driftfleet | text.

Who: Sam Winchester
Broadcast: TEXT. Fleetwide.
Action: N/A (but we can if you have an idea, just pm or plurk me!)
When: Today!

These masks continue to be a pain in the ass, huh?

But I guess the alternative is being laid up in bed sick — which I don't recommend, in case you're feeling brave, because seeing the people who took off their masks isn't inspiring any faith here. As for me, I'm needing a little break from travelling around down there in all that questionable toxin. Not exactly my cup of coffee, you know? Prefer more open roads, more green and, uh. An ocean I can smell and not go into coughing fits over.

Maybe I'll just spitball some stuff to pass the time while I question what I'm eating from these kitchens? I'm feeling nosy. Call it an acquired skill set, being nosy. Back in the other place I was trapped in, I mostly gathered information about our bestiary; monsters from all kinds of worlds would fall into the world with us, and I did my fair share of fighting some pretty rough creatures. Including the killer rabbits that would try to sabotage my garden. They're small, fast, and aim for the jugular, FYI.

Anyway, pick a number, any number —

1. Favorite fairy tale, ghost story, or piece of folklore.
2. Favorite thing about the other worlds you've been to? (Least favorite, too, if you're feeling like getting it off your chest? I'm a crappy psychiatrist, fair warning.)
3. Ever run into people who know you from a book, movie, or game? Or, uh... manga?
4. War games — which do you prefer, and why?
5. Magic in your world: real or fiction?

I figure I'm being totally transparent, but I'm a big fan of information gathering. But it's also... actually really nice to be in one place long enough to get to know people. How often do you have the chance to learn about alternate universes? Small pluses.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

#1 It sounds familiar. Willing to give a little summary?

And #3 happens more than you'd think. Just be glad nobody reads your life story; it's no fun.

There are different versions. The one I'm most familiar with...

Orihime, the daughter of a celestial god, was a weaver by trade. She made beautiful fabrics all day long at the banks of a river of stars. However, she was sad because she couldn't meet and fall in love with anyone because she was working all day. Her father decided to arrange a meeting between Orihime and a cow herder who lived on the other side of the river. The cow herder was named Hikoboshi. When they met, they instantly fell in love with each other and then got married. But they were so busy being in love that they stopped weaving fabric and herding the cows. Out of anger, Orihime's father separated them again with the river of stars and told them they could never meet. Orihime cried and cried about it, begging for a chance to see Hikoboshi again. Her father relented and agreed to let them meet for one day a year, once a year, as long as she worked very hard on weaving. But when they first tried to meet on that special day, they couldn't find a bridge and couldn't get across. Orihime cried and cried again, and a flock of birds came to make a bridge with their wings so she could get across the river to see Hikoboshi.

It's said that on the day they're supposed to meet, if it's raining, the birds won't come and they'll have to wait another year to see each other again.

It's my favorite story but it also makes me angry when I think about it.

I can imagine why.

Seeing the person you love most so little, it's got to wreck you.

And it's all because of the father deciding on the most extreme punishment - I don't understand it. If your daughter is slacking off, sit down with her and tell her it's a problem. Don't just lose your mind because you're missing out on some fabric.

[...]

What is your favorite story?

My favorite? That's hard. I've kind of spent my life studying folklore, urban legends, all of that. I feel kind of rude saying any of the true ones are my favorite - you know, since people died from them, and all. But I guess I like a lot of those Greek stories? Like the Trojan Horse, or Homer's works like the Odyssey.

I've heard there's a grain of truth to every story. I don't think it's rude. But I don't really know anything about the Greeks, other than a myth about a labyrinth and the monster trapped in it.

Most times a grain of truth, yeah. Sometimes we learn it was all a big made-up story, but a lot of the time I learn just the opposite of what's supposed to be old campfire tales. Greek works, especially Homer, were requirements of a lot of United States high school curriculum. I blame that for my interest.

[That and, uh. Hunting studies. W/E W/E.]

Kind of weird... I was still in school less than a year ago, but I barely remember anything about it. I guess there's no use for algebra on reality television.

What's the craziest story you learned was true?

Well... um... There's a few. The craziest I think...

You know the story of Lucifer? Angels, demons, biblical stuff?

That was all true to some degree back home. A lot of people in the world aren't sure if that kind of thing holds any truth, but... it does, for mine.

Wow.

[Understatement.]

It's true for mine, too. Sort of. In a different way. It wasn't like in the religious books. There were Angels, but they weren't from heaven. I don't know where they came from, but they didn't like humans. So, yeah: grains of truth.

Angels that weren't from heaven?

Right. And most of them didn't look like humans. They had energy tentacles and weird skull faces, or no faces at all. One of them looked like a giant jewel. There was this other one that looked like a clock on stilts... I still don't know what that was about.

Sounds incredible. So they're some kind of monster. But nobody really knows where they came from? Not even... if they were earth-based or maybe from the sky? From water? Anything like that?

They seemed to come from everywhere. If they had a common origin, I never got to hear about it. Thhey wanted to bond with (?) another Angel called Lilith, so they could bring about an apocalypse.

It was pretty crazy stuff. Also highly classified. But I guess that doesn't matter anymore.

Jeez, you've dealt with apocalypses?

I never thought I'd live to see the need for an Apocalypse support group.

Two of them, actually.

[... he caused both of them. (... does that eliminate him from the support group?)]

What would a support group for apocalypses even be like?

Good question. I guess I'll let you know when I figure it out.

A room full of pillows and relaxing music wouldn't be half bad.