modblob: (Default)
Mods ([personal profile] modblob) wrote in [community profile] redshiftlogs2019-08-02 02:02 am

august 2019. welcome to the void.

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Second Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of August 2019
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

a. bright spots in the darkness.

The redout and accompanying power outage has been going on for over a week now - even though someone must have managed to get the generators up and running so things are a little less dismal, that doesn't mean that everything is fun and games. The generators are enough to power the essentials, like lighting, the MedBay, resident sat phones, sanitation facilities...basically just the things that make life livable instead of kicking the whole city back to the dark ages.

Sometime during the second week, though, around the end of July, residents might start to notice bright spots in the darkness, mostly around the Agricultural levels. Little bobbing blobs of bright blue or vibrant green or glowing red that move soundlessly through the night, poignantly noticeable because everything else is so dark. At first, and from a distance, they might look like your typical swamp gas fake ghost, little glowing smudges in the darkness. Could be promising...but it could be dangerous too.

If residents are brave enough to head up to the Agricultural levels in the darkness and investigate the source of the light, a mildly harrowing mission, they will find that the source of the glowing is...animals. Barely differing from the usual animals one might see in a daylight in the Agricultural levels, these animals prove to simply be nocturnal versions of the usual animals that might survive in the wild and who have made their homes in the faux forest and grasslands. And when everything else is dark, these creatures roam the night, letting off a curious and almost radioactive glow.

There are, however, a slightly wider variety of these animals, who are descendants of animals exposed heavily to radiation that mutated but did not kill them. While there are the usual deer and wild horses, foxes and monkeys, rodents and insects, there are also domestic creatures that seem to have thrived in their glow-in-the-dark forms where non-glowing ones were picked off by predators. Anyone investigating may find glowing kittens and puppies, domestic mice and rats, snakes that are open to being touched, and even a few more exotic domesticated pets like ferrets, hedgehogs, turtles and foxes. While these creatures are still wild, they are the descendants of domestic stock, and with a little effort and coddling, they might turn out to be passable pets, once they're scanned in the MedBay and found to not give off dangerous radiation.

It's not all puppies and kittens, though. Some of these seemingly predatorless glow-in-the-dark creatures are mutated, just like their regular counterparts, but to a more extensive degree. Keep a close eye out while you're trying to tame that adorable glowing purple kitten, because you might find yourself as the prey to a huge mutated lizard or spider, or maybe an oversized glowing wild warthog.

Nighttime exploring, after all, is for the brave at heart...and comes with pros and cons!

b. nightmare swarm.

As if the mutated glow-in-the-dark creatures in the Agricultural levels aren't bad enough, there's something new in Anchor to cause problems. A couple of weeks after the generator room was opened, strange apparitions start showing up in various places around the city. At first they're nebulous clouds that gather in places where there's strong evidence of past violence - in the upper levels of the city where there's serious fire damage, near the security station, hovering outside the armory or wherever there are burns and gouges into the stone walls of the city. But as the month wears on, the clouds start to take shape, and some of those shapes might be very familiar.

Starting at around August 8th, whenever a resident passes by one of these ominous clouds, it will start to coalesce into a solid form, the particles coming together into a concrete shape - the shape of fear. Whether the particles coalesce into the shape of a monster or villain from a character's homeworld or previous game setting, the nebulous representation of their worst fear, a person or thing from their past that evokes a terrible memory of trauma, or even just a generic horrific monster that would particularly frighten that particular person, it's something that is guaranteed to terrify. Essentially, they will turn into the worst thing that your character can imagine.

And these representations of fear? They're not ghosts, they're not digital afterimages, they're not apparitions or holos. They're real, or at least they feel real, they can do real damage, and they're almost impossible to kill. The best way to survive an encounter with the nightmare swarm? Run fast. Because they're generally confined to areas where the echoes of old violence linger, and the quicker you leave those areas the better. Get into whatever light you can, get somewhere safe, and the fear creature will dissipate back into a nebulous cloud, lying in wait for the next victim.


c. power up.

On August 2nd, the dust storm causing the redout and power outage will subside, and a stiff wind will take its place, washing away about two thirds of the red sand piled up on the dome. This fortuitous change in weather will make it possible to start work on getting the power back up. Residents will be able to exit the city through the usual channels so they can work on clearing the dust out of the various installations outside the city that transform wind and radiation and sunlight into power that keeps the city up and running. After they're cleared off, residents can start to get the power up by making repairs to the dust-damaged computer systems. Thankfully, once the power installations outside the city have been cleared off, an automated computer subroutine will boot up on some of the computer panels in the common areas of the residential quarters, with a user-friendly guide to repairing sand damage to the power system.

Mind you, the user guide assumes that residents have a lot of tools, supplies, and assistant bots that the current population doesn't really have on hand, so user-friendly or not, it's tougher than the system seems to think it is.

Thankfully, there is another option. Anyone with a particularly tech-savvy mind who's encountered the nightmare clouds might have picked up on it already, but the clouds are actually swarms of nanites. Released from the room that held the generators, these nanites were originally intended to conduct repairs on the city (there was a reason that room and those generators were so pristine!) that have been corrupted and are malfunctioning due to the ambient radiation in the city that has only increased since their creation. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of computers (and a very strong spine) could collect a sample of the clouds in one of the containment units from the labs or the R&D area, where the semi-functioning computer can be used to work out what's wrong with the nanites...and fix them.

If characters are able to work this out and deploy repairs to the various swarms around the city, those nanites might be super helpful for fixing some of the malfunctioning tech around the city. Food for thought!


d. the wreckage in the wasteland.

Once the emergency situation with the power is sorted out, residents might become a little curious about what caused all the trouble in the first place. The dust storm was, after all, initiated by a loud crash landing outside the city. With the dust storm abated and the windows in the Observation Area cleared off, residents will be able to see the wreckage of a spacecraft crashed into the ground, several miles out from the city. Far enough away to make it impossible to see any identifying marks, but close enough to be a tantalizing mystery for anyone so inclined.

Adventurous souls will be able to suit up and trek their way out to the site of the crash in the battery Jeeps to see what's going on, risking the rough ever-changing terrain and the possibility of a red shift, to see what might be salvageable from the crashed ship, or just in pursuit of knowledge. Once those characters approach, they will find the hulk of a badly-damaged spacecraft, about as big as a medium-sized cruise ship. The hull is badly burned, with tears in the metal, and it will be obvious to anyone who's got any experience with space travel (or even anyone who's watched enough sci-fi movies) to see that the ship didn't do well on its slow fall through the atmosphere. The metal is melted and punctured, anything that might have extended away from the hull has been burned off and lies in tatters, and the sand around the crash site is littered with metal and plastic debris.

But the one thing that's still possible to tell from the wreckage? It probably came from Anchor.

The ship is pieced together from salvaged materials, the tech will be familiar to anyone who's been in the colony for more than a couple days, and there's even a few corpses of very familiar bots lying in the sand. Approaching a large tear in the side of the hull will reveal a way inside the husk of a ship, giving access to the ship's small crew quarters section. If explorers choose to proceed inside, they'll be able to dig through what few personal items remain and find personal tablet computers and sat phones with their hard drives corrupted but possibly salvageable with the right skillset and the right technology repaired back in Anchor. They will also be able to find a way down further into the ship, though it's dark and clouded with sand and...well, quite menacing.

Because it isn't just the darkness and the danger of the red shift coming while you're trapped down there, or the danger of the ship's hull cracking with the weight of the sand piled up on its shell from the dust storm...but looking into the darkness, there's a flickering bluish glow. Digital and glitchy, it flickers from wall to wall, with the faintest impression of a human form. A face. A hand. The movement of hair or clothing. And then there's the echoing sounds - soft laughter, snippets of childrens' rhymes, unintelligible whispers or mumbles.

Well. Enter at your own risk.


ooc: exploration info.

As you can probably tell, this final prompt is kind of a doozy! While the first level of the ship is available for anyone to explore with the information provided in the prompt, going further into the ship will require mod guidance, via an NPC.

Any questions can be asked in the mod questions thread below, and if your characters have progressed to the point of wanting to explore deeper in the ship, please hit up the NPC request thread with a link to where the NPC should tag in.

Have fun guys!

itsnotaonesie: (it's fiiiiiiiiiiiiine)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-08-21 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
He's a good honest boy, he's not gonna practice too hard on the lying.

"Because I can figure out what it is, and once I do that, I can probably work out a way to get rid of it."

Mid explanation, Peter shimmies on up some of those webs and plants himself upside down on the ceiling, where he gives his fancy containment unit a pat. This is normal.

"See, I found out how to hook this up to the computers, right? I have a lab set up in R&D where I can analyze the contents- once it has contents, anyway. If it's something synthetic, it'll just be a matter of running some sort of diagnostic test on the substance and following some directions. Organic, I'm... not as sure about, but we'll figure it out!"

Hi did you come here to listen to a nerd say nerd shit because that's happening.
deadlycurves: (Default)

[personal profile] deadlycurves 2019-08-21 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't look at me, you created that legacy when you went on the network screaming about shoes and defending the merits of flip-flops to everyone who would listen." Now that he at least somewhat recognizes the guy, Diego can relax, as much as he is ever actually relaxed anyway.

He wonders if the other man is always this high strung. He really hates the empathy the last world he was in had dumped on him, taking in other people's emotions is a little torturous at times. Especially when it's like this. He can feel it, prickly and hot against his skin; a hammering thud in his chest: The too-bright, too-loud panic taking up residence in his chest.

Except Diego doesn't process panic the way most people do, any unwelcome thing is usually filtered through anger instead. Especially things he looks at as being perceived as weak. Fear, panic, they're fine in other people, but in himself, he has a certain standard he likes to hold to and when that isn't held? Well.

"Can you calm the fuck down? It's gonna be fine." There's the smallest waver in his words and he just prays Jeff doesn't notice. He probably wouldn't, right? Too busy in his own head or something.
benhargreeves: (:( sad)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-21 10:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's a hard thing to watch, Peter trying to brace himself and stand up, unable to do it because of the pain. Ben's small smile doesn't disappear when he sees it, but it does turn sad around the edges. He bends down to help haul Peter up, supporting as much of his weight as he can but trying to be as gentle as possible. No matter how gracious Peter is about it, that pain is still on Ben. His responsibility.

Still, he doesn't think another apology will make either of them feel any better about it, so he proposes instead: ]


The containment unit is secure, though, so you don't exactly need to start analyzing it right away...

[ It's just putting off the inevitable and he knows it, but Ben continues: ]

There's gotta be some way to catch a movie in this place, right? Or we could- well I don't know, but you said next time we should bond over some less depressing shit, and I don't know about you, but I think, maybe... a break might be good.
benhargreeves: @malagraphic (? listening)

sorry this took so long!

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-21 10:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's just a different in dialect or diction or some word like that, but Ben's stomach does a little happy flip when this stranger he just met calls him friend. Pathetic? Maybe. Good thing he's never going to tell anyone! Eventually the thrill of people being able to hear him, and talking back to him, must wear off, right?

He is glad that it's not his particular presence causing a problem here, and happy that Kieran doesn't tell him to go. The horse is beautiful - somehow the glowing only enhances that, the subtle gradations in color in the luminous parts of her hair. Ben stays looking at her even as he hears, and sees from the corner of his eye, Kieran coming closer to him. ]


Ben Hargreeves.

[ And, moving slowly, he holds out a hand for Kieran to shake, tearing his eyes away from the horse long enough to look at him. He prompts Kieran for his name: ]

Nice to meet you...?
Edited 2019-08-21 10:55 (UTC)
benhargreeves: (! rescue)

sorry for the delay!

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-21 11:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ben is right on Julie's heels; he only stops when she stops, even though he's pretty sure they've been in the clear for a little while now. He didn't have enough breath to shout that to her and besides, he's not sure she would have listened. So he keeps on until she stops and he does too, hand at a stitch in his side, made all the worse by the lingering pain from having used his powers even for just a moment.

He sees her pull out an inhaler and feels a flicker of worry - one that only gets bigger when she puts it away without actually taking any of the medicine. He's pretty sure that's not how it's supposed to work.

First, though, explanations. ]


That thing- wasn't real. I mean, it was real- it would've fucked us up if we'd- given it a chance but it- they're shapeshifters. Reads your head and mirrors your fears. They're confined to- certain areas. Turn into these weird clouds when no one's around to- to attack.

[ He gets out the information the best he can around his gasps as he regains his breath. It's a bit of a jumble but he tries to get all the important parts out, so she knows it won't pursue them further, that this isn't an invasion of weird skeletal creatures but something else. ]

Are you okay? Are you hurt, are you sure you don't need- ?

[ He gives a little gesture to the pocket where she'd returned the inhaler. ]
Edited 2019-08-21 11:08 (UTC)
benhargreeves: (:( bloody history)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-21 11:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Before he'd come to this place - before this precise moment - Ben hadn't quite realized how much he's been avoiding dealing with any of this. He had thought, naively, that he'd processed it maturely and put it away, that he was miles ahead of his siblings like that. The only one who got over it and moved on. But really, all he'd done was taken those messy, scared, awful feelings around their father and buried them, intact. Now, running into him like this, it is like the world has taken a shovel to that shallow grave. So much easier to lecture other people about their coping mechanisms. So much easier to be detached and mature and recovered when he was a ghost and everything was numb and separate.

His breaths come in shallow little gasps, and he wants so badly to believe Diego. Turns to Diego only, face pleading, wanting to be rescued. Logically, he could just walk away. Nothing is physically preventing him. But he can't move his legs. And Reginald does not stop. The words are familiar ones, to Ben. Etched into his brain the way water carves a path through stone over time, wearing away at it little by little. ]


You are an abomination, Number Six. We have discussed this. Evil lives inside you. It is a part of you and always shall be. Since it is sadly not possible to change your wretched nature, you must learn to exercise constant, perfect control. I have taken the time to craft a regimen that will teach you to do that. Must I remind you what will happen if you fail?

[ Ben hangs his head and gives it a tiny shake. He doesn't need to be reminded, doesn't want to be. Even with his eyes closed now, he is hyper aware of Diego's presence. That he is hearing this. Hearing the sorts of things their father would say when it was just the two of them alone. He'd only ever told Klaus, about this part. Never the others. Never Diego. And now, all Ben thinks is that he's going to hear it and understand how true all of it is, and always has been. ]

Containing that darkness is your responsibility, Number Six. Weakness is not an excuse. Come with me this instant or I shall have Pogo fetch Number Seven and bring her to the training room. Do you want that?

[ And then Ben isn't thinking about Diego, anymore. Doesn't remember that he is an adult and his father is dead and they are in the Anchor a million miles and a universe away from that old mansion. Ben's face crumples even as he struggles to hold in his tears and he shakes his head, hard. This wasn't a trick Reginald had had to pull very often - threatening to bring one of his siblings in and punish Ben by making him use his powers to hurt them. He'd never had to carry it out, but the mere threat of it had been enough to overcome his objections, to force him into compliance. ]

No.

[ This version of Reginald reaches out, sets a hand on Ben's shoulder to steer him firmly away from Diego, and he doesn't resist, coming along the way he'd always come along while he was still alive. He'd never rebelled, like Five, like Diego, like Klaus in his own self-destructive way. ]
sleepyhollowed: (EXCUSE ME SIR???)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-08-21 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[MISSION SUCCESS.]

Yeah, cookin' ain't exactly my strong suit neither.

Yer friend may hafta teach us a thing or two.

Unless it's some secret recipe she doesn't wanna share. Folks get squirrelly about that kinda thing.
Edited 2019-08-21 17:31 (UTC)
itsnotaonesie: (it's fiiiiiiiiiiiiine)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-08-21 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Peter's had worse, this is fiiiine. Once he's on his feet he actually is doing much better, and he gives Ben a friendly and hopefully reassuring clap on the shoulder.]

A break does sound pretty great, and I bet whoever was here before had some kind of entertainment laying around. Aside from like, the library and the intimacy lounge. ...I'm gonna stop there before I make this weird.

[He pauses, kneeling down carefully and grabbing the containment unit by some of the webs he'd cocooned the damn thing in, and then slings it up onto a shoulder. Y'know, as if it didn't weigh a couple hundred pounds.]

Gonna have to take a rain check, though. The sooner we can figure out what this stuff is, the sooner we can find a way to keep this [He makes a general sweeping gesture with his free arm,] from happening to anyone else.

itsnotaonesie: (all about how)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-08-21 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[BIG SUCCESS. Now Peter's just doing that awkward fidgeting with his fingers while he chats thing, which is way better than having the sads]

She might be okay with teaching us, I'll have to ask her. I don't think it's like some kind of big secret recipe or anything, though? All she really said about it was that it's her favorite, and that her step-mom never made it right.
Edited 2019-08-21 22:39 (UTC)
livingdeadgirl: (shock 1)

did somebody say nightmare fuel

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2019-08-22 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
For the past little while, Ami's been cautiously exploring parts of the station and trying to make herself useful, and today this process happens to lead her to the medbay. Peter told her earlier that it was down here, but she hasn't dropped in till now, since she's neither a patient nor a doctor. She's not sure what to expect from it - something like a Star Trek sickbay, maybe?

What she's not expecting is that noise. She doesn't recognize it, but it sends a chill down her spine just the same. It came from inside the medbay. Is someone hurt? Wary, she pokes her head through the door, and sees -

a monster.

Vaguely humanoid, but only vaguely, and bristling with so many mechanical bits that she can't be sure it's not just a robot. She's been warned about a lot of Anchor's hazards, but robot zombies (roombies?) were not among them.

Her first instinct is to flee, but then she spots Shepard, with that thing between her and the door. If Ami runs now, she might be leaving that lady to die.

The decision makes itself. She glances around for something - anything she can wing at this abomination - and finds it in a bent metal canister near the door. Without thinking, she ducks into the room and picks it up. "Oof-" Heavier than it looks! Too heavy to throw, so she swings it instead, and it connects, striking the monster squarely in the thigh.

It doesn't do any damage to speak of, but the thing's head - what's left of it - jerks in her direction. Startled, Ami drops the tank with a loud CLONG, and shrieks, "Run!"
enveloped: (adam-rayner-tyrant-2487221)

I.

[personal profile] enveloped 2019-08-22 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
The red-out has been keeping Cam busy. Now that the colony is operating on life-support, not to mention plagued by hungry, previously captive creatures looking for a hot meal, survival has become significantly less comfortable-- and probable.

Cam can handle the various monstrosities. He's seen real horror, and it had a human agenda. Putting a bullet between the eyes of a mutant deer is less challenging than ensuring the rich and corrupt pay for their crimes. Whether it's by dragging them to court, or burying them.

What's making Cam truly nervous right now is the red-out itself. There are flickers of light, here and there, but there are long stretches of corridor in full darkness, and what does come through the dome drenches the colony in red. In spite of making it difficult to see, not to mention messing with the power supply, the red, filtered light, casts barely any shadow.

Shadows are the source of Cam's power. He is a manipulator of shadow, not a creator. Whether in pure blackness or bright, ambient light, without a cast shadow he has nothing to manipulate. That leaves Cam vulnerable, and there's nothing he fears more.

Traversing the colony, he's done his best to stick to well-lit areas, not to mention stay armed and ready for trouble. Cam doesn't like using a gun, but that doesn't mean he won't should the need arrive. He doesn't need to enjoy shooting, or have any natural talent to be an experienced marksman. All it takes is putting a couple hours a week into the local range... for the past decade.

Of course when he hears someone screaming for help, it's from the park, an area he's been avoiding due to its depth. As the lowest level of the colony, it's also the darkest-- and what light does reach the area is extremely muted.

And of course that person screaming for help is Jeff Calhoun, stuck in a tree, holding onto what looks like a small, furry animal doused in day-glo paint, surrounded by multiple toothy creatures looking for an all-American snack.

Cam doesn't say anything, preferring not to reveal his position. He tries to catch Jeff's eye instead, holding a hand up to discourage him from reacting. Like the dumb-ass he is.

A deep breath, tongue tracing his inside cheek, and he summons Zil. A shade of a shade, in comparison to his shadow's usual darkness. Thankfully he has enough matter to be tangible, and that's all Cam needs for the time being. Something to crash through the woods, make noise, and distract them from the tree and the fool in it.

Unfortunately, the distance his shadow can make under these circumstances is limited. The best Cam will get is a few yards away, before the rich darkness beneath the heavy tree cover obstructs his effort. It's a small window, but it's a window.

Cam breathes deep, and signs the instruction to Jeff from his cover to run as soon as the opportunity arises. Then, remembering Jeff isn't military, or anything near useful in this situation, simply glares and gestures widely with his hand to GET DOWN FROM THAT TREE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.
oldbookshop: (YOU CANNOT KILL ME NO)

III; [muffled shrek 2 cover of 'i need a hero' in bg]

[personal profile] oldbookshop 2019-08-22 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
Aziraphale is against violence on a sort of general scale. Call it part of the job description (although, well, he seems to be the only one for whom it became just that). He would, however, be lying if he said violence is never necessary, never allowable. He was prepared to employ it to stop the end of the world, after all, and the thing about giving a sword to humans to defend themselves with is that there's... only one real way that it's likely to be employed in that pursuit.

In this case, he doesn't actually spend time thinking and considering and convincing himself of his own personal stance on the matter. Rather, he does what he's been doing all his life: acts on sympathetic impulse without giving the situation any real thought at all. Because these incidents have tested his patience and he is done with the testing. It's-- it's needlessly cruel, is what it is. He is an angel. Looking out for the wellbeing of humanity is what he was made to do.

So naturally, Aziraphale rolls up to the scene and starts whacking this thing with a very sturdy and stylish tartan umbrella.

Could he have miracled up a hammer or crowbar or actual weapon of some kind? Certainly. But that would require being in possession of the one brain cell he shares with Crowley, obviously. Last he checked, Crowley needs it more right now. Anyway, when it's mostly a matter of stopping someone from being strangled, does the tool one uses really matter?

"That," he says, trying to sound more competent and badass than nervous, and failing (because he is almost always nervous about something as a rule), "is quite enough of that!"

SO THERE.
bythehand: (PLEASE MURDER FASTER)

[personal profile] bythehand 2019-08-22 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Finn is bad at jokes and a dumbass. All of his friends and acquaintances are able to prove it. Many of them are also bad at jokes and dumbasses, though, so.

He personally hate rathtars. They're just big dumb mindless murderous tentacle meatballs who tend not to be easy to kill. His stance on nanite-recreated murderous tentacle meatballs remains to be seen, because he's seen and heard enough out of these nanite things to know they still pack a hell of a punch.

There is still something very... "well at least there aren't real ones roaming the corridors" about it. Small mercies. His face doesn't say small mercies, it says like, "oh shit." But in spirit, it's nice to get a lucky break. ]


Working with it sounds good! I like the sound of working with it!

[ If he gets eaten he's gonna be so mad. ]
oldbookshop: (oh....... oh thank you)

[personal profile] oldbookshop 2019-08-22 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, the bad news never ends. It's one of the worst things to be Same Hat about. Everyone is already trapped here for reasons yet unknown. A home is a terrible thing to lose on top of that.

Sympathy breaks over him like an especially large egg. They'd probably call him a bit of a bleeding heart, upstairs. He doesn't see how any of them turned out not to be. ]


Oh, likewise, dear boy. I'm so sorry to hear it. If there's anything you need while we're here, at least, do let me know. [ Even if there isn't much he can do to ease old wounds, that doesn't mean he should wallow in his own and not even try. Aziraphale resolves to bear that perspective fresh in mind, going forward.

At the very, very least, it's awfully rude to stay knowingly oblivious. ]


In the meantime, I would... if you don't mind the company, I'd like to help. As much as I can. I've done a bit of restoration before, and I'd hate not to put it to use where it's, well, where it's useful.

[ If he works a couple of minor miracles into the mix in the process, all the better to ensure some knowledge for everybody here. This young man has been very enamored of the texts here, from what he's seen. It's a win-win. ]
sleepyhollowed: (STILL GOT MY BALLS WOO)

no worries!

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-08-22 04:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kieran's pretty good at reading subtle cues through body language and underlying vocal tones. It's part of what makes him good with horses and part of how he's managed to make it to his early 20s despite being surrounded by angry outlaws. His keen intuition doesn't cover all aspects of his fellow humans' condition, though, so he can't really tell that Ben's stomach is happily flipping at the implication of his words.]

[Frankly, if he could tell? He wouldn't judge the guy at all. He can't, not when if someone were to show him even an iota of that kindness, he would've reacted the same exact way.]


Kieran Duffy.

[His grip isn't strong, but it's there as he pulls his hand away, palms rough but warm.]

Pleasure's mine, Ben.

[He grins and motions his head towards the horse, still not making eye contact with her as she settles down in the presence of these two strangers.]

So, yer a city boy, then?
sleepyhollowed: (peak nerd glow)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-08-22 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh good. The two good awkward boys can be fidget friends, too.]

[Kieran drops his arm from Peter’s shoulders now that his distraction’s worked.]


Hey, maybe we’ll do better than her step-mom. Only one way to find out, right?

[Talk about false hope. There’s no chance these two chucklefucks will even get the first three steps right.]
itsnotaonesie: movieconnoisseur (super hero pose)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-08-22 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's all good, Peter's bad at jokes and a dumbass too. It's fiiiiiiiiiine.

The good news is they don't need to kill the mindless murderous tentacle meatball, they just have to catch it. Peter drops from his web and charges the meatball, leaping over Finn and webbing it's weird mouth up. Well mostly the webs end up inside it's big, freaky mouth, but it seems to be doing a pretty good job of gumming up it's chompyworks. For now.

Like a little showoff, Peter bodyslams the thing, and then leaps off of it to stick to the ceiling again. The rathtar does not find this amusing, and is throwing a tentacle swinging hissy fit.]


I think I made it annoyed!
itsnotaonesie: (turned upside down)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-08-22 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[These two chucklefucks are going to burn the entire goddamn kitchen down aren't they spoilers they ARE]

There's no way this is gonna end in disaster.

[And off they went to ruin everything.]
benhargreeves: (:( sad)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-23 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ben wrinkles his nose at the phrase intimacy lounge. Personally he's not sure he'd really classify that as entertainment but he gets what Peter means. And he gets it, too. That the way Peter is handling this situation is going headlong into it, wanting to solve it and understand it as soon as possible. Ben knows it's almost certainly objectively the best thing to do. There could be further danger to others.

But right now, he's feeling so shaky and wretched from the encounter - physically, but moreso emotionally - that all he wants to do is hide from it. Escape in some way into some imaginary world so he can get out of his own brain just for a few minutes and forget that he'd nearly watched another version of himself rip Peter Parker in two. That had always been the way he coped growing up, and the same impulse is there.

So, rather than offer to go with Peter, to help in some way despite his lack of knowledge of technology, Ben rubs the back of his neck, and the silence during which he does not offer help is almost palpable. After that strained pause, he asks: ]


Will you- let me know as soon as you figure anything out?

[ He's being cowardly and he knows it, but all Ben wants now is to retreat and hide himself away, wallow a little in his self-loathing without anyone there to see. ]
Edited 2019-08-23 00:40 (UTC)
benhargreeves: (! rescue)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-23 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
"You're real."

Ben doesn't hesitate to give that answer; there's no confusion in his head over it, no flickers of doubt or anything like it for Cole to pick up on. There's a lot of stuff Ben struggles with, but questioning his perception of reality isn't one of them. He knows he is sane and he knows that Cole is real, according to his definition of real.

And he knows that the sooner he gets Cole's real ass out of here, the better. Luckily, he seems willing to be steered, and Ben has gotten him a little ways away when that illusion starts murmuring cryptic nonsense again. Ben's stomach goes cold hearing what it says, knowing the nature of these things, that these words are doubtless sinking into Cole like knives. But Ben is just removed enough from context that they are comparatively easy for him to dismiss with a tsssk and a loud:

"You're right, Cole. It's not you. It's just some fog with a bad attitude trying to get in your head. Go make overblown villain speeches at somebody else, you dumb cloud, we're not buying it."

With a sudden lurch of terror Ben notices a second late that Cols is starting to turn, look up, just a bit. Sharply, he whispers, "Hey. Just focus on me okay? I'm getting you out of here." And he is walking faster, now, dragging Cole along, less careful not to be rough. A bruise, Cole could get over. If he looks at this thing he might drop dead even if it is just a mimicry of the real thing.
bardish: 40s; SCD (scd482)

[personal profile] bardish 2019-08-23 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
While Jeff might object to being thought of as a dumbass, he totally almost does just what Waltz fears he might. Really, if it wasn't for the hand signal of SILENCE, the chances of him abruptly speaking up and inadvertently directing the monsters' attention to Waltz would have been... well, embarrassingly high.

It's not that Jeff's an idiot, it's just that the entire concept of strategy is totally alien to him, much like these wild (alien) animals, and this high tech compound on another (ALIEN) planet.

But to his credit, he just clutches the puppy closer to his chest and watches in silence as some dark shadowy something seems to extend from Waltz. He squints, trying to make out what it might be, but it's so dark here, and maybe his eyes are just playing tricks on him. Leave it to Waltz to have some kind of confusing mindfuck of a Gift.

He's almost as distracted by it as the boar-monsters are, but luckily, Waltz's impatient hand gesturing is so powerful that he can practically feel the other man glaring at him. Geez, even when he's playing the rescuer, Cameron Waltz is such a jerk!

Stuffing the puppy into his shirt as best he can, Jeff climbs down out of the tree, trying to find that sweet spot between silent and totally hauling ass. He only spares one quick look at where the boars have run off to before racing to join Waltz in relative (very relative) safety.
itsnotaonesie: (turned upside down)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-08-23 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
[There is absolutely no judgement on Peter's end. Obviously all that shit that had just happened was bugging Ben, and Peter didn't want to push him to do anything else if he wasn't feeling up to it. He wasn't really feeling super up to it himself after what he'd seen earlier, but he's gotten pretty good at smashing his feelings down and pretending that everything is fine for the sake of the greater good. As much as he'd rather be chilling and watching a movie or back in his room smushing his face into Poison's cats, he was going to go get his ass to work. Because if he doesn't, and something bad happens to someone else, it would be his fault.

It wouldn't actually be his fault, but this is his mindset. That's super healthy, right?

SO, with a gentle smile, he gives Ben's shoulder one more squeeze before he starts to head off with his weird web cocoon.]


Absolutely, man. I'll let you know. I'm putting you on movie duty, though! If you find anything at all, we are so watching it.

[He's half kidding, but maybe giving Ben a task for when he's done wallowing in self-loathing will be good for him? Who knows.]
benhargreeves: @iconned (:) glee)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-23 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ben would put down the 'dear boy' as a meaningless linguistic quirk, not really indicating any kind of genuine warmth, but the thing is that this stranger seems like he really means it. Which takes Ben aback. Sure, he had been offering his own authentic sympathy and help moments before, but he has more experience being on the giving end of that than the receiving end, and it feels... odd. Good? Strange, certainly. He's not someone who has been shown a great deal of warmth in his life and so it's a rather confusing experience.

So he's glad that Aziraphale says he would like to help get the library in order. He is a firm believer that having some kind of project, something to focus on and help with if possible, is an underrated form of medicine. The only reason he'd gotten through all those years as a ghost was Klaus, and trying to keep him company and help him in any way he could. So he hopes helping restore this place will do the same for his new friend over here.

Ben smiles, sudden and infectious, and offers Aziraphale his hand to shake. ]


I don't mind the company, and I don't know anything about restoration, so I'd welcome the expertise. Ben Hargreeves, by the way.

[ He nods his head in the direction of the bookshelves, more than half empty, and the stacks and stacks of books resting on various low tables. ]

There's plenty to do. I've been working on making a full catalogue of everything we've got here. Lots of it is in other languages, though. Do you speak any other languages?
Edited (hit enter before i was done! curses!) 2019-08-23 02:52 (UTC)
benhargreeves: (? are you kidding)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-08-23 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ben remains mostly still, but unconsciously mirrors Kieran, allowing himself a little more movement. Kieran really seems to know what he is doing, and the horse isn't getting any more scared as far as Ben can tell, so that's good.]

All my life.

[ There's a little curl of a smile at the corner of his mouth, a private joke with himself in that answer. He'd been a city boy all of his afterlife, too. That was mostly because Klaus wasn't going to leave the city and Ben wasn't going to leave Klaus. He wants to ask Kieran whatever the reverse of the question is, but stumbles in his own head over the wording. Country boy seems insulting and wrong. Rural is so cold and detached. Eventually he just shrugs and adds: ]

Not a place like this, though. Everything here, the technology - it's a lot more advanced than I'm used to.

[ Though he might be a little closer to it than Kieran is based on his clothes. Then again, who can say? Just because he looks old timey according to Ben's sense of what the past looks like doesn't mean that's true wherever Kieran is from. Maybe they've got teleporters and laser guns AND horses and cowboy-looking fashion. Weirder things have happened. ]

You... work with horses?
killedwithlove: (Lost Boy)

[personal profile] killedwithlove 2019-08-23 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Ben's certainty gives Cole strength. Ben knows he's real and if a mortal (is he really mortal, the things in him aren't and they are him, in a way) knows he's real, then he must be.

"Just the Nightmare," Cole echoes, agreeing with Ben's sentiment. "Not me. Just it." He looks at Ben, meets his gaze and holds it and remembers Rhys, letting him make the choices and how much easier it was when the darkness was too much.

"I never meant to hurt them. I thought I was helping them. I didn't understand that killing them was causing other hurts, other problems." He keeps walking with Ben, not looking back. "I wasn't like that. They wanted to die and I wanted to help them, to let them know they weren't alone with their suffering like Cole was."

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