There's a danger to desperation. When you are reckless enough to claim that you would do anything to achieve a certain goal, you risk losing sight of the things that matter to you the most. Even, I think, the most worthy among us, have risked too much on the half chance of some slight victory, and often the returns we get are hollow, unimportant in the face of the things we dispose ourselves of in the process of arriving there.

I lost much as a young man. As an older one, I gambled what little I had left. I have chased my fair share of ghosts, both real and imaginary, and failed to notice that in my pursuit of a family I had lost, that I, perhaps, had failed to embrace the family I had found.

I fear that I will never be a particularly good father, if indeed I live long enough to become one. I have certainly failed, in no particular order, to be a good son, a good benefactor, and a good friend.

[ No questions. Just some things that people need to hear: apologies to some and reminders to others, worked into the same kind of thoughtful rambles that so many other passengers spill onto the network after a few months here. Bruce has to blend in, after all; how better than to make it seem as though he's come to some great epiphany. ]

[the feed opens up on a familiar mask, before panning back to Francis. he hasn't eaten, hasn't slept, since the jump, and it shows, both in appearance and the bitter, tired way he talks]

Figures you'd still be here. Everyone else is gone, but you stick around. [short, hollow laugh] Just like home, huh?

[he runs a hand through his hair, takes a deep breath, and properly addresses the network this time]

Yeah, so. I know he had some friends here, but Azari's gone. He wasn't in his pod. [man he just feels tired] Azari's gone, James and Torunn are gone, Chase is dead - are any of my Avengers still around? [and really, guys, do you want to be? bad track record going with his team right now]

Whatever, just figured I'd let you guys know. Gonna go patrol if anyone needs me.

[ Pepper switches on the video, rather chilled out and calm seeming. Space life hasn't been treating her awfully since she came back, so everything's quite rosy. So far.

She offers the network a mild smile. ]

Is it kind of bad that I miss running a company? I think it's a bit bad. Especially since this is a company that has, over the years, been almost as frustrating as it has been rewarding. It's true that they say you don't know the true value of something until you've lost it. [ A little laugh, knowing she's being a little bit ... geeky? Maybe? ] I mean, the whole trading system of business makes sense here, I don't think we could set up a spaceship economy even if we wanted to, but...

[ She shrugs, waving a hand dismissively. ]

I guess I miss having something to do. For all the stress, it was good to have a way of filling up my time, and I don't have that here. Not that most of us have anything like what we're used to back home, of course. What I wouldn't give to have to sit through a board meeting or two every so often! If I ever said the same back home, I'd sound ridiculous.

The obvious answer to all this is "get a job", but - well, unless anyone has any suggestions, I don't know where I'd necessarily fit best. I've spent so much time organising things and orientating myself around business models and now I don't see where to apply these skills here.

[ A pause. ]

Well, now is as good a time as any to start picking up new skills.

[ She finishes with a still pleasant smile and a reassuringly positive note in her voice. ]



( ooc: SORRY FOR BEING A BUTT ABOUT REPLYING omg i'm on it now i swear )

[ this five month sojourn hasn't been kind to keller. he's dangerously underweight, gaunt as a motherfucker. somehow trimming his beard hasn't done much to improve his appearance. keller looks more or less unbothered by all of this, fingers tapping on the comm for a long moment before a smile flicks onto his face. ]

Leaves a lot to be desired, you know, this part. [ he gestures up and around at the medical bay. ] I forgot how much noise you people make.

[ keller's voice is rusty, low and grating. it's off just enough to be jarring, as if he's lost track of how to pitch his tone. his fingers tap against the comm again, beating out the tune of a song. ]

While I'm here, who's left? I heard half of you whining a couple weeks ago. That much hasn't changed, huh?

[ there's a breath of silence, keller's gaze skittering up and away, expression flickering into something unreadable. ]

Caffrey, you still kicking around? Give a guy a holler, yeah?

[ ooc | keller's been hanging out in the ship for five months, so he's a malnourished, dehydrated wreck and won't be leaving medical. dibs go to neal for first visit then it's open season for other shenanigans. ]

[Blake's not using video today - he's still feeling the effects of the illness he contracted after that rat bit him, and he's tired, and he's not interested in showing the entire ship the bags under his eyes. So it's just voice today.]

Blake here. We've been testing the elevators, since Ianto made his post. They all seem to be working now, but I still recommend exercising caution - go with a friend, if you can, and report any possible malfunctions to engineering ASAP.

[That's out of the way, at least. And now for a slight change of subject:]

The jump is in a few days. I know a lot of people are still recovering from what happened. If you're not already in the med bay, and you need help getting to the pods, please ask for help. I know there are a lot of lone ranger-types around here, but maintaining your pride doesn't mean anything if it kills you. For those new this cycle, yes, I'm completely serious - if you're not in a pod when the jump happens, you will be killed. Whether you think this place is real or not, when people die here, they're definitely dead, so don't be stupid about it. If you can't find a friend or acquaintance to help you get there on time, ask someone on security. We'll give you an escort.

We don't have to like each other - but we do need to communicate and cooperate with each other, if we want to live long enough to get back to our homes.

[Private to Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle - batcryption 85%]

Has Crane been accounted for since the elevator malfunctions?

[ There's no telling how much effort it takes for Bruce to actually look tired in a video feed. It's something he's taught himself not to do: awake is awake, and stolen moments of sleep are sleep--cautious, batarang under the pillow sleep. The moments have to be separate, with very little in between, and so Bruce hardly knows tired any more.

What does the trick in the end - what really gives him the worn, haunted look of a man desperately looking for something that he can't find - is the memory of his parents, ghostly and just out of reach, talking to him with words that he just can't hear; a residual image left behind by the mask. He adopts it, weaves it into his story: gaunt, eyes dark from supposed lack of sleep, Bruce fumbles his device and turns it on as though he's just woken - in fact he's been awake for hours, scheming - staring bleakly down into the lens. ]

This place gets to you even in your sleep. [ A deliberate shudder, eyes jumping from one corner of his room to the other, as though something might leap from the shadows. ] Is anyone else awake?

( Private to Crane )

I happen to be a very private man. It tends to happen when you're brought up in the public eye. My parents-- [ He pauses. ] They were wonderful people, but their deaths caught the imagination of the world, and I grew up under that shadow.

You can imagine how difficult it must be for me to speak to you now. It isn't a subject I enjoy visiting, but it's come to my attention that I've been coming off as... Well, as aloof. It's not my intention. You're all so close, helping each other out when times are hard. It's a long way from what I'm used to. It's difficult to know how to--how to join in, when you've never really done it before.

I'm afraid I really don't have any applicable skills. I'm not a doctor, I know a little about science, I'm afraid to say I wouldn't be much use in a fight, but if there's anyone on board who wouldn't mind showing a closeted ex-billionaire the ropes, I'm willing to try to learn. I'll take anything.

It's Bruce Wayne, by the way.

[ A wary smile, and then the feed clicks off. ]

[ normally, this kind of thing starts with jenna scattered, or looking slightly surprised that recording is actually happening. none of that, for once; instead she's sitting in one of the therapy rooms, behind a desk with her comm propped up enough to see a truly righteous amount of brightly colored pillows behind her. she's calm, cool, collected and super prepared, there may be notes involved.

she has a handout, y'all. ]

I have a speech I put together so I'm just going to launch into it, and I'll do the social skill stuff after, honest. [ a deep breath. ] Okay, so. Between earlier in the month with Tony, and-- other conversations, I've realized that there might be more confusion about what therapy is and what it can do for people than I had thought. So! Consider this one woman's very, very biased take on it.

Therapy is, in an overly simplified hippie way, trying to help people heal their brains and their hearts. Not the actual organs-- thoughts and feelings. It's working through problems that keep you from living your life as well as possible.

There are a lot of fields and specialties but I'm going to talk about my preferences and style, since-- I'm kind of it, right now, when it comes to the traditional discipline side of things.

[ looking down again, at an out of frame notebook, jenna takes a breath. ]

The first thing I want to say is I'm not stuck on sitting in chairs and talking about your childhood. If you want to take a pillow and beat the wall and then talk about music? It's your session, go ahead. That doesn't mean we can do whatever you want, but it does mean I understand that opening up to a total stranger is hard and admittedly sucks and most of you don't know me well enough to just assume you can trust me. That's okay-- it's smart, actually. And if you'd like to start seeing me, we can work on building that trust, but I don't expect it to just magically appear because I say I'll do my best to help you.

Uh-- right, second point. I can go over this more in detail one on one, but I'm not a licensed therapist, I'm a grad student. A grad student would be like... a master apprentice? Almost to being a master maker of whatevers myself, but just a year or two shy. Anyway, that makes what I'm doing illegal, back home-- not to mention a million kinds of unethical and more than a little gross. Believe me, I know, and I didn't really set out to declare myself Space Therapist. If me not being licensed makes you uncomfortable I completely understand and respect a desire to hold out for someone who isn't still midway through their thesis, but it was pointed out that until then I should offer for people who don't mind.

...and a quick third: at home, I'd never see clients in a social situation. No one would know about my life, my problems or bad habits, anything like that. But this isn't home and you may see me at the bar, so if that would make you uncomfortable I also understand, but we make do with what we have up here.

[ she clears her throat and taps a few keys. ]

Here, I put together an informal quick list about what therapy is and isn't.

( ic post attachment )

...I think that's about it for the official side.

[ and with that the attempt at Serious Posture and Mature Gravity fades back into something more naturally jenna. ]

Now I get to be normal life Jenna, not therapist Jenna. [ offering a wave. ] Hey, new people-- I'm Jenna, if you missed Tony's last scientific doom post. I mentioned it there too, but again: if you don't mind being expected to lend a hand helping in some way or another, dinners happen nightly on the kitchen nearer to the lower numbered rooms, floor one. It's not exciting food, but I can promise it won't completely suck and there will be enough for anyone. Anyone who wants something fancy can... make it for themselves, pretty much.

...does anyone do haircuts, on a completely different end note? We can talk trading if you want, I just need a trim. [ her mouth twitches, mischievously. SUP CHAPEL. ] And a friend told me it's good to make sure people know how to cut hair to the right length before you ask for the haircut in the first place.


( locked to damon salvatore » 100% )

[ A dark corridor, incredibly low light and clearly not quite on the beaten path. The camera is steady, and something dark moves soundlessly into view. The cape that sways across the corridor is ink black, like shadow moving rather than fabric. An arm moves out of the bulk of the shadow, holding a long tube, and then there's a hiss, air rushing through a narrow space, a semi-phosphorescent, clearly chemical paint sprayed onto the blank surface. The symbol glows as the hiss stops, and Batman pivots on the spot to face the recording device. His outfit is so dark that the whites of his eyes are the brightest point, catching in the pathetic light generated by the device. ]

Remember. I am always watching.

[ He raises his hand again, and a small red light is briefly visible before the device turns off all on its own. ]



[ OOC: The bat signal will be appearing/have appeared in all sorts of places, but particularly the less familiar parts of the ship. Bruce has spent months now orientating himself and learning how to come and go without being seen. Just as a warning: Batman may not be very talkative, might not respond at all and is likely to end any given conversation abruptly. That's just how he is. Also he means it. He's always watching. Fourth walling is on a case by case basis, and people who know his secret identity, you douches can keep it to yourselves, otherwise I won't be responsible for what I might let Dexter do to you. ]

[The feed comes on, and hello, Tranquility, Blake is making a rare showing of his face on the network today. Unfortunately, instead of his usual mild look, he's, well. Angry. Visibly so. Like he turned on the video just to give everyone a good, hard glare.

This probably has a lot to do with the fact that he's worn his mask a couple of times, but good luck getting him to admit to that right now.]

Hypocrites. Cowards.

[Good way to open up, right? Get everybody's attention that way.]

I've seen it. I've seen what happens, when things are bad. I've heard the doublespeak, listened to them make their pretty speeches and then forget about all the suffering. The ones who are supposed to help, the ones who have the responsibility to help, they abandon you. They have their own agendas, money to make, power to gain. What does it matter if the madman is loose, burning everything down?

Back room deals, politics. Dirty hands. It doesn't stop when the world goes to hell. And apparently it doesn't stop on this hellhole, either. Because that's what I see here, and it's disgusting. Everyone scrambling through the mud, trying to feel like they're at the top. The top of what? It's the same pile of mud, it's just a matter of how dirty you're willing to get. People are dying. We're all going to die, if we don't wise up and cut the bullshit.

So keep quoting your poetry. Keep putting up creepy anonymous messages. Keep doublespeaking about how you're just protecting people while trying to keep vital information to yourself for just a little while longer. Keep encouraging the suspicion and distrust. See how long we last, while you play your power games.

[If anyone would like to try and talk (or smack) some sense into Blake, he's in the gym nearest the security office. He might be on a treadmill, lifting weights, or punching a punching bag. Generally being angry and trying to blow off some steam.]

[oh boy, this guy!! psyche, nobody cares. the man who's been introducing himself as Rudy Cooper is currently wearing a lab coat, looking slightly off-put (???) and standing in what some viewers may recognize as the poorly-lit morgue. any of that stuff in the previous sentence except that last bit isn't exactly immediately evident, however, because the camera only picks up a few seconds of his face and the white of his stupid coat before he deftly turns it around to face the rest of the room.]

In case you're wondering -- and I'm pretty sure nobody was -- our extreme home makeover doesn't end in the halls. [the camera pans right, stopping on one of the empty cell doors that Aidan's post recently highlighted! there is most definitely a mask on it, and that should be identifiable to pretty much anyone on the network.] You know, in the spirit of full disclosure. It's just as permanent here as anywhere else, for the record -- believe me, I've tried.

[a beat.]

That's about it on this end. Any ideas?

[ This is Bruce Wayne's voice. Cheerful, foppish, and the audio itself is somehow unsteady as though he can't decide how close to his mouth to hold the device. Apparently his default is too close, because--well, you'll see. He speaks like he's called someone specific. ]

Um, hi there. I bet I mess this up somehow, send it to the wrong number - something like that - but I don't really know that many people here, and... Well, this is embarrassing, actually--

[ At this point he bumps the video feature on with his chin, and it records a swathe of his jaw. ]

Do you know how to cook?

[ He's squinting into the camera, super close when he draws the device back, so that only his left eye and a swathe of slightly too-long hair falling over his forehead is visible, and then that eye narrows and the feed shuts off. ]

STAY CHEERY.
MRS. NESBIT✿

( OOC: Sorry about that, I woke up late... /posts three hours later

LOL and omg i swear the god i didn't copy Ianto's post this is the funniest coincidence FLOWERSQUILITY. Anyways, enjoy. )

Hey. I, uh... I know things went fucking crazy for a while there.

[Well, this isn't an easy post. But then... He knows he's gotta at least throw it out there. Heather's missing (god, please don't be dead, please don't be dead), and Murphy's hurt and Anne's probably freaking out for his well-being. So. He's gonna just get it over with. Sure, he'll probably get some pretty bad replies, but honestly? He's already fucked up anyway. Got some nasty injuries from some of those fights and he's not planning on leaving the room until the jump happens. Or at least, he'll try not to leave the room. We'll see how that pans out.

He runs a hand through his hair. If Heather had caused this, then... Keeping everyone focused elsewhere would be good. And if it's not her? Then hell, it probably is him, or something. He did piss off two whole towns in one swoop.

His voice is raw, hoarse from the miserable time the last week's unleashed.]

Listen.

The place you were at—I've been there before. Back home. It's was a bunch of supernatural bullshit that might be from a place called Silent Hill. I... used to live next door to it, in the neighboring town. Came back home after a few years and walked right into an empty Shepherd's Glen and some secret cult and their weird mystic shit... Almost didn't make it out of there myself. A pact broken with my town caused everything there to turn into what you just went through now. The otherworlds, the monsters, the puzzles, everything.

... I don't know how it got here. I don't honestly know. Hell, I don't even know most of what happened to where I used to live. But I do know that it was from my world, right the fuck next door, wherever the hell my world is supposed to be out in space. There's nothing I can do to change that, and I'm sorry. I wish I knew how all of this even went the way it did. But if there's anything I can tell you about it, I'll do my best. There's not a lot I even understand, but you deserve at least that much.

[A breath. His chest feels tight. What else can he even do? He drops his face in his hands, sighing.]

... Being in the dark wouldn't be fair to any of you. I'm—

I'm really sorry.

[ there's a funny thing about every psa ric has seen over his device is that there's a distinct lack of explaining things like certain creatures that are on the ship with them. jenna had avoided mentioning anything about the supernatural when talking about the ship at large and her plans, kirk had mentioned people having different feeding needs (he knows jenna is one of them, and damon and— the others) and nathan had mentioned people not having voices. there's a part of him that needs to do something to get his mind off the fact that jenna said she handled klaus. it takes him a while to actually figure out what he wants to say (and if anyone cares to look they'll see notebooks around him testifying to just how much he's poured over them before he even turned on his device). when he finally does say anything it's clear he means business, but at the same time, there's a smile on his face like there's nothing to be alarmed about here. ]

There's a funny thing about stories you get to here at home sometimes. Legends, actually, but you can live your whole life without actually finding out that those legends you've heard are real. I get that a lot of you have never heard of things like vampires or werewolves or witches before, but if there's one thing my life and, I'll be honest, my time on this ship has taught me, is that while they may just be fantasy in your world, they're real in others. And, coincidentally, we have some of each on this ship.

You're scared or angry and you think it's a good idea to toss them off the ship because what if they hurt one of us. I'm going to let you in on a little secret, those vampires I mentioned? All of them are living off of synthetic blood from medical. Even the one that can't is asking for volunteers. None of them are feeding off the general populace. The werewolves? They're contained when they shift and if they weren't, all of us would know and the ones of us who can handle corralling them would. Typically witches don't actively go around killing people nor do they like being particularly evil depending on the type.

I can see why some of you might be scared, and admittedly, first time I met a vampire, it wasn't pleasant at all, but once you get to know some of them, it's not that bad. Supernatural creatures, in general, are only as evil as they want to be. True, some can be evil— [ like klaus ] but the same can be said with any one, honestly. Most can exist with humans, aliens, and anything else on this ship without causing mass panic. Honestly, any of them hiding are only hiding because they know how people can get. I'm not saying you have to be buddy with your resident supernatural creature, but unless they're going around harming the rest of us, there's nothing wrong with treating them like they're shockingly normal.

In the long run, as much as it hurts to imply that we'll be here for even longer, it's better that we don't end up starting fights with each other because someone had the unfortunate luck to be a vampire or a werewolf or a witch on a ship full of people who have been raised to know that they're creatures of the night that they need to run from. And if there is any fights started, there is security here and even though I'm just in gunnery, I would not actually hesitate to play for both of those teams and break up whatever fight happens because we couldn't act like rational adults.

[and here's the charismatic, smiling face of James T. Kirk. he has business to tend to, and it's clear in his expression]

Morning, Tranquility, this is Jim Kirk.

Some of you may have heard my name floating around. I'm here to answer questions if any of you still have them.

[but this broadcast has the air of purpose, and he gets down to it pretty quick.]

Those of you that have been around for at least a handful of jumps are going to know what this is about, but for those of you that don't, during our stay on the Tranquility it has come to light that some of our number require more than what humans would consider regular dietary needs. Unfortunately, we haven't yet been able to synthesize all of these needs. Therefore, on behalf of one of that number, I'm asking some of you to come forward to donate to keep this individual from starving to death while on board. I'd like anyone with substantial stamina willing to volunteer to contact me. The procedure will be safe, and medical officers will be present at all times.

Kirk out.

[ooc: for those of you that don't know, this is in regards to THE WRAITH FEEDING PLOT that's an ongoing kind of thing. we need at least 10 volunteers so gimme all your victims do gooders!! if you have any questions you can contact me or pyraven!]