[MINGLE] Post-Bunker Support Group

[markwatney]

WHO: Mark Watney
WHERE: Town Hall & Inn
WHEN: 6 September 2018, Evening
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Warn on your threads, please. PTSD is probably a given.
NOTES: Support group mingle! If your character needs some support after the latest meta plot or just generally, send them on over to Town Hall. Also, feel free to do top levels having to do with signing up for a tube monitoring shift. Please let me know if you want a Mark thread, I have notifs off for the post.

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So, I have been down to what we all seem to be collectively calling the Bunker. It is... something, to say the least.

For some people it feels like hope and for others despair, and I can honestly see both sides of it. Some people need to feel like they have some control, even if it's illusory — Having a puzzle to possibly solve makes them feel less adrift. For others, it's too much reality, or the perception of, anyway. I can't say I'm personally convinced by any of it.

See, I've been here since the start of whatever this is, with a group that's almost entirely gone now. It's been five months since we were birthed into this expanded world, and I don't know if it's any more real than the last. That isn't me putting on a tin foil hat, that's just respecting the environment. Mars was the same way: You do what you need to do to eke out a life, to survive or even thrive, but it's dangerous to think you have any real control. Everything can go to shit in the blink of eye, and then you're tumbling around in an airlock while your entire food supply is turned to dust.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying people should stop hoping to get home, stop trying to figure it all out. I'm just saying we might all be a little easier mentally if we could express how scary it is to know, deep down, that the rug can be pulled out from under us at any moment... And then to accept that feeling that way is okay.

With that in mind, after a little meditating during my daily work in the fields, I put up two notices on the blackboard in the South Village inn:

Volunteers to monitor the bunker tubes for new arrivals, please sign up for a shift on the paper on the bar.

That's one thing we can do, at least. Just the illusion of control, but still important to some people, and definitely helpful for anybody new.

Below that:

Support Group Tonight
Town Hall - 7:00 PM
Everyone Welcome

I don't know how many people will actually show — We've got a surprisingly stubborn, resilient group, in my experience. But even if it helps just one person, it's worth doing.

Comments

[ex_enlisted288]

[ Now he looks up, watching Asch with steady blue eyes.

Thanks. In another lifetime, I used to be an artist.

[ His mild tone makes it hard to tell if he's kidding or not.

Erroring on the side of not kidding might be a smart movie. ]

I'm Steve. You are ... ?

[cinere]

[ His green eyes, meet Steve's blue for a moment before looking back to the page and moving to lean against the wall next to the other, his arms crossed over his chest then. ]

And what are you in this lifetime, then?

[ He inquired trying his best to keep his moodiness at bay. He was young, but he knew when not to be emotional.]

Asch. [ He replied, before giving a nod of greeting.] How long have you been here, Steve?

[ex_enlisted288]

A screw-up. But trying to do better.

[ And someone not bothered by silence.

Moody away, Ascha. Moody away. ]

A couple of months now, give or take a few weeks.

You?

[cinere]

I see.

[ He nodded to that. That was pretty much the story of anyone.]

I just arrived last night. [ He replied with a touch of moodiness in his tone.] I have yet to gain my bearings but I am working at it.

[ex_enlisted288]

Oh. Welcome to all the fun, then.

[ For a very loose definition of fun. ]

Take it one day at a time, is my advice.

[cinere]

Joy.

[ His tone dripping with sarcasm. Pushing off the wall he crosses his arms again and looks off to the rest of the crowd.]

I'll keep it in mind. [ Without saying thank you, or goodbye he started to move off.]

[ex_enlisted288]

You do that,

[ Steve says to his retreating back and resolves to keep an eye out for the kid.

People are allowed to be grumpy when they first arrive, so he's not going to take offense just yet. Or maybe at all. ]