1. Home
  2. duskshine749

duskshine749 male Member

Avatar of duskshine749

Status

User has no status, yet

Bio

User has no bio, yet

Most Recent Posts

In Paradigm Shift: Agents of Fate → 3 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
As time passed in Goodnight Zephyr found the days starting to blend together. Unlike in his previous life there was seemingly no delineation between what happened on different days. The only real difference was what gruelling training Audrey had planned for the group. At least between the mandatory training and his personal training keeping up his tae-kwon-do knowledge he was in pretty good shape. Zephyr also appreciated that Audrey's belief that the best way to resolve a fight to to just avoid it all together, that kind of thinking really spoke to him. Unfortunately she also insisted that everyone learn to use a gun, and while Zephyr understood the need he still didn't like it. The only thing a gun was good for is killing, and Zephyr really didn't want to be in a situation where it came down to that.

When he wasn't doing mandatory training Zephyr found himself alone in the woods nearby Goodnight. It's not that he didn't appreciate the company of the others, they were all fine, but the reality of his new life had just been hitting him hard lately. This wasn't some fantastical adventure he had been chosen for, he wasn't going to save the world, he was just a guy who got lucky he wasn't taken by the government. These are the kind of thoughts Zephyr had on his treks into the woods. It was also a great chance to train his magic more. The gods may have made some kind of clerical error when giving him these amazing abilities but that wasn't going to stop him from training them to the best of his abilities. The more formal training was nice but nothing beat some alone time to reflect on what he could do.

Zephyr had gotten pretty proficient at turning his abilities on and off quickly, which seemed to be rather important considering the drain they put on his body. The only thing he still hadn't really gotten the hang of was his Time Out ability. It seemed he could only use that one if he really felt the situation was dire, he could never get it to work while in Goodnight.

Eventually the day came when Audrey told the group to meet up for an apparent mission they were getting. After the rather awkward gun training course (where Zephyr stood awkwardly while Ellen and Angie argued before making up) he went and did a bit more personal training before heading to the meeting. The general idea seemed simple enough, and Ellen was the first to speak up with some ideas which Zephyr thought sounded pretty decent. He wasn't a huge fan of stealing but desperate times and all that, plus Costco was a huge corporation so that helped alleviate any guilt he may feel about the whole ordeal.

"I think staying behind after we check out the place is a good idea, the main problem with that is the time between close and when we'd want to go in is probably a lot longer than you think." Zephyr said in response to Ellen's plan, "the rest sounds solid, though if we do the fire thing I'd prefer it's a place where not too many people would get hurt." He turned to Audrey to ask something, "I do have a question about recon though, how many of us will be doing that? I just feel like we'd look strange walking in together considering we don't exactly look like a family going shopping together."
In Paradigm Shift: Agents of Fate → 3 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Zephyr hadn’t been expecting everyone to be so interested in his faith, although it was for more unusual than what people were probably used to so maybe he shouldn’t have been. Before answering any questions though he let out a laugh at all of Abi’s assumptions about him. He appreciated Ellen trying to set her straight but to Zephyr it was less offensive and more just funny. Remarkably, Abigail managed to keep quiet. She stewed and seethed and scuffed the threadbare carpets and her gaze snapped from Ellen to Angeline as she shrank a little under Zephyr's ceaseless laughter. It was hard to tell whether her bottom lip was trembling or she was clenching her jaw so hard it shook.

He took a breath to compose himself before speaking, “sorry, but Abi, that is probably the funniest thing I’ve ever heard someone say when they find out about my beliefs.” He let out a small cough and took a breath before continuing, also addressing the rest of the group since they all seemed to want to know what being pagan entailed. “First, no goats, I feel like you’re thinking of Satanists. Even then I don’t think they do those types of things with goats. My personal brand of paganism is very much personal. I believe all myths are true in some form. Greek, Egyptian, Norse, you name it.”

He turned a bit more to Angeline to answer her question. “I don’t have a real answer for why this is happening. I have my own personal theory, that the gods have seen our world and want people to have the power to change it. But that’s just what I think, it could really be anything.” Turning his attention back to Abi he said, “does that help you understand a bit more? I’m not gonna try to convert you or say you’re wrong for what you believe. For all we know I’m the one who’s wrong.”

It took Abigail a few seconds to muster up the courage to speak again. All the while, Brooks had neglected his reading material and was watching the encounter. She took a breath, opened her mouth, shut it, took some more time to think and finally asked:

"Whaddya mean all the myths?"

Zephyr paused for a moment trying to figure out exactly how to answer that. “I mean, what it sounds like I guess. Maybe myths is the wrong word, but I believe that the gods of all the pantheons like Zeus, Horus, Thor, Quetzalcoatl. I believe the Christian God exists and that Jesus was his son, I just don’t think that He’s the one and only god. When it comes to things like creation myths I just think that different cultures have different understandings of how the world came to be.” He hoped that was a sufficient explanation, people usually just let him be and figured he just believes lots of weird things.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to shake Abigail off with such a simple response. She even sat down cross legged next to him. She looked even more tired close up. "So you just pray to all of 'em and hope summin' will stick?" She asked. "Ain't you worried you're gonna piss off God and end up in Hell? Or, I mean, you'll piss off one of em and end up in...Thor Hell, or Zeus Hell?"

Well at least she was asking reasonable questions and was off the goat stuff. “Well I have a patron deity, one I feel more closely connected to that I pray to. That’s Thoth, Egyptian god of writing, magic, and wisdom. I don’t believe that I would piss off the gods with my prayers. Normally if I’m asking for something specific I pray to a god that covers that domain. So if I wanted to travel safely across the sea I might pray to Poseidon or Njord. Also Hell is the same no matter the god, it’s just depicted differently in different texts.”

"...That makes no sense." Abigail rubbed at her face. "Even if I did say they were Gods - which they ain't, cause there's just one - why would they give you free stuff fer seemingly nothing? That sounds pretty satanic t'me. An' what do you think gets us into Hell? Apparently blasphemy n' idoltry ain't bad enough?"

“Well just because you ask for something doesn’t mean you’ll get it. Praying to a sea god for a safe boat ride is just as likely to get me results as someone like you praying to God for the same thing. It’s more about positive thinking than anything. If I’m wrong and there are no gods, then the trip is still likely to do better because I want it to do so.” The question about what gets you into hell was a bit puzzling, Zephyr hadn’t really thought about it. “Well, I guess you go to hell if you were a bad person in life. Did you kick others when they were down? Cheat and deceive others for personal gain? Only ever look out for yourself? Those kinds of things probably aren’t looked fondly upon much more than if you believed in the right god.”

"So…because you don't know, n' because you ain't sure there's only one, yer prayin' to every God you hear about and tryin' to just be a good person n' hope for the best?"

Abigail squirmed uncomfortably. She didn't meet his gaze, she fidgeted with her pyjamas. "But if yer wrong…" she mumbled.

“That’s not exactly it,” Zephyr began, “but it’s close enough. ‘Be a good person and hope for the best’ is probably a nice way to sum up my philosophy on life.” She wasn’t looking at him now, it seemed like she was finding it hard to go on with this. “Look, Abi, religion isn’t about being right or wrong. It’s about finding a way of thinking that speaks to you and helps you get through the day. If you’re right and the Catholic God is the real deal, I always remember Him being rather forgiving.”

"I thought it weren't about nothin' but right and wrong. Then again…" she glanced up at Ellen. "Seems I'm getting a lotta' things wrong these days, aren't I?" She stood up and dusted herself off. "Startin' to figure nobody knows jack and yer all makin' it up as you go along. 'Cept how to use yer...devil powers on command." She wiggled her fingers. She rounded on Ellen mostly but Angeline wasn't beyond a few paranoid glares. "You folk tellin' me it don't feel like summin' that's gonna rip you t'pieces if you don't use it?"
In Paradigm Shift: Agents of Fate → 3 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Zephyr appreciated Abi's attempt at sympathy. Maybe the group therapy session had done some good for her. The way she questioned if he had said gods made him a bit uncomfortable though, he had a feeling a theological discussion now wouldn't go as well as it had with Doctor Cassar. But he wasn't going to lie about his beliefs. Zephyr didn't bring up his beliefs often because he knew they weren't exactly mainstream, but he also wasn't so ashamed as to lie about them if the subject ever came up.

"Um, ya, I said gods. I believe there are many different deities. I'm just going on a hunch here but I'm guessing you believe in the one Christian God? I grew up Catholic so I'm pretty familiar with Him." The way Abi was looking gave Zephyr a bad feeling, maybe he should have just lied to avoid a fight? He didn't want to deny his beliefs but he also really hated conflict. Hopefully this didn't turn in to a fight about religion, those were the worst.
In Paradigm Shift: Agents of Fate → 3 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Zephyr was mostly trying to ignore Abi's outburst at Brooks not letting her leave the bunk. He didn't see what the big deal was, did she not like sleep or something? Unfortunately he couldn't ignore her when she came up to him as she was doing a lap around the bunkhouse. Her question caught him off guard, was he really the only guy in their group? After a quick mental tally he realized she was right. "Huh, didn't realize I was the only guy. I mean, other than Brooks I guess. But it's not like he stays in here, he's just our guard."

He gave Ellen a small upward nod as she came over before switching his focus back to Abi. "To answer your question though, no, it doesn't feel overwhelming to be the only guy in the bunk. At most it's maybe a bit strange. At the end of the day though we're all just people sharing the situation we're in." Thinking about it a moment longer Zephyr couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "some guys would kill to be in my position. Getting to be around a bunch of girls, perhaps I should be thanking the gods for blessing me with such an opportunity." He was mostly joking of course, not that he didn't see the appeal of some of the girls, it's just that kind of stuff wasn't exactly at the forefront of his mind currently.
In Paradigm Shift: Agents of Fate → 3 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Zephyr stayed seated as the others filed out. Although he wasn’t really religious in the traditional sense he was still pretty spiritual, perhaps even more so since he Awakened. Once the others were gone and Dr. Cassar was the only one left, he sat on the floor and took up his preferred meditating position. Back against the wall, legs slightly bent, and his hands were above his stomach. They weren’t quite touching but they were close, as though he held a small ball between them, bigger than a baseball but smaller than a football. He didn’t vocalize, he simply breathed deeply and allowed his senses to extend. He heard Dr. Cassar praying in a language he didn’t quite recognize, and he wasn’t worldly enough to be able to really guess what language it might be.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t latin. It was guttural and flowed like honey as he spoke, possessed of a rhythm foreign entirely to the English tongue, nonetheless identifiably the Lord’s Prayer.

After a moment, Cassar deviated from the rhythmic utterances of the standard Catholic prayers, and made what seemed like a private, individual prayer alongside it.

“Amen.” He crossed himself, and stood from his kneeling position, facing the ‘altar’.

And then sat down, leafing through his bible, waiting.

A moment after Dr. Cassar finished his prayer Zephyr took a final deep breather before standing and brushing himself off. It had been a while since he had meditated properly. Of course his martial arts forms had a meditative quality to them, but nothing was quite like sitting down and doing nothing but breath.

Zephyr noticed Dr. Cassar sitting down, and approached him while he had a minute. “Uh, hey, Doctor. Thanks for hosting this session. It gave me a moment to sit down and think about things. I didn’t really help much during the mission and honestly I’d been feeling kind of bad about it. Getting praise when I just kind of stood around. But I’m realizing everyone has their own hang ups about what happened, so I’m not alone, and that helped, so, thanks.”

That ended a lot more awkwardly than Zephyr had planned, he just kinda started rambling there and figured he should stop himself.

“Oh, of course. It’s no trouble for me, I’m just glad I could be helpful.” Dr. Cassar smiled up at Zephyr, gently closing his bible and tucking it away into his pockets. “I wouldn’t worry about not having had the chance to do something this time, also - you know, impostor syndrome is very common in my field as well. I imagine I would have some difficulty putting myself in your shoes, but I know how you feel, at least in, ah, a general sense.”

Cassar also stood, and brushed himself off - more a gesture than because he had anything on him.

“I noticed that you practice meditation. Can I ask, where did you learn?”
“Oh, you noticed that?” Zephyr was feeling a bit embarrassed though he wasn’t sure why. Probably because he had never really talked with anyone about his beliefs, he didn’t bring it up and religion in general was something people tended to shy away from in conversation.

“I’m all self taught. I was raised Catholic but after a certain point I kind of grew out of it. After a lot of reading I found an eclectic, mostly pagan, spirituality fit me best. The meditation pose is optimized for comfort when I’m not meditating for a specific reason. If I do something like focus on my chakras I adopt the more traditional poses.” It felt nice talking about his beliefs, maybe because he knew Dr. Cassar wouldn’t judge him.

“Speaking of growing up Catholic, I recognize The Lord’s Prayer even when it’s not in English. What language was that? It’s not one I’m familiar with.”

Dr. Cassar nodded along as Zephyr spoke.

“Ah, of course. It is easy to recognise, isn’t it? That was Maltese, my native language. It sounds a lot like Arabic, to the, ah, untrained ear. Can I ask also, how come you grew out of the church?”

“That’s a great question Doctor, and one I’m not sure I have a great answer to.” Zephyr had never really given a great deal of thought as to why he had grown out of Catholicism, it was just something that he had accepted as a thing that happened. “It was probably a lot of things, but I guess the idea of one all powerful being didn’t sit well with me. Also the fact that there’s so many belief systems out there, I couldn’t accept that only one of them could be right.”

Zephyr paused for a moment to try and sort out his thoughts better, but in the end, “I can’t really explain it better than that. At the end of the day it’s just how things turned out.”

“I understand, I think. But you know, remember that a Catholic does not believe that God is only one person - there is the Holy Trinity, right? Three distinct persons, each of them a part of the others, all of them one whole, but separate still. Anyway, I do want you to know - I know I must seem a very religious man, and I am, but I respect your way of doing things too. I know some of my brothers in the faith do not, and I regret that.”

“You’re not wrong about the Holy Trinity. Like I said, I don’t have a great answer, it’s just something that I feel in my soul.” Hearing the Doctor say he accepted his spirituality had felt nice, “thanks Doctor. I would never begrudge someone having different beliefs, nor would I blame you for what others of your faith may believe. At the end of the day, I think we’re all working toward the same goal. Doing the best we can to make the world a better place.” With that Zephyr and the Doctor parted ways, Doctor Cassar couldn’t wax philosophical all day, Zephyr was sure he had work to do, so he left him to it.

Later that night Zephyr found two things had changed with their sleeping arrangements. Firstly, instead of the usual guards, Brooks was sitting across the hall. Zephyr gave him a nod of acknowledgement as he made his way to the space where he slept. The second change was it seemed anyone who had not gone on the supply run had been moved out. It was still a fairly cramped space but it felt downright luxurious compared to how it had been before. “I’ll be sure to work hard the next chance I get to make this upgrade feel worth it,” Zephyr said to himself. He was the first one to get there for the night it seemed.
In CONTAINMENT: FACILITY B → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
After a bit of walking a woman rounded the corner. She was about Sam's age, maybe a bit older, more importantly though she was wearing the same type of outfit he was with a yellow patch as opposed to his red one. Before he could greet her though another prisoner revealed himself. This boy was a good deal younger than he was, he had to be a teenager. He greeted them with a good morning, not what Sam would have gone with but this was a strange time so he didn't blame the kid.

"I'm glad I found some other people, there was no one left in red ward, I thought I might be the only one here." He let his guard down slightly, releasing the frost that had accumulated on his hand. He still kept alert to his surroundings though, whatever made everyone else in the facility disappear could still be around. "I don't suppose either of you know anything about what's happening, do you?" It was a long shot but he might as well ask. Worst case scenario they both have no clue and nothing changes.

"Oh, I'm Sam, by the way." While Sam had accepted from the moment he got here that he was never going back to his old life, he had always refused to forget his name and only go by his number. That must have been the small part of him that had hope of returning to the outside world one day. And right now that part of him was gaining confidence.

@TheMushroomLord @Asesina
In CONTAINMENT: FACILITY B → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Sam had been laying in bed awake for a few minutes before the alarm went off. After all his years spent here he had gotten very used to the routine. Now that the alarm had gone off the usual security detail would come to escort him to breakfast. Not that he would ever try anything, Samuel had accepted long ago this was his new life. Much like how one may come to terms with a loved one slowly dying of a terminal illness and being bedridden. They may not be dead yet, but one could reasonably accept that they'll never return to who they were to make life easier. In that same way Samuel accepted he would forever be a prisoner, doing the same thing for the rest of his life.

But today was different, because Sam did not hear the usual footfall of his escort team. In fact, he didn't hear anything at all. He got out of bed and looked at the security camera, it was off. "Um, hello?" Walking over to his door he found it had opened as it always had, but this time he was alone. What was maybe more concerning than the guards not showing up was he couldn't see any of the other red prisoners in their cells. "Maybe they all just got up before the alarm and left?" It sounded ridiculous even as the words came out of his mouth.

Sam wasn't sure if he was the only one left in the facility, or if he was then why he was the only one left behind. There was only one way to find out though. He pushed his door open, on alert in case any of the security systems decided they were still working. But there was nothing, only more silence. His first stop was yellow block since it was the closest to red. He walked down the hallway slowly, checking cells as he passed. "Hello? Anyone here?" He called out and walked, his right hand was covered in a him layer of frost, ready to attack with his cryokinesis should anything threaten him.

@Asesina
In CONTAINMENT: FACILITY B → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
In CONTAINMENT: FACILITY B → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
I'm using my guy from last time, I'll edit this sheet a bit when I get home tonight but it was approved last time so I figure it should still be fine

In Facility B: New and Improved → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Interest Checks
Is this just gonna be the same group as last time? Possibly. Either way I'd like to give Sam another go
© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet