staysilent | July 2021 - Home Sweet Home

July 2021 - Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

Summer is in full swing by now. The days are hot and sticky, the nights are cooler but still a bit uncomfortable. The temptation to spend the days swimming away in the waters near Rabbit Island is strong. After all, everyone has worked hard, so why not take a break? Summer is the best time to go swimming, especially during the daytime hours when you can see straight to the bottom of the shallow areas.

Much has been accomplished in the last month. The food storage building is looking much more secure, and just in time too: it won't be long before the farmland can be fully used to grow food for everyone, and you'll need a place to keep all your vegetables. Cold storage is still a ways off, but this is a good start.

The defenses have improved too. After a thorough check, the island has been verified to be troll-free, which pleases your local NPCs greatly. A safe island is a happy island, after all. And with two of the sea nets fully functional, the islands are that much safer.

Finally, repairs have been completed on one of the houses. It looks a bit too small for everyone to move into, so you'll have to figure out a way to decide who gets to live there. But with the experience of fixing up this house, further houses should be easy to repair too.

All in all, it's been a good month. Even the nighttime screaming from the Silent World seems to have disappeared for now. Hopefully the peace and quiet will last. Maybe enjoy it while you can? Things can change in an instant here, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Have fun watching as the little bits of illusions, taking the shape of fireflies as he approaches before turning to droplets of water, like rain suspended in the air. When he knocks the illusions flicker, then suddenly go out along with any light coming from inside, leaving him in the dark.]

[For a minute at least, as there's shuffling from inside and a light comes back on, this time of a more mundane nature, and he unlocks and opens the door. He looks like he just rolled out of bed, his hair a bit messy and he's not wearing his sunglasses or jewelry. He squints at Teo and sighs tiredly.]

...What are you doing here?

[The fireflies delight him. They speak to something in him- before they transform that is. But the dark, that he doesn't mind. It lets him lift the goggles back up onto his head, to appreciate being able to see unhindered.

He's a little excited when the door opens. It's the first time he's visited anyone living that he can remember. Of course, some of that excitement dulls into uncertainty when he sees the mess that is Faust. He lifts a finger, pauses, and then lowers it.]

... I wanted... to stop by...

...And... I went out... hunting... and could use an alibi... for where I went.

...In the middle of the night?

[Okay, it sort of makes sense that he'd want to hunt at night, but still-]

That's what you woke me for?

[He's a bit grumpy, but I mean, he did come wake him up in the middle of the night.]

[He glances awkwardly to the side and back again.]

...... You were doing... magic... I thought you were... awake...... Do you do magic... in your sleep?

...

[That just seems to irritate him further- or perhaps make him uncomfortable- as he crosses his arms and looks away.]

I wasn't doing anything, I was sleeping. What's this about an alibi?

[He does magic in his sleep. In his sleep! This is super cool. He tries hard not to look delighted by this information. Having the gaiter still up helps, probably. Also the dead eyes.]

I go out... to hunt... someone asks where I went... where I've... been... Especially if... someone finds... animal remains... by mistake someday... If I say... I visit you... Less suspicion. Can't say... I hunt... if I bring nothing... back... Can't share... what I catch... safely. Alibi helps...

...

[Whether or not he notices Teo's delight, he's clearly feeling much the opposite right now.]

I don't exactly make a habit of having visitors over, unless they need to use the radio.

[Which is still something of a mystery to him in how it actually works without magic, though he's read through the manual for lack of better reading material around here.]

[Now the wonder is clear. His eyes go wide. There's awe in his voice.]

...There's radio here...?

[He's not sure why that would inspire wonder...]

Apparently. It's how we can contact the mainland.

[With another sigh, he steps aside.]

Since you're here anyway, you may as well come in. But only for a little while.

[It's not like this really is his personal room after all, even if he uses it to lock himself in. All that really shows he stays here is the bedroll on the floor, some neatly folded clothes and jewelry, a stack of what few books he's scrounged up so far, and a candlestick, currently unlit.]

Thank you...

[He steps in with the welcome as if it were a warm one. It is possible he's smiling, but who's to say? He notes the things on the floor, treasures from a lost world, but his gaze doesn't linger, instead scanning the room for that radio.]

Does it... have music...?

[It's a longshot, he knows. He doubts it will. But, even just to see it is something.]

Music...?

[It's definitely an old fashioned radio, though to Faust it's just Alien Technology.]

I know it needs to be set to specific frequencies for communication to work, but if it's capable of producing music, I don't know anything about that.

[If it's in view, he moves for it, taking a seat right there, almost daring to reach out and touch the nobs and dials. Almost.]

The old world... before.... [He waves a hand.] There were stations... frequencies... played music... all day, all night... all kinds... I remember... I remember that... in cars... and shops... restaurants... or... in neighbourhood... celebrations... everywhere...!

[He sighs.] So quiet now... Was noisy... but good...

[He's free to mess with it, though if he ends up annoying the mainland in the middle of the night then Faust will get annoyed too-]

...There was always someone playing music over things like this, all day and night? That sounds like an exhausting profession.

[No he has no idea how a recording works.]

[As if Faust isn't already annoyed. But he laughs. The noise is a raspy cracking thing.]

The people switch... shifts... Use different casettes- or, no, it was... CDs? ...Maybe vinyl... or digital... Different bands... different songs...

...I don't know what you're talking about. You mean different bands would switch out with each other?

[Still seems like that'd require a lot of bands, but it makes more sense than performing nonstop. So that must be what he means, yes??]

[Oh. Right. He glances are, searching the radio for if there are indeed any casettes or things but no such luck. He zeros in then on the books, pointing.]

Those... they hold... words... pictures... but there are things... that hold sound... recordings... Bands record songs... the recordings are on these... things... discs or tapes... the radios play the recordings... the music plays through the frequencies... make sense?

Edited 2021-07-04 18:07 (UTC)

Record sound...?

[He could see how something like that could be potentially achieved with magic, but without it...?]

Fascinating... I never would have thought humans could create such things without relying on magic.

[He's definitely grinning now, even if the gaiter covers it.]

Humans are... very cool... There are many things... invented... There are even things... like movies... can play a story with... sound and pictures... and effects... like magic

["Cool" sounds like a phrase the Sage would use... maybe they're from a similar world. But that aside, despite what he said, he doesn't seem impressed as Teo goes on. Humans aren't cool, okay. Better get back to more important topics.]

...All of that aside, there's something I've been meaning to ask you. About your hunting. Can you not eat like a living person would?

[Well, so much for that grinning. He turns away and hugs his arms close to himself. He doesn't want to answer this. He doesn't want to explain and cause the man to change his mind, turn him over, or simply cut him down where he stands. He doesn't want to make Faust question his decision to let him be, even if getting rid of him is the right thing to do.

He turns his back, facing the radio.]

... Doesn't go away... always hungry... but it gets... it gets easier... next best thing... to hunt...

Don't find much... normal food... doesn't... do much for me... can't taste the same... Wasteful...

[His reaction isn't surprising, it's a distressing topic for him- understandably, assuming he's at all trustworthy. Still, he'd rather have straight answers than this dancing around the subject in that disjointed way of his.]

So only raw meat will ease your hunger?

[Slowly, reluctantly, he nods.]

More alive... the- the better... It- it tricks... whatever makes me... want...

[Once again, he feels the urge to hide himself. He doesn't this time.]

I don't think... I can starve... I don't know... but... I want to be safe, so...

[He shrugs.]

...

[He sighs, and if he was wearing his hat he'd tug it lower over his face, but instead he just looks to the side. He doesn't have to say directly what he seems to really be hungry for.]

How troublesome... what drives you to keep surviving, with dangerous cravings like that? Wouldn't you rather rest?

[Those are some good questions. He doesn't know that he has good answers. There's a voice that reminds him it's selfish. His existence directly threatens others, those still alive. But as if in response to that, and to Faust, he shakes his head.]

I don't... feel like... I'm at the end... I... I'm not a ghost... I'm not... done. I don't think... I've lived. I don't know... what I did... who I was... but I didn't...

[He lifts a hand, running it through his hair. Then he chokes out a laugh.]

I didn't live... I didn't- didn't do it right... [He turns to Faust.] If you had a chance... to fix a mistake... wouldn't you? Don't you... want to live...? [He shakes his head again.] I'm not ready... I'm not done... I'm going to... find who I am... find... someone who knew me... who... I might have loved... I'm going to live... I'm not dying... before I've lived...

...

[He doesn't answer his question, which can be taken as hypothetical anyway, but his expression grows briefly bitter.]

If you can't remember your past at all, what makes you so sure chasing it is worth living for? What if you find out who you were, only to realize it was better off forgotten? Would you still feel you have more to live for, in the state you're in now?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject