For ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lastvoyages: Thirty-Third Hex (video+spam)
Dec. 23rd, 2012 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scarlet_discord[backdated to the second day of Port]
[Wanda sits on a bus bench in front of a steam grate where a woman and her daughter are crouching for warmth. Both are dark-haired, with liquid brown eyes that remind her too much of Anya. She's been sitting here long enough that she's shivering in spite of the steam, and there are unmelted flakes of snow in her hair. The kid is eating the sandwich Wanda swiped for herself at a local shop; her stomach growls but she ignores it. There are bigger things going on here than her discomfort. She never does public posts anymore, but this time it's necessary.]
This probably has occurred to some of you already, but whenever the Admiral sends us off for a "vacation" he ruins it for some of us by giving Wardens all the money and power. Why ruins it? Because some of us don't have Wardens or have Wardens who are MIA...or just don't care, in some cases. To us, this weekend in London is basically a weekend finding out what it's like to live on the streets, if we didn't know already.
I'm sure a few of you Wardens have picked up friends or acquaintances and looked after them during this mess. But some aren't so lucky. I did some legwork the last few days and found out that the shelters are full, and the soup kitchens all have lines around the corner. What this means is that we have no recourse except to steal, rob, mooch, beg--or hope the Admiral will let us back into the prison. That is no goddamn vacation.
[She pans the camera around, taking in the shabby crowd in front of said soup kitchens.] I have a friend who is sleeping in the sewers right now. I spent the night catching naps on the Underground. And those of us from the Barge are in no way the only ones suffering like this; in fact we have more options than most. See all these people? You should have seen the run on the shelter I visited last night. I just gave up. Now I could go on a giant rant about how this is what happens in any society where the "haves" don't have sufficient empathy for the "have nots", but I think these people's faces make that point a hell of a lot better than anything that I could say.
Under better circumstances I could fix this myself. Unfortunately right now all I have are empathy, ideas and my two hands. All the money and power is in the Wardens' hands. I'll take the help of anyone who wants to show up, but without funding and some superhuman assistance there's no way to get these people fed and sheltered before we have to leave.
Many of you Wardens consider yourselves "the good guys", while we're criminals and monsters and what have you. Whatever. But my challenge to you is this: how many of you are willing to take your time away from posh hotels and plays and shopping for goodies with a bottomless credit card to actually be the good guys? How many have the guts to fill up a taken-over warehouse with heaters and beds and places to clean up? Who feels like risking arrest for feeding these people without a city permit? Getting them warm clothes? People are dying in this cold. I'm sorry, but I don't think much of a so-called hero who would just stand around and let that happen.
Some of you are going to complain, or try to shout me down, or tell me I'm being oversympathetic, unrealistic, or crazy. I do not give even the most miniscule fuck about those kind of opinions or anyone who would hold them, so save it. [She shows the street signs for the intersection she is sitting near.] This needs doing. I'll be waiting here for the next two hours to see who rises to the challenge.
[private to the Admiral]
OK, fine, since you won't leave it alone.
First off, I want everyone on the Barge to get an interactive map of the Multiverse which shows them their homeworld location, those worlds they've visited, and those of their friends. Except for Ladd, Rex, Ben, and that one psycho Japanese Warden with the hair, because fuck them. Also, I have the entire pie recipe book written down in that notebook on my desk. I need that published with a nice cover. Put two copies in the Library, one on the kitchen counter and one on Dean's desk.
For Dean, get him whatever physical object he misses the most, plus a special spot for it in his cabin.
For Laura, get her a pretty but not too ostentatious ring that's enchanted to protect her against evil spirits, and to return to her if lost or stolen.
For Duo, get him a pantry for his shelter that is always full of fresh food and drinks.
For Steph, get her a low profile but nice-looking bracelet she can wear under her gauntlets, which makes her bounce off the ground and so on unhurt if she ever actually falls during all those crazy acrobatics.
For Doyle, get him a nice leather wallet that always has an extra twenty dollars in it, in local currency, when he's caught short. Make it unstealable.
For Castiel, please clean, repair and renew his clothes, towels and bedding, since he probably doesn't think about stuff like that enough. Also get him a brown plushie angelbunny with a slightly confused expression.
For Gaheris, get him a pristine set of Nietzche first editions, a good book on Thelema and the True Will, and one of those cool chess sets wizarding folk have.
For Kon, get him a "greatest hits" selection of music on a really high capacity music player, one of those new MP3 things like lots of people have around here. Make it greatest hits in music, all genres, from 1500AD to 2500AD.
Megamind needs one good black Armani suit in his size, with shoes and fedora and coat, the whole deal including one of those white silk scarves. Also a cookie jar shaped like GIR that is always full of various kinds of cookies from around the Multiverse. Nothing nasty.
Arthas needs a new cloak in heavy winterproofed suede, midnight blue, with a white fur lining. Make it enchanted to warm up when someone is wearing or wrapped in it.
Jean gets a set of books with everything that Iroh and the Vulcans taught me about meditation and emotional/power control. Also one of those fuzzy footrests that heats and vibrates. Make it look like a big Tribble.
Pyro gets an old school tinderbox with flint and steel, a self-recharging fire extinguisher, and a copy of Stephen King's book on writing.
Lua gets a pair of 1930s era pumps that change color and style to match her outfits, never cause her to slip, trip or turn an ankle, and don't cause backaches.
Faith gets a tiger plushie that prevents nightmares and insomnia in people who cuddle it.
Willow gets a book on the San Francisco vampire fan/Blood Doll culture, refills of all her favorite makeup, and a never ending, actually good-tasting blood lollipop in its own case.
Hell, give Lestat a lolly as well.
Red gets an engraved invitation to help me stop the Alaska wolf kills on her world once I get out of here, and also a copy of Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf.
Spider gets a first edition copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and a TV that offers all twentieth and twenty first century TV shows and news programs.
Tommy gets a plain but good quality backpack that will always be full of good food and bottled water whenever he unzips it, and which will return to him if lost or stolen.
Chromie gets a Dragonphone. A phone shaped like a dragon that lets her talk with her relatives around the Multiverse.
Kozzy gets a really really good quality air purifier and water filter.
Ariadne gets a nice over the door plaque that says "Nolo Te Bastardes Carborundum" and a pair of earplugs.
Mal and Dylan both get foot-long, functional, remote-controlled models of their spaceships, complete with lights and sound effects, and mounted cameras so they can fly them around corners and stuff.
Yen Sid needs a pendulum that will instantly locate lost objects for him.
Lia needs a nice pair of self-warming gloves and boots.
Anya should get a copy of the Millennium Trilogy, and an emergency kit with food, water, first aid stuff and everything else they usually contain, with supplies to last her a week.
Beatrix gets a Weird-Shit-O-Meter. She can use it to check for whether magic, psychic powers, alien technology, future hypertech or something similar is going on in the immediate area. Make it look and act like the PKE meter from Ghostbusters.
Get Mozenrath a book on every magical tradition on Earth, DVDs of every movie Siskel and Ebert ever gave two thumbs up, and a Vulcan meditation lamp that never runs out of fuel or wicking.
Get Rorschach a First Aid Kit that never runs out of supplies, ok? I have a feeling he'll need it.
The Marquis, since we're in London, gets a 2,000 pound gift certificate to Coco de Mer, along with instructions on how to get to the shop.
[spam]
[Wanda waits at the appointed spot, head stinging from the effort of trying to luck the city into a break in the weather. The mother and child have moved on to get in line at the soup kitchen. She huddles in her coat, glad that her tastes run toward leather and more coverage.]
[Wanda sits on a bus bench in front of a steam grate where a woman and her daughter are crouching for warmth. Both are dark-haired, with liquid brown eyes that remind her too much of Anya. She's been sitting here long enough that she's shivering in spite of the steam, and there are unmelted flakes of snow in her hair. The kid is eating the sandwich Wanda swiped for herself at a local shop; her stomach growls but she ignores it. There are bigger things going on here than her discomfort. She never does public posts anymore, but this time it's necessary.]
This probably has occurred to some of you already, but whenever the Admiral sends us off for a "vacation" he ruins it for some of us by giving Wardens all the money and power. Why ruins it? Because some of us don't have Wardens or have Wardens who are MIA...or just don't care, in some cases. To us, this weekend in London is basically a weekend finding out what it's like to live on the streets, if we didn't know already.
I'm sure a few of you Wardens have picked up friends or acquaintances and looked after them during this mess. But some aren't so lucky. I did some legwork the last few days and found out that the shelters are full, and the soup kitchens all have lines around the corner. What this means is that we have no recourse except to steal, rob, mooch, beg--or hope the Admiral will let us back into the prison. That is no goddamn vacation.
[She pans the camera around, taking in the shabby crowd in front of said soup kitchens.] I have a friend who is sleeping in the sewers right now. I spent the night catching naps on the Underground. And those of us from the Barge are in no way the only ones suffering like this; in fact we have more options than most. See all these people? You should have seen the run on the shelter I visited last night. I just gave up. Now I could go on a giant rant about how this is what happens in any society where the "haves" don't have sufficient empathy for the "have nots", but I think these people's faces make that point a hell of a lot better than anything that I could say.
Under better circumstances I could fix this myself. Unfortunately right now all I have are empathy, ideas and my two hands. All the money and power is in the Wardens' hands. I'll take the help of anyone who wants to show up, but without funding and some superhuman assistance there's no way to get these people fed and sheltered before we have to leave.
Many of you Wardens consider yourselves "the good guys", while we're criminals and monsters and what have you. Whatever. But my challenge to you is this: how many of you are willing to take your time away from posh hotels and plays and shopping for goodies with a bottomless credit card to actually be the good guys? How many have the guts to fill up a taken-over warehouse with heaters and beds and places to clean up? Who feels like risking arrest for feeding these people without a city permit? Getting them warm clothes? People are dying in this cold. I'm sorry, but I don't think much of a so-called hero who would just stand around and let that happen.
Some of you are going to complain, or try to shout me down, or tell me I'm being oversympathetic, unrealistic, or crazy. I do not give even the most miniscule fuck about those kind of opinions or anyone who would hold them, so save it. [She shows the street signs for the intersection she is sitting near.] This needs doing. I'll be waiting here for the next two hours to see who rises to the challenge.
[private to the Admiral]
OK, fine, since you won't leave it alone.
First off, I want everyone on the Barge to get an interactive map of the Multiverse which shows them their homeworld location, those worlds they've visited, and those of their friends. Except for Ladd, Rex, Ben, and that one psycho Japanese Warden with the hair, because fuck them. Also, I have the entire pie recipe book written down in that notebook on my desk. I need that published with a nice cover. Put two copies in the Library, one on the kitchen counter and one on Dean's desk.
For Dean, get him whatever physical object he misses the most, plus a special spot for it in his cabin.
For Laura, get her a pretty but not too ostentatious ring that's enchanted to protect her against evil spirits, and to return to her if lost or stolen.
For Duo, get him a pantry for his shelter that is always full of fresh food and drinks.
For Steph, get her a low profile but nice-looking bracelet she can wear under her gauntlets, which makes her bounce off the ground and so on unhurt if she ever actually falls during all those crazy acrobatics.
For Doyle, get him a nice leather wallet that always has an extra twenty dollars in it, in local currency, when he's caught short. Make it unstealable.
For Castiel, please clean, repair and renew his clothes, towels and bedding, since he probably doesn't think about stuff like that enough. Also get him a brown plushie angelbunny with a slightly confused expression.
For Gaheris, get him a pristine set of Nietzche first editions, a good book on Thelema and the True Will, and one of those cool chess sets wizarding folk have.
For Kon, get him a "greatest hits" selection of music on a really high capacity music player, one of those new MP3 things like lots of people have around here. Make it greatest hits in music, all genres, from 1500AD to 2500AD.
Megamind needs one good black Armani suit in his size, with shoes and fedora and coat, the whole deal including one of those white silk scarves. Also a cookie jar shaped like GIR that is always full of various kinds of cookies from around the Multiverse. Nothing nasty.
Arthas needs a new cloak in heavy winterproofed suede, midnight blue, with a white fur lining. Make it enchanted to warm up when someone is wearing or wrapped in it.
Jean gets a set of books with everything that Iroh and the Vulcans taught me about meditation and emotional/power control. Also one of those fuzzy footrests that heats and vibrates. Make it look like a big Tribble.
Pyro gets an old school tinderbox with flint and steel, a self-recharging fire extinguisher, and a copy of Stephen King's book on writing.
Lua gets a pair of 1930s era pumps that change color and style to match her outfits, never cause her to slip, trip or turn an ankle, and don't cause backaches.
Faith gets a tiger plushie that prevents nightmares and insomnia in people who cuddle it.
Willow gets a book on the San Francisco vampire fan/Blood Doll culture, refills of all her favorite makeup, and a never ending, actually good-tasting blood lollipop in its own case.
Hell, give Lestat a lolly as well.
Red gets an engraved invitation to help me stop the Alaska wolf kills on her world once I get out of here, and also a copy of Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf.
Spider gets a first edition copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and a TV that offers all twentieth and twenty first century TV shows and news programs.
Tommy gets a plain but good quality backpack that will always be full of good food and bottled water whenever he unzips it, and which will return to him if lost or stolen.
Chromie gets a Dragonphone. A phone shaped like a dragon that lets her talk with her relatives around the Multiverse.
Kozzy gets a really really good quality air purifier and water filter.
Ariadne gets a nice over the door plaque that says "Nolo Te Bastardes Carborundum" and a pair of earplugs.
Mal and Dylan both get foot-long, functional, remote-controlled models of their spaceships, complete with lights and sound effects, and mounted cameras so they can fly them around corners and stuff.
Yen Sid needs a pendulum that will instantly locate lost objects for him.
Lia needs a nice pair of self-warming gloves and boots.
Anya should get a copy of the Millennium Trilogy, and an emergency kit with food, water, first aid stuff and everything else they usually contain, with supplies to last her a week.
Beatrix gets a Weird-Shit-O-Meter. She can use it to check for whether magic, psychic powers, alien technology, future hypertech or something similar is going on in the immediate area. Make it look and act like the PKE meter from Ghostbusters.
Get Mozenrath a book on every magical tradition on Earth, DVDs of every movie Siskel and Ebert ever gave two thumbs up, and a Vulcan meditation lamp that never runs out of fuel or wicking.
Get Rorschach a First Aid Kit that never runs out of supplies, ok? I have a feeling he'll need it.
The Marquis, since we're in London, gets a 2,000 pound gift certificate to Coco de Mer, along with instructions on how to get to the shop.
[spam]
[Wanda waits at the appointed spot, head stinging from the effort of trying to luck the city into a break in the weather. The mother and child have moved on to get in line at the soup kitchen. She huddles in her coat, glad that her tastes run toward leather and more coverage.]
no subject
Date: 2012-12-23 09:36 pm (UTC)Buuuuuuuut since this is totally spitting in warden eyes, I'm in.
[ ...just keep telling yourself that, Megamind. ]
no subject
Date: 2012-12-24 05:25 am (UTC)I've picked out a bank-owned warehouse. It's weatherproofed but totally empty.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-29 12:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 05:20 am (UTC)Gonna owe you all the cookies after this one. [Fortunately she has that covered....]
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 05:56 pm (UTC)[spam]
Date: 2012-12-23 09:46 pm (UTC)Sounds good to me, pet. Now I do 'ave a lot of shopping and debauchery I plan on getting done this side of goin' back to the boat, but I've got your funding and superhuman assistance covered if you like. Where'd you like to start?
[spam]
Date: 2012-12-24 05:37 am (UTC)And thanks. I have a site but nothing to put in there.
[private]
Date: 2012-12-23 10:08 pm (UTC)[private]
Date: 2012-12-24 05:52 am (UTC)private; video
Date: 2012-12-23 10:15 pm (UTC)private; video
Date: 2012-12-24 05:55 am (UTC)Re: private; video
Date: 2012-12-24 05:57 am (UTC)Do you possess ... "brand loyalty"?
private; video
Date: 2012-12-24 08:05 am (UTC)Huh. Well. I don't think much about brands. Now ratings, what people who have tried the stuff actually think, that I think about.
Re: private; video
Date: 2012-12-25 04:20 am (UTC)audio;
Date: 2012-12-23 11:06 pm (UTC)audio
Date: 2012-12-24 06:03 am (UTC)And I have faith enough now to believe that nobody deserves to be out in this, no matter who they are.
audio
Date: 2012-12-24 06:13 am (UTC)audio
Date: 2012-12-24 08:08 am (UTC)I see now why you wanted me to go to Africa with you. I get it.
audio
Date: 2012-12-24 08:04 pm (UTC)It's kind of amazing, what you can learn from people who have it harder than you. To see the look in someone's eyes and realize that your life really is worth something.
audio
Date: 2012-12-25 03:30 am (UTC)audio
Date: 2012-12-25 04:14 am (UTC)[private - voice]
Date: 2012-12-23 11:11 pm (UTC)[private - voice]
Date: 2012-12-24 06:36 am (UTC)[She gets up and heads over to the soup kitchen line.] The Bolsever Street hostel has beds. Pass it on.
Thanks, Mal. I'm gonna make sure they get as many people as possible over there. With the backing I've gotten I can put 'em in taxis.
[private - voice]
Date: 2012-12-24 06:45 am (UTC)[private - voice]
Date: 2012-12-24 08:03 am (UTC)[Slightly muffled] Yeah, Bolsever Street. I'll help you get a cab if you get your stuff together. Who's with you?
[Back to Mal] It's like I had this idea of what heroes do. They fight the bad guys. That's their function. Someone else takes care of the poor and the sick and all. Except, yeah...no. That's not how it works in the real world.
[private - voice]
Date: 2012-12-24 09:00 am (UTC)[private - voice]
Date: 2012-12-25 03:47 am (UTC)[Private]
Date: 2012-12-23 11:14 pm (UTC)[Private]
Date: 2012-12-24 07:23 am (UTC)OK, fine. You'll be paying for water supplies, washing machines, portable showers and things like that.
Re: [Private]
Date: 2012-12-24 07:26 am (UTC)And make sure that everything you receive is material- I don't trust this money not to turn back into fool's gold once we're gone.
[It's his own dumb fault, Wanda. The thing he did to make himself feel better led to him spraining his ankle. He's a dumb kitty.]
[Private]
Date: 2012-12-24 07:55 am (UTC)The truth is that the last thirty six hours has been a crash course in all this stuff. I talked to all these people. Shelter workers, soup kitchen volunteers, social workers...at least anyone here can get medical care.
It was...enlightening.
[Private]
Date: 2012-12-24 07:58 am (UTC)Hopefully the same won't happen here, but they have thousands of years to prevent that.
[Private]
Date: 2012-12-25 03:51 am (UTC)[Private]
Date: 2012-12-26 09:31 am (UTC)This seems much more simple. I wish you luck in it.
Private//Video
Date: 2012-12-23 11:36 pm (UTC)Also, don't you dare sleep on the street again. I know you be doin' something good right now but I'll give you my room number and I'll even let you take the bed but a lass like you don't need to be sleepin' on the streets.
Private//Video
Date: 2012-12-24 07:52 am (UTC)Private//Video
Date: 2012-12-25 02:52 am (UTC)I can be of help love, I know a lot about orginizin' these kinda things, for awhile I worked in a soup kitchen. Tell anyone and I'll deny it. [ The last one got her a warning look.] I'll be over soon to give you a hand.
Private//Video
Date: 2012-12-25 03:58 am (UTC)[The most innocent of looks.]
Right, if I'm not here I'll be by the soup kitchen line directing people to that hostel Mal found.
Private//Video
Date: 2012-12-25 04:02 am (UTC)I'm on my way, I'll be there directly. [ He commented between laughs. See you soon.
--->spam
Date: 2012-12-26 07:11 pm (UTC)[When he got there she was walking back from bundling a family into a taxi to take them across town. She waved as she saw him, her expression a bit grim.]
--->spam
Date: 2012-12-26 10:23 pm (UTC)When he made his way over he had his hands shoved in his new black leather jacket a wave returned a moment later as he made his way over to her.] Everything okay love? You don't look very pleased anymore.
spam
Date: 2012-12-29 12:48 am (UTC)...one of the reasons I did a call to action over the Net was to see who would respond. You know who didn't respond? Any mutants. Any "superheroes", excepting Steph.
[She finishes paying the cabbie and steps away as he pulls out with the family in the back seat.]
Avengers? Not a finger lifted. X-Men and Brotherhood members? Not a peep. Batman and his people? Like I said, only Steph even talked to me. These guys are supposed to be dedicated. But one of the things I keep learning over and over again is that most of them are apathetic dicks.
spam
Date: 2012-12-29 01:02 am (UTC)[ He didn't know really what else to say besides adding.] Steph's good people.
spam
Date: 2012-12-30 03:52 am (UTC)[She's on the verge of sorting out something big, and it shows on her face.]
Yeah, she is. I think she has her heart in the right place, even if her boot goes into her mouth on occasion.
...heh.
Okay, so. I got a list of stuff I'm ordering which should help turn that warehouse into a shelter.
Re: spam
Date: 2012-12-31 01:50 am (UTC)[ He offered a bit of a smile drapping his arm around her shoulders as he walked beside her.]
I ain't yet witnessed that but I know I'm a lucky bastard to be able to say she's the one helpin' me out with some of the people I've seen claimin' to be good fella's. In a strictly non-mafia way. That be a good movie though.
That's a good place to start, ant in city volunteers? You'll need people to keep it up when we leave.
spam
Date: 2013-01-03 06:21 am (UTC)[She didn't seem to mind said arm around her shoulders at all. Except in that ironic way where she had to keep reminding herself] No more dating until my shit is considerably more together.
Eh, it was just the one time, and she didn't mean it. Anyway that was during my Emotional Minefield period so I may be remembering it too harshly anyway.
Goodfellas? I haven't seen yet. It's on my list. I was barely starting to become a media geek when I came here.
[A thoughtful nod.] Let's see who volunteers and seems the most dedicated, and talk to them.
[no comment but!]
Date: 2012-12-23 11:39 pm (UTC)Still, it's a good cause.
So what she'll do instead is what Tosh does best - a bit of virtual chopping and changing. When the police start getting phone calls and show up in a day or two to evict the people squatting on the premises and stealing the electricity, they'll find the warehouse is the legal property of one of London's smaller and more recently established homelessness charities, who are themselves the recent benefactor of a very, very sizeable legacy with an airtight paper trail. Sizeable enough to buy the building outright, outfit it to high standard as a hostel and support centre, and keep it in business for several years. They'll also find that planning permission for a change of purpose was passed a week ago, uncontested.
(Not all of this was manageable online alone and Tosh had to deal with the Chief Officer of a small ailing charity crying on the phone at her, but never mind.)]