victory_road | (no subject)

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Video - Jun 11th

[The camera is turned on, this time propped up against a napkin dispenser so there's a stretch of bar ahead of it and Drifter's leaning on it. Fortune the Seviper has her head resting on the counter as it's just lazing through his work hours and providing the necessary duty of being inconvenient to step over.]

So, since I got to Goldenrod I managed to find me a job at a bar. I figure some of you are way too young either in body or in spirit to stroll in here and ask for whatever strikes your fancy, but those of you that are of some variety of drinking age back home? Ol' Wu Ming did ya a favor. I talked the management into lettin' you have a free drink on the house.

So if you stop in, it'll save you a few coins. We're a little off the beaten path in Goldenrod. Further away from the Pokecenter. Don't wanna be too bad an influence for the free-range kiddos. [He gives the address. As he's doing so, Orin, now a female Meowstic, barely peeks from behind him, just one eye visible. And she's staring again, just piercing holes into anyone looking at her with the bland intensity of her ongoing gaze.]

Especially since the forecast says that some days comin' up the cement's gonna be hot enough to fry eggs on. Tried that once on a Cabal shield in this kinda heat. Let me tell you, some of the best sunny-side-up I ever had. Hope I see you 'round.

[Oh, wait! Suddenly he remembers something, and it shows as he thumps his fist on the bar.]

Right! Yeah, that. If anybody has any idea if breaking down a holdable object into core components ruins it or could it maybe be used to infuse into somethin'? Askin' for me. I got a few ideas I wanna try out.

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Indefinitely, sister! You're good company so I'd be happy to spare a drink for you.

[And there aren't a lot of people used to end of the world scenarios, threats to existence, or just seeming as old as he is.]

Aww, hey, you're not bad company yourself - I'm looking forward to it! And not just because I'll actually be able to drink it this time.

How's it been going since I got here? Lotta bugs out my way. Like. A ton.

Same old same old. But then again, I've not ventured outa the city too much as of recent. Had some things to do and designs to work on.

As much fun as a romp through the wilderness could be, I'm actually a little bit of a tinkerer. I'll read any book about how these power dynamics work that I can find. I'd like to think it made me a little bit of a Renaissance man but it probably just makes me Dark Ages creep.

I can live with that shame.

You turn up some weird little tidbits along the way. Like about some pokemon comin' back to life if you put their bones in water and dolls comin' for the souls of little kids. What a messed up candy-coated world they got here. Didn't see that comin'.

[He digs it.]

Edited 2019-06-15 05:12 (UTC)

Is it really shameful if you're making cool stuff? No one has to know you're a Dark Ages creep if you'd rather be a Renaissance Man. I won't tell anyone, anyway.

But oh, yeah! I've been reading up on all the little dudes on this 'Gear. At least half of the ghosts I've read about are right up my alley.

[Clearly, she also digs it.]

Hopefully some of 'em will be up hers, too.

[Jeez, does that Noibat live in Marceline's hair? Because that's where she is, chilling on the side of Marcy's head.]

We haven't run into any that she's hit it off with so far, though. Or, well, we haven't seen any ghosts at all yet, but at least splatting the bug swarms has been pretty entertaining.

I could use some more poison ones! Maybe I should go out lookin'.

I don't mind if I'm both, to be honest. People are gonna do what people are gonna do, and I can't care too hard about what they think so long as it doesn't put me in danger.

[He can't worry too much about his friends. He gave up on worrying about that a long time ago. They gotta take care of themselves because once he warns them that running with him is dangerous? That's their business to survive it. And hopefully not get stabbed in the back.]

Yeah, fair, life's a ton easier when you don't worry about what other people think.

What kinds of poison types are you thinking? I met a really cute one called a Skuntank, during that first weekend. Right now I'm looking for one called a Zubat. Also I'm pretty sure a bunch of these bugs that are swarming everywhere are part poison. You probably won't have to wander too far to find one if one of these bugs'll do.

Well, I got a pretty good bug, but I can go out and look for another'n. Could stand some fresh air.

[He scratches at the scruff of his chin as he thinks on it.]

When I take Fortune out later, we'll see what all we can dig up. Stir up a little bit of a ruckus. [Honestly though, sometimes this place is tiringly tame. He hopes he can liven it up eventually.]

...Did you survive that encounter with the Skuntank unscathed, by the way? [Cute or not, he imagine it smells like a disaster.]

Who's Fortune? Your snake pal?

[She assumes the reptilian head she can see on the bar belongs to a snake. If she's wrong, she's sure he'll correct her.]

Unscathed? Oh, yeah, the Skuntank was a real sweetheart, totally unlike her trainer. [Marceline makes a face when she mentions the man to whom the Skuntank apparently belongs. Between the two, it wasn't the skunk-like creature who stank.]

Yeah, that's my girl. She's a good 'un.

[Fortune, much less creepy than the staring Orin, looks at Marceline and flicks her tongue when she's mentioned.]

Trainer was a prick, huh? Can't suffer people like that for too long. Worst part of stayin' in one place. You can't just find better territories with them outa earshot.

She looks like a good one.

[Marceline gives Fortune a little wave and a smile when she notices the tongue flick. What's up, girl?]

Hmm, maybe not, but there's nothing stopping you from pranking them into moving, is there?

Why do that when I got the whole damn universe back home! Well, the solar system anyway.

I can go to Io, Titan, to Mars, shoot off to Venus or even Mercury. Which, by the way, won't scorch you to death in my realm of residence.

You can cut out your own patch of ground or you could hop in your ship, which I put together all by my lonesome, and go wherever I please. Trust me, you'd love the Reef. The frontier is a trip an' Awoken are always easy on the eyes.

[She had thought he was talking about an annoying neighbor here, in this world, but is completely distracted by his description of the places he can travel. She's only ever read about those places in books, and - as far as she knows - they are far, far beyond reach in the present she left behind in Ooo.]

...Oh, wow.

I know you said where you come from is super messed up from a thousand-year long war, but dang I still want to go.

I'll be honest. Sometimes that's half the fun of it.

Only one frontier left, sister. And at risk of sounding like a dramatic stereotype, all the good stuff is out there.

I don't even hate it so bad. I just hate the whole 'Traveller was the source of everything good' dogma. It ain't the big and great gift givin' thing that's the important part of the world. It's the people. Forget that an' we pretty much deserve the dark ages we end up with.

Yeah, that kind of weird cult-y propaganda can put a damper on a lot of good stuff. But it sounds like you never took your eye off the prize, so good for you.

[The wording may come off as sarcastic, but she truly means it. She's had her own share of ups and downs over her thousand year long life, and the effect both ups and downs had on her really depended on the people around her.

It is agreed: People are what's important.]

This place must seem like a total backwater after traveling around the whole solar system, though, huh?

[Problem is he's relatively sure at the moment they're all gonna die because they've bought into this Last City thing so hard none of them are prepared to leave like they should be. And they've been told. They have an entire faction telling them (Dead Orbit). They have another one telling them that a war is coming (Future War Cult). But nobody's budged.]

[So Drifter's about ready to be one of a functionally extinct race.]

[Easy to keep his mind off that with little monsters floating around.]

Sorta. But I've... been around for a while. Been through some bad times. It's in good shape, so I wouldn't call that backwater. Hell, it's got runnin' water and nice livin' spaces and everything. I've slept in a Hydra's shell or used Cabal shields to block out the rain.

I can afford a room all to myself, and even regular fresh food and things to cook with. That's not too bad at all. I feel like I'm livin' like a king.

[Drifter is easily satisfied.]

Those are all super good points. I just took off from Cherrygrove and I'm back on the road, but it was really nice to stay in a place with indoor plumbing for a few days.

[She has a pretty sweet setup in her cave house, but she's also had plenty of time without that sweet setup. More than enough to appreciate it when she's got it.]

I'm really excited to get to a place where I can practice cooking.

Hey, you get any extra practice in? Save some of that for me. I always can use a bite and I won't judge too much.

It's gonna be better than hundred-year-old canned food.

Anything's better than hundred year old canned food.

And I'll be sure to check in if I ever have any leftovers. Gotta find a kitchen first, though.

[There aren't likely to be leftovers. But if there are, she will let him know.]

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