Whispers from the Deep - Biplanes & Bisexuality

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Character Sheets
  • Informational


    • Character Sheet
    Isabelle Morgenthau
    A Fisher

    Isa (right) and her boyfriend Arren (left)

    Hard Keen Calm Daring Wild
    +4 -2 +4 +1 -1
    Moves
    Creepy: When a comrade sees you perform a ritual, overhears your prayers, or sees signs of your alienness, they lose Trust in you. Once they learn one of your Moves, they are no longer affected, but they gain Creepy as well.
    Deep Ones: You can call on your patrons to Help you on a roll. On a 1, you Break after this mission.
    Blessing: When you dab fresh blood on a piece of working equipment, roll +Calm. On a 16+, take both. On an 11-15, choose 1.
    • Take +1 Ongoing with this item this Routine. (+1 Handling for a plane)
    • The item cannot break or be lost this Routine. (+1 Armour on 1 Section of the Plane.)
    On a miss, you need a bigger sacrifice. Don't disappoint.
    Ideomotor Response: Your plane effectively has a programmable autopilot. It does not have to be switched on and off; it "knows" when you are behind the controls.
    Soul-Bound: When you paint a rune in blood on an aircraft, you are linked. While in flight, you can take incoming Structure damage as Stress, 1-1. You can take a hit that would strike a Component as Injury, or give incoming Injury to your Engine.
    Bond: (Witch move learned from Wulf) When you hold an object of significance and make an emotional connection to it, take 1 Stress. The object becomes a magical Focus, and you learn it's Nature (Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Iron, or Blood).
    Contemplation: When you draw a ritual circle and stay within it, roll +Calm. On a 16+, you come out of it about an hour later refreshed; strike 3 Stress or 2 Injury. On an 11-15, it takes the whole night, and you're unreachable in that time.

    Mastery
    The Bushwack
    Ambush Predator: When you strike an enemy who is unaware of your presence, roll with Advantage.
    Forced Evade: When you fire to scare an opponent off, spend 1 ammo and roll +Hard. On a hit, instead of dealing damage, choose one: Target dives 1, target climbs 1, target loses speed in a forced turn. On a 16+, roll attack dice on them anyway.
    Momentum: When you dive onto a target, add +1 AP.
    Scissors Snip: When you disengage, give an ally +3 towards dealing with your target.

    Familiar Vices
    - Drinking
    - Prayer
    - Dancing

    Vice Progress
    - Breaking Stuff: ☑☐☐
    - Cannabis: ☑☐☐

    Intimacy Move
    When you are intimate with another, choose one of you to get a hold. They can spend that hold to give the other a command: if followed, then forward to their next +Stat move, they will always score at least a partial hit, regardless of what the dice say.

    If you use this move in the air, there are two holds, and they can be distributed however you agree.

    The Company
    People
    • Isabelle (Fisher): The PC. She's out to find her way in the world. 1 thaler per Routine.
    • Arren (NPC- Confidant/Observer): Your cute fish boyfriend. Artist and recently trained observer. 1 thaler per Routine.
    • Wulf (Witch): Former bandit leader. Actually half wolf. Hot as hell. Ex-Goth. 1 thaler per Routine.
      • Hard +3, Keen +3, Calm -2, Daring +0, Wild +3 (Avenger)
    • Minna Hammerl (Soldier): Inexperienced but highly trained soldier and passionate duelist. Speaks all formal-like. The most beautiful woman in the world. 1 thaler per Routine.
      • Hard +4, Keen +1, Calm +2, Daring -2 (Professional)
    • Heinrich Engel (Student): Political science student working on his thesis-slash-manifesto.
    • Anny Meldgaard (NPC - Mechanic): A young half-Fischer, half-Himmilvolk woman from Piav, trained by the mechanics there. Looking for adventure and her origins. Blushes red?
    Aircraft
    • Isa & Arren's Plane: A Teicher Möwen seaplane. Steel frame, liquid-cooled engine. Deeply possessed. 1 thaler per Routine.
    • Fang Howl: Wulf's helicopter. An experimental pre-war model. Liquid-cooled radial. Three wolf moon. 1 thaler per Routine.
    • Pup: Wulf's Kreuzer Skorpion prototype retrieved from a sealed hanger. Gets a lot out of an underpowered engine.
    • Minna's Kobra: An inline-engine powered, wood framed fighter. All around an excellent machine. 1 thaler per Routine.
    • Heinrich's Reconstruction: A canard plane with a 30mm cannon in the nose. Awkward and unstable but hits like a train. 1 thaller per Routine.
    ​
    Stress XP
    3 7
    ​
    Cash Expenses
    41 10.5
     
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  • Informational
    • Confused blinking. I never knew I needed fish people worshiping Cthulhu while flying planes, fighting the good fight and being genuinely adorkable. But now I know. And this is great.
     
    6-2: Don't Take The Stitcher Honey
  • Threadmarks
    • You stared down the sights of your pistol, centered over the head of the woman you were pretty sure was their leader.

    "She isn't Greifenburg now, is she? She's mine. My minnow. That's my squadron's colors on her jacket, my roundel on her plane, and my pilot you just stabbed. You want to talk about getting payback and justice for what you lost to her city? Then I should shoot you all for that hamlet you just shot up. So. You are going to disarm, pay me compensation for injuring my pilot, and leave this town, or you're going to face either my bullets or the wrath of my Gods. What'll it be?"

    There was a silence, punctuated by Minna's short, sharp breaths as she tried to stay conscious. Finally, the Red Talon leader nodded.

    "Okay. We're going. Everyone, out. To the planes, come on."

    The group shuffled out, beckoned on by your firearms, shedding their gun belts along the way and discarding them in a trail behind them. You left Arren to tend to Minna and followed with Wulf. When they got to their planes, you had them cut their ammo belts before they left. Soon, the engines were starting up and they were taxing out.

    You took your compensation in the form of the bills left on the table and in the various gun belts. When you reentered the bar, there was a short, plump middle-aged woman there with auburn hair and an apron. You guessed from her bag she was the town doctor. She had Minna's jacket and shirt pulled open, and you saw that bright red blood rolling off her dark skin. Arren was there, holding her hand while distinctly looking away to preserve her modesty.

    "How bad is it, doctor? It feels bad..." Minna said. She was already sounding a little woozy: you guessed she'd been drugged already.

    "It could be worse, sweetie, it could be worse. Boy, hold this in front of her mouth."

    "What is it?" Minna slurred.

    "It's powder, and you're going to want to inhale it. Just breathe deep for me, okay?"

    "I don't want to." Minna said, moving her head away. "It smells bad." Gods, were you like this on the drugs?

    "Trust me, unless you want to bleed into your lungs, you're going to want to."

    She did, and coughed weakly afterward.

    "Doctor, am I going to be able to fly tomorrow? It is important..."

    "Pilots, all of you. You have a six-inch deep wound just under your sternum, sweetheart. You're bleeding a lot and the blade nicked some important things. You need a week off your feet."

    "I cannot! Please!" Minna said.

    "Minna, it's alright, we'll figure out-" You stopped as she snapped a look of pure despair your way.

    The doctor sighed. She'd clearly been here before. "Look, I can get you in the air tomorrow, but I will warn you. It will be the most painful thing-"

    "Do it." Minna said.

    "- the most painful thing you've ever experienced, don't interrupt your doctor. I can promise you, it'll hurt more than you can stand and it'll last hours. You sure?"

    "Please." She begged.

    "Okay. Honey?" She indicated to Arren. "Grab the leather strap out of my bag and put it in her mouth. You're going to want to bite on it, okay? It's better to bite on it than on your jaw or your tongue. If you start to pass out, don't try to fight it. This stuff doesn't care if you're awake or asleep."

    Minna nodded. There were already tears in her eyes. The doctor took up a small metal syringe applicator and held it above the wound.

    "We call this stitcher's honey. It's from a form of terrible parasitic wildlife. It will heal you, but you won't like it. Last chance." Minna didn't fight it, so the syringe went against the wound and something thick and yellow-green was sprayed in. Minna winced, but nothing seemed to happen for a moment.

    Then you could tell the exact moment the pain started. It was so bad even the whispers felt it, hissing at you to know why somebody was hurting so. Minna tensed hard for a minute, tears in her eyes, a scream bubbling out from behind the strap, and then suddenly just went limp. You briefly worried that she'd died.

    "Oh thank the goddesses." The doctor said, putting the syringe in her bag. "I hate it when they stick it out. Okay, kids, gather around."

    You were mildly annoyed at being called a kid, but you did so anyway.

    "She's going to be healed in ten hours, give or take. It's going to be the worst ten hours of her young life. If she's lucky, she'll be able to sleep through some of it. She's then going to feel like shit for a little while. Don't leave her alone, even for a minute, okay? All of you, get her to a bed now. Put her in the middle, make sure her head is stable. Give her a spoonful of this..." She laid out a small brown bottle and a spoon. "...every two hours. She's not going to want to take the second one, so be warned. There's four doses in here, that's going to be enough. Then, have her take one of the orange pills the next morning when she wakes up. Don't let her move. If it gets any worse, call me. Otherwise, leave me alone, I have to care for people who actually care for themselves. Finally, here's your bill."

    She handed you a tiny scrap of paper with a number on it. You shrugged and dug around in your ill-begotten cash (the town here used home-pressed silver coins), finding enough to cover it.

    "Thank you, darling." The doctor said, and walked out.

    As a group, you picked up Minna carefully and carried her to her room and laid her down gently. You spared a few glances at her wound: it was bubbling, like a little red and brown swamp. Fortunately, Arren covered her with a sheet a few moments later. You threw her pistol belt and sword onto the writing desk in the corner, then you all found places to sit and let the adrenaline wear off.

    "What the actual fuck was that about?" Wulf said, speaking first. "What did Minna do?"

    "I don't think she did anything, but I think her town might not be as noble as she remembers it." Arren said.

    "Well, duh. They're a military outpost of some kind, right? They're always some kind of messed up." Wulf said.

    "It can be hard to see that stuff from the inside." You said quietly. "It all just feels normal."

    ---

    Minna drifted in and out of consciousness over the next few hours. Mercifully, it was mostly out. When she was awake, she was incoherent. She begged for the pain to stop, and there wasn't much you could do. When she was more lucid, she was alternately angry and apologetic towards you: you tried not to take anything she said to heart, seeing as she was just babbling through the pain. Most of the time, she just kind of groaned and wheezed and curled up around a pillow, though she had to be stopped when she tried to move because she was too weak to actually do anything but potentially wiggle out of bed.

    At one point, Arren looked at you seriously. "Isa, if you get offered this stuff, turn it down, okay? I don't care if we're flying to save the world tomorrow." You nodded.

    On the plus side, her wound really was healing. You could see it happening almost in real time when you checked (Wulf and Arren had nominated you to be the Wound Checker). Within the hour there was a sort of gooey scab, and two hours after that it was retreating, leaving nothing but scar tissue. By hour four, there was no surface evidence of the wound, though clearly the stuff was still doing some work on the inside.

    You made sure Minna took her meds, and you took turns holding her hand and comforting her. It was exhausting.

    Finally, though, as darkness settled outside, the pain seemed to have subsided, and she fell asleep properly. You all let out a collective breath.

    "That was horrifying." Arren said. "Let's never do that again."

    Everyone nodded.

    "Better idea. From this point forward, nobody get stabbed." Wulf proposed.

    More nods.

    "I'm exhausted." You said. "Um... fuck, what's the arrangements for tonight?"

    Wulf shrugged. "Somebody's gotta watch the cadet? I'll do it. We're roomies anyway, right? You two go sleep. I'll..." She looked over at the bed, where Minna had left a large Minna-shaped pool of sweat on the covers. "... get my bedroll from my plane."

    "You sure?" You asked. Wulf smiled.

    "Sure, it'll be an old-fashioned sleepover. Just me and a horrifyingly wounded woman I'm not allowed to let leave oh goddesses why did I try to make that joke fuck that was not smart..." She trailed off, ears back, wincing. "Okay, never mind that."

    You nodded. "Okay, if you're sure. Just knock if you need anything." You took Arren's arm and dragged him to your room. There was a long day ahead, and maybe one last chance to look over the plan before you got some much needed sleep.

    ---

    Where will you hit the zeppelin?
    [ ] When it passes over a nearby lake, so if you have it put it down, it'll float.
    [ ] As it moves through a mountain pass, so it has no room to maneuver.
    [ ] When it starts its descent close to the town, where your planes will be at their most effective.

    Zeppelins fly high as their main defense. This one will be at 3000 meters most of its journey. That's high enough up that breathing can get sketchy and your planes will be skating in the air, especially Wulf's copter. The cabin is crudely pressurized and they have oxygen masks, so if they think they can escape they will try to climb. ​
    Adhoc vote count started by open_sketch on Dec 20, 2018 at 4:17 PM, finished with 2014 posts and 7 votes.
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  • Threadmarks
    • open_sketchbook said:
    "We call this stitcher's honey. It's from a form of terrible parasitic wildlife. It will heal you, but you won't like it
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    I wonder what the parasite needs this effect for. Probably something horrific.

    open_sketchbook said:
    At one point, Arren looked at you seriously. "Isa, if you get offered this stuff, turn it down, okay? I don't care if we're flying to save the world tomorrow." You nodded
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    We can just borrow Wulf again. Worked fine last time.

    open_sketchbook said:
    Zeppelins fly high as their main defense. This one will be at 3000 meters most of its journey. That's high enough up that breathing can get sketchy and your planes will be skating in the air, especially Wulf's copter. The cabin is crudely pressurized and they have oxygen masks, so if they think they can escape they will try to climb.
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    Can we decide the timing of the attack? It'd prefer to attack in midday, as the temperatures are then the hottest, which is both more comfortable and limits the airships maximum altitude.

    This is because of the pressure tolerances of the gasbags. The higher you go, the lower the outside pressure. If the difference is too great, you must vent lifting gas to avoid rupture/leaks. This isn't a problem as long as you stay high up in the air, but when dropping back down to land, the lack of lifting gas will cause the bags to be compressed, resulting in a lack of lift.

    By flying when the temperatures are the highest, we fly when the internal pressure in their gasbag is highest. That limits the altitude to which they can climb without critical loss of gas.
     
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    [X] When it passes over a nearby lake, so if you have it put it down, it'll float.

    This seems like the best option. Monster birds live up in the mountains, and I'd rather not do crime in full view of a lot of witnesses.
     
    Ato said:
    [X] When it passes over a nearby lake, so if you have it put it down, it'll float.
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    Bit of a problem with that though.

    All the important,heavy parts of the airship are on the bottom. They have to be, because if you put them on top then gravity happens and the entire thing flips upside down. This means that crashlanding the airship on water is likely to soak the entire cargo.
     
    [X] As it moves through a mountain pass, so it has no room to maneuver.

    Tentatively favoring this option to maximize our odds of successful intimidation, as if they try to just fly away, we'll probably have to move to combat to stop them. Of course, climbing is also a threat on that front, so maybe we should go with attacking during the descent? I do agree with Ato's concerns about blatant piracy in clear view of the town, though.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    My minnow.
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    I kinda love this? I hope Minna Minnow remembers, and I hope we get her to talk to unbend a bit. We probably need her to do something dramatic and essential before she feels like she's got enough worth to risk not being perfect... But if she picks up Minnow as chosen name I will squee so hard.

    [X] When it passes over a nearby lake, so if you have it put it down, it'll float.

    Out of sight of the town, and if escape means going up, a mountain pass is going to restrict us more than them. Forcing them lower needs to be the first move.
     
    [x] As it moves through a mountain pass, so it has no room to maneuver.

    With consensus on making at least some attempt at keeping the piracy on the sub rosa, so populated areas are right out. And I figure if we have to drop it, the mission's probably a wash anyway - we'll struggle to defend the haul against all comers if it's static, much less if it's steadily flooding. So, hey. May as well get the terrain advantage, right?
     
    [X] When it passes over a nearby lake, so if you have it put it down, it'll float.

    The only manuveres a Zeppelin has against interceptors like us are WEP and dumping balast. Doing it in the mountains is risk for no reward.
     
    [X] As it moves through a mountain pass, so it has no room to manoeuvre.

    The zeppelin cresting the horizon outlined in the mountain pass, and then us diving from out of the sun behind it, just seems like an incredibly evocative and cinematic image to me.

    This is literally the entirety of my rationale for voting for this option.
     
    6.2.1 - Wulf's Rough Night
  • Sidestory
    • You are Wulf.

    Well, you call yourself Wulf. It's complicated. The fae put a lot of stock in one's true name, but whatever yours is, you haven't figured it out yet. Wulf is what you want people to call you. It's simple and crude and evocative. It tells you everything you want people to know about you, that edge of animalistic whateverness, sleek and predatory and kinda sexy in a scary way. You're aware it's a bit silly, but there was no way in hell you'd be going back to either of the names you had before this one.

    You've got your bedroll laid out on the worn planks of this little tavern room, and you stole one of the fluffy pillows off the bed, one of the ones that Minna hadn't soaked through with sweat. You'd just slipped under the sheets and were prepped to get some of that good sleep energy. You were a heavy sleeper, except when you weren't, and this bedroll had served admirably for years. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but you'd absolutely slept in worse conditions so, like, it's cool.

    No, it fucking sucked. You shouldn't have to sleep on the floor anymore. Those days are behind you. You don't deserve this. You've got cash in your pocket! You can just go rent another room. Minna will be fine, right? Just make Isa and Arren watch her.

    Your ear twitched. They're not sleeping anyway. You had half a mind to just go kick them out and get a nice long nap on that big fluffy bed (it was more of a small, thin mattress on a frame but at this point...) You didn't deserve this!

    Except maybe you did. You'd laughed when the Red Talon woman had come over and started fighting with her. You hadn't realized what was going on. You could have stopped it. You should have stopped it, it was your fault. Hell, it took you several minutes to realize she'd been stabbed, the dark green of her uniform and the red of her blood the same mustard-y smear in your vision. You were hyper-aware of it, now that you'd seen colours properly. Fuck, that wasn't fair. A lot of things weren't fair.

    Then again, serves you right, doesn't it? Bet those people you caught aren't worried about that anymore. If they're colourblind, it's the least of their problems. You weren't sure if you hoped they were still alive or not.

    Fuck. Joachim's voice echoed in your head. 'You can't take responsibility for what people made you do. You were a child.' Some of the people you tracked were children. Who's going to take responsibility for them? That fucking doctor thought you were still a child. Fuck her! What did she know!

    You glanced at your watch. It'd only been a minute. You hadn't even given sleep a proper shot yet.

    Fuck it. You stood up and started pacing the room. You had your boots off (you weren't a savage), just one of your oversized shirts. You got them off some fat burgermister when you knocked over his mansion, stole everything that wasn't nailed down and a lot of things that were. Cut all the top buttons off with your knife because you thought it looked cool. It did look cool. Anyone with cleavage like yours ought to show it off, duh.

    Isa didn't. Minna didn't. Cuz they didn't have to prove anything. Never had anyone doubt who they were.

    You walked the tiny room back and forth, feeling the wood between your toes, tuning in and out to the smells and sounds around you. Fuck this stupid little town. The welcoming damp of the nighttime forest was so close, and it was awakening something in you. You wanted to run out there and... something. Chase a squirrel, kill a deer, fuck some stranger. You were restless.

    You were also exhausted. And you had a responsibility. You looked over Minna with your good eye. Her lovely hair was matted to the side of her face, and there was a dark stain on the sheet from her wound. Poor girl. She had no idea what she was getting into, did she? Neither did Isa or Arren, they were brand new to this too. You were, as usual, the only one who really understood what was going on. Great, except you were too stupid to actually articulate that to anyone and... what if you got them killed? What if you were the weak link in their team and it all fell apart and they died and that would be your fault, too?

    You wanted to leave. Just get in your helicopter and fly off. Fall in with some bandits, harass a town. Maybe find those Red Talon fucks. Go out in a blaze of glory. Weren't you supposed to be dead by now? By all rights, surely.

    But you had to stay. So you sat on the writing table, atop Minna's blooded jacket. You hated how strong the smell of blood was, and you hated how it didn't make you uncomfortable. That wasn't always true. You wish you could go back.

    Of course, the desk was right up against the wall dividing Isa and Arren from you and Minna. They were doing their best to be quiet, but with your ears you could hear their bedsprings and shuddered breathing just fine. You wondered how long that thing with her would last. She had a perfect boyfriend already, she didn't need you. She probably didn't even like you. Thought you were amusing. Maybe she really didn't like girls. Oh, maybe she doesn't like girls but she likes you because... urgh. Fuck.

    Then again, she was so... just, nice. Fuck, that was a stupid word for it, but she looked out for you. Asked you how you were feeling. Appreciated you. Laughed with your jokes. Shared those little intimate moments and kisses. She was a great leader and a good friend and cute as a button and you wanted to just grab her tomorrow and push her against a wall and lock your lips to hers until she admitted she wanted you. Or... something.

    She was probably just toying with you anyway. She didn't need you, remember? She probably just thought you'd be useful. You're so desperate for any kind of appreciation and acknowledgement, you were probably an easy mark. She's an evil cultist of some dark, fucked up gods, right?

    No, I didn't mean you. You're cool! It's nice when you whisper to me. It's really reassuring. It reminds me of mum.

    I'm sorry I said that about Isa. I know you guys like her.

    "Wulf? Is that you?" A voice said, weakly. Still with that posh accent, though. You nodded, but realized how absurd that was in the dark.

    "Yeah, it's me. Isa and Arren have gone to bed." You said.

    "Okay." A pause. "Are you alright? You've been moving around a lot, and you look nervous."

    Fuck, she must be able to see you better than you thought. Probably the light from the furnace, or the window, or something. Once again, you cursed your shitty eyesight, or what was left of it.

    "Nah. All good over here.." You said, smiling. Why would you be nervous? You've raided zeppelins a dozen times before, and you're with people you can trust. It's fine.

    Oh, shit, wait. You need to give her those pills, don't you? Or was that tomorrow? Should you ask Isa? You cocked an ear. No, she's asleep now, finally. You'll just guess. How bad could it be?

    "How are you feeling?" You asked.

    "Well, um. The drugs, are a lot." Minna said, picking every syllable slowly. "But, there is not much pain, anymore. Almost none, actually. I just feel kinda... dizzy. It is hard to remember how to think."

    "Mood." You shifted over to sit on the bed next to her. "Do you want to keep sleeping?"

    "I am very tired, but... can we talk for a while?" She asked.

    "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

    "I had not thought that far ahead." She admitted, and she smiled, weakly, for a moment. Just about made your heart melt. Gosh, even half-dead she was cute as hell.

    Okay Wulf. Conversation topics. You're a social butterfly, social it up. So... maybe ask her why that bitch attacked her? Sorry, you shouldn't use that word. But she was a bitch. Urgh, no, you shouldn't, that might send her down a whole rabbit hole. I dunno, what other topics are there? Things you'd buy when we get rich: none, Minna is weird that way. Um, cool planes? No, that might lead to talking about the Red Talons and then her getting stabbed. Um, goddamit. Well, time to fall back on your old standard.

    "We're going to talk about relationships. Like girls do." You said. Nailed it. "That will be our topic."

    "Okay." She nodded, weakly but quite seriously. You realized at that moment that this was also a bad idea, because there was that whole thing where you and Arren and Isa were trying not to let her know about whatever weird nonsense was going on with you guys (what was going on with you guys?) because she would get all worked up about fraternization or whatever. What was so bad about that? You'd first heard that word in the Goth camp, right before they hanged two soldiers for it. Army guys take this shit way seriously.

    "I mean, if you want." You added. Please take the escape hatch please please...

    "Well, I am afraid I do not have much gossip there. I lived a very regimented life. Such things would have been arranged for me on my twenty-fourth birthday, but alas, it seems not." Minna was... 20? You think she's 20. Maybe 21.

    "Like, what, they just like, pick two of you and shove you into a room?"

    "What? No! I mean, the logistics officers would arrange suitable pairings within the regiment, with parental input, of course. We would meet a few times to confirm compatibility, and then be married." She said, matter of factly.

    "Okay, sure. Marriage." You didn't really get marriage. It wasn't a thing your village did, seeing as it was, you know, a bunch of weirdo women hiding out in the woods who called each other "sister" and their assorted kids. The idea of strapping yourself to a person for the rest of your life seemed insane, but then again 'the rest of your life' had been an abstraction beyond the immediate for close to a decade now. "But like... what, you didn't fool around?"

    "Of course not. Some of the other girls in my unit, yes, they got caught for such things, but I was a good soldier. Besides, when would such things even happen? The only time I was unsupervised was when I was in the barracks, and there was only other girls there, you know."

    Oh wow. You operated under a model where nobody was really straight, just repressed, maybe, but you'd never heard of a case this bad.

    "So, nobody?" You said, half-disappointed. She gave a pained giggle.

    "No boys." Did that mean nobody or did that mean no boys? You wished there was some sort of device that could detect queerness in people. Maybe it'd use radio waves.

    "So, what did you do for fun?" You said.

    "Oh, you know. Gossip, do each other's hair, scar our faces in sword fights." She said breezily. "Sometimes, things would get out of control. We would take our pillows, form into two teams, and conduct war! Of course, it was very much against the regulations. I usually stayed out of it."

    "Fascinating." You said. Goddesses, did they assemble this girl in a factory somewhere?

    "Of course, those regulations... they don't apply out here, do they?" She said. Was that flirting? Her hand moved a little, then she winced. "I was going to hit you with a pillow, but I think the drugs are still a little..."

    "Yeah, you're high as fuck." You said. "You're speaking so slowly, like a record at the wrong playback speed."

    "Oh. Wow, I wasn't aware. Hehehe. That is kind of funny." Even her laughing was slow.

    "I think maybe you should try to get more sleep." You said, patting her hand.

    "I think Arren is nice." She said, like she hadn't heard you. "Don't you?"

    yeah just a little wow. I mean obviously Isa was a hottie but her boyfriend was... I mean, he was good looking, and you loved his hair and those tattoos, but... yeah you could see why Isa liked him. When he got all serious mode and flashed those teeth of his... whoa. The other night, you half-wished he was pinning you down, and that was not a thing you were usually into. Wow, you really just-

    "Yeah, he's cool." You said with a shrug.

    "He is lovely. And so kind. The men I knew back home, they were very... hard-edged? Like soldiers, of course. Nobody like him."

    Oh goddesses this was a mess.

    "Of course, nothing can come of it. He and Frau Morgenthau, right? They are so close, it is sweet. Though..." She giggled. "... the other day, at the bar, I thought it was you and he that were together! Because he took your hand."

    You and Arren together, huh?

    "Well that was dumb. You're going to have to get used to people being less uptight out here, okay? Nobody follows your regulations out here."

    She sighed. "I suppose. No wonder things are so chaotic."

    "Yep, that's exactly the reason why." You said. "Now, seriously, sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning."

    "Okay Wulf..." She yawned and rolled a little. "I will talk to you in the morning."

    You pulled yourself back into your bed roll, dealing with the discomfort as best you could. It'd be fine. Minna was going to be fine, you were going to rich tomorrow, everything would work out.

    "Um... Wulf?" Minna's voice drifted out weakly.

    "Yes?" You asked. She giggled again, though she coughed rather weakly in the middle of it.

    "I think the thing... with the ears and tail? It is very cute." Oh my goddesses does that mean- "I'm sure you will find yourself a nice boyfriend as well, some day."

    Urgh.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • Well, I suppose gaydar might be able to use radio waves, but only if there's sufficient gayness to disrupt heterodyning.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    You are Wulf.

    Well, you call yourself Wulf. It's complicated. The fae put a lot of stock in one's true name, but whatever yours is, you haven't figured it out yet. Wulf is what you want people to call you. It's simple and crude and evocative. It tells you everything you want people to know about you, that edge of animalistic whateverness, sleek and predatory and kinda sexy in a scary way. You're aware it's a bit silly, but there was no way in hell you'd be going back to either of the names you had before this one.

    You've got your bedroll laid out on the worn planks of this little tavern room, and you stole one of the fluffy pillows off the bed, one of the ones that Minna hadn't soaked through with sweat. You'd just slipped under the sheets and were prepped to get some of that good sleep energy. You were a heavy sleeper, except when you weren't, and this bedroll had served admirably for years. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but you'd absolutely slept in worse conditions so, like, it's cool.

    No, it fucking sucked. You shouldn't have to sleep on the floor anymore. Those days are behind you. You don't deserve this. You've got cash in your pocket! You can just go rent another room. Minna will be fine, right? Just make Isa and Arren watch her.

    Your ear twitched. They're not sleeping anyway. You had half a mind to just go kick them out and get a nice long nap on that big fluffy bed (it was more of a small, thin mattress on a frame but at this point...) You didn't deserve this!

    Except maybe you did. You'd laughed when the Red Talon woman had come over and started fighting with her. You hadn't realized what was going on. You could have stopped it. You should have stopped it, it was your fault. Hell, it took you several minutes to realize she'd been stabbed, the dark green of her uniform and the red of her blood the same mustard-y smear in your vision. You were hyper-aware of it, now that you'd seen colours properly. Fuck, that wasn't fair. A lot of things weren't fair.

    Then again, serves you right, doesn't it? Bet those people you caught aren't worried about that anymore. If they're colourblind, it's the least of their problems. You weren't sure if you hoped they were still alive or not.

    Fuck. Joachim's voice echoed in your head. 'You can't take responsibility for what people made you do. You were a child.' Some of the people you tracked were children. Who's going to take responsibility for them? That fucking doctor thought you were still a child. Fuck her! What did she know!

    You glanced at your watch. It'd only been a minute. You hadn't even given sleep a proper shot yet.

    Fuck it. You stood up and started pacing the room. You had your boots off (you weren't a savage), just one of your oversized shirts. You got them off some fat burgermister when you knocked over his mansion, stole everything that wasn't nailed down and a lot of things that were. Cut all the top buttons off with your knife because you thought it looked cool. It did look cool. Anyone with cleavage like yours ought to show it off, duh.

    Isa didn't. Minna didn't. Cuz they didn't have to prove anything. Never had anyone doubt who they were.

    You walked the tiny room back and forth, feeling the wood between your toes, tuning in and out to the smells and sounds around you. Fuck this stupid little town. The welcoming damp of the nighttime forest was so close, and it was awakening something in you. You wanted to run out there and... something. Chase a squirrel, kill a deer, fuck some stranger. You were restless.

    You were also exhausted. And you had a responsibility. You looked over Minna with your good eye. Her lovely hair was matted to the side of her face, and there was a dark stain on the sheet from her wound. Poor girl. She had no idea what she was getting into, did she? Neither did Isa or Arren, they were brand new to this too. You were, as usual, the only one who really understood what was going on. Great, except you were too stupid to actually articulate that to anyone and... what if you got them killed? What if you were the weak link in their team and it all fell apart and they died and that would be your fault, too?

    You wanted to leave. Just get in your helicopter and fly off. Fall in with some bandits, harass a town. Maybe find those Red Talon fucks. Go out in a blaze of glory. Weren't you supposed to be dead by now? By all rights, surely.

    But you had to stay. So you sat on the writing table, atop Minna's blooded jacket. You hated how strong the smell of blood was, and you hated how it didn't make you uncomfortable. That wasn't always true. You wish you could go back.

    Of course, the desk was right up against the wall dividing Isa and Arren from you and Minna. You wondered how long that thing with her would last. She had a perfect boyfriend already, she didn't need you. She probably didn't even like you. Thought you were amusing. Maybe she really didn't like girls. Oh, maybe she doesn't like girls but she likes you because... urgh. Fuck.

    Then again, she was so... just, nice. Fuck, that was a stupid word for it, but she looked out for you. Asked you how you were feeling. Appreciated you. Laughed with your jokes. Shared those little intimate moments and kisses. She was a great leader and a good friend and cute as a button and you wanted to just grab her tomorrow and push her against a wall and lock your lips to hers until she admitted she wanted you. Or... something.

    She was probably just toying with you anyway. She didn't need you, remember? She probably just thought you'd be useful. You're so desperate for any kind of appreciation and acknowledge, you were probably an easy mark. She's an evil cultist of some dark, fucked up gods, right?

    No, I didn't mean you. You're cool! It's nice when you whisper to me. It's really reassuring. It reminds me of mum.

    I'm sorry I said that about Isa. I know you guys like her.

    "Wulf? Is that you?" A voice said, weakly. Still with that posh accent, though. You nodded, but realized how absurd that was in the dark.

    "Yeah, it's me. Isa and Arren have gone to bed." You said.

    "Okay." A pause. "Are you alright? You've been moving around a lot, and you look nervous."

    Fuck, she must be able to see you better than you thought. Probably the light from the furnace, or the window, or something. Once again, you cursed your shitty eyesight, or what was left of it.

    "Nah. All good over here.." You said, smiling. Why would you be nervous? You've raided zeppelins a dozen times before, and you're with people you can trust. It's fine.

    Oh, shit, wait. You need to give her those pills, don't you? Or was that tomorrow? Should you ask Isa? You cocked an ear. No, she's asleep now, finally. You'll just guess. How bad could it be?

    "How are you feeling?" You asked.

    "Well, um. The drugs, are a lot." Minna said, picking every syllable slowly. "But, there is not much pain, anymore. Almost none, actually. I just feel kinda... dizzy. It is hard to remember how to think."

    "Mood." You shifted over to sit on the bed next to her. "Do you want to keep sleeping?"

    "I am very tired, but... can we talk for a while?" She asked.

    "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

    "I had not thought that far ahead." She admitted, and she smiled, weakly, for a moment. Just about made your heart melt. Gosh, even half-dead she was cute as hell.

    Okay Wulf. Conversation topics. You're a social butterfly, social it up. So... maybe ask her why that bitch attacked her? Sorry, you shouldn't use that word. But she was a bitch. Urgh, no, you shouldn't, that might send her down a whole rabbit hole. I dunno, what other topics are there? Things you'd buy when we get rich: none, Minna is weird that way. Um, cool planes? No, that might lead to talking about the Red Talons and then her getting stabbed. Um, goddamit. Well, time to fall back on your old standard.

    "We're going to talk about relationships. Like girls do." You said. Nailed it. "That will be our topic."

    "Okay." She nodded, weakly but quite seriously. You realized at that moment that this was also a bad idea, because there was that whole thing where you and Arren and Isa were trying not to let her know about whatever weird nonsense was going on with you guys (what was going on with you guys?) because she would get all worked up about fraternization or whatever. What was so bad about that? You'd first heard that word in the Goth camp, right before they hanged two soldiers for it. Army guys take this shit way seriously.

    "I mean, if you want." You added. Please take the escape hatch please please...

    "Well, I am afraid I do not have much gossip there. I lived a very regimented life. Such things would have been arranged for me on my twenty-fourth birthday, but alas, it seems not." Minna was... 20? You think she's 20. Maybe 21.

    "Like, what, they just like, pick two of you and shove you into a room?"

    "What? No! I mean, the logistics officers would arrange suitable pairings within the regiment, with parental input, of course. We would meet a few times to confirm compatibility, and then be married." She said, matter of factly.

    "Okay, sure. Marriage." You didn't really get marriage. It wasn't a thing your village did, seeing as it was, you know, a bunch of weirdo women hiding out in the woods who called each other "sister" and their assorted kids. The idea of strapping yourself to a person for the rest of your life seemed insane, but then again 'the rest of your life' had been an abstraction beyond the immediate for close to a decade now. "But like... what, you didn't fool around?"

    "Of course not. Some of the other girls in my unit, yes, they got caught for such things, but I was a good soldier. Besides, when would such things even happen? The only time I was unsupervised was when I was in the barracks, and there was only other girls there, you know."

    Oh wow. You had previously operated under a model where nobody was really straight, just repressed, maybe, but then you had to go and hear a sentence like that.

    "So, nobody?" You said, half-disappointed. She gave a pained giggle.

    "No boys." Did that mean nobody or did that mean no boys? You wished there was some sort of device that could detect queerness in people. Maybe it'd use radio waves.

    "So, what did you do for fun?" You said.

    "Oh, you know. Gossip, do each other's hair, scar our faces in sword fights." She said breezily. "Sometimes, things would get out of control. We would take our pillows, form into two teams, and conduct war with our pillows! Of course, it was very much against the regulations. I usually stayed out of it."

    "Fascinating." You said. Goddesses, did they assemble this girl in a factory somewhere?

    "Of course, those regulations... they don't apply out here, do they?" She said. Was that flirting? Her hand moved a little, then she winced. "I was going to hit you with a pillow, but I think the drugs are still a little..."

    "Yeah, you're high as fuck." You said. "You're speaking so slowly, like a record at the wrong playback speed."

    "Oh. Wow, I wasn't aware. Hehehe. That is kind of funny." Even her laughing was slow.

    "I think maybe you should try to get more sleep." You said, patting her hand.

    "I think Arren is nice." She said, like she hadn't heard you. "Don't you?"

    yeah just a little wow. I mean obviously Isa was a hottie but her boyfriend was... I mean, he was good looking, and you loved his hair and those tattoos, but... yeah you could see why Isa liked him. When he got all serious mode and flashed those teeth of his... whoa. The other night, you half-wished he was pinning you down, and that was not a thing you were usually into. Wow, you really just-

    "Yeah, he's cool." You said with a shrug.

    "He is lovely. And so kind. The men I knew back home, they were very... hard-edged? Like soldiers, of course. Nobody like him."

    Oh goddesses this was a mess.

    "Of course, nothing can come of it. He and Frau Morgenthau, right? They are so close, it is sweet. Though..." She giggled. "... the other day, at the bar, I thought it was you and he that were together! Because he took your hand."

    You and Arren together, huh?

    "Well that was dumb. You're going to have to get used to people being less uptight out here, okay? Nobody follows your regulations out here."

    She sighed. "I suppose. No wonder things are so chaotic."

    "Yep, that's exactly the reason why." You said. "Now, seriously, sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning."

    "Okay Wulf..." She yawned and rolled a little. "I will talk to you in the morning."

    You pulled yourself back into your bed roll, dealing with the discomfort as best you could. It'd be fine. Minna was going to be fine, you were going to rich tomorrow, everything would work out.

    "Um... Wulf?" Minna's voice drifted out weakly.

    "Yes?" You asked. She giggled again, though she coughed rather weakly in the middle of it.

    "I think the thing... with the ears and tail? It is very cute." Oh my goddesses does that mean- "I'm sure you will find yourself a nice boyfriend was well, some day."

    Urgh.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Not complaining f course, but... how's your week off from Whispers and ADQ going?
     
    I had a pagecount target I wanted to achieve, and then my mother decided to turn what was supposed to be an evening of family tree decorating into three days of arguing, manipulation, labour, and fighting, with family tree decoration held hostage the whole time and never actually getting done. As a result, my work is very off-track, I'm emotionally burnt out, pissed off, and I'm probably going to have to miss Christmas with my family for the first time in my entire life because I literally can't deal with it anymore. I just wanted to write something.

    The Wulfdate was... probably more than a little because she's basically a parody of myself and I really needed to just... let the anxiety of the last few days flow through a character and just get it all out there.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    I had a pagecount target I wanted to achieve, and then my mother decided to turn what was supposed to be an evening of family tree decorating into three days of arguing, manipulation, labour, and fighting, with family tree decoration held hostage the whole time and never actually getting done. As a result, my work is very off-track, I'm emotionally burnt out, pissed off, and I'm probably going to have to miss Christmas with my family for the first time in my entire life because I literally can't deal with it anymore. I just wanted to write something.

    The Wulfdate was... probably more than a little because she's basically a parody of myself and I really needed to just... let the anxiety of the last few days flow through a character and just get it all out there.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oh wow. That sounds really awful. Sorry you had to go through that.

    Now I'm kind of regretting saying anything. The intent was very much not to be hassling you for your stress relief writing.

    This was a good update, by the way. You've certainly hinted that Wulf has a fair bit of insecurity under the surface, but seeing inside her head like that was something else entirely. It's a big contrast from what she normally lets everyone else see. Hopefully poly squadron will be good for her; if nothing else, it sounds like she could really use a hug and someone to tell her she's valid.
     
    Wulf is a Mess (Spoilers up to 6-2)
  • Informational
    • Also Wulf is just a fun character to get in the headspace of. Because it's really easy, because she's just me if I were a cartoon version of myself and also a furry.

    I've kinda implied and vagued about it a lot, but basically...

    Wulf grew up in a coven which was kinda a lot like a sort of prewar separation feminist enclave, but plus magic. Her memories of her mother are a lot more rosy than the reality.

    She got taken when she was maybe 11 or 12. She did not have an easy time. She had to do some terrible things, and she finds it difficult to accept the idea that her being forced to, and that her being like, 12, absolves her of it.

    She got out at 14 and fell in with a series of gangs, Joachim's being the one that stuck after a few months. She started transitioning fairly soon after that. Joachim is basically her surrogate father figure, having never met her actual dad, but she also keeps him at arms length (and vice-versa) because of the way-too-high odds of either of them dying, as well as because they both had to maintain a Bandit Persona and Joachim simply being way too young and irresponsible for that role. Joachim's gotten over that, but Wulf still hasn't. She's also seriously projecting a lot of her stuff about her mom onto her new headmate.

    There's a lot of nouns in there from my real life, though obviously I was never actually kidnapped by nazis.

    Somebody give her a hug.
     
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  • Informational
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