acid_rayne: (Talk)
Rayne ([personal profile] acid_rayne) wrote2011-05-31 09:35 am

Rayne's Welcoming Guide

Congratulations on your new residence for God-knows-how-long.

Either you're aware of why you're here, in which case you're part of Team Warden. Or you don't, which means you're here to work through whatever cosmic mistake you made to end up here. It's like rehab, except on a spaceship.

Deal with it.

The first thing you'll notice is a bunch of people complaining they're bored. This will, without exception, be anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks after they and everyone else got humiliated in public or experienced agonising pain. These calls for 'something to do' will herald yet another chapter of doom, either known as a 'flood' or a 'port'.

These people are stupid and may be smacked in the face. Hard.

A flood is where the ship gets swamped by influence and can result in anything, from turning into a giant beaver (in either sense of the term), turning into an over-sexed (or under-sexed) teenager or shitting your guts out.

A port is when whoever steers the ship decides we need to dock at the nearest reality. If you fall off the side, well done - you get to be one of the natives and not even realise it. Then the rest of us have to go find you and you get kicked somewhere it hurts. If you don't, then you'll have a fun team-building exercise with whoever you're teamed up with. This will almost always be something painful, miserable or which endangers either your sanity, life or both.

There is an Admiral. We do not, however, know the ship's Captain.

Wardening techniques vary - as do those of inmates. Prepare to meet assholes, vampires (oh, wait, I repeated myself), werewolves, cowboys, racists, rapists, genocidal sadists, school bullies and just about every other hideous stereotype you can imagine. The inmates can get pretty varied, too... After a while, shit will grind you down to an apathetic, territorial, spiteful shadow of your former self. That's generally when you either regret choosing to go here or decide you need to rehab, no matter what.

There will be riots. These will be put down.

There will be gay love affairs. Big ones. If you're homophobic, you'll want to close your eyes a lot. In fact, if you're a guy, you'll wind up kissing some other dude at least once and somehow later claim it was an 'educational experience' and seriously believe it. God knows why... If you're into it, go have fun - just don't try pretending it's some kind of bullshit philosophical exercise. It's fucking, OK? End of.

There are an inordinate amount of attractive people. There are also some pretty damned ugly ones, too. Maybe it's a quota thing.

At some point, you'll find someone who knew you from a book/play/film/TV show/fucking video game. Ignore this. Or embrace it and think to yourself how somewhere out there, Nixon's portrayed as a cape-wearing, cartoon superhero robot. Or stuck on the cover of a Mills And Boon novel... Or both. Point is, it looks like we get eaten up by reality and regurgitated in some... Other way, on some strange world, far away from our own.

There are also weird groups of people who... Gravitate towards one another. They get in weird conversations. Don't even try to understand them. They're built on a foundation of some in-joke one of them made five months ago and the weirdest things lead to one or the other of them face-palming for reasons you'll never understand. Insanity follows if you try.

The easiest way to make friends is to not trouble anyone else. When someone's pissed off, that's the last thing they want, OK? Just don't. Besides which, they've probably got mind-powers or hypnotism or the power to crap out a turd made of lightning at a million miles an hour - do you want someone like that mad at you? Didn't think so.

If, however, you're in trouble, then ask for help. There's only a 50% chance anyone will notice in time (given that there's no such thing as a rota, we all sleep at weird times and have our own shit to deal with) and that whoever does will want to exploit it for their own ends. But, y'know... You could get lucky... Probably.

In short, your life is now ruined and you'll most likely wind up getting eaten by a giant space squirrel. At least twice.

That pretty much covers it.
ext_956366: Malcolm Jamieson as Armand in the Scarlet Pimpernel wearing waistcoat and cravat nodding his head and closed eyes (bow) (earnest)

[identity profile] young-idealist.livejournal.com 2011-05-31 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know, but I have seen signs of them talking. And perhaps it has done the count some good.
ext_956366: Malcolm Jamieson as Armand in the Scarlet Pimpernel wearing waistcoat and cravat nodding his head and closed eyes (bow) (earnest)

[identity profile] young-idealist.livejournal.com 2011-05-31 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
In what way? I do try to keep an eye on what my inmate is doing.
ext_956366: Malcolm Jamieson as Armand in the Scarlet Pimpernel wearing waistcoat and cravat nodding his head and closed eyes (bow) (bowing)

[identity profile] young-idealist.livejournal.com 2011-05-31 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, I understand.

I don't know if Dracula is that easy to manipulate, but I could be wrong. He is easy to push. I'll see what I can find out before it goes much longer.

Late threadjack

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Lets say this in public, where the subject person can scoff at how presumptuous it is. Be prepared to explain why you consider me manipulative or liable to collaborate with an inmate. As for intellectual-- well, I can live with that comment.

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
You're kidding, right? You can't honestly be that inconsiderate?

I'm not the Riddler, in any case. I haven't been that man in numerous years.

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Trust isn't an expectation. I don't see many capable of that here.

But you could cite me as untrustworthy without making me out to be a horrible, devious person because of a children's program you once watched, Rayne. I deserve that much, at least.

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
I didn't realize detecting was 'mind games'. You'll have to inform Sherlock Holmes, he's been misinterpreting it all this time.

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
I thought I was justifying myself to you. This is a conversation in which you're being needlessly critical of me, after all. If you're feeling pressured it's likely because you have no viable reason to doubt me, beyond being suspicious of interaction with Vlad and a bad live-action television show.

If you don't like being called out on your ridiculous bias', there's an off button.

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
During a previous encounter, you admitted to not keeping an eye on journals outside your immediate interest, mine included. I don't believe you know me nearly as well as you profess to.

However, if you're open to thinking better of me, you have everything you need in my journal.

Private;

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Be calm, now, St. Just. Dracula is an acquaintance. I've done little more than encourage him to improve as an individual from the day I met him. He was, in fact, one of the first people I admitted the entirety of my story to, and I don't do that for manipulations sake. He was surprisingly empathetic to my plight.

I'm inclined to believe he's deserving of a little less babying and I myself a little more consideration. Instead of discussing me on a public forum, you could perhaps extend the benefit of the doubt in this direction?

[A pause, while he responds to Rayne.]

...And, ideally, not take your opinions from someone who knows me as a ridiculous live-action TV character. It's not at all accurate.
ext_956366: Malcolm Jamieson as Armand in the Scarlet Pimpernel wearing waistcoat and cravat nodding his head and closed eyes (bow) (earnest)

Private;

[identity profile] young-idealist.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
I wasn't that upset. Or overly concerned. I simply was going to talk to you both. Separately. You've saved me a little trouble.

And if someone mentions a concern to me, I do follow it up, even if it isn't a terrible one. I'd be remiss if I didn't. There are many here who'd like to see Dracula succumb to his nature and prove he's a monster. I'd rather he didn't I like him to have friends, because my own perspective is so limited.

Private;

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
Apologies if I was a bit harsh. My motivations in a friendship aren't something I appreciate being scrutinized when I'm evidently present.

But follow it up, by all means. I'll gladly answer any questions you might have.
ext_956366: Malcolm Jamieson as Armand in the Scarlet Pimpernel wearing waistcoat and cravat nodding his head and closed eyes (bow) (earnest)

Private;

[identity profile] young-idealist.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
I won't question what has passed between you. I will simply request that you don't put your needs above his rehabilitation. Do you understand? I won't put a noose around his neck to control him.

Private;

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
I've been placing his rehabilitation above my needs for some time now. Ask him, if you like; I'm partially the reason he won't take pride in the torture he inflicted any longer, as well as one of the few people he considers worthy of conversation.

He is, as I said, a friend, and I treat him as such.
ext_956366: Malcolm Jamieson as Armand in the Scarlet Pimpernel wearing waistcoat and cravat nodding his head and closed eyes (bow) (earnest)

Private;

[identity profile] young-idealist.livejournal.com 2011-06-01 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Then I'm asking you to do nothing more than what you have done.

Private;

[identity profile] puzzleprince.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
I thought you might like to hear that, regardless. He's making admirable progress.
ext_956366: Malcolm Jamieson as Armand in the Scarlet Pimpernel wearing waistcoat and cravat nodding his head and closed eyes (bow) (earnest)

Private;

[identity profile] young-idealist.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I have thought that, but he's so tense lately. I'm worried.