Writing prompt #7: Difficult situations

[Crystal Dragon]

Everyone faces hard times, sometimes those events shape our characters differently or leaves them with difficulty facing similar events again.

What kind of difficult situations has your character faced?

I suppose Crys has had quite a share of difficult situations. Watching her adopted daughter rage at her birth fathers murderers, feeling helpless and unable to do more than offer the child comfort and support, seeing others in pain and unable to do more than soothe what they allow her to, even emotional pain is difficult for her to stand by and just simply watch. She's kind of adopted a mother-in-the-wings sort of personality over some of these situations, because she hates seeing others suffering and hurting and feeling helpless in doing anything to help them about it. This has caused some difficulties for her, as she does get overwhelmed and sometimes overtaxed by her capacity of empathy for those around her, draining her to the point that she wobbles her way home instead of flying because her wings just feel too heavy to lift. That's the most PG I can actively share, other events are more dark and aren't suitable for a public audience.

[Bushranger]

Cassie actually faced a recent situation where a dear friend of hers, who is a synth from an alternate universe, was in a position where if she learned someone from her past was on Primal Earth, her hard-won freedom would have gone poof. The man was a monster, and she and one of her best friends (one of her self-adopted sisters) were "on point" to find the guy and make him cough up the codes they needed so that her friend would be free.

 

The problem was that he was too dangerous to be left free....her sister was willing, if it came to it, to kill him. Cassie faced the possibility of doing it herself, despite her own vow to never kill, for the purpose of sparing her sister that burden.

 

As it turned out, they found a solution (friends of her aunt with a space station imprisoned the monster in the form of a man there) without killing, but she was ready. Because she'll do anything for her framily, no matter the cost.

 

 

This follows her sister, Jean, herself having her mind shattered last month when "I'm amnesiac, I want to know about who I was" suddenly became "no, you REALLY REALLY DIDN'T"...

[Crystal Dragon]

4 hours ago, Bushranger said:

 

This follows her sister, Jean, herself having her mind shattered last month when "I'm amnesiac, I want to know about who I was" suddenly became "no, you REALLY REALLY DIDN'T"...

*low whistle of concern.* Oh man.

[Latex]

My character initially began as using a 'hardlight' holographic technology to become chameleon-like, a shapeshifter in essence, I played it off as prototype technology from Praetoria that was branching out of WarWorks factories to the public sector to make this particular bespoke Clockwork blend in more seamlessly than the typical Clockworks of Praetoria. The war happened which meant that tech was never mass manufactured and ended up only being housed in a few design ideas.

 

She had a battle with a Superhero over an arms-smuggling operation on Talos Island and lost, this particular Hero was probably more of an anti-Hero type that didn't recognize robots as having the same rights as humans and practically crushed her, it destroyed the holographic projector technology which meant for a while she could not ply her sly tactics of manipulation as she was a silicone-faced robot that looked like a Clockwork with spraypainted black carbon titanium.

 

Eventually after the defeat and destruction of bespoke tech she sought a mechanic that plated her in a bulletproof outer shell with EMP dampeners that was covered in lifelike synthskin. I remember roleplaying out that scene of being 'upgraded' and it was hella fun, shes pretty much indistinguishable from human apart from cybernetic lines all over her body where plates meet; the idea for this was inspired by Cyberpunk 2077's first teaser trailer. She changed combat wise after all this, came out a stronger frontline but with less opportunity for stealth.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by Latex

[Greycat]

Well...

Cat: "Difficult situation" is a bit of a defining trait for her. Daughter of a cop - one of the "old school" sort, who finally retired early out of disgust because of the slide into corruption of the precinct, police taking bribes, etc. SHe still joined the force, but kept finding herself blocked and redirected from within the department while investigating some fairly dark activities. She ended up working with the FBI, basically having her entire precinct, people she'd grown up with, taken down, as well as a judge and some other officials... but very much got the point she should leave town. ANd then there's Allie's whole situation... and the mess she's finding herself in now. Her plan to just run a nice, quiet PI office isn't quite panning out that way...

Rez: She basically had her body turn against her, going from an athletic, outdoors girl to someone stuck in bed and in continual agony. She finally forced herself ot ignore it - and nearly got away with that until a nurse realized she was still very much in pain. Thanks to some experimental tech, not only is she not suffering from it... as much... now - it's still low level in the back of her mind - but she has the ability to help others, too.

 

Ishku: Her world was dying as an affereffect of warring mages, the sun itself being hostile instead of comfortingly warm, crops failing, children no longer being born. She saw her parents killed in front of her, then had to go hide and live on the street. Finally caught, with a friend, for stealing, they were tossed into an arena and told to kill each other (the punishment for... quite a bit being "death in the arena.") She survived - something she's only recently come to terms with - and went on to fight for some time, until a chance cross-dimensional trip from a Primal group gave her the chance to leave and actually *live.*

 

Pri - Clone, designed as part of a line to control teams of lesser clones. Knew she was due to be killed off while they "examined the prototype" and used her as the source af a new, modified, next stage of clones. She was freed from that, living with Grace and a few other freed clones and fighting back - she's literally *just* been given a chance at trying a normal life, which is rather disorienting for her.

[Chrono-Bot]

Lykossia's difficult situation is hiding his nature. He's unable to divest himself from his host body's life, which means he's constantly having to learn how to perform how she would have lived her life. This means learning upkeep with youtube and trying desperately to figure out pop culture references and what's going on around him. And he's nearly blown his cover so many times anytime insults Oranbega. Or the time someone overheard him mutter 'and that's what you get for taking the last of the coffee' at Rollister that one time in a fight.

 

Blazed is bad at social situations. She recently thought she'd met a nice guy to hang out with who wanted a *lot* more. She got out of it, but it's made her feel nervous about anyone walking up to say hi since. She thinks she keeps seeing the girl who was also involved, but isn't sure, and doesn't know how to ask her if everything turned out okay.

[Coyotedancer]

Tentacles. 

Tavaris says that there's nothing a sufficiently large number of inky black tentacles made of void-born darkness can't fix.

 

But then, he's a Death Mage.

He may be biased.

[Nerva]

For Tiltowait, adjusting to human life is a constant, pleasant crisis.  But, that's to be expected when you're running around in a newly-acquired human body, and everyone thinks you're a superpowered human, when you're really the spellcaster's equivalent of thermonuclear annihilation given form and sentience!

 

For instance, Tiltowait enjoys exploding things.  He understands that some things - and especially people! - shouldn't be exploded, but sometimes it's a little iffy on what should go boom, and what shouldn't.  He kinda understands ownership, but it gets kinda weird when he sees people ripping up chunks of road to toss at fleeing villains, or causing small-scale eruptions that leave intersections unusable until a repair crew can come along.  Does that mean that City infrastructure's okay to blow up?  Because he did that once with a dumpster, and got chewed out by the police for it.  Apparently doing it to stop criminals is fine, if consterning; doing it for funsies when you're bored... not so much.

Less clear-cut, what about exploding things that are kinda like people, but aren't?  Like robots.  Apparently some of them are okay to explode; especially those little brass electric-shooting ones that are everywhere.  Or those neckless clawed robots the Council sometimes use.  Others aren't, especially the ones that operate as heroes, or are used by the PPD and Longbow.  But there's so many kinds of them, ranging from simple beeping trashcans on legs to ones you could mistake for a human if you didn't spot the little mechanical details.  What's a poor, bewildered Animus Arcana to do?

Probably the worst part is when you're trying to stop a crime.  Now, killing is wrong, but it's also very, very easy.  Exploding someone will stop a crime, sure, but it also kills, and killing is wrong.  So the best thing to do is learn how to stop the crime without just exploding them.  The trick is to explode things near them, or blast them with the results of a directed explosion, to hurt them enough to stop them without actually killing.  It takes restraint and cleverness, but c'mon - destroying stuff willy-nilly is easy.  Tiltowait's got standards - he's an Animus Arcana, not some mindless big bang attack.  What's really tricky is that it seems a lot of 'em have different responses to getting blasted.  Sometimes a little boom next to their head and they're out cold.  Others you have to really pummel until they collapse in a heap!  And you gotta be careful not to use too much force, or you might permanently harm them, and that's almost as bad as killing!  It's hard to tell the ones that go down easy from the ones that take a beating at times.

Then there's the things you're allowed to kill, like those Devouring Earth thingies.  Trees and mushrooms and horrid betentacled aberrations, all indiscriminately rising to attack!  Nobody minds if you just blow them to smithereens, except the cleanup crews.  But even they don't mind if you straight-up disintegrate the target.  Nobody really cares if you splat those little hairless monkey things the Rikti keep around, either.  It's nice to be able to let loose on them, but you gotta be careful not to get too carried away; never know when there might be innocent bystanders or other people fighting them, or just criminal people amidst the botanical, geological, and other biological horrors who must be taken in alive if possible.

 

It's a lot to take in, and it just comes so intuitively and naturally for other heroes.  Tiltowait's a little jealous, but that's not going to stop him.  He'll just have to work harder until he understands the differences as well as anyone else.  Still, having other heroes around to take cues from can be a godsend in the less clear-cut scenarios.  Like... are the Rikti monster enough to kill, or should they be handled with a bit more care?  Turns out, it's the latter - it's quickly becoming apparent that when in doubt, shoot to disable, not destroy.

[chase]

Well, sadly Tabby's hardest choice to date didn't get a chance to get resolved.  Such is the nature of sometimes-disurpted campaigns

Tabby's paid her dues in juvie but still owes a TON of community service, which I have her paying off working for the FBSA as a kind of "provisional hero"-  she thinks the whole schtick is kinda ridiculous- she's no super-  but it beats doing trash pickup on Skyway roads.   During the Self Conceit community story arc, she encountered a telepathic Zig escapee,  Psychlone.
 

Tabitha never really considered herself very fortunate, but Psychlone's FBSA profile read as if it was her own, but every single place where fortune smiled on Tabby, it frowned on Psychlone.  The system not only failed her, it abandoned her and left her to rot.  Where Tabby got a chance and support to turn things around, Psychlone was manipulated and weaponized and then locked away, deemed to dangerous to be rehabilitated.   It wasn't long before another less-heroic character, Ragamuffyn, completed the trio, and again, Tabby faced someone who'd seemed discarded by society and bound down Psychlone's path if the authorities were involved. 

The FBSA was going to be constantly pressuring Tabby to bring the two in and follow the law.  She wouldn't.   It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. She was the way she was becasue people gave her a chance.  She was determined to dot he same for them.  They could do some good and- if not be redeemed, at least be valued and given another chance by others.  With some guidance and support step by step they'd turn this around.   The FBSA knew she was associating with them- knew that she had opportunity to bring them in- may even suspect she aided them in their flight from the law.   She risked her stellar record, losing all her bonus probation points, and -if things went bad enough- even losing her probationary status, but she was determined not to abandon them, even as both of them did things that terrified her or at least tore at her conscience.

I didn't know where that was going to go or how it was going to end- there was little chance of true heroic redemption, but maybe the best scenario would have been the heroes save the day, the law closing in, and Tabby staying behind as Psychlone slips away.  I imagined tropes like Long John Silver's escape in treasure island (Maybe she'd find solace from the constant mind-static surrounded by sea, even)  Of course, that was almost as unlikely.  Things could just as easily go the "hard lesson" approach of no matter what you do, some are still lost, leading to Tabby needing to "put down" the threat they become.     Maybe she never gives up on them but becomes a fugitive with them, rebelliously sticking to the belief that sometimes true justice must oppose the law.  Or maybe she burns bridges sticking with them, time and again, only to reach one line that she will not cross, ending up isolated and completely adrift.   Maybe they'd draw a path that I could hardly imagine.

Whichever way, it could have been a real charcter-transforming arc, but it never resolved.

[White Cobra]

((Difficult situations for the Lady Cobra come in many forms and disguises, but ex-husband William is a frequent accelerant and common denominator when things go bad for Emily. She avoids him as best she can, but sometimes for investigative purposes she may be forced to reach out to him, such as in this account.

WARNING: It hints at some unpleasant dynamics in Emily’s past marriage and is a bit dark, so it may not be for everyone!))

((On a more positive note: A giant Merry Christmas and thank you to all the wonderful players, forumites and GMs/staff at HC))

-0-

I’ll stand kind of pushed, kind of bent, on this heavy land.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Down Boy

-0-

As always, the imposing CHANG INDUSTRIES sign triggered stomach flutters as Emily entered the building.

She approached the striking woman behind the reception, handpicked by William no doubt, and introduced herself. No, unfortunately, she didn’t have an appointment, but yes, she was sure Mr. Chang would see her anyway, when he heard that she was here.

Emily sat down to wait, shifting her legs nervously, and needlessly straightening her hair again and again. It was depressing how, after all this time, the prospect of seeing William could still have this effect on her.

Once upon a time the quivers in her stomach had come from being in love – a lifetime ago when she was young, naïve, and still a believer in such mythical illusion. It had been the perfect cliché really. Inexperienced and impressionable teenage girl courted and seduced by much older guest lecturing professor. Foolishly, foolishly, she had been completely entranced by his wit, knowledge, and charm and in equal measures flattered and shocked that he should show any interest in her.

When he first asked Emily to stay behind after class to hear her opinion on a complex legal issue, she was swept away, and his subsequent dinner invitation had penetrated and defeated any anti-seduction shield defenses and traces of common sense she had left. They even shared the same surname. Emily had found it quite romantic at first, even though Changs were about 1300 a dozen in any Chinese speaking community. But at the University of Copenhagen it had still been a somewhat rare coincidence, and – she had thought then – a sign that they were destined to be together. Now it felt more like a curse she was stuck with despite the divorce – like wearing his brand even after he could no longer lay any claim to her.

But back then, it had been different. Before she knew it, she had been married and pregnant with Jessica – despite her mother’s warnings, and possibly in a rare act of defiance against them. And that was when William had started to show his true nature.

Even giving him every possible benefit of the doubt, Emily had once tested him to a near “perfect” 40 score on the Hare psychopathy scale. There were only three questions that gave her any reasonable doubt. With all the old money at his hands, it was difficult to say that he “led a parasitic lifestyle”, but Emily had no trouble believing that he would, if he needed to. Likewise, to Emily’s knowledge, he had never been caught or charged with any of his crimes, so the question about “revocation of a conditional release” was also most likely to be answered with an actual “no”, but in spirit she was certain that the answer would be affirmative.

“Many short-term marital relationships” represented the final question mark. There had certainly been his marriage with Emily. The time before that was a black box he never talked about, and since the divorce…well he kept going on and on manically about wanting Emily back, but she suspected that was more about control than love, and in any event, even if he had a complete personality transplant, that was never going to happen. Besides, he was seeing Anni Nakayima now. This was the whole purpose of Emily’s visit here today. But in spirit she again felt convinced that the answer should be yes. And even if not a pure 40, he was still way up there in the dangerous parts of the scale.

-0-

William’s office hadn’t changed in the months since her last visit.

His “please sit down” sounded more like a command than a courtesy, and Emily felt the intensity of his elevator stare almost as a physical violation as she complied.

That part was a little bit of her own making she had to admit. If she wanted William to cooperate, she needed to throw him off balance, and the sleeveless, white Isaac Mizrahi dress was no weapon of coincidence. William had always been a leg man – or perhaps more accurately an “all parts of the female body but especially the legs”-man – and Emily had no qualms about wriggling into a short dress and showing off a bit of thigh for this meeting if it could give her a much-needed psychological advantage.

Emily’s tactics looked to be working, as he told her how beautiful she was and then asked how he could be of help, although the inability to obtain eye contact with him was more than a little bit annoying. Nonetheless, she grabbed a small notebook from her clutch and started running through her list of questions.

“Are you still seeing Anni Nakayima?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Typical William. He could never just come up with a simple answer. He needed to be in control. This time, however, it also looked as if he was hoping that the question had been triggered by jealousy. Emily sighed. He wished! But no, she wouldn’t be mudwrestling Anni Nakayima for William’s affection any time soon.

“I need to speak with her son, Takuma.”

“Takuma? Why do you want to speak with him?”

Emily sighed again. This could take a while. And worst of all, William was clearly getting jealous. Okay, so Takuma Nakayima was reportedly very handsome and a notorious playboy, but what did William take her for?

“It’s…business…”

“What business?”

For heaven’s sake. Emily rolled her eyes but realized that she would have to give him more if she wanted any answers. Either further details or see if she could yank up the dress another half inch or so. She decided to go the additional information route.

“He’s a possible witness. I’m trying to find a missing girl, and from what I have gathered, he used to go out with her.”

“Well…I’m not sure I can help you.” William folded his arms like a stubborn child refusing to eat his vegetables.

Emily cursed silently. It was time to draw another weapon that had served her well before in their constant marital tug of war.

“I…I see…” She cast her eyes down in defeat. “I had just hoped…” She let her voice trail off and wiped her hand swiftly across one eye. And waited. He had never been able to resist that.

“You’re sure it really is business?

Yes she was. It had made getting blood from a reluctant stone look easy, but she finally had Nakayima’s number. Now all that remained was a quick exit.

“I’ll take you to lunch.” William said. It was a statement, not an invitation.

“I Can’t…I…”

Emily cursed herself for sounding so flustered. He didn’t control her life anymore and she had no reason to be afraid of him. But William’s eyes had assumed that familiar glow again.

“Why? Are you seeing someone else perhaps? Another man? Is that why you are wearing that…dress?” William almost spat it out; fists clenched, knuckles pale white.

“No…I’m not…I just…”

“You just what?” William stared at her accusingly.

Emily’s gaze dropped to the floor. She didn’t owe him any explanations. He didn’t hold any power over her. She didn’t have to be afraid of him. She was the Lady Cobra, Mistress of the Martial Arts for heaven’s sake.

“I just… wore it…for you..”

-0-

Back in her car, she felt like slamming her head against the steering wheel repeatedly but was afraid it would make her be sick for real. How could she have made herself say that? How could she have sunken so low? But she had been so desperate to appease him. To stop the jealousy and rage she knew so well. Why couldn’t she just get over it and leave the irrational fear behind her? Was it never going to end?

A psychological advantage…who was she kidding? Now she just wanted to get home. She needed to shower, change, and perhaps tear up the dress.