A Clean, Well-Lighted Post

[MethodicalSlacker]

Only an hour after your arrival at the bar did you spot it—the cluttered booth in the back corner, a makeshift office, maybe left over from the establishment's daytime hours as a counter service coffee shop, awash with red-marked papers foaming tidal-like against dual leaning towers of library hardcovers with their white carcinogenic tongues of the receipt paper dangling out, fluttering at the opening and closing of the glass side door as new patrons stream into the bar, take their seats next to you, order cocktails that cost what you make in an hour... the table looked abandoned at first until you notice that between the hardcovers and behind the rows of uncleared empty beer glasses and coffee mugs hides an open laptop, glowing ghostly onto the face of one smoke halo'd apparition. Driven by your solitude from the crowded bar you make your way to the table just as a caravan of shrieking emergency vehicles drench the room in the color of her eyes and make the barlight reflecting off the empty glasses appear to ascend toward you as you approach, like dew falling up at the speed of rain, and forget how to speak.

She looks at you and smiles as if she has been expecting you for some time, and then speaks to you as if it is a different consciousness that inhabits your head, and not that which has been driven from the bar and a fourth watered down domestic towards anyone wearing the color alone today, which might mean this one, here, now speaking strange gibberish that makes for a regretted approach and a fifth casus cervisia tonight.

"Oh, you found me. The smoke probably gave it away, didn't it? Anyway, you've picked a good time to drop by. Why don't you take a seat? We have much to discuss. Maybe you have some questions for me; I wouldn't know, I only just got back in town a few days ago, but if it's anything about that party next door, forget it, I have no clue either."

All of a sudden you know that you have questions—and that you have lost the ability to make them sound that way.

[+] What relationships do you need for Lili Williams.

Fellow musicians, weird outsiders preferred. Delinquents from summer school that one time that maintained some level of acquaintance and/or friendship. People who can tolerate rambling about subject areas of which they have little to no knowledge. History buffs who aren't too into the war parts to be annoying to talk to. Smoking buddies. Kite-flying pals. Is there any sort of radio club? I don't know how weird it is to like radio, I don't have a very strong barometer for that anymore. Maybe a yoga friend, or family friends, people in the neighborhood she might know—you can also totally just try and make up an excuse for your character to know her, somehow, and we can workshop why that might be.

[+] What is your plan for Lili this time.

I want Lili to take the turn she did in her original appearance, towards a pacifist group, much quicker, and I want it to last for not quite as long before she does something else. I can't say if I have as many words in me as I did when I was, like, sixteen, but I feel drawn to this character for a few reasons. The first is that, for better or for worse, I re-use characters from work to work, and I have a few irons in the fire right now that have Lili as a sort of major character. From the practical standpoint of realizing those projects, it makes sense to get into a Lili type of voice again, to develop that and see if there's more behind it. The next is that I've been thinking a lot about why I wrote Lili in the first place. I don't mean that there is a specific reason that I'm thinking about—it's a general question I have of myself. I want to discover the answer to that, too. Finally, on the off chance that this is the last character I write on this website, I want to bring things full circle, in my own way.

So, in addition to anything in the above section, I am doing what the business-minded like to call "casting out feelers" for anyone interested in being a part of activities including, but not limited to; group pacifism in the face of mortal danger, potentially ill-advised; player-hunting; surreal environmental puzzle-solving; nicotine scavenging; and lastly but certainly not leastly potential imminent-death driven gay romance! Who doesn't love making it gay because you thought it might be fun an hour after your profile got approved? At this right I might also make it trans! Stop me before I queer again!

[+] Where have you been.

A few places. First, I was in college, where I had been for a while and now no longer have to be, on account of my receipt of a rather expensive piece of paper, delayed by an extra month because I had to take a bit of a drastic measure to actually finish the degree in four years, and a couple of certificates I found laying around on the street. Then, I was home, and I've been here for most of the time, banging my head against the wall that is the job search. Recently I managed to have a bit of a miracle of being creatively unstuck—it's amazing what just sitting down with a blank piece of paper and a pen can do for you—and although I'm not entirely sure how long this energy is going to last, it has felt good to do some writing again after a good several months of really not having any kind of heart in it. Sometimes I manage to find a third place to be, and I try to do this often, despite my circumstances—this is one of those places—and sometimes I get so into just going places that I forget to come back to my desk and write. What I need to get better at, and what I used to be good at, back when I was the most active on the site(s), was finding a desk anywhere, making it if I had to; this long into the Doubled-Downward Twenties, I still don't really have that skill back, but I'm trying to get a hold on it here.

And by taking books with me to bars. It's pretty fun, when you don't have someone to annoy with your ideas for stories you haven't written yet, to get a bit drunk and read a book in a crowded place! Usually, I have to keep myself to books I can fit in the pockets of my coat. Occasionally I roll out with two books a night. It's hard to find friends my age after college. I know, specifically at my age, where Covid hit during the freshmen year, that a lot of us are taking extra time to finish things, and have the economic leeway to do that, and sometimes I wish that had been the case for me, too—but, here I am, a few months into my awful NEET era. Sometimes I lose myself a bit and drop my books on the subway platform or street or floor and have to pick them up—that makes the people that love me frown a bit—and sometimes, I get to hit the library on my way home to drop off whatever I finished. But, as you can see, I'm a lot better at finding books that feel right than I am at actually reading them. That's another habit I hope to squash!

[+] Are you going to run other characters this version.

That remains to be seen. I know my track record with activity has been frankly awful recently, so I want to keep things low for now, see how pregame feels, and then judge whether or not I'd like to pick up other characters. If I do make that decision, I'm most likely going to pick one of my characters from TV3 or V8, and put whichever one I don't pick up for grabs. Then, if the going is smooth enough that, for some reason, I've made the judgement, of sound mind, to embark on a third character, then it will be whichever of TV3 or V8 that I did not do the last time, and then I'll do the same thing over again. That sounds overly complicated, but it'll make sense if it happens, which is the only time that you'd need to care, anyway.

[+] Why am I unable to form questions.

So, the hex that bound you to this multiple choice prompt format only works with statements. I know, lame, but I got lazy and just copied the sigils off the internet and this is what they had. Just be glad it works at all, I wasn't about to sit there and figure it out myself. I'm a reasonable adult with a normal 4:00 AM bedtime like everyone else!

[MurderWeasel]

On offer for Lili:

BB is also a weird music person. Maybe into slightly different genres but that's probably actually sort of for the best. Would love to talk at length about experimental stuff (and also plays some things herself). BB is aggressively progressive but I don't get the feeling that'd be a total deal-breaker or anything. She can be a bit pushy sometimes, but I think might vibe well on the whole.

Juliette wants to be on good terms with everyone. She likes classical, which is a little uncommon, but definitely does not go in for outsider stuff. However, she is very good at listening to people ramble about stuff she neither knows nor cars about, and is legitimately happy to see people be passionate. Probably not super close, but maybe a positive vibe?

Sofia is a big outsider. She's brash and somewhat aggressive, but mostly turns that on bullies. She probably asked Lili if she lost her tooth in a fight and offered advice on how to strike back if someone messes with you. Not sure what the vibes would be there; she can be sort of intense/intimidating and marches to her own beat.

[Salic]

Have a potential relationship or two!

Mikki is perhaps a good foil to Lili? While never an outsider, Mikki (prior to 9th grade) made conscious efforts to be on good terms with everybody, and I think that their mutual love of music would've been a good bridge to an actual friendship. Around 9th grade, Mikki began a misguided effort to consolidate her friend groups by becoming exclusionary and throwing up a front of arrogance, and Lili was probably one of the ones who was left out to dry since she's a weird outsider. Although Mikki's new persona was created four years prior, maybe there could still be underlying resentment and bad blood between the two of them? Mikki also produces and posts music (mostly EDM) on social media, BandCamp, and Soundcloud, so their differing music styles and thoughts on music could be another point of contention.

Bree doesn't really have anything suitable for Lili in pregame, I think. The yoga thing would be the closest thing they have to mutual activities, and even then, Bree is a member of the popular crowd and does not mince her words, so I don't think they'd really interact. What I'm more interested in is the pacifist group. That's a group that I'm confident Bree would join, but perhaps Bree's headstrong nature and rejection of complete pacifism would cause quite a bit of friction, and maybe exploring the different kinds of mindsets and thoughts about pacifism and what it means could be a good theme for an island pacifist group. I would like for them to know each other at least, so maybe they sit next to each other in a class or they were lab partners one time in the year or something.