no connection to David Jay himself. A lot of aces don’t even know who the fuck this person is anyways.

Edit: I no longer identify as ace but this still stands.

Please don’t send asks about this.

Do you know who [x person/group/thing] is?

Most likely no. Not to sound like a hipster but I dont usually keep up to date with trends. If I do hear about something, it’s most likely from twitter or instagram.

Is x AAVE?

I have a tag dedicated to what is and is not aave.I know some things overlap with southern culture but others are specifically for black people. No, I can’t tell you how to stop using AAVE.

Hey, I can’t see your blog or reblog your posts!

You were blocked. And now you’re block evading. I don’t remeber why I specifically blocked a user, but it’s most likely because you’re on my dni.

But I’m not on your dni?

You probably said or did something annoying then. Lol. Or you’ve added a stupid comment to someone else’s posts and I don’t want that nonsense on mine, so I blocked preemptively.

There’s the occasionaly chance while I was blocking people on a spree in the notes of a bad post you may have gotten caught in the fray, and if so, I apologize.

However, there’s also a chance you also blocked me on @mojiis and yet continued to interact here. So I blocked back.

Can you tag x?

I have a list of things I usually tag because they come up on this blog a lot. I cannot do catch all tags, as I have way too many followers for that. The closest thing to that is the “ask to tag” tag when there’s something potentially triggering but I’m not sure what it is. Everything is tagged as “x tw”. If something is extremely triggering, I’ll tag it as “major tw”

Do you tag slurs?

I’ve decided in order to be fair I’m tagging any possible lgbt related slur as the letter itself. Hopefully those who dont want to see it will have it black listed and I wont offend the people who reclaim it. I don’t tag the n word, as I reclaim that one. I always tag the r slur

Can I message you about something/someone?

Unless you’re a mutual, most likely no. My DMs are only open to mutuals.

Do you want to be mutuals?

I don’t usually follow back people who follow me, especially if you’re under 17. I’m sure you’re a nice person, but don’t post about things I’m interested in.

Can you give me advice on x?

Most likely not, because I’m not an expert or an advice blog. I’ll try, but dont take my word for it. I’m also tme, ablebodied, not jewish, singlet, etc, so I’m not able to accurately answer questions about transmisogyny, (physical?) ableism, antisemeitsm, “sycourse”, etc.

I might be able to give advice on school related stuff, but remember that students are not a monolith, and what worked for me may not work for someone else.

What’s your main blog?

If you know, you know.

Why do you continuously move mains/change urls/update themes?

I’m inconsitent. Plus someone is stalking me.

Can I tag you in posts I think I’d like?

Of course!

#text #✨.txt

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19possums-blog · 6 years ago

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On tianshan relationship and their fandom, i guess ?

hello there @nightfayre !! Im the 5asks anon lol (the one abt the last chapter of tianshan). I wanted to thank you for your answer and continue to rant in your askbox but i figured it was so long that mb it would crash ur box lmao, so I... kind of created a blog..... hm. well theres no bad reasons to create an account is there lol ?? (also is there no way to send a long ask ?? why is it so limited :(( )

So once again thank you for anwser, and what an answer ! You raised many points i didnt think about and that was very interesting. I knew i would be glad to hear your thoughts ! the rest under a read more coz i think its going to be looong lol

(( To do a sort of disclaimer : I despise fandom discourse and im more of the mentality “let ppl enjoy what they want as long as it dont hurt real life ppl”, and “dont like dont interact”. So everything im going to say is not an attack against anyone, but just a way of prolonging a manhwa that i like. Most of all, i want to emphasize that at the end of the day, its just a manhwa : it doesnt justify being mean or aggressive towards other real life ppl. If you find yourself raging while reading fandom wank, just stop reading, block, and go outside a little. My way of enjoying the manhwa is to be analytical, to criticize (positively and negatively) and to look at the material source as well as the fandom in itself ; if its (understandably lol) not your definition of fun, this post may not be for you !))

Ur totally right in saying that the hardest thing is separate morality, reality and fiction. I hope my asks didn't come across as a 'u shouldnt like tianshan bc its not morally good'. There is a lot of puritan push back on tumblr lately, and im totally against it. Everyone is free to like/ship what they want ; reading only ‘morally good’ literature wont prevent you to become a nasty person - i would argue itd be the exact opposite, as your spirit wont be trained to think critically or to evaluate a situation (and every situations is always grey) by your own means. Also, its important to separate fantasies/what you like to read and who you are/what you do. To be embarrassingly honest, and like many people, one of my sexual fantasy is rape ; but in my real life, im in a queer anarchist collective that actively fights against rape culture and defends rape victims. That is why i dont have a problem with SheLI/Mo shippers (or even HeCheng/SheLi shippers) even if its not my cup of tea, but i would have a problem if in real life (irl) ppl would say to irl Mo that irl SL is good for him (or if they wouldnt find it wrong that a irl 30yo Cheng is involved wt an irl 15yo Li). I digress.

But then again this confusion about fiction/reality/morality is at the core of the tianshan fandom -and many fandoms. I dont know about you, but i grossly see 3 types of ‘trends’ depending on how ppl interact with the source material :

1.The ones who think you cant like something while being critical of it. I love 19 days but I think there are flaws in it, beyond tianshan dynamic (like how OX handles the transition between funny and dramatic moments –I think its badly done). It doesn’t mean I personally hate OX and wish harm to their family oc. Worse than this, the ones who, because they dont like certain things in 19 days, feel free to harass OX on their social media. Here its a confusion between fiction and reality and a lack of critical thinking.

2. the ones that loves Tianshan because they think it fits the trope “Dark, handsome, tortured violent boy who is violent towards fragile, sweet, pure cute boy because he loves him” and the typically associated trope “the pure boy will change the violent boy by the pureness of his heart”. Aka the most common yaoi trope. Again, if it pleases people to see Tianshan like this, good for them and i hope they have a nice time reading 19 days. Lets face it, I love really bad yaoi and books. Its just not how i see tianshan at all, but to each their own. I just have a problem when these ppl insist that its an ok behavior to have in real life and say things like “possessiveness is a proof of love” uncritically (hint : it isnt). For me, its the difference between enjoying fast food (thats okay), and wanting to force everyone to eat fast food and to find it pleasurable (not okay).

3. the ones that think what you like in literature defines who you are, and so in order to be a “good person” you have to only like “morally good litterature” -there are the ones I personally find the more interesting bc they can ask good questions. But alas, in most cases its just puritanism badly disguised and currently they are in all fandoms. Lets not delve into the issue of this statement : what is ‘morally good’ ? who are in the authority to proclaim what is good ? how can you recognize what is ‘morally good’ if you dont see what is ‘morally not good’ ? is it literature’s responsibility to educate its audience ? do literature have to point out “watch out audience what just happened is not okay” as if we were brainless children ? whats more important : what you like reading or what you do irl ? .... Okay i totally delve into this lmao. Here its a confusion between fiction and morality and a rejection of critical thinking : we could say its like when the Catholics prohibited women from reading bc it would pervert them and think of the children).

Returning to the specifics of what we've been talking about : so in this last case, you (generic ‘you’) think that you are a good person ; so you have to read morally good literature. So in this case, fandom isnt just a harmless hobby, but a proof of how you are morally good, imagine the stakes ! But alas, you happen to like 19 days and most specifically tianshan. You said (@nightfayre ) that you judge Tianshan unhealthy as they are now, and i wholeheartedly agree with you, so im not going to discuss why since you already explained it so well. So, what happens when you like a morally not good ship, but you think liking morally dubious things makes you a bad person ? You bent over backwards to explain that, in fact, this ship is morally good, to protect your integrity. And thats why, in 19days fandom since the last chapter (and its the same thing with every chapter where flaws of HT are revealed!), there are many posts going around “hm, in fact, what He Tian did is good ! i know it can seems like hes a violent asshole who dont respect MGS because he punches him, threatens him, and dont listen to him, but hm.... in fact its because he’s nice...” and then they do mental gymnastics to justify what is, obviously, not morally justifiable. And i find its a pity because, my guy, my buddy, nobody is going to throw you tomatoes if you like a morally dubious character, and also bc nothin is morally good ! everybody does what they think is the best in ‘problematic situations’ ! and thats what make life interesting ! and so, 19 days interesting ! The flaws of HT (and MGS) are what drawn ppl to his character, bc it makes him real, its makes him contradictory, we can project ourselves in him, and we can see a complicated character with awesome latent potential. And yes, treating someone like a territory bc you care about them is a flaw lol. (on this subject : i saw ppl saying that its protectiveness and not possession : if you protect someone like you would protect a territory, then its not a healthy protection. you deal with a human whose agency you must respect, contrary to a territory).

MGS and HT are the product of what happen to them in their early childhood and then their adolescence. Like you said, they grow up in a violent, twisted world, where being emotionally distant is the norm. I would even say that they are expected to conform to the standards of (toxic) masculinity : channel all your emotions into anger, caring is being weak and feminine, prove your worth by your physical strength, be in control in all ur relationship, etc. I would say thats why Mo is so hostile towards HT : HT challenges his masculinity, by seducing him (everyone know that the biggest fear of macho men like HT and Mo is being considered gay -_-) and being stronger than him. Lets face it, Mo has kind of a homophobic issue, like all the boys. Between JY who tells HT its disgusting being told hes handsome by a man (at the beginning of the manhwa, i hope by now he had grown out of it), or Mo who tells HT he isnt happy that a guy is on his bed or who desperately wants to prove his heterosexuality by saying he likes all cute girls to his baldy friend... HT is more nuanced, but at the end, when he ‘seduces’ Mo, its always predatory. He doesnt let himself being vulnerable and he aggressively touches Mo even without his consent. For me, its a way of proving his domination, not his interest (and when i say that, i dont mean that HT is not genuinely interested in Mo -just that his actions dont translate this). ZZX is the only one who seems to have a healthy relationship with his masculinity lol, but then hes the healthy one in all aspects (thats why i dont like his character and am not invested in zhanyi, even if irl i would love to be his friend).

With all that being said, oc HT wont know how to adequately express genuine concern and interest in Mo ! This sort of social interactions is not something you just know, its smth you learn. And in HT and Mo’s cases, nobody was there to teach them -we could even say that ppl in their life made them unlearn caring behaviors. So HT does what he does best : he fights and forces, and is surprised when Mo thinks (obviously) HT is evil. And also, like you said, Mo will never be (at least how he is now) a driving force in their relationships bc he will always run away from bonding with ppl. So here we are, HT being the only driving force in their relationship, the same HT who only knows violence. No wonder that their relationship is like this...

As it is, i feel like tianshan is kind of in an impasse right now. One or the other is going to have to evolve if we want to see their relationships changing. Either HT learns how to care without being violent (seems complicated if Mo doesnt challenges him, bc HT isnt going to realize this without feedback since its how he has always functioned), or, more likely, Mo is going to be honest with him and tell him that his behavior is hurting him. Though more probable, I dont see it happening anytime soon : for one, Mo isnt capable of seeing when he is hurting emotionally and what is hurting him ; and also, bc Mo doesnt know any other language than violence, not unlike HT. I think its smth most of the fandom ignore, how violence is smth that HT and MGS both have in common, and how if HT wasnt violent, MGS certainly wouldnt consider him at all.

Anw im excited to see where OX is going with all this ! Like you said, the forced kiss was pivotal to their relationship, so im kind of hoping it would be the same here ! I just hope they wont... do like usual and just put a funny chapter and ignore this latest development.....

OMG i wrote soo much and there is so much i still want to say.... i think im going to do a second post... sorry about the spam lmao

( @nightfayre : i dont know how this site works yet, is @ you alright ? will it show you my post in your notif or should i send an ask ? bc i want you to see my answer, but i dont want you to feel pressurized to respond or interact or anything !! above all dont feel pressurized, i was sad last night when you wrote ‘im sorry to not answer more quicly’ bc you should answer at your own rhythm or not answer ! your blog is a hobby, not an obligation, so dont feel bad to not do more when yo already do much !! )

#19days #19 days #tianshan

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blackhound14 · 7 years ago

Text

Paint it Red

I thought all that mattered was my work, but sometimes the world isn't just black or white, sometimes it's a whole spectra of colors. Love, I learned, is the most perplexing of all colors.

I hoped that I never learned that.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 1: The Painter

I always thought that the world was black and white. That there is only either good or bad and nothing in between. As cliché as it sounds, my entire life was overturned by this one case that lead me to feel everything that I tried very hard to keep locked and chained away in the far-far depths of my conscious mind. So… what changed?

The moon shone brilliantly over the dark sky. Any normal person would have long gone to bed or the teenagers might be busy smoking or snuffing a fist full of powder because that is what seems to be trending nowadays. My days are spent in the same clockwise motion; wake up, get ready, reach the station, look over the evidence and if luck permits, the case is solved and closed.

However, its seems that lady luck isn’t on my side this time. Earlier this night another homicide was reported to DPD. And why I am the one being sent to investigate it at this hour of the night, you ask? Well, I was assigned this case five months ago and I'm nowhere near solving it! I get out of my car and make my way towards the crime scene.

The place was nothing out of the ordinary, just a normal house belonging to a single man who worked as an employee at a nearby amusement park who was reported missing by his friends when he didn't show up at work for six days. The walls of the room were painted in red and in the middle laid a single motionless body. Chris, one of the officers from the DPD, came forward and handed me the details they managed to gather up-until my arrival.

Name of the victim: Caiden Huffman.

Reported Missing: 1 June 2018

Date and time of death: Unknown.

Reason of death: unknown.

Suspects: None.

“What do you think, Lieutenant? Do you think its his work?” Chris asked.

“It’s too early to confirm, but by the looks of it, it seems likely. I’m going to have a look around.” I reply and start doing my job.

The walls are definitely covered in red paint, if I didn’t know any better I'd think it was blood. It looked magnificent. I am no master of the arts but the color never looked so real, it was breathtaking how a person could just blend different pigments to get something like this and most astonishing is how the killer is able to get the color so perfectly same even after six kills. It was a work of art.

Just what am I thinking, calling a crime scene a work of art?

I then examine the body and see that the traces of blood is still fresh. He was killed recently, but was reported missing about a week ago. I need to find more clues. I walk over to the door that leads to the basement and enter it. Nothing unusual but stains on the floor caught my attention. Blood, probably belonged to the victim. I followed the trail which lead me to this giant book shelf. “Chris! Help me with this!”

“Coming, Sir!”

We push the shelf out of the way, whatever we had witnessed before hadn't prepared us for what we’ll come across in this basement.

There were shelves on each side, which contained what seemed to be jars filled with organs. Was this man selling organs illegally? There was a huge table at the center and another smaller one at its side. The smaller table held several different types of scissors, saws and tongs. The larger one was painted red. Then there were cupboards, filled with more bizarre equipment.

“Do you think that’s paint too?” Chris asked.

“No.” I replied, “This was a torture chamber. Get the forensics team on this. We need to find out whether our victim was killed here or who was held captive. And if my guess is right, our victim was selling child organs.”

“Child organs. That's some fucked up shit! You think the FBI will get a hint of this?”

“I hope not. This is my case and I will be the one to solve it.” I turn around and leave the crime scene with more questions than answers. I definitely need a good sleep after this.

I return home and see the lights on. I sigh. On the sofa sat a man in his late fifties, a bottle of beer in his one hand and the other scratching the head of the huge St. Bernard, “Hank. How many times have I told you to stop drinking yourself into a stupor?” I said disappointingly.

He seemed to have finally noticed me and gave me a smile, “Connor! You’re back! I was waiting for you to return. Cole was asking for you, he said that you both were going to watch a movie.”

“I'm sorry, a new homicide came up. Had to leave, I'll make up to him tomorrow. But for now, you need to get to bed. You have work tomorrow.” I help him up and half dragged him to his room.

I open the door with much trouble and lay him down on the bed. “Thanks Connor, for being the big brother to Cole.” he said catching me off guard.

“Being drunk make you very sentimental, Lieutenant.” Maybe drunk Hank wasn't so bad, he was just a little adorable puppy. I smiled.

“Calling me ‘dad’ once in a while wont kill ya!”

“Even if I did, you wont remember it in the morning. Now sleep, Hank.”

Hank waved me off and I leave the room. I could feel my eyes giving out on me, I'm too tired.

Another murder, sixth in these five months. I laid on my bed, thinking. What is with sleep, seriously? All I wanted to do before was get to bed, now that I am I cant seem to fall asleep. I’ll just look over the evidence again.

First kill was five months ago. None of the victims were related by any means, except that all of them were into some sort of shady business which was found out only after the investigation. The walls of all the crime scene were painted red.

The killer must get his paint from somewhere.

I start searching for art shops all over Detroit. God bless Google.

Of all the names, one stood out the most, ‘Bellini Paints’ The best quality paints in all of Detroit!

Why that one, I don't know, but I have learned to always trust my instinct. They did always direct me to the right path if not always the right person.

I wake up the next day with weight pushing down on me. “Sumo! Be a good boy and let me sleep!”

“Its time to wake up, brother!” and I feel more weight on top of me. Cole!

“Fine, get off and get Sumo off!”

“You promised me that we would watch Dexter together!”

“I’m sorry, a case came up. You’re twenty years old but still act like you are fifteen! Tell you what, we can watch it tonight. I’ll even get us some pop-corn.” I say in hopes that Cole will finally get off and he did. But didn’t leave without giving me a firm warning that if I did ditched him again, he’s sell my fishes and that is something I wasn’t going to take lightly.

Now that I’m up and awake, I get ready and walk into the living room, it was quiet so maybe Hank already left. I quickly made myself a sandwich, grab a glass of juice left graciously by Hank and leave for the art shop

The navigation stopped as I arrived at my destination, I got out and walked over to the shop that had the board at the top displaying ‘BELLINI PAINTS’. I make my way inside, making the bell at the entrance ring, and notice that there’s just a single employee working there. The shop was was lined with wooden shelves containing several shades of paints and every other area was occupied by huge canvases.

The shop’s smell seemed familiar, it didn't take a lot to figure out that its the same smell from the pain that the killer uses. Do all paints smell the same?

The man smiled and asked, “What can I help you with today, sir?”

“I’m Lieutenant Connor Anderson, from DPD. I’m here to conduct an investigation regarding the killer known as ‘The Painter’.” upon hearing that the man’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I’m not sure how I can be of service.” I heard a bell from my back, indicating another customer had entered.

I handed him the paint sample,“I just want to know more about this color, how you make it, who buys it and how much is it bought.” I said in a calming voice, threatening him wont help me get anything.

Jerry, as the name tag suggested, looked over it and shook his head, “We don’t sell anything like this. The person seems to have mixed red and maybe blue. I'm no expert in art, I’m just an employee. Perhaps you should ask someone who’s more involved in this than me.”

Jerry didn’t seem to be lying. But the color of the paint remained consistent over the course of five months. Did the killer make all the paint at once and stored them? But, paint dries overtime doesn't it?

I stare at his face for a second when I’m interrupted by a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and see a man, not much older than me.

He was what you could only define as breathtaking, with a buzz cut and a light stubble that many people despise, but the look suited him just fine. What’s more was his skin, it seemed rough but reminded me honey; sweet and smooth. Then there were those lips, full and ready to be devoured or devour, but most importantly, what caught my attention were those pair of discolored eyes that stared at me with confusion and curiosity.

What am I thinking again? Did Hank mix something in the juice?

“May I know the reason as to why you’re making my employee so tense?” he asked in his silky voice.

“I'm Lieutenant Connor Anderson, from DPD. I’m here regarding the investigation to find out more about a killer named as ‘The Painter’.” I said while calming my nerves, “You said that he’s your employee, does this mean that you’re the owner?”

The man’s brows shot up in surprise, “Yes, Lieutenant, I am the owner. My name is Markus. Maybe we should talk somewhere else.”

#connor x markus #detroit become human #DBH #hank #kara #connor #markus

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paramedicsuicide · 7 years ago

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First responder suicide -- PTSD, or something else?

Its 1:30am. I sit on my computer in complete darkness, having just slept for the past 10 hours. As a Paramedic in a suburb of a relatively small US city, I work 12 hours shifts for 4 straight days. I get 4 days off to recuperate after that, and at this point in my career those days are essential for my survival. Many of my co-workers are not lucky enough to be able to stop at just 4 days, and must work additional overtime shifts in order to make ends meet. The private EMS industry has relatively low wages nationwide. We are the "red headed step child" of emergency services, often hiding in the shadows of police officers, firefighters, and nurses. There is no such thing as a "typical" shift when working in EMS. There are the occasional shifts where I will sit in the parking lot of the local convenience store chain for 12 straight hours without picking up a single patient. The glow of my cell phone screen illuminating my face for each passing person to see the life draining out of my body. The boredom sets in after hour 2. My legs and butt hurt. I am hungry, but I can't tell if its true hunger or just my body telling me to get up and move. I decide to walk inside to browse the aisles of colorful treats, getting nauseous at the thought of eating "lunch" out of a gas station at midnight for the 3rd day in a row. Despite my disgust, I walk outside with 2,000 or more calories of junk food at a time in an attempt to eat myself to death. "Ill be diabetic by the end of the week" I say to my partner as I open my fudge dipped granola bar. As the career of a first responder goes on, most quickly start to pack on the pounds like a bear preparing for winter. Company policy prevents you from sleeping during your shift, so your food (if you can call it that) is washed down with 16oz of your favorite energy drink to keep you awake and ready to pick grandma up off the floor when she attempts her 2am bathroom run. I have palpitations from all the caffeine. Hopefully one day those PVC's turn into an arrhythmia and the lord takes me. "Anything to get out of this job" I say, as I polish off my second monster of the night. Morning rolls around. 50mg of benadryl will help me fall asleep after drinking energy drinks all night long. I have severe shift sleep disorder. I am depressed. I just want to sleep. I wake up ready to go after just 4 hours of sleep. Great. Another night of pounding monsters. I punch in 15 minutes early for my next shift and am assigned a call before I am even scheduled to start. I am the only ambulance available in the surrounding 15 square miles of suburbia, and that trend will continue for the next 12 hours. Call after call, I don't have time to finish my paperwork before being sent on the next run. Its 11pm and dispatch calls my unit number for the 5th time today-- "With the fire department for a 1 year old post choking". I have taken 50 calls of the same nature before and say out loud-- "Great, another bullshit call". Every day, nervous parents call 911 over the slightest cough or sniffle which eventually numbs you to the potential of a true pediatric emergency. Its never a real emergency. Until it is. Rolling up on scene after the fire department, I grab my house bag and begin to waddle towards the low income apartment building for the third time this week. I think -- "I should have brought the tablet for a signature so I don't have to walk back outside". Suddenly, a firefighter rounds the corner carrying a limp child like he is holding an offering platter. "That's not good" I blurt out , going from zero to 100 in the snap of a finger. The firefighter tells me the child was eating chicken and rice when he began to choke. As my partner digs out the pediatric bag valve mask that has been sitting unused in the house bag for an unknown number of years, I set up the suction, only to find an unresponsive, apneic child with a clenched jaw. "That doesn't make sense" I think to myself as I try to peel apart his tiny jaw without any luck. Thank god-- he has a gap in his front tooth that fits a small, 12fr suction catheter. I start to go through the motions. Is he seizing? Nope. Any trauma visible or reported? No. Mom was asked again-- and again says the child was sitting up, eating, and suddenly started choking. What is going on here? With little to be done on scene, I rush to the small local hospital, nervous that the next squeeze of the bag could lodge a piece of food in this kids airway. I am getting good air exchange but his spo2 isn’t amazing. He must have aspirated. Great news. He is now moving his arms, and his eyes just opened. Wait, why is his jaw still clenched? That's not great news. This kid hasn't made a noise. What the fuck is going on. As I roll the stretcher into the small emergency room closest to the scene, I am greeted with that dreaded sentence from the ER Physician-- "why did you bring him here and not children's hospital". I bite my tongue-- its not the time to have that fight. The kid is now posturing. A few minutes go by and the doctor asks me to get my laryngoscope because the emergency room is not currently stocked with the proper pediatric equipment. Maybe he was right. The thoughts start rushing through my head-- "they are going to kill this kid. I should have just risked it and bypassed. It was only an extra 7 minutes or so further". As I sit there and wait for the next order, new thoughts take over. "Someone shook this kid. There is no other explanation". Hypertensive, bradycardic, posturing. But mom said he was choking on rice? Where would she get that from? Hmm. She doesn't seem as concerned as a mother should be. She answers a text message while being questioned by the police. She has yet to ask anyone how her son is doing. The texts start to come in to my phone. "Are you ok?". "I hear you had a bad call. You guys ok?" "WTF was that all about?". I am fine. Any provider who plans to have a lengthy career has to distance themselves from their patients. I can think back to every "bad" call I've taken, and never once have I been able to recall processing a patients face. Its not important. What they look like is irrelevant to my job. Its the circle of life. Some people live, some people die. Its my job to try and make that circle a little bit bigger if I can. Sometimes you are successful, sometimes you aren't. You have to come to terms with that early on. Minutes after calling in service from restocking, the radio chimes my unit number again. "Cold response to the fitness center for a hand laceration". I arrive on scene to find a psych standing out front in his blue paper clothes, clearly having been to an emergency room at least once today. “Hop on in buddy-- take a seat” I say as I shake my head. We drive him 3 blocks down the street to the same emergency room we left just a couple hours prior. I am not greeted like one would expect. Not with "Hello", not with "whats the chief complaint". I am greeted with a sentence that is never good news. "Did you hear?". Our child from earlier had been emergently transferred 6 miles away to the childrens hospital by a specialty transport team. The news from them was not good. "That kid -- he has a brain bleed". My suspicions were confirmed. He was never choking. Someone hurt this kid and tried to cover it up. I know how to handle this, because its not even the first time this situation has happened to me. People hurt kids often enough that I am not even shocked. Stories like this don't make the news *for a reason*. People cant handle stuff like this. No one needs to know that savages live in apartment 3. Some people have to know though. WE have to know. Its not OK. I talk about suicide often. My previous partner was a veteran and has PTSD from being deployed overseas. He has had many friends commit suicide after returning from war, and was concerned about my mental health. That should concern me. He would ask me once a week-- "Are you sure you are ok?". My little comments here and there come off as jokes to most people. "Id rather die than come into work tonight". "Pull out in front of this semi truck-- we wont feel a thing I promise". "Stage for police? Fuck that. I hope I get shot". In reality, its not a joke. I am not suicidal at this point in my life-- I am apathetic about living. I'm not going to take my own life, but I am definitely not excited when I wake up each morning. This feeling has slowly crept up on me over my almost 10 year career as a paramedic. I tell myself daily that I need to get out before its too late. What will be the breaking point where I become truly suicidal? I have to answer one question before I leave. "Where will I go?" I am burnt out. Everyone says "go to nursing school", but the passion-- the fire inside that makes you want to help people has been extinguished for years. Where can you go at 30+ years old with a paramedic certification and no useful degree. I have made financial commitments at my age that makes starting from scratch somewhere at entry level wages an impossibility. What can I do? Where can I go? I am stuck. This job is like quick sand, and I'm up to my shoulders. If I struggle much more it will be above my head. We get to see what goes on behind the curtains of society. How much would you enjoy a magic show if you knew how the magic was performed? That is what life is like for many first responders. Members of the general public get to wear blinders during their day to day lives. There are people who post rants to facebook if the garbage man didn't put their garbage can back in the correct spot. A terrible day for a typical person is a flat tire on the way home from work. They have no idea what happens in their town or city on a day to day basis. They have NO IDEA that 3 doors down, a husband beat the shit out of his wife for the 4rd time this year and she wont tell the police what happened. They have NO IDEA that people call an ambulance from the parking lot of an emergency room because they don't want to wait in the waiting room. They have NO IDEA that someone in apartment 3 just hurt their baby and tried to cover it up. But we know. We see it all. I have talked with a lot of people who have similar feelings. Its due to me being so open about my apathy towards life. People who I see every day, smiling at their coworkers and telling war stories and laughing. You would never guess these people were at the end of their ropes-- fighting off their own demons. "Make sure they have bagpipes at my funeral". I don't try and talk these people down because they don't want help. How could I help anyways? You cant just "un-know" the things we know. These people just feel comfort in the fact that they aren't alone. I have been lucky that none of these people have taken their lives yet. I know the day is coming. Its been a long time since a co-worker has committed suicide, and the statistics say we are over-due. How will I handle it?

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justyouraveragecognitionhoe · 7 years ago

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sister sister

yara got divorced. i’m happy about it.

for those of you who don't know who yara is, she a really close family friend who is essentially an older sister to me. we met at the lebanese church down in phoenix because i was just so darn cute and her and her sister had to meet me. our parents clicked and just like that i started growing up at her house most weekends of my childhood. until recently though, i hadn't really talked to her in four years. the four years she spent engaged and married to george. she changed when she married him and i didn't like who she became. i didn't like her so much that i unfollowed her on social media. that being said, i also never liked george. he’s just a pompous self-righteous bigot and i’m so glad i never have to deal with him anymore. hearing that she divorced him was so great, but seeing her without him is what really made me happy. she was smiling again, her laughter filled the room and she talked to me. her old self came back. her true self. it makes me happy to talk to her and tell her things again, see her smile again and her free spirt return. i’ve missed her so much, and i love her.

i’m so grateful for the times i’ve gotten to see her this summer, particularly our car ride to the lebanese church this past sunday. she told me how proud she was of me, how excited she was that i went to an out-of-state school, and how excited she is for all of my opportunities. it was so nice to hear. it was that true pride and happiness i have been missing from a superior in my life. sure, my parents say they're proud of me, but they're not. i’m not a doctor, i’m not living at home, and i’m not on a track to be married by 24 and start producing grandkids. it reminds me of what pierre told me sophomore year, how they wont be proud of anything i do really so just do whatever i want. it was really beautiful to talk about it with yara, because she went down the traditional road expected of girls like us, she lived it, she hated it, and she got through it stronger than ever. she’s like a beacon of hope. she told me that the advice she would want to give me is to live up my twenties, and she’s so happy to hear that i have been. i’m going abroad, i’m getting a college degree, i’ve moved away from my home, i’m growing, having experiences and living my life. she talked to me about how i really was repressed as a child and i missed out on so much. i was deprived of a childhood and my teen years really. and she saw it when we went over on weekends, she still sees it now when i’m back with my family. that lead into a whole time talking about how i know how to live on my own know and that i know how to function and that everything works in my head and when i’m by myself my life works a little more streamlined but as soon as i get home shit hits the fan and we just clash and stuff that i would be able to do easily on my own back in slo is suddenly the most difficult task to accomplish with my family. yara told me that that never goes away. a lot of it can be attributed to us being way more chill than them. everything is a drama with them. like they live real-life turkish dramas all the time and their life has to look perfect and they judge everyone. for me and yara, we try our best not to judge, we don’t like too much drama, and we’re simpler in what we want and want to do. so we just clash with our parents naturally. it’s understandable that it’s a generational thing, but they keep telling us that we can live our own lives and do whatever we want but god forbid we do what we want if it’s not something from their predetermined one-page list of how to live your whole life. it’s hypocritical in a way. “live your life however you want we support you! but if you’re not living your life how we imagined then we actually don't approve of anything you do!” yara told me that even at 28 it doesn't stop. and that’s something i expected. elie is about to go into his senior year, when he graduates, i’d bet a large sum of money that my parents are gonna move to the central coast and follow me. good luck moving to the bay area on a $0 salary! sorry that was rude. i don't know, it’s just like kinda reassuring to see yara go through so much and still be able to find a way to live the life she wants even with suffocating parents. it gives me hope and comfort that i can manage it too. it also helped me realize how similar we are, not just in upbringing but in who we are and what we want and how we live. i know we’re going to grow really close and i can’t wait to have my older sister back! she said her biggest regret was not getting to live her twenties, and that she’s so happy of everything i have accomplished and i haven’t even hit 20 yet. i told her that she should just start a trend and live her twenties with me as she goes through her thirties and she gladly accepted hahah. she’s going to come visit me! in california! after i come back from china during a three day weekend in winter quarter, we’re going to go hit up los angeles together and have a fucking blast weekend together. i’m super excited, i just have to pick a weekend and she’ll buy tickets and we’ll have a time together. i’m so glad we reconnected.

i also have to note how amazing it was going to church with her. lebanese church sucks, because one, it’s all in ancient arabic which i can’t understand, two, it draaaagggss more than usual because he priest likes to talk about himself and not understanding makes it longer, and then three, everyone three judges each other. ever so often yara or i would lean over to the other to give a snarky comment and it made church a little more bearable. my favorite was when two girls both in their late twenties passed us to go receive communion, in honestly prom dresses. long evening downs, very fitted around their curves. first, yaaaas girls, wear what you want and feel good, but then like secondly, is this a church at 11 prom at 12 situation? like in what world do people wear prom dresses to church? lebanese people that’s who. it’s always a competition of who looks and is dressed the best. that’s the real problem i had. like wear what you want, but your reasons for wearing these clothes bother me. it was during this notice that yara looked at me and was like, how many people do you really think are here to pray for God? not many. they're all here to show off their sunday best and gossip. the lebanese church is p toxic and it’s sad but that’s the culture. it was cool to see that yara new it too.

yara used to be a reminder of what i never wanted to become, married by 24, two kids immediately, college drop-out, no serious career, living 10 minutes away from the house she grew up in and married to a lebanese asshole. now she’s all i can hope to be. she’s free, independent, strong, determined, driven, and knows what she wants from life and is getting it. she has an established photography business now, two beautiful sons, and is still kicking ass like the boss she was always meant to be. i love her, and am so grateful for this new influence she has on my life. i got my sister back and i’m so happy.

#july 25 2018 #yara #sister sister #same #divorce #kids #husband #life #growth #lebanese #twenties

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dndfuckhouse · 4 years ago

Text

session 29 - High Tension Situations

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> 🎵 Rogue Encampment / Diablo 2 OST

Cracking open the entrance again as they were taught by Ezra, the group all head down into the cave system remembering the codes and the traps, Keva taking point. They eventually make their way back through the underground, reaching the large dark humid cove again.

Peering about as they come down they see a lot of boats on the waters strangely, as well as lights peeking through windows scattered about the buildings in the dark. Heading into the area proper there looks to be plenty of hustle and bustle down here as well strangely enough. Cloaked and shadowed individuals and groups are walking about quickly and some places look even more boarded up, or are in the process of becoming so. This is probably the loudest they’ve ever heard the place, sounds of hushed muttering and arguments being heard echoing around all the buildings and carved roads.

Finn and Han take their time peering around, it seems as if the people here are emptying out or holing up inside places as quickly as they can. Listening in as they walk by they get whispers from people gossiping about the business upstairs with the lockdown, every now and again hearing words about corpses. They also hear some whispering about disguised royal guards being spotted down in the area earlier. The rest of the party doesn't seem to take as much notice however, simply noting the place looks busy.

Han: "seems like that lockdown is affecting here too... and there could be guard around" Plum: im not worried about no cops Rokka: rokka huddles a little closer to whoever is next to him

Psalm: jesus

Finn: psalm be like sorry im granblueing rn Plum: he has his phone out Psalm: OH FUCK I MISSED STRIKE TIME AGAIN

Rokka waltzes around in his Chris RokksworthTM disguise while Finn keeps his heavy daytime garb on in the cove, the others dont bother too much with disguising themselves aside from pulling up their hoods.

The party decide to head over to Renny’s, noting it as the last place they saw Cole and Ezra. They all walk down and around to the centre area of the cove, making their way back to the same dingy looking building and cramped alleyway. They manage to find the right road before getting too lost, recognising the familiar heavy wood door indicating the front of Renny’s inn.

As they enter the area they note that it doesn't look too busy around here, on the way notice a couple heated conversations and busy buildings, but nothing sticks out in particular.

Sidling up the door, the group give it a good knock, it takes a minute or so before they hear any sound behind it indicating that anyone’s even around. After some shuffling the thin slit in the door slides open and a familiar pair of eyes peer back at the party. It roves over the group for a moment, Han bending over and waving in response. It soon slides back shut and the party stand around listening to a series of unlocking sounds.

Finally the door swings open and there they see Renny, once again holding a pipe in one hand, as she moves to lean against the door frame.

Renny: “ol’ friends of ezra’s in need somewhere to hide out again? seems like you’ve got someone new with you though” she breathes out a wisp of smoke as she levels a long stare at finn Rokka: "Hello again!" Renny: "....hello again darlin" Han: "we're looking for him. you happen to know where he went?" Keva: "a direction would be good" Finn: he stares back, unsure what to say to this lady or if its even important for her to know who he is. Renny: "I haven’t seen the guy since he left the place with that tiefling girl after the other one, if I didn’t know him id worry he was skipping out on his tab” she snorts, but keeps staring at finn expectantly

Cimmorro: slaps finn's back like "pst introduce yourself" Plum: im going to swat finn and tell him to say covertly Rokka: nudges finn Finn: he feels more than uncomfortable. he doesn't need to make it known the barvottes crawl around places like this. switching a few times between looking at cimmorro and rokka before looking at renny. "i am called finnian." he then looks away and pulls his hat down more. Keva: cowboy tilt your hat finn Finn: vargonia culture Renny: she turns as u respond "nice to meet you there finnian, names renny, bit of common courtesy's appreciated" Finn: he nods back, acknowledging the acknowledgement before peeking at renny from underneath the snufkin hat. "my apologies" Renny: she smirks at you Finn: this milf... her aura is overwhelming, finn looks at cimm if he did it right. Cimmorro: cimm looks at u with a nod of acknowledgement Finn: i feel like turning to cimm for social advice is awful Cimmorro: OIJGIAOPJGWOPIAJGIAJIWG I HATE YOUG

Keva: she mumbles "why did...." then louder as she watches the others nudge at finn "...do you know which direction they were headed?" Han: "and did they say anything as they left?" Psalm: "I think we should just cut to the chase about why we're looking for them no? We have good enough reason to believe that they're in danger." Rokka: "and we came to save them!" Renny: "danger huh.... seems to be the trend around here. not really, think he went after that other friend of yours you popped in with. i’m no one to pry into what my patrons get up unless it’s going to disturb others or myself, understand me?” she takes another puff of her pipe and turns her head at you rokka "nice of you" Keva: "other friend?" Renny: “white haired fellow”

Chip: [han nat 1 insight check] renny would never lie to you.... perish the thought Han: tru milfs wont lie to me they love me Chip: so true

Getting a sense the conversation isnt really going anywhere, Cimmorro takes a step back to cast sending to cole while the others continue chatting along with renny, though renny gives him a curious glance.

Keva: "did you notice anything weird with the other guy when he left?" Han: [nods at keva’s q] Renny: "hmm...seemed tired, like he was in a daze. didn't ask"

Cimmorro: "it's cimmorro. do you have any clue where you are right now? any clue at all. keep it brief, this spell cant hold." Cole: after a second or two you hear a response in coles voice in your head "ahuh- is that you cimm?? whoa where are you....were underground uh...some huge group jumped us. um uh...in the bone somewhere higher up-" before it cuts off Cimmorro: just face palms at cole's rambling before getting everyone's attention "hate to break the chat but it seems like they're 'in the bone somewhere higher up,' cole said" Han: "...so like..." han points upwards to shorewater Rokka: "please don't tell me its the cult again ugh..." Psalm: [to renny] "If you don't mind, do you have any idea what 'higher up' would mean for down here?" Renny: "could mean one of the taller buildings or scaffoldings that crawls up the cove walls. or could just mean up north, theres a bit of a slant that lets you see over the rest of the cove from back there" she shrugs "doesn't really narrow down your search radius though i think, could ask around, more foot traffic lately"

Han, Psalm and Finn both think to themselves if they know of any particular big groups that may have targeted the two down here. Psalm and Finn come up with nothing, the latter having gotten most of his information from his uncle. Han thinks a bit longer but nothing immediately pops into her head outside trading groups ferrie told her about. Cole could be talking about a big gang but she gets the feeling there's plenty of those down here and she doesn't know any of them by name.

The group think amongst themselves, deciding they should split up to search, one group prowling the rooftops of the rickety buildings while others search and ask around on foot.

Han: she goes "well, thanks for your time" and gives renny another 5 gold Renny: she raises a brow and takes it "well thank you, if ya spot him down the line let me know. finding myself a little curious now" Han: "will do ma'am" ^_^ Renny: she waves and shuts the door behind her as you all chatter amongst yourselves, you hear the door lock four times behind her

Finn: "psalm you may not be going to the roof but ill give you my grimnir raid id while youre still here, its my strike time you see...” Psalm: "Yeah no problem I can mvp" Finn: "It's '00568E33, thank you psalm. your fire is invaluable to my raids." Rokka: BAN GBF Chip:

Finn: QWHY ARE YOU EXPOSING ME Psalm: OH I CAN GO HOLD ON Keva: OH MY GOD Plum: oh my god Finn: IUMDIFMFG

Rokka: he fidgets at the thought of leaving ground team alone "I'll...go with the ground..." Han: ;LK;LKHSDALKHFKWELKRD 🥺

The groups split into two teams [ Han, Finn and Keva ] to explore the roofs and [ Psalm, Cimmorro, Plum and Rokka ] to ask around on foot. They decide to all meet back up again in about an hour’s time at Renny’s to share their findings.

The ground group decide to make their way to Nickel to see if they can get any useful information out of him. In the meanwhile the rooftop group sidle up to the nearest looking short building. Han offers to help the two up but Keva quickly climbs up and ahead of the other two on her own.

Han: "yes, i give boost, no problem" Plum: forgot han sounds like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW1Nff6jgjo

Finn: "ive no need for any such thing. a vampire can scale any surface." Han: "so can i, am i vampire now" Finn: "no you cannot! i can climb anything! you cannot." he crosses his arms. Han: "... yes i can" Finn: finn furrows his brows. "you are so foolish that it truly escapes me how you've made it this far." Han: han crosses her arms at finn "what? why?" Finn: finn is exasperated. "insufferable." he scoffs before turning his back to han. Han: "what, you think i cant? ill prove it" Finn: "prove it then." he says in a snotty tone

Han casts spiderclimb on herself before immediately running up the side of the wall like naruto, laughing in victory from the rooftop. Though once she reaches the top she realises she does not have darkvision and cant really scope the place out at all. She can see many small lights peppered around the cove, but on the roofs? there are no lights on the roofs. its going to be easy to trip up here. In the meantime Keva attempts to peer out for anything suspicious, though she comes up empty, slightly distracted by the two behind her’s antics.

Han: “....balls” Finn: he stares for a good moment. but then he shakes his head and tsks, despite han not being able to hear. foolish goliath. she had to cast a spell to do it! how foolish! [he then climbs up effortlessly after her] Keva: she just, pulls her hood down lower and goes toward the higher nearby building mumbling "i'm not dealing with this"

The group make an effort to stealth themselves once they get up, Keva doing so well that Han loses track of where she went as the former climbs higher up on the building next to them.

Han: han is like "you take ages" Finn: "perhaps you ought to take your time too, might draw fewer eyes to you." finn checks out his gloved nails you know how. its about the vibes it gives off 💅 Han: han is like >:/ MAYBE SO.................

In the meantime the other group make their way over to the location of nickel’s familiar storefront, Han having quickly shouted them directions from the last time she was down here. As the group approach they see a good number of boats near the shoreline and the building, it appears a group of people in similar uniforms as Nickel are hauling crates and barrels onto them.

They walk over to the tented side of the building to find nickel where they last spoke to him, though as they make to dip their heads inside a hand comes up in front of their faces shooing you back out, on the other side of it they hear nickels familiar drawl

Nickel: “sorry pal, closing up for the moment, trying to shift out our stock around like everyone else so-“ he sticks his head out from the flap at the tail end of his spiel “oh you lot again? surprised you’re down here again after all the chatter I’ve been hearing flow through” he gives your group a lazy smirk. Psalm: "Eh... that got sorted out, but we're not here to shop." Plum: "yo, you wouldnt happen to know about any big gangs in the area would you" Han: SUCH AS YOURS, O FAIR NICKEL? Cimmorro: "what's the hullabaloo about actually?" Nickel: "wow fun question, whyre ya asking" he gives an awww at the no shopping comment before turning to cimmorro "hmm? figured you'd have heard about the big bad royal guards skulking around down here, among other things"

Plum: “...” i'm gonna turn to cimm and psalm and be like "is it a good idea to tell him why" Psalm: "I don't see how we can avoid that if we want to get the most information out of him if he knows something but... we can try?" Plum: "that's what i think, and it's not like he's the most trustworthy person ever, well okay” Psalm: "As far as I know the Dark Blues are a merchant group and not in the business of kidnapping people, so i want to say i doubt he’d be involved”

Plum: "fine, well, some friends of ours got kidnapped" Cimmorro: cimm just gives a "ah, just curious if there'd be more to it than that" also just nodding to psalm and plum rn Nickel: "everyone here’s a little paranoid yknow? well myself included, so you can imagine anyone who’s drifting through is leaving and everybody else is boarding up their doors and digging their holes” he puts a hand to his chin “ ahhh the city feels a little scary these days don’t it valued customers?” he says while theatrically scrunching up his face in woe before turning to you plum "sad story there friend, not uncommon a thing to hear round here" Plum: "sure, sure, but have you heard of any group like that is what i'm asking, like lets say its not just some random thugs" Nickel: "oh plenty down here, but you'll want to narrow down the list unless you want to stand here and listen to me drone on for an hour" he folds his arms and smiles "and its not very in my nature to give things away for free" Plum: plum puts their fingers to their head in annoyance and says "i'd rather listen to you drone on than be doing this right now" Nickel: he goes ^__^

The group relay to him what Cole told them, about being higher up somewhere within the bone, specifying she probably meant somewhere in the northern area rather than above their heads. They also state they’re looking for Ezra, remembering Nickel encountered him the first time they met the drow so he may recognise him, they also bring up rickert’s name additionally.

Cimmorro: "oh hum... does rickert sound familiar to you?" Nickel: "hmmm...somewhat, pauldrun...?" Psalm: "Elf, short hair, missing his right eye. Scar on his face. Has probably never smiled in his life. Ringing any bells?” Nickel: he nods his head and shakes his hand "ah yes yes i know of him, hes fond of grinning i hear actually" Cimmorro: "the one with us was the opposite of that yeah" Rokka: "wonder why he doesn't grin with us 🤔 " Psalm: "Well hearsay and reality tend to be two very different experiences 😇" Nickel: he laughs at that Psalm: score Han: ARE YOU IN A DAITNG SIM A;LKDSFHRLKW3EFDS

Cimmorro: "SO.... if you two are done flirting... any clue of their possible whereabouts or no" Nickel: he smirks at you cimm and continues "him and his motley crew? i know where they like to hang around the most at least" Cimmorro: 😳 ".... and i assume you want compensation for that information?" cimm exhales Nickel: "well since you're not buying anything..." he smiles

Psalm: "I wouldn't put it past them to kidnap people... 🤔" Cimmorro: "yeah especially if it's ezra lol" Psalm: "That aside, remember what they were up to when we first ran into them." Plum: "unfortunately, it's not too farfetched that it could be them" Cimmorro: "they sure like their ropes!" Rokka: "Makes sense"

Cimmorro: looks at nickel unamused "what's your offer then?" Nickel: "hmmm lets say 70 gold" Rokka: Psalm quick eldritch blast Psalm: i want to be able to shop here later...

Cimmorro: i huddle towards the others "not particularly skilled in haggling so if one of you wants to try... either way, we can also pool for it" Plum: "i'm also not skilled at haggling" Rokka: ok rokka pulls out 70g and dumps it on nickels hand "that good sir?" Nickel: "oho thank you kindly sir" he pockets into one of his pouches with a smile while giving you a knowing glance

Nickel: he turns to address you all now "if you want to find rickert i suggest you look for a bar called the Cracked Skull, its where him and his gang like to idle around when they're down here. if they aren't on a job in any case, they’re probably busy with people leaving or piling in so you’re bound ta’ find someone whos seen him recently" another smile Psalm: "What are the directions from here?" Nickel: "head around the east dive, its where most of the livelier bars are, place has a big skull drawn on the front of it, hard to miss"

Plum: "oh last thing, when are you reopening your shop after all the, uh-" gestures to people moving around Nickel: he looks down at you "hmmm well right now were relocating our storage and whatnot so..." he thinks for a beat "if nobody comes snooping for us specifically we'll probably be open our doors again within the week, eager to see you then of course" Plum: "right" and then in a more deadpan voice plum says "see you then" Rokka: "thank you good bye!" Psalm: "Thank you kindly." Cimmorro: cimm just leaves fr Nickel: he gives you all a cheery wave "see you again soon"

Plum: theres no way rickert's gotten to level 5 within a week lets beat his ass Cimmorro: little did u know he fought a dragon and got to lv 20

Cimmorro: once we're out the store i'm gonna nudge rokka "i'll pay a part of that gold later. i have no change on me right now" Rokka: rokka looks at cimm "huh? what? no! no, it's fine don't worry about it!! thank you though..." Cimmorro: :/ "it's a group effort right now and i'd like to do my part. nothing more nothing less" Rokka: "i mean...if you insiiiisstttt...." rokka nods and looks around for a bit before looking back at cimm "no rush though!"

The belowground group make their way over towards the Cracked Skull. Back with the rooftop group both Keva and Finn attempt to peer out into the cove for anything of note nearby but both ultimately come up with nothing. Finn finds himself distracted by Han nearly tripping over the roof in the dark while Keva stares back down at the two from her higher vantage point, throwing a small rock at Han’s leg to get the twos attention.

Finn: "looks like you cannot climb anything, the way i do. time to admit it, no?" Han: "i just proved i can climb it easily, what the fuck are you on about" Finn: "tripping over yourself like the oaf you are, ha. you are not just foolish, but also amusing." Han: "i cant see in the da-(VERY MUFFLED SQUEAK OF SURPRISE)" [tracks where the stone came from] then punts finn and goes "whatever, come on" Finn: finn holds a hand over his mouth in fake shock and rolls his eyes. "sure."

The group set out to start snooping around the taller buildings near Renny’s as opposed to just looking out over the streets. Keva manages to keep quiet and not alert people inside as she peers through cracks, she sees quite a few shady dealings occurring but nothing that seems to be related to Cole or Ezra. Finn ends up much the same as Keva, thinking to himself ‘wild that people live here’ as he stares at some guy randomly sleeping on the floor.

Han has less luck than the other two, coming across heavily boarded windows, and even when she can peer through the cracks its too dark inside for her to notice anything. As she stomps about the outside she also gets an ugly glare from one window from an occupant inside. She quickly gives a peace sign and slides down the wall back to the ground while the eyes glare at her all the while.

The three regroup a little dejected, han pouts.

Keva: "maybe we're thinking about this the wrong way" Han: han looks at keva like go on Finn: "i am not sure myself. i wonder if the other team is making any more progress than we are." Keva: "i don't know, there's like uptown and downtown in cities right? maybe there's different part of the withered bone" Han: "renny said it could be north where theres a scaffolding... north should be that way (points), we could try heading there" Finn: cant I fact check on that being north [it is] "let us do that then. I do not see any other leads that we could possibly follow instead."

They decide to make their way over to the northern side of the cove, hopping over the roofs in the dark as they go (han with slightly less reckless abandon). Once arriving in the northern area they split and once again get to searching around the outside of the buildings from the roofs.

Finn comes up empty, these people really like to board their windows shut...it was annoying before but it is also annoying now. Han and Keva have slightly more success, managing to look into a few more rooms, but nothing obvious. Han gets a few more eyes glaring at her every time she passes by some windows, at one point even feeling a knife chucked into the boards at one point in her direction as a response to her unstealthily snooping.

The three regroup with a huff as they discuss their findings, staring about the area. They take note the western side of the cavern wall that they’re now near. It appears to have these spidering scaffoldings heading up to smaller buildings built higher into the walls, but they cant really tell how to get there.

Han: "should we...attempt to go there?" han points to the cavern wall scaffoldings Keva: "do we got time?" Han: han is like ehhhhhhh Keva: "okay well, i'll go back to meet up with the others then to tell them where you are, since we're almost out of time" Finn: "think we'll be fast enough?" finn raises an eyebrow @ han Han: han looks uncertain for a sec but then is like "ye, course" Keva: "right well don't be idiots on the way" and keva's gonna head off Finn: "hmph." finn shakes his head briefly. "let us waste no time."

Keva makes her way quickly back to Renny’s inn and waits outside on the roof, keeping an eye out for the others. The other two begin looking for a way up the scaffolds. Surprisingly in the dark Han finds the leisurely pace she's able to take with the spiderclimb works in her favour, she gets in some reconnaissance. Lower on the ground she sees a few figures in black hoods with gold trim siting at the entrance to the scaffolds keeping watch near a lantern, letting people pass up occasionally every now and again.

Finn slightly less successful simply peers up at the scaffolds, he guesses he could climb up there....its probably fine.... Before he can try anything Han stops him and points at the entrance, indicating if they wanted to climb up they should start further down and away from the guards at the entrance. She leads the two of them out of earshot and the two begin climbing, han switching to her climbers kit halfway through.

They seem successful for a time, though as the two get close to the scaffolding they hear a loud whistle suddenly in their ears. Peering up at the scaffolding they see someone in a similar hood to those at the entrance holding a crossbow staring down at them. Their face shadowed, they aim the crossbow at the two of them and wave it downwards, motioning for them to go back the way they came as a warning.

Han: han whispers "could u keep climbing quietly" Finn: finn looks at her briefly but nods, and keeps climbing up. Guard: the guard looks at you finn and shoots an arrow into the wall above your head

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> 🎵 Pyrates Beware / Assassin's Creed IV OST

Soon after the guard shoots their crossbow Han pulls her piston gear out and goes into freefall, pulling out her own bow and taking two shots at them. One hits, striking the guard in the shoulder before she plummets, the guard grunts out a cry of pain before whipping their glare in finn's directions seeing her now drop.

Psalm: somehow this is still less risky than us sending rokka to go talk to henrick while rickert is there Han: JHFGJTFHDRETRKYGLHUK

Quickly the guard brings a hand up to their mouth again and lets out a longer loud whistle, along the wall suddenly Han and Finn both see lanterns lighting up one by one as she falls. Han quickly cats feather fall on herself before she hits the ground allowing her to land on her feet.

Across the cove Keva in the distance looks out towards the western cavern wall in the dark, there she can see one by one lanterns quickly lighting up across the scaffolds strangely. She quickly jumps to her feet running over the roofs as fast as she can.

Han: everyone playing with me

Finn: I MEAN...WOULD THEY SHOOT ME IF IM BACKING OFF... PLEASE PLEASE IM SO NOBLE POSITION OF PRIVILEGE!!!

Soon after she hits the ground Finn stops in place out of fear, seeing the lanterns light up he drops right after her. She ends up catching him in her arms easily enough.

Han: curses under her breathe in a language u dont understand and then says "time to runnnn" Finn: finn glares at you han. "i should have known better than to count on you for a plan! imbecile!" he also curses in a language you dont understand and hops out of your arms to run himself Han: "i SAID could you get UP THERE qUIETLY and YOU! said YES!!!!!!!!" Finn: "you reassured me youd distract him! ugh! i wouldve expected you to take that lowly guard out swiftly, but no! you are nothing but an oaf!" he grunts

Han skids to halt and attempts to deck finn for the insult but he quickly dodges out of the way as they run.

Finn: finn gasps, offended by your attempt. "you...!! ive no words! baseborn scum!" he cusses at her quite unrestrained and bolts again. Han: "YOU LITTLE UNGRATEFUL, SHIT FOR BRAINS TWIG MAN" Finn: "SUCH A BLOATED BODY BUT NO SPACE FOR THE MOST VITAL ORGAN!"

The two continue bickering until Han spots an alleyway while they're running, tackling Finn into it with her successfully. She grapples him in her hands, whapping a hand over his mouth and casts pass without a trace. He begins shouting grumpily but she quickly tells him to quiet down so the two can stay hidden from the now approaching guards. He reluctantly settles down in her grasp fighting the urge to bite her hand.

The two go deathly quiet, listening in they hear yelling and chatter near the scaffolding begin to ramp up, after a minute or so they hear footsteps run past the alleyway, noting the familiar hoods it appears that they haven’t noticed their hiding spot. After a moment Han releases her hand from Finn’s mouth and makes a shooshing motion, though she still keeps a grip on him as they wait for the guards to disperse.

Han: finn feels hans heart pounding kya Finn: KYA finn just goes wow havent felt one of those in forever

After a time it seems the guards roaming around on the ground have moved on from their area, though the scaffolding is still lit up, seems they're still alerted up higher. Keva also quickly arrives in the area, looking around she sees people in hoods holding lanterns hunting around, though not much else.

Han: han lets u go completely after the noise dies down and says " dont stray too far from me." and starts going making way to rennys Finn: finn tsks at you once again, but is no longer in the mood to start arguments, for once. he follows you.

Keva stares at the group roaming about trying to discern anything about them but they seem pretty covert, she can tell for sure that they're guarding the upper scaffolds down here, and that there seem to be a good number of them. Seeing nothing to do she sighs and heads back over to Renny’s the same time Finn and Han do.

In the meanwhile the other group make their way over to the east dive from nickel's storefront, its easy enough for them to find their way as they remember heading to the area to check out Sammy's abode. As they look around they find what seems to be a populated area of sorts and a few crowded buildings.

Nearby they spot a rickety wooden building with a white skull painted across its front, in front of if a few figures huddled on the front stoop, sounds of chatter and laughter coming from inside. It appears they’ve found the place.

The figures huddled near the door don’t really move as the group approach so they find themselves having to step over and around them to get into the building.

youtube

> 🎵 Bridge to London / Vampyr OST

Entering the busy bar they see a number of seedy looking individuals peppered about, hooded figures and the more overt looking cutthroats and mercs, as well as any other wayward traveller nursing a drink looking for somewhere to lay low. Looking about they don’t recognise most of them, noting a stocky looking bartender behind the bar and a few hired guards standing at the doors, though in the corner of the room they see a smaller group huddled around a table.

Staring closer they recognise them as Rickert and part of his gang, four people sitting around with what looks like nothing better to do, including Henrick. from this distance they can see Rickert angrily arguing with one of the goonies while holding them in a headlock, Henrick looks on wearily taking a sip of a drink while him and the other one try and play cards.

Nervous about talking to Rickert out of disguise, the group all nominate Rokka to head over and get Henrick’s attention so they can talk to him instead while Rickert’s not around. He nervously walks over in his disguised form whistling as the others watch from across the room.

Cimmorro: everyone watches rokka miserably Psalm: miserably is right we owe him the 70 gold after this

Rickert: as you approach you see rickert's head turn up in your direction and squint along with the goon in the headlock. the other two at the table also peer in your direction "...what do ya want?" Rokka: his whistling dies down like those cartoon sounds of a falling missile "uh.......... i uh........... " he looks between rickert and henrick "i saw my old bud henrick!!!!!!! hey!!!!!! henrick!!!!!!!!!"

Psalm: oh yknow i have invisibility we could've gone about this a completely different way how did that slip my mind Plum: I WILL KILL YOU Cimmorro: AOIGJAIWJGAJGADG Plum: you could've whispered surreptitiously in henrick's ear and changed the whole genre of this encounter Psalm: suddenly the rating goes up

Rickert: he glares at you before whipping his head in henricks direction Henrick: he stares at you utterly confused before his eyes widen a fraction, but then he looks confused again "uh..?" Rokka: nervously laughs "HAHA....long time no see buddy!!!" rokka moves to give him a big unintentionally tight hug and whispers in his ear "im psalms friend pleaase come with me emergency" he laughs again when releasing him "MIND IF I BORROW THIS RASCAL FOR A DRINK?" Henrick: he grunts with surprise at the crushing hug, trying to hold onto the cards in his hands "uh-!" he listens to you whisper in his ear and whispers back a "...w-who...?" Rickert: across he lets out a cackle "wow didnt know you actually had friends henrick" Rokka: nervously laughs again and slings his arm around henricks shoulder and gives tight squeeze "YEAH!!! he and i go WAYYY back! thought i would never see him again!!" he begins to pulls henrick away "ANYWAYS!! I'LL BRING THIS GUY BACK TO YA ASAP!! ILL EVEN BUY U A ROUND OF DRINKS!!! LATER!!" moving => henrick Henrick: he lets you drag him away confused "uh- guess ill fold for this round guys" and lets you drag him away from the table, you see rickert look at his hand after he places it on the table and he lets out another cackle

Rokka: quickly says everything in one breath bc hes scared rickert will call him back "remember that tall red tiefling with the group w the lupin and goliath? im the lupin we need ur help please just come im so sorry" and quickens our pace to the grounders Henrick: he nods at you confused as you drag him along "....sure but why are y-" then he turns as hes presented before you all "oh...hello..?" Rokka: heaves a sigh of relief once reaching the group and lets go of henrick "i........brought him.........." Plum: 'yeah, somehow that mess actually worked! good one" Cimmorro: raises a hand like a weak greeting

Rokka: mumbling like "i need a drink" Psalm: "We can do that after, right now maybe we should step outside for a bit?” Rokka: sighs again and slings his arm over henricks shoulder and moves him towards the exit Psalm: "Cheer up Rokka, once we're done with all this you can get me that drink you owe me." Rokka: "aww man i thought you forgot about that!!" blows raspberry Psalm: “you wish”

Henrick: he tilts his head and looks back at rickert scratching his neck “sure though i dont know why…seeing you guys a lot lately huh” his eyes back towards psalm “you just here to hire us again for something?” he yelps as rokka pushes him towards the exist and goes Plum: "hell no" Psalm: "You free for hire? Although my friend's right, not really here for that right now. Kind of on an urgent mission right now actually." Henrick: he tilts his head "ah yeah rickerts always doing whatever pays, i figured you'd know because of your friend here" and he points at cimmorro Plum: "cimm, the fuck does that mean?" Cimmorro: cimm just looks like this O_O???? "excuse me???" Henrick: he squints in confusion “the other day at the pier, you uhh” and he points at cimmorro “hired us to move some crates round the caves, didn’t really know if was you though till we got paid at the end of it though” he gives cimmorro a curious look “was kinda funny to see the boss’ reaction… are bounty hunters fond of hiring people they’re out to grab for odd jobs like that or is he not on the radar anymore…that’d be nice for a number of reasons…..” and he kind of looks away scratching his neck Psalm: Psalm just looks at Cimmorro wide eyed like HUH? Cimmorro: cimm JUST LOOKS AS SURPRISED AS YOU ARE "DONT GIVE ME THAT LOOK. I WAS WITH YOU GUYS THIS WHOLE TIME???"

Plum: "the other day? do you remember how many days ago or so?" Psalm: "Wait you're saying he hired you? *points at Cimm * You're absolutely sure you got a good look?" Cimmorro: "loathe as i am to remember the fact that i've done nothing but hang out with you all but by the goddess" Psalm: "Ok that bits just unnecessary although I get it."

Henrick: he stares at cimmorro and psalm's confused reactions "uh...same day i saw you again actually, kinda strange?" he gives cimm a good stare at your request then turns back to psalm "uhh...yep not many people look like him frankly" Cimmorro: cimm just pinching the bridge of his nose rn Psalm: just pinches his eyes like i have a fuckin headache rn "Mind telling me where you moved the crates?" Henrick: he taps his fingers nervously on his arms "im getting the feeling.... somethings weird here huh" he turns to you psalm "it was somewhere in the caverns, looked pretty nondescript but then so are all drop off points...?" Psalm: "Yeah just a little weird. I'm guessing you don't know what was in them?" Henrick: he shakes his head "nah they were nailed shut, clients can tell easy if you mess around so we didn't bother, though i was curious" Cimmorro: "where were these drop points?" Henrick: he scratches his head nervously "uhh i dont really remember, like i said in the caverns, its a popular place for smugglers to make deals so i dont think much of it" he looks more anxious as the conversation goes on Psalm: “Maybe we should head back inside and see if boss man will know? Amazing, this isn't even what we wanted to find out and yet here we are."

Han: gg henrick u were an unknowing assistant in the plot to turn the whole city to zombieland Psalm: imagine being that guy Plum: moe through helplessness

Attempting to move on from the revelation from Henrick about Cimmorro’s doppelganger, the group then get about to asking what they dragged him over for in the first place.

Cimmorro: "guess i can just waltz in there for a chat later huh.... in any case we're looking for an elf man, pretty large scar on the face? any clue?" Psalm: "Missing a right eye also, was with a blue tiefling before they went missing." Henrick: he tilts his head and thinks "i know a few guys who match that description honestly" as you keep talking his face kinda goes still “….uh….” he starts nervously tapping his hand on his leg “right that guy from the other day….i didn’t get much of a look at him when our base got busted but I guess he’s with you, makes sense…” Cimmorro: "so have u seen him recently... down here?" Henrick: he looks away to stare at the street "uh...dunno, you'd be better off asking rickert..." Cimmorro: STARTS SLOUCHING AS I HEAD TOWARD THE BAR Psalm:* picks you up and throws you into the ring * Henrick: he watches you go nervously and puts a hand to his face with a woeful expression, following after

The group all stroll their way back into the bar as a group and head over to rickert's table, as they do he turns his head in cimmorro’s direction

Rickert: “aha would ya look at that, this ones come slinking round again” eyeballing cimmorro “need us again big boy? the hell d’yall need to transport round caves anyway” as he speaks he takes a sip of his drink Cimmorro: BIG BOY HE SAID Psalm: i hate rickert more than anything

Cimmorro: "haha yeah it's nice to see you too... listen, i'm looking for someone. you remember that elf with a face scar from your base's basement? have you seen him recently down here?" cimm trying to not look as strained as he is rn Rickert: at that his face seems to light up with a wicked glee “the other bounty hunter who chucked that vial of acid right into my beautiful face? hah! yeah i’ve seen the bastard recently actually, though I dunno if I wanna tell ya why or where” and he leans back on his hands whistling “whats in it for me?” Plum: just say i'll make it worth your while Han: do a blowjob motion at rickert Psalm: hhuhuGHURJAF Finn: what happened to cimm usually being so easy going huh, just do the blowjob motion coward

Cimmorro: "aha of course, you son of a gun. you know little ol' me. i'll make it worth your while" Rickert: he hmms to himself before scratching his chin “so charitable of ya, you know i know just the thing, beat me in a game of cards and I’ll tell ya everything you’d ever want to know free of charge, thieves’ honour” he gives you all a smirk as he leans across the table “you lose then you pay me, considering how important this information seems to alla’ you …..lets say 350 gold?” he spits the terms out while smiling Cimmorro: "does it have to be me? i... don't really have to time for cards right now" Rickert: he leans back into the booth lazily "doesn't have to be you, can be any one of your friends, two of you, well go best of three playing kings gambit, you against me and one of my boys. if you're too busy then i guess ya can buzz off and quit wasting my time" he leans forward with a grimace Cimmorro: i look at the rest of you like "well... anyone wanna play cards? guess i'll play if we have no other choice" Psalm: "I'll play as well."

The group however quickly tell Rickert to wait a moment before shuffling over to another end of the bar to figure out how theyre going to cheat, leaving Rokka alone with the gang again. Rickert snorts into his drink with disinterest watching them shuffle off. Rokka quickly looks for an excuse so he can shuffle off as well briefly.

Rokka: yeah honestly rokkkas like hahha...........time to fetch those ales!!!!!!! ahahha crying at his wallet

Cimmorro: [casting guidance] Psalm: "Ok, obviously losing 350 on this guy is a waste, so we're gonna need your help to cheat." Plum: "right i think i can guess what you have in mind' Psalm: "Great, saves having to explain." Plum: "just tell them i went to go report back to some friends wed be late returning to our meet up point or something, if they asked where i went i suppose" Psalm: "Wow you read my mind. As for how to cheat.. well I'm sure you can think of something." Plum: "er... i'll try Psalm: "I guess we can come up with a system for you to check their dice for me." Plum: "maybe i can just draw the number on your palm or something" Psalm: "Fine with me."

Psalm: "Ghester you want to help me cheat here?" Plum: "what the fuck is a ghester" Cimmorro: plum and cimm looking at psalm like elaborate... Now Ghester: you hear ghester laugh in your head psalm "i could only focus on one of them but perhaps if they aren't too quick with their hands" after a minute you hear a voice in your head cimmorro and plum out of nowhere "hello again" Plum: "did one of you just say something?" Cimmorro: "ohhh!!! it's you!!" Ghester: you hear the voice continue cimmorro "yes me" Psalm: "Great, so out game plan can be Ghester you focus on whoever's playing that isn't Rickert, Plum you can take Rickert and maybe write the number in Cimmorro's hand instead of mine. Ghester can just tell me the other guys numbers if.. he can. We can just figure it out like that." Plum: "ghester is that voice i heard just now?" Psalm: "I'll explain after we finish this. But yes." Cimmorro: "you have a lot of explaining to do after this but sure that sounds dope"

The three continue to discuss their means of leverage while Rokka attempts to buy a round of drinks for Rickert’s gang, the chatter and boisterous activity of the bar booming around them. ---

Notes

🐺 Rokka handed 70g to 👛Nickel

The Western Scaffolds are on alert... 🔎

---

「 King Gambit 👑 」 Rules

King’s Gambit has a buy in bet of 5 gold, though in this game with Rickert you'll be using chips.

Each card player rolls 1d8, keeping the die hidden. each player has the chance to raise the bet, call the bet (meet it), or fold. This continues when all bets are equal.

Then each player rolls a 1d6, keeping it secret as well. A final chance to raise, call, or fold. Each remaining player rolls 1d4. They then all reveal the 1d8, 1d6, and 1d4, adding them all together.

The person with the highest total dice number wins the round and takes all the chips. by the end of the three rounds the person who has won the highest amount of chips is the ultimate winner

#recaps #200927

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