driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Katie and anyone!
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Vanquish
When: Today!

[So ever since a couple of weeks ago when she spent a couple nights off ship (for reasons she still hasn't explained), Katie has remained basically shut up in the personnel office instead of getting underfoot or sticking her nose out of the ship and making faces at the moon, a quieter shadow of herself. She's hiding. She also feels guilty for hiding, because she wasn't raised to hide, but she's at a complete loss of what to do about what, to her, is a critical and terrifying problem. What she'd really like to do is just tell an adult about what she saw, because that would be the simplest and wisest thing for any other child. There's something terrible. Make it go away. But with how much honesty would have to be involved she'd be a wreck on the floor within minutes.

There's a brief few days in there where her mind shies around the idea that she may have to kill someone on the Fleet. Which makes her shut down on multiple levels, because she's just a kid and kids shouldn't have to think about that, and it's a horrible act, and nobody would understand at all why she did it, and on a very base level she doesn't want to, she's not made that way. But not going through with it just means she's letting the problem roam free and he's hurting people just by existing. Any older fae would have dealt with this by now. Ignoring the problem is equally a terrible option.

So there's a third choice. She's just terrified of making that one, too. It's never ended well for anyone. Sam and her mother are testament to that.

In short, Katie is hiding because she can't make a choice and getting more and more frazzled and withdrawn because in not taking action she's letting things get worse and this suuucks--

Sometimes it might be nice just to be, in fact, a little girl.]

---------

[By the second week she starts making dolls. Simplistic blue yarn dolls at the base. It's just something to do with her hands and mind at first. Then she makes one in which her blue wool is dipped sporadically into black ink as she makes it, so the doll looks rather like it got thrown in a tar puddle when she's done. She attaches five or six pieces of loose, spattered wool to its shoulders, closes her eyes, and blows gently on its darkened face.

Don't ask why she does creepy things.

Then she stares at her little collection, swallows... and goes to watch Princess Bride instead. It's video courage! (Which small children have to make do with instead of liquid courage.) Which leads to this post on the network twenty minutes in, very grumpily:]

[Video]

If we're in space and everything's so very future and all, why don't we even have television? [Petulant, pale child alert. Please ignore the spattered bits of ink on her chin.] Aren't we allowed to watch alien TV?

...I don't suppose anyone can make a TV with magic, can they? I don't think you should have to watch movies on this thing. [She taps the screen and accidentally turns it off. OH WELL. Question stands.

...but now that it's off, after a few minutes there comes an addition in text:]

[Text]

If it would make everything better, would you do something terrible so that nobody else had to?

[Hopefully, that part's anonymous. Right?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They could use my head like a paint brush to put chocolate anywhere! A chocolate covered wall sounds pretty tasty.

[Not that Vash was daydreaming of painting a wall with his hair, but he's talking to a child. He'll behave his mouth at least.]

You'd break your teeth if you tried to eat it, though. You need magic chocolate! Turns to chocolate anything you paint with it.

What if you just lick the wall instead? But see, this is why you'd own the chocolate factory and I'd just work there. Magic chocolate is a much better idea!

Yes! And we could drown anyone that was too terribly greedy.

[/record scratch]

[/record scratch and falls off the table onto an exploding bomb.]

Is-isn't that a little extreme, boss? I mean, with how delicious your chocolate is. Couldn't we I dunno... give them a stern warning then make them only have vegetables or something?

Oh! Vegetables! That's much worse than drowning. And we'd be making them healthy too if we used that.

Y-yeah! [MUCH better.] And they'll be sad because they can watch people not being greedy enjoying chocolate they can't have anymore.

You're very good at this. I should make you my manager.

Wow?! I've made manager already?! My mom would be so proud of me!

Well, of course she would be. Not everyone gets to be manager of a chocolate factory.

Sounds like a delicious position to be in. As my first role of manager I would like to give myself the day off to celebrate!

You won't keep your job very long if you can't turn up on the very first day.

Only if my boss find out! You won't tell her will you?

What will you give me if I don't?

Hmm, what if I found you some cookies?

[Hee.]

Oh. Well, I can't very well tell anyone if I'm busy eating cookies.

Good! Then I'll have to keep a plate of cookies around for when I need a day off.

(no subject)

[Video]

[Video]

Re: [Video]

[Video]

Re: [Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

Re: [Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]