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bakerstreet2021-09-03 08:10 am
socksonameme) wrote in bakerstreet2021-09-03 08:10 am
Entry tags:
survive
the survival meme
Acts of nature, vicious monsters, merciless enemies, and treacherous worlds. These are circumstances which put your skills and your wit to the ultimate test: the struggle to survive. Maybe you're fit enough to make it on your own, or maybe you're in over your head. Either way, can you afford to help a friend or stranger in need? That's a decision you'll have to make in the moment.
1. wilderness
Whether you're stranded, adventuring, or simply camping, the wild has been known to turn on those who would appreciate her splendor in an instant. Wild animals, inclement weather, hazardous territory, and food that fights back are just some of the things you'll need to contend with to survive.
2. natural disaster
Earthquakes, floods, avalanches, and more. These forces of nature are hard to predict, and even harder to control. You may need more than just your own wit and ingenuity to make it through this.
3. post-apoc
The world has met with some disaster - be it war, a climate event, an invasion - and for most, all the comforts of modern life are a thing of the distant past. How have the stragglers survived so far?
4. alien planet
You've landed on a strange and unknown world, and you have no idea what dangers could lurk ahead. The very air could be poison, and on some worlds, even the plants have teeth!
5. zombies
Whatever you do, don't get bitten. No one can afford to spare your life when the virus takes hold.
6. robot uprising
Humanity has been pushed to the very brink of existence on their own world, as AIs rise up to take their place as the rightful stewards of the planet. Do you even stand a chance against intelligence and physical ability far superior to a mere fleshy being?
7. monsters
Take care and stay on your guard, for this territory is crawling with foul beasts who will come for you at any sign of... fear, sound, movement, blood... or what have you!
8. battle royale
In this nightmare, your enemies are the very people who are trapped here with you. Do you team up to survive, or do you take no prisoners?
9. enemy territory
This is your most dangerous mission yet: you're heading right into the enemy's lair.
10. wildcard
Anything goes!
J'onn J'onzz 👽 DC
jack √ tales from the gas station
some 2/7/10 deal, probably
Galo had spent the first few minutes blissfully, happily ignorant as he checked out the candy bar selection.
He spent the next few minutes far less blissfully, happily ignorant as swirls of haze and ocher started to form in the sky outside. He told himself that it was just weather patterns. Tried to ignore it. It didn't quite work.
He spent a few more minutes after that staring outside, as the swirls and spirals of haze and ocher became an intricate pattern of clouds in the sky. (Galo had no idea what ocher was, actually, if asked he'd assume it was a type of coffee and would say as much, but the sky was definitely ocher and haze colored.) The air had a weird texture. It was thick.
He then spent the last few minutes walking up to pay, also asking,]
Hey.
[What's a good way of putting it...]
Is that stuff outside...normal?
[As in, is this some kind of weird northwestern/midwestern/southeast/etc weather pattern that's neat and he never had heard of, or is this...strange.]
no subject
And, obviously, the swirling, ominous pattern of death. It's only when Galo points it out that he looks out the very big, you'd have to be stupid not to notice stuff on the other side of it glass.
A beat. )
Huh.
( Lightly, and with what sounds like casual interest. )
No, that's not... that's not really a thing we usually get.
( Another beat. )
Was it like that when you pulled in?
no subject
[He was still hoping that they'd just look it up and discover this was some weird-but-known cloud formation, you know, they're just cumulus clouds.]
It was dark when I was pulled in, but the pattern's new. That didn't start until I started checking out your drinks. I think?
[Galo turned away from the window just in time to miss seeing a spiral of what appeared to be crows (but probably weren't actually crows, and if they were crows they were giant fucking crows) rising up towards the center of the pattern, flying higher and higher than was possible for any crow to fly. One got the sense that something was pressing onto the sky, and then it was going to be ripped open and the entire The Herald Unraveling etc doomsday thing would unfurl. (If not worldwide, then at the very least locally.)]
I've never been around here so I just figured it was something that happened here all the time, but I've always been a glass 2/3rds full kind of guy.
[Missing the point, but with great attitude.]
no subject
( Jack says, carefully lifting himself up from his stool behind the counter. He's got a new prosthetic now, he doesn't need crutches anymore, but he's still getting the hang of smooth transitions. )
Unfortunately, in this town the water's basically full of mercury and low fructose corn syrup, so it doesn't really matter how full it is.
( Annnnd yeah, that kind of looks like a massive sky butthole full of birds. Which emergency box would even be the right box for something like that? Should he get the gun? No, that's stupid, what's he gonna do, try and shoot an enormous spiral of birds - and probably miss every single one of them in the process? Not only is that a waste of bullets, it's just an embarrassment. He settles instead on plucking up his baseball bat as he passes around the counter, holding it limply at his side as he approaches the doors.
Dumbly, he reaches out to turn the deadbolt lock. As though they'd do a single thing against... whatever that is. The only comparable thing that comes to mind is Mayfly Lockdown Protocol, so he reaches over to flip the light switch right after, abruptly ending the humming of all the overhead incandescent bulbs. )
Please don't let this be one of those birds flying aggressively at the window things. It's so gross to clean that up...
( Granted, the raccoons are pretty helpful on that one. )
1/3
Kinda looks like a giant butthole full of birds, huh?
[It had to be said.
He took a moment to stare at his car (a rental) and mourn it already. He almost, almost asked if he could get his car, but then click went the deadbolt and that answered his question. Then went the lights.]
You got a-
2/3
3/3
[...]
You heard that?
[Outside, the birds/"birds" started flying away, scattered by that boom that emanated from the sky butthole. Turns out this would be, at least at first, a 'birds flying at windows' thing and there would be a mess. They'd probably dissolve into a haze ooze or something and leave grease stains or something, gross.]
no subject
And then comes the boom. Which is to say... it's kind of like a gunshot going off, but after. He hates how intimately he knows the sound, but what's almost more oppressive than the shot itself is the two seconds that follow. It leaves behind such a devastating silence it hurts to experience, with your ears ringing as though to flip you the middle finger for trying to deprive them of cuddling so soon after sound climax. Except he didn't even get the ringing.
You heard that?
Well... )
No. Technically.
( He heard nothing. It's different than silence, or at least silence as he knows it. It was the sound... of nothing.
And then comes the first thunk of a bird smacking into the glass, and he turns his eyes back toward the parking lot again.
Sigh. )
I hate it when they do that.
( The first one precedes a rush of the next. Thunk... thunk, thunkthunkthunk thunk. He parts his lips to say I think that was the last one, but then- Thunk. Never mind. )
no subject
But if he did, he'd compare it to a giant seagull, in that, much like a seagull, it gave off the impression of being willing to eat anything and everything and that it would snatch a sandwich out of your hands - possibly even snatch your hand with the sandwich.
It had that kind of feeling.
He was preoccupied with staring at his friend, yeah, they're partners now, dealing with whatever this is.]
Sounds rough.
[Said with deepest sincerity.]
I never really thought about how rough running a place like this has gotta be.
[As if this was normal, but it felt normal.
He picked up a small rack and gave it a tentative swing, just in case the birds managed to crack the glass (not...yet?) and get in, still having missed the memo of the larger, more feral bird on the hunt for something to eat, probably. In fact, there it was, eating a bird or two on its way down.]
You learn a lot when you travel around. You think you'll need help cleaning up when this is all over- cause my car's probably a loss, so I'll probably be hanging around a while.
no subject
But hey, silver lining, flash-bonding with a stranger in traumatic situations is basically how he cements all his friendships. Granted, he's usually on a first name basis with them for a little while first, but he's not exactly choosy. He's definitely not the worst rando to take shelter in this gas station during some kind of invasion. )
You really don't have to.
( He politely declines, though he sounds appreciative nonetheless. It's his job, he's not gonna drag anyone else into it.
...not that the help wouldn't be nice. )
Besides, I'm sure the raccoons will clean up half of it before we'll even get to leave.
( He's turned to pull a box out of the supply closet, deciding maybe Operation Mayfly Protocol might not hurt, just in case. Except when he lifts up again to hold up a tarp, his eyes fixate on-- )
Hey... is it just me, or does that... kind of look like the sky butthole is giving birth, to you?
( Too late. It's past crowning. Congratulations, it's a... boy? Girl? Gull? Genderless otherworldly bird god? )
no subject
Hey, you've got a fire extinguisher somewhere?
[Maybe an extinguisher.
Anyway.]
If the sky butthole gave birth, who's the dad?
[That was the best he could think of, okay? They're both going through a lot.
And they apparently weren't the only ones. The birds continued to fly into, well, anything they could: Galo could see some knock into his car, into the cement, into that tree over there. The giant genderless otherworldly bird god chased after that, and it seemed to reframe things, in a way, made it seem like they less flew into the windows to be creepy and more that they were flying into windows in an attempt to get away from the genderless otherworldly bird god.
Basically, a side effect was that they seemed to hit the windows harder, faster, seeming like they'd do anything to crack them open so they could get inside, away from the genderless otherworldly bird god. Maybe it was just reading too much into things. Maybe it was actually happening.
The genderless otherworldly bird god (who really needs a name as that's a mouthful) was clearly hunting for...something, and Galo backed away from the windows - dragging Jack with him, if he didn't also back away from the windows - as it flew overhead. Something told him that neither of them would like it if it knew there was something living inside. An idiot's instinct for trouble, maybe.]
no subject
Another Jack Fact: he's astoundingly easy to pull around. Like, it's a little sad, actually. )
Why-
( He starts, shooting a look back at his tarps in a manner that could almost be classified as longing. The horrifically piercing, near-deafening screeching sound helps answer the question.
He goes from reluctant to leading, pivoting them both around the counter and then dropping down to the floor beneath the register for full cover.
Somehow, he doubts his bat is gonna do much good here. Sometimes he really wishes he were any good with guns.
...Although, what the hell's a gun gonna do? That thing's enormous. )
no subject
But, he got as far as making a face with his mouth, about to say something, but now they're on the ground, and okay, he's okay with this, nothing's on fire, this is outside of his sphere of expertise, his instincts weren't kicking in yet. If someone was snatched up then things would be different, but that hasn't happened yet, and until that happened this was just some natural wildlife thing. Some really weird wildlife thing.
He nearly got up to look but thought twice of it, and instead, they are going to have a moment.
Galo stared at Jack.
He made a gesture with one hand that was supposed to imply bird and monster bird the way it swooped about.
Then he had the swooping bird chase after his other hand.
All of this may or may not be clear.
Finally, he mimed scooping up food from a bowl with an air spoon.
He finished with a nod.
All of this was very clear, obviously.]
Prince Hans ⚔ Frozen ⚔ OTA
Matt Murdock | MCU
Heads up I can be slower posting]
xu wenwu | shang-chi
4/9ish sssssssspoils
[ He's running towards the still body before he can register that the air around them has changed, that the hard rock has given way to clay and spits of grass. That the sky, so recently grey, is now clear and absent of winged monstrosities. No roar of hunger, no sweet hum of arrows rising to meet their enemies. There'd been a burst of light at the moment his father's soul had materialised, and he'd thought...]
[ He skids to his knees, reaching for his father's wrist, desperate for the pulse there, completely focused on him. If there's any chance to save him, keep them all together — ]
[ Not now. And not like this. It's wrong. He'll drag that precious soul out of that monster's gut if he has to. ]
« Wake up! »
no subject
power, after all, never changes. never ceases.
but now . . . even that could not disguise the ache in his bones, the weariness that travels through his veins like blood. the draining of his soul. the wind whispers his name and he hears it calling. home, home, home. and yet his son persists. home, home, home. it throbs like a living thing inside his chest. weakly, he responds. ]
Shang-Chi . . . enough.
Daniel Sorrentino | Vampire: The Masquerade (Lasombra Antitribu) | OTA
Trinity | The Matrix
roman torchwick, rwby | ota