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bakerstreet2017-02-27 01:05 pm
marlowe_tops) wrote in bakerstreet2017-02-27 01:05 pm
The (Possibly Post-Apocalyptic) Homesteading Meme
The (Possibly Post-Apocalyptic) Homesteading Meme
The apocalypse is over, you’ve reached the new world, the colony ship has landed, the bunker has opened, your inheritance has been bequeathed. Wherever you came from, whatever horrors you’ve survived, you’re here now. You’ve made it, and this is going to be your new home. Finally, you’ve found a little patch of land that wasn’t destroyed, or you saved up enough pennies to buy a farm, or you found the perfect fortress to keep back the monstrous hordes outside.
1. We’ve Earned This - Maybe you fought for it, maybe you’re the only surviving humans, maybe you just saved your pennies from your soul-crushing desk job. Either way, you earned this new life, and your own piece of land. Now it’s time to make it a home.
2. Robinson Crusoe - No part of this was planned. But here you are, washed up on this foreign island or distant planet, and you have no choice but to survive. There’s no way to send a message, and no one’s coming to save you. You’re just going to have to use whatever you can salvage from the wreck to make this barren place into a livable home.
3. Hermits Do It Alone - Ever dreamed about just running away from it all? Now’s your chance. You’ve purchased a piece of land somewhere so far remote that you don’t have neighbors anywhere within miles. This is what you want. And yet… you’re not entirely alone. Maybe someone has shown up on your doorstep needing shelter, maybe you just got a new neighbor, or maybe you brought them along (willing or not).
4. Manifest Destiny - Welcome to the new world. Your colony ship has arrived, and whether you’re coming from another planet or just across the sea, this land is yours now. It’s your destiny. You might have to fight the natives for it, or maybe you’ve found somewhere so unappealing or undiscovered that you’ll only be fighting against the elements—and whatever strange new foreign infections reside here.
5. Manifest Zombies - Maybe your manifest destiny (and the zombies or monsters chasing you) has led you to an established settlement. They have safety and food, but they’re not willing to let you in. You’re going to have to prove your worth to them, or you’re going to have to take it.
6. Louisiana Purchase - Expand! Settle! Homestead! Your home country or planet has just made some valuable new territory acquisitions. They’re unoccupied, rich with resources, and going cheap. Pack your trowel and buy plenty of seeds, you’re going homesteading.
7. You, Me, and this Bunker - The apocalypse has come, but you were ready for it! You’ve got your bunker, your water filtration system, your underground crops, and a room full of unwatched DVDs. Get ready to play a whole lot of two-player games of cards, because the two of you are stuck in your new home until the half-life of the nuclear disaster above ticks down to manageable levels. So, probably not within your lifetime.
8. I Think We’re Alone Now - You had your bunker, and you survived. Maybe it’s been only a few months, or maybe you were born inside that bunker, a descendant of the original survivors. It’s safe to emerge at last, into the ruins of what was once our modern society. No one’s alive out there, unless you can find another survivor like yourself. But you can probably find a nice farm somewhere, raid some abandoned grocery stores, and plant some crops.
tl;dr - Farming, housemaking, homesteading. Possibly after the apocalypse or on a new planet. Or just because you want a farm.
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my crit for you is that u didnt do your three minimum edits on this tag as agreed upon and now i have to drop this thread, goodbye and please never call this number again.
holy fuck professor dad please ora a deathclaw. just go through fallout and ora every monster. )
[ See, normally, he'd be more then willing to do just that - to tell him to head for Diamond City, this square of the Wasteland's most prolific trading hub, and to just follow the Valentine-themed signage to Nick's door. Even without his help, it'd be easy enough for any wanderer to show up on his doorstep, and though he wouldn't say that he knows Nick particularly well, he knows that he's wily enough to keep himself from being tricked and conned. And, really, that would be the most natural conclusion to all of this.
But he can't let this fellow, with all of his peculiarities, out of his sight and turned toward something that might tip the hand of his entire organization - and more importantly, toward old Speedwagon. That, and Jotaro is clearly irritated with him -- which has him drawn like blood in shark-infested waters. He'd need to stall and milk more out of this conversation - and to do that, he would need some extra assistance. He pulls the corner of shorn cloth tight and saws upward to complete his cut, separating the material fully from the mangled seat. ]
Hands full? Me? I'm just taking salvage. Nothing in the engine's probably any good, but you'd be surprised at how many uses one finds for cloth. [ He sheathes the old knife and puts it away, and after a moment of deliberation, ties the burnt strip around his waist for easy keeping. Joseph reaches into his baggy pockets to produce a beaten-up, flat little tin. He snaps it open and picks from it a shiny red tablet, puts it on his tongue, and snaps the tin shut. He keeps his eyes on Jotaro as he speaks, half-exits the crashed vehicle before turning around and speaking again - but almost instinctively avoids his eyes. Looking directly into them, especially now, is too unsettling. ]
Anyways, [ -- swallows -- ] I can't let you go out there alone in good conscience. You're obviously pretty new around here. I so would hate to have to take that coat off of you once the Wasteland's done with you. [ Probably not how it would play out, after what he'd seen him do to that seat, but Joseph is nothing if not dedicated when he adopts a part to play -- and it gives him a chance to keep the conversation going for some of his more pressing worries. ]
You also seem pretty cut-up about my opinions on you. [ Angrier about his lack of trust then he seems about his lack of help, apparently. ] I didn't realize you were the sort to consider a dirty little scavenger like yours truly so seriously. So now I'm interested.
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i-i-i apologize joseph-sensei!!! don't push me into the oil wall test :(!!!
goal for this AU: professor dad ora's across the commonwealth. )
[ Irritation at his grandfather - in any form - is almost as natural as breathing. They became closer on their journey through Egypt and even after. There was a respect there that Jotaro had gained, even if he was still tempted to punch the old geezer for pretending to be anything like DIO. Still, he cared for his grandfather as he did his mother and father. The fact that this isn't the Joseph he knows seems to make him feel slightly more protective. Not from whatever the horrors are in this reality, but from whatever trouble he himself may have brought with him. Why involve the innocent in the business of Stands and the madness they bring?
He turns his head away and raising his hand at the statement. ] Yare yare daze... you really are irritating.
[ He steps out of the vertibird, feet heavily hitting the dusted ground underneath him. The dirt in the wind has already started to leave marks on his coat. Not that it matters to him that much. The amount of clothing he has gone through due to wounds and blood made him stop caring about the state of clothing a long time ago. The wife insists he dresses nice, but he doesn't see the point.
A pointed glance is sent over his shoulder. Is he angry, or frustrated about the situation? He isn't entirely sure. It isn't smart to presume that there'd be any sort of friendly attitude between two strangers ]
The way you took things apart in that plane says more than you'd think. You know what you're doing. It would be stupid not to take you seriously. [ Then, he half turns to him. ] If you're serious about taking me to this Valentine... what should I call you?
[ Even if he knows he'll slip and call him old man at some point. ]
no subject
professor dad oras every raider. every giant building-sized monster crab. every horrible mosquito beast. every hideous hairless bear. ora the commonwealth to safety, professor dad. he's my hero.
i was actually thinking about fallout jotes today and i realized: he can ora even without splat in this au. theres some variants with shotgun barrels and heating coils attached. canon fallout au jotaro just trucking across the wasteland with a bag full of various power fists. )
More Japanese, is it? [ The pills hit quick, and that is one part of what Joseph likes about them. With them, he can quell the constant buzz between his ears to a volume approaching tolerable. They lend his surroundings a certain clarity - bringing sight more vivid and sounds more realized, giving everything a sort of foothold for Joseph to hang onto. With them, he can more easily pick things up and turn them over within the privacy of his own thoughts, which come quicker and quicker by the second.
Not everyone agrees with his mentat habit - and, actually, can he think of anyone who agrees with it? - but it's saved him more then once. As long as he could keep it under wraps, it would continue saving him. ] You probably shouldn't speak too much of that around here if you don't want trouble. You'll make folks suspicious, you know -- the folks still tender about the Great War. Not that you seem a fellow too worried about that sort of thing.
[ Whether he should be worried about it or not, Joseph supposes, remains to be seen. Joseph scoops the earlier-missed Stimpak up, takes one last look around the blown-out vertibird's interior, and grabs his radio to venture out after the wanderer. He pulls his hat back on by its floppy ears. ]
Well, if there's one thing that I've got a talent for, I would say that it's probably stealing from other people's broken shit. Thank you for recognizing my accomplishments in this most prestigious of fields. [ He hauls the radio's strap over the back of his neck. He's let on too much, clearly, and the idea that he had puts his nerves to an edge that he's trying to forcibly dull. Now, to play down, and to hope that the acuity-enhancing little red pill he just swallowed wouldn't hamper his attempts to do that too obviously.
His name is the one thing he's got covered multiple times over. He'd worn enough of them in his time on the Railroad that he gives his personal favourite pseudonym with enough casual ease; ] Jean is what my parents called me - or at least, I think they did, so you can, too. [ They didn't. ] Now it's your turn. What ought I call you?
[ He watches him, coolly enough, but with some care - the other man's casual familiarity with him is something that's still putting him on edge. Jean is a fake name - but would he know that? ]
no subject
TIME HAS STOPPED oras with a giant powerfist. would he even need the power armor?!)
...The Great War? [ It would make sense to be in another era as well as being in another reality, after he thinks about it. A frown graces his face for a fraction of a second. He honestly could care less if people were upset by him. He was half-Japanese, so it was their problem if they couldn't handle that. Still, keeping his head low is more important at the moment. ] Hrmph.
[ He has already started to walk off at a slower pace. Boasting about stealing stuff really does seem like something Joseph would have done. ]
Jean, huh? [ The tone says he doesn't take the bait. But, hell, for all he knows? His name might actually be Jean. Jotaro tilts the bill of his hat down. ]
Jotaro. [ Then there is a pause. ] Although, something else might be needed if Japanese is going to be a problem.
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[ He isn't sure whether to be impressed or exasperated. How, precisely, does one go about ignorance regarding the single greatest calamity of all time? Sure, it all ended within the span of the same day in which it started - but the ramifications are still rippling to them hundreds of years later, in the form of a barren Earth and civilization in pieces. Someone who truly belonged to this world, surely, would at least have heard the reason for its breaking.
He tucks that away as the discussion of names resumes - Joseph makes a careful internal note of what sounds plainly enough like skepticism, though Joseph can't say that the name Jotaro belongs to any of the many people he's met in his travels. He keeps the name to turn over later. Maybe once the pills started to grease the cogs a little more effectively, the stranger would come to him. For now, he shrugs. ]
Couldn't hurt. For now, though, we're finding somewhere to hold up for the evening. You may be fine with being dinner when the radscorpions come out from under the sand out there, but I'm not.
no subject
He raises his hand and gives a small shrug. ]
We call it something different back home in Japan. [ A lie, but it isn't like Jean will believe the truth. Hell, he wouldn't have believed it himself. The world of Stands and everything else wasn't something a normal person could just go along with. Not unless they had been directly affected by it. ] When you say "The Great War", I think of the World Wars. Call it the language barrier, Jean.
[ There is something to be said about using the truth as a convenient cover up. It is almost like he's lying. He starts walking again, waiting for the alternate of his grandfather to catch up. ]
Lead the way. [ A sigh as he utters a yare yare to himself. ] As for the name thing... "JoJo" could work. It was my nickname as a kid. [ Though he does shoot a glance at "Jean" to see if it garners a reaction. ]
no subject
1930 might be a good guess, analogous enough to the look of things pre-War to match up accurately... but it's a healthy couple of centuries off. The current year, credited to the computer terminal currently gathering dust in his basement bunker back in Sterling, is 2287 - and the bombs blighted the Earth's surface far before Joseph himself was even a bad idea, let alone a fully-realized person.
Thankfully, Jotaro keeps quiet and lets it drop - and so does Joseph. ] Rare that you meet anyone who even knows about those. What are you, some sort of scholar? Pre-War history enthusiast, maybe?
[ Both genuinely asking, and fishing for what answers he might not voice. He's playing it close enough to the chest that it's getting hard to read anything from him - though the look he casts after giving him something to call him by is... indicative. He knows exactly what he's suggesting, of that Joseph is sure - but he can't move on it yet. So, he lets the split-second of inquisitiveness pass into something easier, and he shrugs. ]
Well, that'll be simple enough to remember. [ Why it will be simple enough to remember, though, he leaves ambiguous. ] Let's get to looking for somewhere to hole up for the evening, shall we? Flat space, somewhere we can set up a campfire and rope together a quick and easy-to-disassemble shelter. Something to hang our things from would be helpful, too.
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[ It is what he had learned after meeting Jonathan Joestar: how much every single "JoJo" was like him. They all carried a sense of justice and needing to protect and save those that they loved. It was as apparent as the star birthmark on the back of their necks. It was truly a great thing he got to meet his ancestor... in a way, Jotaro learned more about himself and DIO than he ever really thought possible.
Brushing the comments aside, he scanned the wasteland again. Star Platinum may not have been as durable as it once was, but its basic traits are still there. He raises one hand and points to the distance. ]
There's no need to look. There is an abandoned gas station about half a mile down the way. That should be good enough to take shelter in... and for you to take whatever you need out of it. [ Jotaro gives a sly smirk at Joseph. ] Unless you already took everything out of it.
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Joseph refrains from asking who gave him that degree. The answer is nobody, because since the end of the world, Joseph's halfway certain that everyone's a self-taught soldier or scientist or engineer of some strata - but marine biologist is a particular set of specifics that one simply doesn't hear about nowadays. A set that only really has one place, and it's not a place that Joseph wants even this close of a brush with. His nose turns as he thinks about it. ] Do a lot of... what is that, fish science? Salt-water testing? Do a whole lot of that out here, do you?
[ The platitudes about generation and legacy and history practically whizz right on by his head, for how strange the idea of a marine biologist existing and operating now seems. Legacy, as it would happen, doesn't have a whole lot of meaning in a place where even the most basic needs are hard-met. Passage of stories and culture doesn't happen much when most people don't ever live to meet any grandchildren they might be connected to. ]
More like everyone else took everything out of it. [ He peers into the horizon, shielding his eyes from the sunset. ] You've wandered about here more then I might have expected [ fat chance ] if you've passed by something that far down the way already. Most structures like those are filled with raiders and other such opportunistic scumbags looking to make easy pickings of wanderers like us. Be on your toes if we're going out that way.
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[ There was plenty of things he had found to write about in Morioh for his thesis. Who would have thought it would of worked like that? Now all he has to do is find a way back to his reality and help Josuke and his friends find Kira. It sounds simple, but nothing in his life has ever really been simple. ]
Ah. It is out in the open. [ Making it an easy target. Jotaro literally brushes the comment off before starting to walk. ] My eyesight is good.
[ An understatement of cheating centuries. ]
Don't worry about me, jii jii. [ He tilts his head down to cover his face with the bill of the hat as he walks. Shit, he called him "old man" again. ] You should worry about what these raiders will do to you.