December/spring catch-all

[feralheart]

WHO: M-21 and anyone!
WHAT: Open + catchall
WHEN: All spring
WHERE: All over the island
WARNINGS: none, TBA if needed. Plotting here!


i. what do you mean 'consequences'

[ On one specific, highly cursed day this month, M-21 can be found lurking forlornly outside the island's little clinic. An internal war seems to be going on; he takes a grudging step towards the doors, then stalks away again. As if unaware he's doing it, he reaches down to rub irritably at his lower back. Maybe someone's a little less suited for farm work than everyone else? ]

This is so stupid.

[ He shoots a mutinous look up at the sky like he'd like to direct a complaint right to the management but doesn't quite dare. Then he's back to his pacing, with an occasional sideways glance thrown in towards the vet. Or he can be found draped somewhat pathetically over the nearest fence-shaped thing he can find, apparently no longer willing to move.

Help. ]

ii. like herding cats

[ On days when the weather is sunny and cooperative, despite all complaints, M-21 is hard at work in his fields. Reluctant concessions to farmcore have been made to spare what's left of his suit, and a sturdy pair of farming gloves covering his hands well past the wrist spare what's left of his palms from the sub-par farming tools. Things are coming in pretty nicely, especially the new stand of trees. They're full-grown and leafy and already showing a crop of... one fluffy orange kitten with oversized paws perched on a branch, chirruping furiously. ]

You got yourself up there.

[ Rescue? Or wait another few seconds to catch M-21 sighing and stripping off his gloves as he goes to climb a tree for what appears to be the five hundredth time that day. ]

iii. wildcard

[ Catch me on my planning link or PM if you want a starter! I welcome any and all bingos or just chaos. Or just hit me with anything, he'll be Around. ]

Comments

[feralheart]

[ That worked! One(1) seed of understanding has now been planted in M-21's mind, to sprout... maybe. He offers the bottle over to Ellis with a tiny smug smile. ]

Here. It's supposed to be pear. Wanna try, before you ask?

[framestory]

[ Ellis nods. He has a pear tree at his farm because he heard pears were refreshing, so he'd definitely want to try pear cider. He looks around for cups. ]

[feralheart]

[ M-21 might not have had the foresight for a bottle opener, but he wasn't brave enough to share the bottle. He pulls two small stacked cups out of his overstuffed pocket to offer Ellis. ]

[framestory]

[ That's a shame because Ellis wouldn't have thought anything of it. He takes the cup and pours himself some of the pear cider. Ellis briefly wonders if he has to swerve this too, but then he just drinks it. MMmmmmmm...

He gives M-21 a thumbs up. ]

[feralheart]

[ M-21 is a coward with no game. But he does have his own cup of cider now, so that's not nothing. And Ellis likes it, so. ]

Good. That's lucky. Didn't know what you liked.

[framestory]

[ He writes on his notepad after drinking some more. ]

I'm not very picky.

[feralheart]

Yeah. Figured... it might be new either way.

[ So he'll stop fidgeting with his cup and try some too. ...Not bad, yeah. But he's not picky either. ]

[framestory]

[ Ellis likes new things, so he pours himself some more. It's better than he expected. It just feels like pear soda. But right, questions. He looks over at the horizon before writing some more on the notepad. ]

What do you think about stars? Is stargazing fun?

[feralheart]

[ Huh. Easier questions than he expected. M-21 tilts his head back thoughtfully to look up at the sky, although it's too early for the stars to be out yet properly. ]

Hadn't really thought about it much. You can't see them too well in the city. But... I like the outdoors. It feels free. So I guess I wouldn't mind trying it. What about you?

[framestory]

[ Ellis just thinks they're sparkling dots in the sky, but people seem so enamored with the idea of stars and romanticizing them. He just doesn't see the point, but he pretend that he's in awe from time to time. ]

I just wanted to know what you thought about it. A lot of people seem to like it here.

[feralheart]

[ Oh, that's a slightly different question. He frowns a little more as he considers. ]

Probably depends on where they come from. It's peaceful here. Safe. But I can't forget we're all just doing what the goddess wants, either. [ Or what he has waiting for him. It's... complicated. He lets out a quiet sigh. ] You want to get back to your own world?

[framestory]

[ Ellis grins and shakes his head no. Of course not! Why the heck would he want to!! ]

I want to stay here. What the goddess asks for isn't a big deal for me anyway. I don't want to go back, so I don't have to get married either.

[ But he did all those bingo squares so that he could live in comfort. ]

[feralheart]

Yeah. Aside from the marrying, nothing here is that tough. [ He's ignoring the smut squares, and he can't remember if Ellis has them. ] You don't... have people to get back to?

[ It's more digging than he'd usually do. But he can't help but think of Ellis as a little like him. ]

[framestory]

[ Ellis has no smut squares, but he's seen people have them so. Honestly. He thinks he just got lucky.

Ellis just shakes his head no and points to M-21. Does he? ]

[feralheart]

[ His response takes a while. But he finally gives a little nod. ]

There used to be a hundred of us with numbers like me. I'm the last one. But I promised them I'd find all their names. And... I've got a lot to repay the people who took me in.

[framestory]

[ So M-21 has something to return to. He has goals and ambitions—things he wants to do. Regrets. Promises. Ellis doesn't understand the emotional aspect, but he know that it's bad for M-21 to remain here due to all that. ]

Did they all have names that weren't numbers?

[feralheart]

...We must have. Wherever we were from before we woke up there.

[ After a moment's hesitation he tugs up his left sleeve and turns his arm to show Ellis the tattoo of the number on the inside of his wrist. ]

Which was first for you? Fifty, or Ellis?

[framestory]

[ Ellis holds up one finger. "Fifty" was first. He has mixed feelings about the "Ellis" name too, because— ]

The moment I became "Ellis" was when I could no longer go back.

[feralheart]

[ It might be reversed from his situation, but it's enough of a parallel for M-21. He turns towards Ellis more fully, frown deepening. ]

...What happened?

[ If Ellis wants to say, anyway. He doesn't think he needs to specify that. ]

[framestory]

[ It's a lot to explain, and he thinks telling it to M-21 won't be so bad. If it ends up being bad, then he'll just take the consequences. It's fine. It's fine. He's about to tell him a secret that he usually doesn't tell others (with the exception of Gaku, since he had to "blurt it out").

He takes a while, thinking of what to write on the notepad to show him. ]

Do you read books? Watch movies? Do you ever like the characters in those stories?

[feralheart]

[ M-21 makes a noise of agreement, brow furrowing a little. He's not really much of a reader, but he thinks he understands enough to follow Ellis so far, and that's what matters. ]

I watch with the kids sometimes. It's... [ Normal. In the way he likes. He gives a little encouraging nod to continue. ] ...I like seeing them get good endings.

[framestory]

[ M-21 is a good person, unlike Ellis.

Well, it's now or never--though Ellis would have preferred "never", he feels like he can only get the answer that he's looking for with M-21. ]

I'm from a frame story, which is to put it simply, a story within a story. I'm a character from that particular story. The entire world was a story too, created by someone who roams over multiple universes, in a "human chess match" with another one of his kind--an Overseer.

I was a character created by a third party to interfere with one of them. The story doesn't begin with my "birth", so I came into existence as Fifty, a 21-year old deaf person with the power to stabilize one of the Overseer's existences long enough to erase him... as someone who is supposed to bring about "a new beginning".

[ He's sure M-21 remembers the meaning of the numbers. ]

[feralheart]

[ M-21 reads the note over twice, carefully, frowning as he takes it all in. A tiny tsk escapes him when his eyes hit the word "deaf," though Ellis can't hear it. He should have realized that part sooner.

Problems for later. That seems like the least of what Ellis is trying to tell him now. ]

Like my name. And yours was for change and freedom.

[ What it means to be a character when Ellis is as physical as he is, he doesn't know. Or most of this. So he takes the most straight line path of logic through that he can think of. ]

...Did you do it? Is that why you can't go back?

[framestory]

[ Ellis shakes his head no. ]

The Overseer found out about my existence and proceeded to kick me out of the story. I never got to fulfill my purpose--my entire reason for being created. To me, a character that can't fulfill what they were made to do is less than nothing. I'm not even in a story anymore. That's when I became "Ellis".

I'm not real. I'm nothing.

[feralheart]

[ If he were Tao, or Frankenstein, he's pretty sure he would follow more of this. "Real"? What does that even mean? He reaches out and taps Ellis lightly on the arm, like he's waiting to see if his fingertips go through him. ]

...I'm not saying I get it. But if you don't have to do what you were made for anymore, aren't you free?