Event Log: Soulmates

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for Soulmates event
Where: All over the city
When: February 14th-February 22nd
Warnings: None

Oh shit, what even happened last night? You're pretty sure you had a normal night, no crazy drunk antics (unless that is your normal night). But this morning you woke up with a brand new tattoo, and it's... a name?

Maybe it's a name you recognize, one of your good friends. Maybe it's a stranger. Maybe it's someone you can barely stand. No matter who it is, you kind of feel like you should look for them and figure out what's going on with this weird tattoo. And when you find them - well, they've got one too, except this one is your name. It would seem weird, except as soon as you see each other you kind of understand. Of course you'd have a tattoo with the name of the person you've found such an amazing connection with. You were meant to be together.

So enjoy your time with your newfound soulmate. Who knows, you might wake up tomorrow with a whole new name on your arm, a new connection, a new love. Make the most of it!

► This log covers February 14th-February 22nd
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you try to pull off a stupid stunt to impress your soulmate and fail so miserably you die, please let us know here.

Comments

[coyoteking]

No shit? Sounds like something that could happen.

[His Chicago kind of absorbed its suburbs. Mostly it was people banding together for safety, but you know.]

Hard to imagine the place bigger than it is, though. Who runs yours? Is there like, a federal government still? Back home, seven families call the shots. Mine and six others. Though I guess in our case, "family" is kind of a loose term.

[unphase]

A lot can happen in a thousand years.

[safety is an important thing to feel, especially when the outside world feels not so safe]

It's huge! And there's Earthgov, if that's what you mean? [and she gives him a curious look] What do you mean, a loose term?

[coyoteking]

So all of Earth has one government? Sounds peaceful, but you already said that.

[It's just hard to believe, is all.]

I mean none of us are technically related. We were all adopted by the same guy. Still consider each other family, of course, but some people don't see it that way.

[And those people are assholes.]

Speaking of which, what's your family situation like? All I got now is siblings. What about you?

[unphase]

Yeah, it is. [she frowns slightly] Mostly.

[even harder to put in practice when outside forces are preying on humanity's worst impulses.

she smiles at him] I'd say that's family. If you were all adopted by the same man, raised together like brothers and sisters, that makes you family.

[some people are indeed--that word]

My family? It's just me and mother. No aunts or uncles or cousins. No brothers or sisters. We were royalty three hundred years ago, but now we're. . . diplomats.

[coyoteking]

Mostly? Something bad going on?

[Now that they're friends, he feels a little protective. Even if there's nothing he can do about problems back in her world.]

And sorry to hear it's only you two left. My family's not really royalty either, we're just kind of... I mean we're just kind of in charge. The families that rule Chicago used to be crime syndicates. Now we're more like politicians.

(cw: racism)

[unphase]

Well. . . [she bites her lip for a moment] When I left, Earth was under attack by four racists with all the powers of Superman. They'd already destroyed one planet, I guess they felt that they had to attack Earth since it's the capital of the United Planets.

[and she's pretty sure that they killed her. because the last thing she remembers before waking up here was pain]

So am I. A brother or sister would give mother someone else to scrutinize. [and a crime syndicate should bother her, but it doesn't, especially when he says that they're more like politicians] Being in charge isn't always easy. People expect it to be easy because the very best make it look easy, but it isn't.

[coyoteking]

Racists? Who're they racist against? Just like, everyone?

[If you're blowing up a planet because of racism, it's gotta be pretty broad.]

Sorry about your mom being, you know, scrutinizing. I know the feeling. My old man could be pretty brutal. And it's not easy, you're right. Sometimes you just want to let your emotions get the better of you, but too many people would be affected.

[unphase]

Everyone who's not a Daxamite. They did dupe some Terrans into buying their line of nass, but they were gonna be killed the same as everybody else.

[it's extremely broad. and no one took them seriously except for the Legion, the team she belonged to back home]

Scrutinizing isn't strong enough. Nothing I did was good enough, ever. I'm sorry your father was hard on you, too. [and a rueful grin] Pesky restraint. Why doesn't it let us have any fun?

[coyoteking]

I don't even know what a Daxamite is, I'd be fucked.

[Whatever it is, it's not him.]

And that sounds rough. Dad was just an asshole, not quite the uptight kind. Speaking of uptight, yeah, you're right. It'd be nice to let loose every once and a while.

[He could be mistaken for serious if not for the slight grin.]

[unphase]

Hope that you never have to learn. They're--they're really powerful.

[and he's lucky for that]

What kind was he? [and at his words and slight grin, she grins back in response] Absolutely! The Speakeasy's great, but what I wouldn't give for a real nightclub.

[coyoteking]

He was...

[Looks like they've found another subject he doesn't like talking about much.]

He had a habit of testing people. Putting them in bad situations to see if they could get out of it. Very much a "survival of the fittest" kinda guy. If I'm honest? I don't miss him.

[He's happy to return to a different topic.]

Nightclub would be nice. I've never had the time to go, but I'm sure it'd be great.

[unphase]

[she listens carefully, afraid she's hit on a sore subject]

Grife. Even my mother didn't go that far. I don't think anyone would miss a situation like that.

[and yes, happy! happy and fun!]

You've never had the time to go? Ever? Okay, that's it. Next time the Speakeasy is having one of those Welcome New People nights, you're meeting me there. We'll have a drink or two, do some dancing, it'll be fun!

[coyoteking]

Grife, what's that? Is that a cuss word?

[He likes learning languages, but the cuss words are his favorite part.]

And, uh, I don't exactly know how to dance, but I'd be up for the drinks, for sure.

[unphase]

Yeah, it's "god" in Titanese, but it kind of caught on through all the United Planets.

[most Terran swear words have fallen out of fashion]

Don't worry, I can teach you if you want? And that sounds great!

[coyoteking]

I think I'd have an easier time learning Titanese than how to dance.

[He says it sarcastically, but it's true.]

[unphase]

[she's not taking the sarcasm personally]

I'm afraid I don't know that one! I grew up using Bgztlian and learned Terran Basic when I was ten and mother started taking me on her missions. Most everyone knows Terran Basic, so I didn't have to learn much else.

[coyoteking]

Are the other Earth languages still around? I could teach you one, if you want. We could trade.

[unphase]

A trade sounds great! Chinese is still around and so is Spanish. But mostly Chinese.

[coyoteking]

You want to learn Mandarin? I'm not perfect at the accent, but I've got a good handle on the inflection and everything.

[He may or may not have learned it to deal with Chinese mobsters, but you know.]

[unphase]

Yes, that's it! Mandarin. Sorry, you know I'm not a native Terran. And the infliction is already way ahead of what I can do.

[however he learned it, learning it at all is impressive. she's heard it's difficult]

[coyoteking]

I mean there's also Cantonese, but it's different. And probably some other languages, too. But yeah, you're forgiven, it's a lot to keep track of.

[Every country on Earth has several languages, so.]

So for my part, I want to learn your native language. I have no idea what it even sounds like, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

[unphase]

It really is, especially with the whole thousand year time difference thing. So much can change!

That's fine. Bgztlian is a little rough for non-natives to learn how to speak---there are a lot of consonants where the vowels are kind of assumed, but I think you can do it.

[coyoteking]

It's fine, I like a challenge.

[It's said sort of jokingly, but then, that's true too. Life is boring when everything's easy. Makes him feel nervous, too.]

The main thing to remember about Mandarin is that your tone and pitch matter. A word can have lots of different meanings depending on where you emphasize and how high your voice is.

[And now he's nerding out about languages, excellent work.]

[unphase]

It will definitely be that. So, where do you want to have our lessons? One of our apartments or a corner booth at the Speakeasy?

[she'd be happy with either option, but truth be told is leaning more towards the Speakeasy]

Oh, wow, really? Speaking of challenges! I don't know of any languages other than Durlan that does that. I tried teaching a Durlan teammate Basic. It . . . didn't go well. But Basic is complicated and my old teacher told me that when it came to Basic, the only rule was there were no rules.

But Bgztlian is even harder, thanks to the whole assumed vowels thing. My name back home is actually "Tnya Wzzo."

[coyoteking]

Speakeasy works.

[He doesn't drink much, but he prefers the atmosphere.]

And if Basic is anything like English, that's pretty much true. I've heard it's one of the hardest languages to learn, but I don't know, it's just my native language, so it's hard for me to tell.

[He's basically cheating.]

But hey, if I could do English as a kid, I can do Bgztlian.