Sunflower Sutra

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The riverside trail is a specially built path that runs alongside the river itself. It is used by runners, cyclers or dog-walkers but the views in the early morning and late evening also make it one of the most beautiful places to go for a walk in Chattanooga.
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Sunflower Sutra

#1

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

Welcome to dumbfuck nowhere, he thought, but decided against.

[Lucas Diaz continued from Random Reality]

Mid-morning on the footpath. A few joggers around, but nobody else this spring morning. He heard the bark of a dog as he passed a place where the road bent close to the path, but he saw no dog to follow. Thunder without lightning, he guessed. It was a Saturday, and he didn't have much to do, so he took his sorry ass out on a walk. Last night was spent by the computer staring at a draft of a novel that wasn't getting off the ground and drinking to try and work the creative spirit. Even now he was thinking of different profound ways to open the novel—he had put that off in favor of good ol' in medias res. His mother and father were out of town, taking a much needed vacation from the nothing that either of them did. It was springtime, and he still wasn't sure he knew what that meant.

Walking off some of the alcohol always put him in a better mood, but it also filled him with wanderlust. He was so stuck on his story that he put himself in as a character—an endeavor that never ended well for writer nor for reader—just to get the thing going. Lucas woke up in the morning, took one look at the gibberish he had written, and decided he'd get some fresh air before coming back home to delete the whole thing. Secretly, he hoped for a walking companion, even if he'd undoubtedly feel scorned in some way by their presence. Someone to bounce ideas off of.

Someone to go urbexing with.

There was an abandoned factory on the edge of town that Lucas had seen from the backseat of his father's car the other day after a trip to neighboring Knoxville to watch a football or something. He had skipped out on it to walk around the city, ducking away from the stadium to go to the bathroom during the middle of fifth period or after the team had scored a run or some other meaningless thing. His parents didn't really care that they only saw him again when they came to their car in the parking lot to find him sitting on the pavement nearby. Only Milo looked slightly concerned, and Milo could fuck right off.

The factory looked totally unguarded and ripe for the picking. It had big barn doors on the sides that had been totally left open, and stood freely off the freeway by a good distance. In midday it'd be impossible to cross the road on foot, but later at night it wasn't untenable. Lucas couldn't drive, so unless he found someone who could, he'd have to wait until it got dark. He'd stopped new excursions alone since he had a tetanus scare in a drainage pipe a month ago.

Lucas stopped on the path by a patch of wildflowers blossoming on the side of the trail. Perfect photo op, but he left his camera at home. Squatting on the ground, he took his phone out and started taking shots of the yellow flowers at different angles. Maybe he'd draw them when he got home later, to elevate this ho hum daze to a non-zero day.
[+] Recommended Reading Order
—The Heaven Panel—



Image / Image - G051: Lili Williams: 1. Kidnapped from her school trip and thrown into a horrific death game, Lili wanders the wasteland in search of her past life before it slides away from her for good.

Meanwhile 1. From Here On Out [Complete] Marie Bernstein eats ice cream with her friend and gets a text message.

Image / Image - B043: Arthur Bernstein: 2. Arthur watches the waters from the beach, knowing that their presence spells death. Seeking his sister's comfort, he takes up the spear and walks alongside another.

Meanwhile 2. Colorless [Complete] A family reunion under less than ideal circumstances. When trying to unravel the mystery of her brother's death at the hands of esoteric serial terrorists, Marie discovers more than she bargained for.

——The Earth Panel——




𝄇


Image - G026: Liberty "Bert" Wren: 3. It is happening again. To make things right, Bert must understand where things went wrong.

Image - B049: Max Rudolph: 4. The words we use to construct our realities often also make up the links in our chains. Fleeing a vision, Max builds his most elaborate prison yet.

Image - B032: Lucas Diaz: 5. A life lived through the views of others. In pursuit of revenge and his own death, Lucas Diaz interrupts the falling of many dominos.

Meanwhile 3. Because We Love You [Complete] Selections from a Google Drive, never to be logged into again.

Meanwhile 4. The Lines We Draw [Complete] In the process of collecting his brother's memories, Milo Diaz has a fitful morning.

Image - G007: Violet Schmidt: 6. The stars in the night sky do not make pictures. Breathing on both sides of the water, Violet Schmidt journeys to escape the confines of her own mind, and her reality.

Meanwhile 5. Years of Pilgrimage [???] Dana Schmidt is dreaming.

Meanwhile 6. Colorless II [Ongoing] Charlie Bernstein returns to the desert and finds it empty.

Meanwhile 7. Writing the Enigma [Ongoing] Randy Rudolph provides lodgings for Marie Bernstein as she investigates Survival of the Fittest, the city of Chattanooga, and the meaning of water.
———The Hell Panel———


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Melusine
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#2

Post by Melusine »

((Ophelia continued from the last time she was conscious albeit not in control.))

Mr. Bratwurst wanted to go for a walk but William was busy, Ophelia gladly volunteered to assist the dog in his daily exercise. Mr. Bratwurst, often just called Brat for simplicity, wasn't the prettiest dog in the whole wide world of Chattanooga, but he had the best attitude a rescued dog could have. He was chocolate color with sprinkles of white around his chest and legs. Ophelia found it the best feature of the Brat, the rest of his body was highly questionable.

He looked like a rat with an emo haircut. His legs were furry but his body wasn't, it would be a fashion statement if Mr. Bratwurst was a sentient creature, but sadly the dog trimmer had particular taste. He had bunny-like ears who were too big for his face, just adding to the questionable anatomy of the little dog. Ophelia still loved him, but he look really bad.

While Mr. Bratwurst paraded himself on the trail, Ophelia mindlessly followed the dog while looking at the scenery. He saw someone crouched, looking at the pseudo-sunflowers. She wasn't quite sure of the name, but she knew they weren't real sunflowers, only looked like them. Sunflowers were Ophelia's favorites, so when her dad revealed that the flowers she had picked for him weren't what they said on tin, she felt betrayed by the little yellow petals.

She was still able to look at them without feeling hatred toward the wildflowers, but she knew she couldn't trust them. She continued on the path and, as she got closer to the person, she recognized him. Lucas was right there. It was a nice surprise. She stopped walking, announcing the dog that it was time for a break, and she cleared her throat before accosting Lucas.

"Hey."
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#3

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

Lucas would not acknowledge that when he called the universe answered for a long time more. He would acknowledge then that everything seemed lined up so that luck always paid off in his favor, until he started to notice it. Then, shit would happen for a little while to get him to work against that mental theory, like getting hit by a car or something like that. For the time being he regarded Ophelia's appearance as sheer coincidence. His secular mental state would keep him from believing that she had some greater purpose in his life until things were too far gone...

...is how he'd be like, if he was the main character in the book he was writing. Inside he laughed at his train of thought. Getting in the mind of his characters was scary when it happened without him noticing.

No doubt about it Ophelia showing up was a little weird but Lucas absolutely did not mind. The fact that she had a dog was slightly concerning with regards to adventure prospects but either way she was a familiar face and weirdness or not [how long had he been staring at the wildflowers anyways? three minutes? ten? an hour?] he was glad to welcome her.

"Oh!" he said, standing from the patch of flowers, "Hi, Oph!"

For a moment he regarded her with her weird rat terrier with the may-I-speak-to-your-manager haircut in the sunlight. Lucas would have liked to say that she was undeniably pretty but he knew that he had weird tastes and that it'd be a hard sell to many if not any of his male friends, to say that right now, Ophelia looked like a million bucks.

"Out on a walk? Cute dog."

He reached his hand down to pet the little guy.
[+] Recommended Reading Order
—The Heaven Panel—



Image / Image - G051: Lili Williams: 1. Kidnapped from her school trip and thrown into a horrific death game, Lili wanders the wasteland in search of her past life before it slides away from her for good.

Meanwhile 1. From Here On Out [Complete] Marie Bernstein eats ice cream with her friend and gets a text message.

Image / Image - B043: Arthur Bernstein: 2. Arthur watches the waters from the beach, knowing that their presence spells death. Seeking his sister's comfort, he takes up the spear and walks alongside another.

Meanwhile 2. Colorless [Complete] A family reunion under less than ideal circumstances. When trying to unravel the mystery of her brother's death at the hands of esoteric serial terrorists, Marie discovers more than she bargained for.

——The Earth Panel——




𝄇


Image - G026: Liberty "Bert" Wren: 3. It is happening again. To make things right, Bert must understand where things went wrong.

Image - B049: Max Rudolph: 4. The words we use to construct our realities often also make up the links in our chains. Fleeing a vision, Max builds his most elaborate prison yet.

Image - B032: Lucas Diaz: 5. A life lived through the views of others. In pursuit of revenge and his own death, Lucas Diaz interrupts the falling of many dominos.

Meanwhile 3. Because We Love You [Complete] Selections from a Google Drive, never to be logged into again.

Meanwhile 4. The Lines We Draw [Complete] In the process of collecting his brother's memories, Milo Diaz has a fitful morning.

Image - G007: Violet Schmidt: 6. The stars in the night sky do not make pictures. Breathing on both sides of the water, Violet Schmidt journeys to escape the confines of her own mind, and her reality.

Meanwhile 5. Years of Pilgrimage [???] Dana Schmidt is dreaming.

Meanwhile 6. Colorless II [Ongoing] Charlie Bernstein returns to the desert and finds it empty.

Meanwhile 7. Writing the Enigma [Ongoing] Randy Rudolph provides lodgings for Marie Bernstein as she investigates Survival of the Fittest, the city of Chattanooga, and the meaning of water.
———The Hell Panel———


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¿

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Melusine
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#4

Post by Melusine »

"Yep."

After letting Lucas pet the little rat, she squatted down next to Mr. Bratwurst and started rubbing his neck. The little Brat started wiggling proudly, asking for more petting without even barking. They really raised him right. Brat was a little fella who enjoyed attention. She smiled softly then revealed what she was thinking.

"Don't lie to him, he's the ugliest dog in town," she continued her statement, still scratching the dog's neck.

"Who's the ugliest? Who's the ugliest? Yes, it's you!"

There was a sudden surge of life in Ophelia's voice. The same one she have when she would raspberry the belly of fat babies she babysat or when her baby cousins would come over and she would pretend to be helpless as they clinged to her. It wasn't a voice she used a lot, she had in reserve for special occasions. It came from her throat instead of her esophagus, the latter she had learned to use in music class. She looked up to see Lucas.

"He's my brother's. I think he found him in a shelter, Brat's house burned or something," she revealed, it sounded pretty morbid but there weren't any real casualties from what she heard, "how are you doing?"
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#5

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

"Well," Lucas said, feeling the tuft of fur that resembled oh-so-well the worst haircut anyone ever wore and basking in its softness, "I feel pretty good, today."

Nah. Not even close. His stomach, as usual, hurt like he was carrying a five pound exercise ball inside of it, but that was so close to his natural state of existence by this point that he was going to just write that much off as par for the fucking course. His left arm was recovering from a Hepatitis B booster, the last of the three that his doctor had ordered after a blood test (causing Lucas' first ever faint from which he woke up flailing his arms and drooling spit all over himself like he was some child somehow more special than he already was) revealed that the shots administered to him as a baby did not take. Still sore after a whole week plus one day. Sore like it was going to fall off. He had a gross pimple on his cheek that by this point could have been the eruption of a mosquito bite or spider mouthful that he picked at idly until it was red. He felt his annual am-I-relapsing worries coming on three years to the week since he started antidepressants, and this time they felt especially bad. Milo had been the cause of many headaches after keeping him up late by stealing the room to stay on the phone for hours with a friend with an allegedly quite terrible home situation, at four in the morning, the only available time, and Lucas had met her and she seemed right fine and the actual person sounded different over the phone than the alleged person they were in real life, he had overheard, during a supposedly confidential conversation in the top bunk where Milo started screaming about calling the police as if he was the only person in the whole wide world.

"Pretty good, yeah," he nodded in assent, "how are you?"
[+] Recommended Reading Order
—The Heaven Panel—



Image / Image - G051: Lili Williams: 1. Kidnapped from her school trip and thrown into a horrific death game, Lili wanders the wasteland in search of her past life before it slides away from her for good.

Meanwhile 1. From Here On Out [Complete] Marie Bernstein eats ice cream with her friend and gets a text message.

Image / Image - B043: Arthur Bernstein: 2. Arthur watches the waters from the beach, knowing that their presence spells death. Seeking his sister's comfort, he takes up the spear and walks alongside another.

Meanwhile 2. Colorless [Complete] A family reunion under less than ideal circumstances. When trying to unravel the mystery of her brother's death at the hands of esoteric serial terrorists, Marie discovers more than she bargained for.

——The Earth Panel——




𝄇


Image - G026: Liberty "Bert" Wren: 3. It is happening again. To make things right, Bert must understand where things went wrong.

Image - B049: Max Rudolph: 4. The words we use to construct our realities often also make up the links in our chains. Fleeing a vision, Max builds his most elaborate prison yet.

Image - B032: Lucas Diaz: 5. A life lived through the views of others. In pursuit of revenge and his own death, Lucas Diaz interrupts the falling of many dominos.

Meanwhile 3. Because We Love You [Complete] Selections from a Google Drive, never to be logged into again.

Meanwhile 4. The Lines We Draw [Complete] In the process of collecting his brother's memories, Milo Diaz has a fitful morning.

Image - G007: Violet Schmidt: 6. The stars in the night sky do not make pictures. Breathing on both sides of the water, Violet Schmidt journeys to escape the confines of her own mind, and her reality.

Meanwhile 5. Years of Pilgrimage [???] Dana Schmidt is dreaming.

Meanwhile 6. Colorless II [Ongoing] Charlie Bernstein returns to the desert and finds it empty.

Meanwhile 7. Writing the Enigma [Ongoing] Randy Rudolph provides lodgings for Marie Bernstein as she investigates Survival of the Fittest, the city of Chattanooga, and the meaning of water.
———The Hell Panel———


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¿

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Melusine
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#6

Post by Melusine »

"I'm fine," she stopped petting the dog, her voice returning to the normal rhythm, "but I don't like being lied to."
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#7

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

Lucas' breath caught in his throat. Was he that obvious? He looked down at his hands briefly and saw that he had picked his cuticles on his left hand bloody.

"Well," said Lucas bashfully, "things have been rough, but I'm soldiering on though, okay?"
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Melusine
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#8

Post by Melusine »

"I have like a superpower or something," her voice was monotone, she wasn't looking at Lucas anymore, "I can smell depressed teenage boys from miles away."

It was a half-truth. Yes, she knew how to spot the signs, growing up with one. No, she wasn't able to spot all of them on-sight.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She cocked her head toward the nearest bench nonchalantly, "you can say 'no'."
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#9

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

Uncanny. Armor piercing statements and questions were things he dreamed of making towards others, but never wanted to have aimed at and successfully landed on himself. Depressed teenage boy for how much longer? Soon he'd be a depressed twentysomething, then a depressed thirtysomething, if he lasted that long, and he didn't see an end, and he didn't necessarily want one.

He did as he was told wordlessly. Facade gone. Shattered. He was totally at a loss. Ophelia cracked him open like a walnut. Lucas sat on the cool, slightly damp bench, pressing himself up against the armrest.

"Sure,' he said, tenting his fingers, his gaze cast somewhere in the middle-center of Ophelia's collarbone.
[+] Recommended Reading Order
—The Heaven Panel—



Image / Image - G051: Lili Williams: 1. Kidnapped from her school trip and thrown into a horrific death game, Lili wanders the wasteland in search of her past life before it slides away from her for good.

Meanwhile 1. From Here On Out [Complete] Marie Bernstein eats ice cream with her friend and gets a text message.

Image / Image - B043: Arthur Bernstein: 2. Arthur watches the waters from the beach, knowing that their presence spells death. Seeking his sister's comfort, he takes up the spear and walks alongside another.

Meanwhile 2. Colorless [Complete] A family reunion under less than ideal circumstances. When trying to unravel the mystery of her brother's death at the hands of esoteric serial terrorists, Marie discovers more than she bargained for.

——The Earth Panel——




𝄇


Image - G026: Liberty "Bert" Wren: 3. It is happening again. To make things right, Bert must understand where things went wrong.

Image - B049: Max Rudolph: 4. The words we use to construct our realities often also make up the links in our chains. Fleeing a vision, Max builds his most elaborate prison yet.

Image - B032: Lucas Diaz: 5. A life lived through the views of others. In pursuit of revenge and his own death, Lucas Diaz interrupts the falling of many dominos.

Meanwhile 3. Because We Love You [Complete] Selections from a Google Drive, never to be logged into again.

Meanwhile 4. The Lines We Draw [Complete] In the process of collecting his brother's memories, Milo Diaz has a fitful morning.

Image - G007: Violet Schmidt: 6. The stars in the night sky do not make pictures. Breathing on both sides of the water, Violet Schmidt journeys to escape the confines of her own mind, and her reality.

Meanwhile 5. Years of Pilgrimage [???] Dana Schmidt is dreaming.

Meanwhile 6. Colorless II [Ongoing] Charlie Bernstein returns to the desert and finds it empty.

Meanwhile 7. Writing the Enigma [Ongoing] Randy Rudolph provides lodgings for Marie Bernstein as she investigates Survival of the Fittest, the city of Chattanooga, and the meaning of water.
———The Hell Panel———


𝄌
¿

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Virtual Pilgrimage: Exploring the Pregame Cities of SOTF
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Melusine
Posts: 863
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:38 pm

#10

Post by Melusine »

He was avoiding eye contact. Her brother also avoided eye contact, but he also avoided physical and emotional contacts. He was withdrawn, unable to touch anyone. She wondered how bad Lucas had it. She assumed it was the same level; she heard somewhere that you attracted similar people you grew up with. Lucas was probably as bad, or as good depending on the perception. He was still alive.

Her bare thighs touched the cold bench, her dress formed a circle around her with her jacket protecting her shoulders. She wondered how much worth her words had to him. He did want to listen to her and she did want to help him, but how much could she do by just speaking to him with Brat? She tied the lease on the armrest, announcing to the ugly dog that it was break time. He was compliant, he walked in circle, found a spot in the sun and started napping. What a good dog.

She didn't know how to start but she decided to go for a direct question. She wanted to know how bad it was. 'Unable to eat' bad or 'stayed up all night for three days' bad; 'missed school for a month' bad or 'autopilot' bad. She wondered so she asked.

"How bad is it?"
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#11

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

His mouth was dry. He needed some water, and there was a river right, right there to jump right into filled with the stuff. He'd undress Ophelia right now if he could. Spin her right out of her clothes and go skinny dipping with her. Funny how those thoughts just creep up, right when the person you're thinking them about is trying to save you from something inside yourself. Is that it?

"It's pretty bad. Was, at some point, pretty bad. Hurt myself. Ran away for a couple days and hid in an abandoned building. Was, uh, just about to maybe go do the same thing?"

He swung his feet back and forth. The water looked so cold.

"But then they fed me antidepressants and I got better. Made friends. Got scholarships. UMass Amherst, because I want to go North. I used to think the phrase 'curtain matches the drapes' meant that the outside matches the inside. Like a person's surroundings reflecting their interior feelings. Then I realized that there wasn't much of a difference between curtains and drapes, with regards to interior and exterior. But I'd use to say going somewhere cold would mean the curtains match the drapes."

Lucas chuckled, and leaned on his hand.

"I think I might be relapsing."
[+] Recommended Reading Order
—The Heaven Panel—



Image / Image - G051: Lili Williams: 1. Kidnapped from her school trip and thrown into a horrific death game, Lili wanders the wasteland in search of her past life before it slides away from her for good.

Meanwhile 1. From Here On Out [Complete] Marie Bernstein eats ice cream with her friend and gets a text message.

Image / Image - B043: Arthur Bernstein: 2. Arthur watches the waters from the beach, knowing that their presence spells death. Seeking his sister's comfort, he takes up the spear and walks alongside another.

Meanwhile 2. Colorless [Complete] A family reunion under less than ideal circumstances. When trying to unravel the mystery of her brother's death at the hands of esoteric serial terrorists, Marie discovers more than she bargained for.

——The Earth Panel——




𝄇


Image - G026: Liberty "Bert" Wren: 3. It is happening again. To make things right, Bert must understand where things went wrong.

Image - B049: Max Rudolph: 4. The words we use to construct our realities often also make up the links in our chains. Fleeing a vision, Max builds his most elaborate prison yet.

Image - B032: Lucas Diaz: 5. A life lived through the views of others. In pursuit of revenge and his own death, Lucas Diaz interrupts the falling of many dominos.

Meanwhile 3. Because We Love You [Complete] Selections from a Google Drive, never to be logged into again.

Meanwhile 4. The Lines We Draw [Complete] In the process of collecting his brother's memories, Milo Diaz has a fitful morning.

Image - G007: Violet Schmidt: 6. The stars in the night sky do not make pictures. Breathing on both sides of the water, Violet Schmidt journeys to escape the confines of her own mind, and her reality.

Meanwhile 5. Years of Pilgrimage [???] Dana Schmidt is dreaming.

Meanwhile 6. Colorless II [Ongoing] Charlie Bernstein returns to the desert and finds it empty.

Meanwhile 7. Writing the Enigma [Ongoing] Randy Rudolph provides lodgings for Marie Bernstein as she investigates Survival of the Fittest, the city of Chattanooga, and the meaning of water.
———The Hell Panel———


𝄌
¿

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Virtual Pilgrimage: Exploring the Pregame Cities of SOTF
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Melusine
Posts: 863
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:38 pm

#12

Post by Melusine »

Relapsing.

She's heard of the word in the past. She associated it with dark and lifeless eyes, a mouth half-opened seemingly speaking without saying a word, and a strange desire to scream. Lucas looked like it. She didn't know any other words to add to the description. It was blatant she was in unknown grounds despite having experienced it one. It wasn't like riding a bike, it was more like trying to swim in a frozen lake. She's done it once, but if she were to do it again, her whole body would scream to get out.

She didn't really know what words to use. She was scared of hurting him, but also scared of doing nothing. It was like stepping on a deactivated landmine. Did she really want to do that? What if it just blew up underneath her even if all the evidences pointed in another direction? She started to avoid his eyesight, and chew the inside of her cheeks. She could just be honest.

"Is there something you want me to do? I can just... be there."
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#13

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

He stared blankly at Ophelia's hand for a few moments.

Lucas...

Lucas...

...sighed.

...did not reach out and take it.

"You could sit here with me for a bit," Lucas said, and wanted to add, I don't know how okay I am to be alone right now, but did not.

He looked over at the dog. The lease prevented the Diaz household from owning any pets. His parents rubbed it in with stories of how they had dogs and cats growing up.

"Of course," he muttered, "only if it's not interrupting your walk. I don't want to be a burden."
[+] Recommended Reading Order
—The Heaven Panel—



Image / Image - G051: Lili Williams: 1. Kidnapped from her school trip and thrown into a horrific death game, Lili wanders the wasteland in search of her past life before it slides away from her for good.

Meanwhile 1. From Here On Out [Complete] Marie Bernstein eats ice cream with her friend and gets a text message.

Image / Image - B043: Arthur Bernstein: 2. Arthur watches the waters from the beach, knowing that their presence spells death. Seeking his sister's comfort, he takes up the spear and walks alongside another.

Meanwhile 2. Colorless [Complete] A family reunion under less than ideal circumstances. When trying to unravel the mystery of her brother's death at the hands of esoteric serial terrorists, Marie discovers more than she bargained for.

——The Earth Panel——




𝄇


Image - G026: Liberty "Bert" Wren: 3. It is happening again. To make things right, Bert must understand where things went wrong.

Image - B049: Max Rudolph: 4. The words we use to construct our realities often also make up the links in our chains. Fleeing a vision, Max builds his most elaborate prison yet.

Image - B032: Lucas Diaz: 5. A life lived through the views of others. In pursuit of revenge and his own death, Lucas Diaz interrupts the falling of many dominos.

Meanwhile 3. Because We Love You [Complete] Selections from a Google Drive, never to be logged into again.

Meanwhile 4. The Lines We Draw [Complete] In the process of collecting his brother's memories, Milo Diaz has a fitful morning.

Image - G007: Violet Schmidt: 6. The stars in the night sky do not make pictures. Breathing on both sides of the water, Violet Schmidt journeys to escape the confines of her own mind, and her reality.

Meanwhile 5. Years of Pilgrimage [???] Dana Schmidt is dreaming.

Meanwhile 6. Colorless II [Ongoing] Charlie Bernstein returns to the desert and finds it empty.

Meanwhile 7. Writing the Enigma [Ongoing] Randy Rudolph provides lodgings for Marie Bernstein as she investigates Survival of the Fittest, the city of Chattanooga, and the meaning of water.
———The Hell Panel———


𝄌
¿

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Virtual Pilgrimage: Exploring the Pregame Cities of SOTF
User avatar
Melusine
Posts: 863
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:38 pm

#14

Post by Melusine »

"I don't mind. I have nothing to do today."

She raised her knees to her chest, and wrapped them with her legs. She wasn't cold or anything, but she wanted to feel comfortable. Ophelia wondered how long she would be here. She wanted to go buy something tasty to eat for lunch, maybe some chicken or sushi. Her eyes weren't moving, they stared at Lucas, she wasn't quite sure how to continue. Her toes started to wiggle in shoes, she felt jittery.

He was going to run away to an abandoned building before he met her. That was not fun to hear from a friend. She wondered what to say. It was really a landmine field and she was carefully trecking through it with a family of baby ducks behind her. Sometimes, the baby ducks would wander when her back was turned, which was all the time, and Ophelia needed to find them. As she searched for them, she would find more mines and she would have new ones to avoid. She wondered if getting her baby ducks back was worth it. But when she saw one, she knew the risk was worth.

"My brother tried killing himself like a couple years ago. It wasn't fun." Yeah, she said it. It wasn't something she talked about a lot. She didn't want to. It was still an open wound, or something. "Were you going to do that too?"
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#15

Post by MethodicalSlacker »

"Today? No."

He kicked his feet back and forth and wondered if Ophelia would be okay with him sitting any closer to her. They were too far apart on the bench for him to feel comfortable. Someone could sit between them and there would be next to nothing that he could do about it. Then again maybe there would be. He imagined some dirty, homeless man finding a seat in the open space. Imagined his fist slamming into his bearded face, making him tumble over. Maybe even causing his nose to bleed.

"I don't think I was going to do that when I ran away a few years ago either."

I wasn't strong enough to do it was what he wanted to say, and how he truly thought. I'm too scared of what happens after death to kill myself. I don't want to die, but I don't want to be alive either. I want to be a ghost, without dying first. I'm afraid of pain, and I'm afraid of other people.

But she had mentioned her brother, and that would be insensitive to say. To make him sound strong for being so selfish.

He scooted closer to her. There was still some distance between them, but Lucas was now occupying the middle of the bench.
[+] Recommended Reading Order
—The Heaven Panel—



Image / Image - G051: Lili Williams: 1. Kidnapped from her school trip and thrown into a horrific death game, Lili wanders the wasteland in search of her past life before it slides away from her for good.

Meanwhile 1. From Here On Out [Complete] Marie Bernstein eats ice cream with her friend and gets a text message.

Image / Image - B043: Arthur Bernstein: 2. Arthur watches the waters from the beach, knowing that their presence spells death. Seeking his sister's comfort, he takes up the spear and walks alongside another.

Meanwhile 2. Colorless [Complete] A family reunion under less than ideal circumstances. When trying to unravel the mystery of her brother's death at the hands of esoteric serial terrorists, Marie discovers more than she bargained for.

——The Earth Panel——




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Image - G026: Liberty "Bert" Wren: 3. It is happening again. To make things right, Bert must understand where things went wrong.

Image - B049: Max Rudolph: 4. The words we use to construct our realities often also make up the links in our chains. Fleeing a vision, Max builds his most elaborate prison yet.

Image - B032: Lucas Diaz: 5. A life lived through the views of others. In pursuit of revenge and his own death, Lucas Diaz interrupts the falling of many dominos.

Meanwhile 3. Because We Love You [Complete] Selections from a Google Drive, never to be logged into again.

Meanwhile 4. The Lines We Draw [Complete] In the process of collecting his brother's memories, Milo Diaz has a fitful morning.

Image - G007: Violet Schmidt: 6. The stars in the night sky do not make pictures. Breathing on both sides of the water, Violet Schmidt journeys to escape the confines of her own mind, and her reality.

Meanwhile 5. Years of Pilgrimage [???] Dana Schmidt is dreaming.

Meanwhile 6. Colorless II [Ongoing] Charlie Bernstein returns to the desert and finds it empty.

Meanwhile 7. Writing the Enigma [Ongoing] Randy Rudolph provides lodgings for Marie Bernstein as she investigates Survival of the Fittest, the city of Chattanooga, and the meaning of water.
———The Hell Panel———


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[+] Other Threads
Virtual Pilgrimage: Exploring the Pregame Cities of SOTF
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