♕ 001 spam/text

[broughtwhiskey]

open spam - anywhere.
[Disoriented is a word for what Philip feels upon waking on the Barge. There's a dull throb of pain in his chest and his head, things he know he should be dead from, and his shirt is still slick with blood. He also recognizes the room he wakes up in with everything where it should be, but he knows it should burned out. The view outside the windows, however, aren't looking out into the streets of Woodbury, but an infinite void. He isn't sure if this is what death is supposed to be like, but he has a feeling it's not because it feels very much alive.]

[He's willing to stay as long as it takes to change and clean the blood off his face, but no longer than that. He doesn't feel particularly keen on lingering in a room with this many reminders right now. Already he's trying hard to not think of what just happened, the large amount of nothing he just left behind once more. He looks for any of his weapons before leaving to find them gone. So perhaps not everything is in its place. But no matter. He can improvise if the situation calls for it.]

[Stepping outside into the hall, he still doesn't know what to make of any of this. but if there's one thing he knows, it's that he needs to get his bearings and so he sets off to learn the layout of wherever the hell he's ended up.]

text.

[Later, after he's had the chance to explore and numerous explanations and perspectives on what this place is, he only has one question:]

How many of you are here?

Comments

[broughtwhiskey]

[Philip would prefer less aggressive displays of emotion anyways. It's better to keep things a little closer to the chest, if you ask him. It makes you harder to read and demonstrates a certain amount of control over oneself, possibly over others.]

[You're okay, so far, Connor. You're okay.]

Titles are hard to forget, [says the artist formerly known as The Governor.]

perma-private

[broughtwhiskey]

[He's heard about Jerry from a handful of people by now. But he'll play dumb about it.]

He hurt people?

[broughtwhiskey]

[Philip smiles.]

Haven't met a soul yet who doesn't.

[broughtwhiskey]

A vampire isn't a person.

[akweks]

[Connor had been raised to exercise restraint in his daily life, so it's always a little weird to him when people are overly open about things. He's getting used to it -- fourteen years since he left his village, he's still getting used to it -- but it will probably never come naturally to him.

He waves his hand a little in a vague gesture.] They also imply unneeded division between people. We are all the same, only some are further along on our paths. It is no reason to call ourselves something different.

[tricksandmischief]

I do not suppose you have yet been assigned a warden.

[broughtwhiskey]

That's quite a while.

[And frankly removes any notion of escaping. Not that Philip had much intention to even try. But a year is a long time to be going absolutely nowhere.]

Any intention of ever leaving?

perma-private

[voluntaryapnea]

Yeah. A few times.

[broughtwhiskey]

[A question like that likely has a wrong and a right answer. The real question is in whether or not either one of them cares enough about the answer. Philip doesn't particularly. He isn't looking to win friends and influence people right now. Maybe Roderick does, maybe he doesn't.]

[Philip seems to give it a moment's thought.]

I think it's a good thing all I have left anymore is time. Because this is certainly going to be a waste of it.

[No one has managed to leave him with an impression that's inspiring confidence in the system.]

[broughtwhiskey]

[Philip is always polite up until a certain point. He can even be downright personable. But once his patience is gone, that's when things get ugly. Fortunately he is not quite to that point yet.]

I appreciate the offer, but I think I can manage on my own. [He steps closer and extends a hand in what used to be a fairly normal human interaction for him. Not so much anymore.] Philip. It's nice to meet you.

[broughtwhiskey]

How often?

[broughtwhiskey]

[Philip regards Connor for a few seconds, waiting to see if there's a follow-up to that. But Connor seems to really believe it as a truth.]

[Philip finds that to be an inherently naive thought. People are not the same. They've never been the same, not even before. The strong have always sat on top and those too weak to hold onto power have stayed at the bottom. Divisions have been necessary for society to function. But debating with an idealist never goes anywhere and only generates unnecessary frustration. Let him live with his head in the clouds. The eventual consequences will be for Connor to bear.]

Well then, I'm glad you see it that way, [Philip says with a smile.]

[adelphoktonos]

At random. From week to week. People come and go. They disappear also and fall into unnatural sleep.

[broughtwhiskey]

What's been done about it?

[broughtwhiskey]

Not that I'm aware of.

[voluntaryapnea]

He's been to Zero a bunch of times, which obviously hasn't done much. [He pauses before continuing to text.] Fire slowed him down for about a week. Don't invite him into your cabin, though. Once he's invited he can get it any time. And uh, mountain ash and holy water will both help keep him back briefly. But I stress the word briefly here.

[broughtwhiskey]

Any particular reasons why people are coming and going?

[queen_cordelia]

[She nods at that, and shakes his hand. She doesn't ask about the patch over his eye. She barely glances at it, in fact, even if she's curious.]

Likewise. I haven't been here very long either. Just a couple weeks.

[akweks]

[Connor may be an idealist, but he's not dumb -- he knows that cagey response for what it is, and quirks an eyebrow slightly.]

Yes. Feelings of superiority will get you nowhere on the Barge. [He might be getting a little haughty now. Just a little. He doesn't want this dude to think he's better than him or something, just because Connor isn't fully jaded.]

Atoning for one's missteps is crucial to leaving her. Humility may often be a part of that.

[16thstar]

You don't get to decide who's a person and who isn't.

[tricksandmischief]

It may not yet have been done. It seems to take a couple of weeks.

Not that it will help or change anything.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

When I'm confident that such is the best move I ought to be making, yes.

audio (sorry for lateness)

[strangehistorian]

Around a hundred and thirty, I think!

[punched_hitler]

Not that I know of. Just that they're gone.

[broughtwhiskey]

I'm sure it is for folks who want to leave.

[Which is not a group of people Philip can necessarily categorize himself as right now. Even if Philip had survived his final assault on the prison or if Rick had done as he asked and surrendered it peacefully, he had lost everything all over again. It was too late and he failed Meghan like he failed Penny. This isn't the oblivion he was hoping for and he still has to carry those losses, but it doesn't make any difference to him whether he feels it here or elsewhere.]