the otherwordly meme

[contaminating]

the otherwordly meme

Words are magical things; they can have so many lovely connotations and varied histories.
Words have family trees just like people. They are linked to each other.
Some words are full of flavor and color and describe things you never suspected there were words for.
Words are why we're here.The meme is simple:

1. Post a comment with your muse's name and canon in the subject line.
2. List any preferences you may have ("no shipping," "no smut," etc.), if you decide to leave the next step up to responders.
3. Responders (or original posters, if they so decide), go to the Other-Wordly blog and hit 'Random' until you get a word. Use the word as a prompt to write up an RP scenario. Do this several times, if you like. Mix and match. Have fun with it!
4. Don't stop with a word, though! Words can often have etymologies that are at odds with their current meanings. Words can shift connotations over time. Let your imagination carry you with the words as its wind.

Comments

[savor_last_shot]

It was strange, how quickly everything changed. One day, the galaxy is on the brink of annihilation and the only thing left to do was to go forward into near-certain death to try and buy another day, another hour for everyone behind them.

Then, just like that, it was over, beyond them in an array of explosions, fire, and destruction. Billions dead, the galactic economy in ruins and a vast amount of rebuilding left to be done. Just as suddenly, there wasn't really a need for war heroes anymore. There had been speeches and the thanks of a grateful populace, a few whirlwind interviews and blitzes for the sake of fundraising and rallying the troops around the flag, to get everyone to "do their part". He'd spent almost a year trying to help coordinate the reconstruction of Palaven and the shattered Turian colony and core worlds.

But the galaxy was at relative peace. There were pirates and marauders, but the war - the big war - was over and everyone wanted to try and get back to a semblance of normal. That meant the soldiers got shifted back into their neat little boxes until they were called on again to do violence for the good of the state (not that he resented that; he was a turian at heart) and they'd finally given everyone who'd been involved with the Normandy a long over-do vacation. Several months worth, actually.

The problem was what he didn't know what to do with himself. His family was carefully re-establishing itself and he had no need to bother his sister or her family or to visit Palaven again - not anytime soon. Not after watching it burn and then helping it rebuild. Somewhere warm and tropical seemed nice in theory, but after the first two weeks he was getting cabin fever.

What did soldiers do when the war ended and they weren't needed anymore? Garrus leaned in the doorway, gazing out over the beachfront property they were using (free of charge, even; war heroes still had perks).

"...you ever get the feeling that you're lost? Just making everything up as you go?"

At least he had someone he could confide in.

watch me fail at past tense forever

[femshep]

Shepard was sitting on the bed, glancing over an e-mail of no particular importance--they were never particularly important, anymore. At his questions, though, she glanced his direction, setting the datapad aside. "I did once," she offered as she stood and closed the distance to join him in the doorway.

Once Shepard pulled up beside him, she cast a glance up to try to gauge the look on his face, then let her eyes drift out over the water. "Then the war ended," she finished dryly, running a hand through her mess of hair. It was getting way too long, but usually the fit of her helmet was what she counted on to tell her to chop it off. Which brought her right back around to 'that feeling that you're lost', really.

"Nowadays, there's not a whole lot left to make up." Should they eat and then stare at the beach, or stare at the beach and then eat? Life's tough decisions, brought to you by Shepard and Vakarian.

[savor_last_shot]

"I never really realized that retirement could be quite so... quiet," Garrus replied with a little shrug and a surreptitious little glance back at her. He didn't know how she felt about it, but judging from her tone, probably about the same.

"I guess I'm just used to running around and hoping that we won't die before the week is over," he continued dryly, "I really need that specter of death hanging over my head, you know? There's something motivating about it."

[femshep]

"I know what you mean." At the glance her way, she shifts her weight to her other leg, leaning just enough to be a presence against his arm despite the fact that her own are crossed. "Who'd have thought we'd miss the war?" It's almost amusing, really. They're probably horrible people for it, but Shepard doesn't much care at this point.

[savor_last_shot]

Her presence is a bit reassuring, but he still can't shake the sense of lethargy and ennui that's settled over him.

"Tell me about it. It's.. weird... but that was our life. It was our job. And now... well, I don't know what to with myself anymore. I'm not sure I want to go back to being a beat cop, but..."

He trails off with a shrug.

"...it's just different. That's all."

[femshep]

"We don't have to stay here, y'know." It feels strange to say it after they worked so hard to get here, but it's true. They have options. Not as many as before, maybe, but enough.

[savor_last_shot]

"True," Garrus replies, "I just wish I didn't feel like we were extraneous. War's over; here's your holovid deal."

Garrus shrugs and turns to look down at her, "Not that I want to complain, but if this is all retirement is going to be... well, I want to find something do."

[femshep]

Shepard doesn't reply right away, backing up a couple of steps to drift back toward the bed. She sits, lifting her datapad in gesture to show where exactly this is coming from. "As it turns out, we've only surveyed something like a third of the planets in Citadel Space." Her head tilts just slightly. "How would you like to be the guy who finds the key to getting the relays back up and running?"