Deer Country Network

[this, too, is a semi-anonymous post, though anna has used this username once before, nearly a year ago. she doubts anyone is left to recognize it, but given how things usually go, she'll just give herself away anyway.]

This place by the sea that so few will get the chance to see, and fewer still by the day.
Some of us might have begun calling it home by now.
And for a lot of us, it really did feel that way, didn't it?
Compelled to remain here, to treat this place as though we belong even though all of us are as outside to the whole system as Mariana is to us.
But not anymore. And maybe that's also the blessing of a Pthumerian. Freeing us from chains we couldn't even tell were around our necks.
Or maybe it's a curse. The curse of choice.

I'll spare you too much flowery bullshit.
If you had the chance to return home, would you take it?
Your true home. Where you came from before you washed up here.
Knowing what you know now. Knowing what you knew then.

Show your work.

[To begin with Maul and everyone Anakin is related to has been blocked from this post.]

When I was a child I met a man who promised to take me in. Shortly after that he was murdered. By Maul.

He only gets worse from there and he continues not just in my galaxy, but in the dream and then here. And when things start to reach a tipping point he makes some grand announcement about how things will be different now and all is forgiven. Until the next time.

I can't stop anyone from choosing to give him another chance, just like no one can make me forgive him no matter how much he screams that I owe it to him.

But I want to ask what makes someone worthy of a second, third, or however many chances? What makes him or even me any different from someone people are now clambering to kill? One day I'll do even worse and yet we're held to a different standard.

Here's a different perspective. Perhaps he was cruel to Maul in the past, but in the years since then he saw a boy placed in an unfamiliar environment and offered his hand in friendship. Isn't that the change you were looking for in Maul? In the entire time I've known him he's also never had the eyes Maul accused him of. In fact the only people I've seen with those eyes is him and his brother.

Is this really about doing what's right? Or simply revenge for someone you like? Be honest about your motivations because there's a good chance you'll die for them.

[And yes, this is the annoying, whiny, older one.]

[Maul's posts as of late had been a bit more lighthearted as he tried to set up his brother on a date and spoke of a memetastic grumpy batcat. But he'd been waiting for this day to come and so his face was as grim as if he was at a funeral during this post. His followers had been on the alert, watching for the signs, and had come to tell him that what he'd feared most had come to pass: Sidious was back at full strength and starting to possess people again in Trench. He couldn't put it off any longer. He had to warn people of what was coming.]

I come to you with the gravest of news. My former master, Darth Sidious, also known as Emperor Sheev Palpatine to some, has arrived in Trench. Many of you already know what that means, either through viewing my memories or listening to me talk about him. For those who do not, he was the man who raised me and turned me into....this. [The one word encompasses all of Maul, his psychopathic personality, the anger and pain he'd held onto for so long, his life being completely ruined by his master, getting turned from a person into a weapon and now spending the rest of his life trying to heal from that.] If you think I am dangerous, he is ten times as worse. He is pure evil. There is no reasoning with him, no way to appeal to any goodness that might reside within him, for he has none. All he has ever wanted in life is to gain power and he doesn't care how many people he must hurt or kill in order to do that. He's destroyed entire planets and every living thing that resided on them in order to do so. A city full of people is nothing to him if he wants to ascend to ultimate power.

Only his spirit has arrived rather than his physical body, so he is currently traveling from one body to the next as he tries to find a form he can take over for good. I have yet to discover a permanent way to banish him but I am open to suggestions. In the meantime, take whatever precautions you must in order to protect yourself and others. Trust me when I say if death is the only option, we must take it. You cannot afford to give him a chance, for he will brutally kill you if you give him one. Better to kill someone then allow him to remain and tear Trench apart at his whim.

His eyes look like this. [Maul closed his for a moment and channeled all the old anger he felt towards his master. When he reopened them, they had changed from the grey-brown color they had been holding steady as for the past three months and were back to the Sith yellow color they had remained for so many years.] They remain that color no matter who or what he is possessing, so it is a way to track whose form he is in. Please let me know if you spot a person or monster that has those eyes and I will deal with it.

[That euphemism of course meant that he would kill Sidious if he had to. Maul had gone over a year without killing anyone in Trench but he knew he couldn't afford to use kid gloves on his master. He'd need to be brutal and swift. He went to turn off the Omni and then paused, remembering one last thing he wanted to say.]

Oh, and Anakin? --The annoying whiny older one that is, not the annoying weird younger one-- if you try to interfere with this? I will stop you. That's not up for negotiation or debate. I'll kill you if I have to and keep you as a squid in the ocean to keep your idiotic devotion to this man from causing this situation to get worse. That is all.

[Then he does go and turn off the Omni for good this time.]

[OOC: This is the kickoff post for the Palpatine in Trench player plot! Feel free to interact with Maul, threadjack others to talk with them, or just head straight over to the log post to get started. As a reminder, Maul doesn't necessarily need to be involved in exorcising an NPC or character if you just want to do to something among two of you.]

Please excuse me.

I am aware this is an unorthodox question. But I am not in a position to research it myself.



Are there any habitable locations outside of Trench? Preferably those with minimal populations.

Thank you for your time.

[Nara'a sits down after setting up the camera and looks into it, picking up a knife and starting to carve into an off-white chunk of... something. Something that some people might recognize as bone.]

With all this Hali business going on... it made me think. I'm curious as to what sorts of gods you have in your worlds. Mine has a... complicated system, and who you worship depends on where you live. Where I grew up we had the Twelve - and each person has a patron. Mine, for example, is Thaliak the Scholar. ... Appropriate, in my opinion. But my clan and others like them also worship Menphina, the lover - she's also the moon.

I can explain some of the others as well. There's also Hydaelyn - the Mothercrystal. But she's more... complicated.

What sort of deities are in your world?

[Tinya is sitting at an almost obscenely long dining table with a red velvet cupcake with a single candle in it sitting in front of her.

the light of the candle is all that's there in the room]

Today is my twentieth birthday.

I've had more birthdays away from home than I've had at home. Two more, in fact. How does that work, I wonder.

Anyway. Happy birthday to me?

[and she blows out the candle, leaving everything in darkness]

happy 4/20

for those of you not in the know in america they write month first then day which is dumb but whatever

and 420 is traditionally code for cannabis aka weed

no ones totally sure why but anyway happy weed day

smoke em if you got em etc



also i want cookies does anyone have any

i can trade you an action figure

Hi, everybody. A couple of announcements. Uh, first...

[Vyng — an androgynous Sleeper with angular, elven features and wild, wavy gray hair — appears in public for...the first time in awhile, actually. But it’s time to rip the bandage off. He takes a quiet breath.]

Tuck is—

[He swallows. And continues in a quiet tone:]

Tuck's gone out to sea. The two of us were — are — pretty much married, so. If anybody has any loose ends or. Or unfinished business to tie up with him? Let me know. I’ll help however I can.

[There’s a wet sheen to Vyng’s eyes, but his expression is otherwise calm and collected. He and grief are bedfellows these days. He’s accepting it, even if he's privately having trouble settling in with the fact he's a single dad now.]

What's the second thing, you ask? Here, I made a thing—

[He flashes through a series of hand-drawn cards in fancy lettering:
]


> 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐊? ☹️

> 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄? 🤷‍♀️

> 🌈 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐆𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐄, 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐒?


(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ 𝐈𝐅 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄! ♥


> 𝐈'𝐕𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐅𝐀𝐑𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 ☀️

> 𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐎, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐒 🎩



> 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆? 👀 👀 👀

[Vyng haphazardly tosses the cards over his shoulder and gives a jaunty salute. A silly way to end his message, but...given the circumstances, maybe that’s the point. The feed suddenly ends.]

I think I need help. I realize that things are bad and that's part of the problem.

About a year ago, I was on another world other than my own homeworld in my own galaxy. That place required things of its residents and had ways of making sure such things happened, regardless of our own wishes.

Needless to say, I was often unwilling and often punished for it.

I know it's not what happens here. But that doesn't matter in my mind.

So, I am hoping anyone else with PTSD knows ways of coping? I'd rather address all of this anonymously, so suggesting the Wellness Center won't help.

I appreciate your assistance. And your kindness.

[Tinya's sitting in her sunroom wearing a white dress with Moonlight in her usual place on the armrest, watching everyone carefully]

I realize this may be a...painful topic for others, but has anyone considered a memorial garden for those we've loved and lost along the way? The world I was in before this had one and it was rather nice to have somewhere to go to leave flowers, to reflect on our losses.

I'm more than willing to spearhead this project if others think it would be helpful.

[she takes a deep, steadying breath, then continues]

I also find myself in need of a sensei. I'm fairly advanced as far as martial arts go as I came in third during the Trench-wide tournament about a year ago and I've only gotten better since.

Anyone who was interested in training me would have a good chance at bragging rights should there be another such tournament. I only want to learn from the best, so that I can be the best.

In both cases, please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you.

sasuke and sakura

they are back in the sea


I’m sorry

[And that’s it. Sorry Trench, if you were expecting more information, he doesn’t have it to give. Partly because what do you even say to something like this? And partly because this is Melius we’re talking about and the guy barely does social interaction - let alone dealing with heavy news.]

[… time to wallow in a pile of succulents and misery!]

[Vira-Lorr was in the Luminarium, getting the last transfusions to deal with her little ... problem, thanks to Riteior. It was, as always, something of a process. But the fact that it was one of the attendants that she knew through Albert was what prompted this message. She knew that he kept to himself mostly, but given his tendency to remain in the background and out of the limelight, she did want to make sure that those who knew him would be aware in advance.]

For those who have not been made aware, and were receiving treatment from Dr Adrian Winters, formerly known as Albert Wesker, he has returned to the ocean. I know that he was of assistance to a few of us through the Luminarium, and one of my research partners. So, it seemed best to make sure that you were made aware.

I don't think that he would want a great deal of fuss made in his departure. He was a curious man in his way. But, all the same, I will miss his perspective.

To those who were at all concerned? I believe I have compiled his notes and mine on the Antidote experiments, and should be able to proceed with a refined mix next month. Also, are any of you members of the Blood Ministers? I find myself in need of a physician who I can trust and, while I appreciate the people of Trench, I still have some lingering paranoia.

[Tinya is dressed to the nines as per normal, but what isn't normal is that she's not broadcasting from her usual sunroom.

instead it's a darkened room with the lights barely glowing, casting a yellow pallor over Tinya's fair complexion and making her blue eyes seem sickly green]

...I bought a fainting couch because I thought it would be pretty. Not necessarily because I wanted to faint on it.

Ugh. [she lifts an arm listlessly and covers her eyes] Please tell me that there's some kind of flu going around and that I'm not the only one who feels like shit. If you don't, I'll be very cross.

[Maul looked immensely pleased and delighted with something just off-camera that he just had to share with the rest of the network.]

I have discovered it. The most magnificent batcat to ever exist.

[He turned the camera to face the batcat in question. It looked like....well....there was no denying it bore a shocking resemblance to a cat which had inspired a popular twenty-first century meme. The only difference was the batwings this one possessed, currently in a relaxed stance as it eyed Maul with feline curiosity. Other than that, the grumpy little cat was exactly the same as its long-ago predecessor.]

I will hear no arguments to the contrary. This creature is perfect.

Uhm, hi . . . My name is Ahiru.

I'm looking for someone. His name is Fakir. I . . . can't seem to find him? And I don't know where he is. Maybe someone can help me look?

He looks like this.

[ she holds up a picture. clearly a perfect artist's rendition of fakir. ]



He also scowls a lot and looks like he's bored, but he's very nice actually! He's a ballet dancer and uhm . . . [ ahiru fiddles with her dress. ] . . . I just want to make sure he's okay.

[ you're not getting an eyeful this time, instead Kylo stares down the camera, appearing slightly exhausted. He's holding a porg in front of him, which when set on the table toddles off and out of view. ]

If anyone wants one of these birds -- I believe that they're called porgs, they're welcome to them as their former owner appears to have gone. I'd rather not be saddled with them. 

[ there's a loud SQUAWK that comes from slightly off screen, drawing a scowl from Kylo who disappears from frame. The feed ends with some yelling and what sounds like a crash. ] 

[Tinya lounges back wearing a little black dress in her sunroom with her batkitten, her kittens, and her Omen, Moonlight sitting at attention on the armrest of her chair]

So! This may seem like an unusual request, but I'm looking for friends. Friends with benefits, actually. I know that may sound strange, but I miss being close to someone. All are invited to apply, if that makes sense. I want to know whom I'm dealing with before I say yes to anything.

[and a Mona Lisa smile] And is it strange to spend more than five years bouncing between worlds? Who else has been through this? [a teasing smile] You don't necessarily have to be auditioning for the first role to answer, I promise.

[the video opens on Tinya standing up in her usual sunroom backdrop, kittens playing, Carmilla fluttering around on her little bat wings. she's dressed to the nines and she's smirking, although the expression doesn't reach her eyes]

I have a simple, yet incredibly complex question for all of Trench.

Am I attractive? If yes, explain why. If no, do the same. Be as brutal as you like.

[Tinya's sitting in her usual sunroom with Carmilla fluttering overhead, Smudge and Polly playing with a catnip mouse at her feet and Moonlight on her usual perch on the right armrest of her chair]

So, say I was interested in setting up a bar and nightclub where Night Walkers could all congregate. Where people in need of us can find at least one of us ready and able to help. With...whatever needs our clients may need.

I myself am opting out of certain needs, but let's not play coy about what those needs are. Sex is and always has been part of our definition. There would be a bar with a dance floor and a second level of those who are willing to meet those more sensual needs could go safely.

I hope this is something I can put in place soon and I absolutely want it to be a safe space from all that Trench can throw at us.

Do you think it's possible to be in love with two people at once?

I can't be the only one this has happened to.

[Edited to add!]

One of them is here, the other is back home.