sixthiterationlogs | We can push on through till morning; [OTA

We can push on through till morning; [OTA | MINGLE POST]

WHO: Mark & Anyone
WHERE: The Town Hall
WHEN: Feb 16, afternoon through evening
OPEN TO: EVERYONE! This is a mingle post!
WARNINGS: N/A - Please warn in thread subject lines if needed
STATUS: Open

When we all get together and have our town meetings, the truth is that a lot of times we don't come up with the sort of solutions we're looking for. I'm not trying to say we're complacent -- Or at least not all of us, not the people speaking up in the meetings -- but just that the nature of living here, such as it is, means that answers aren't exactly forthcoming.

But the latest meeting, the one about organizing, creating some kind of formal entity to oversee the group of us, it threw something into sharp relief for me: I've been talking for a long time about how we all need to be sharing our knowledge as a safeguard, but I haven't been doing much to make this happen beyond sharing my own personal knowledge. And that's really just not acceptable -- Not here, not when we've apparently got an entire section of the population asking for active leadership and another section who might just be too shy or apathetic to admit it.

So, I've been trying to figure out a way to kickstart this project. A way for people to even put out there the sort of knowledge they have to share. You have to start somewhere.

I've never had a problem getting people together to help with the field, but somehow we've been neglecting the town hall building right next to it this entire time. It's one of the biggest buildings in town, but it's still coated in dust and cobwebs, piles of leaves drifted into corners. The inn is starting to get a little crowded during meetings; it might be nice to have a little more room, a place where people come to share.

Regardless of how you feel about community leadership, I think most of us can get behind that.

A couple days before, I put out the call: A cleaning party. We get together, clean out the town hall, and afterward we have a little potluck. People can bring premade dishes, or we can cook out back over a bonfire. We can just be around each other, in a relatively safe space, just having a moment to relax and say hello. Meet someone new, find out where to begin.

After everything that's happened recently, I really think we could use it. I'm just hoping I'm not the only one who shows up.

[CLEANING PARTY & MIXER! Threads can take place during the CLEANING portion, after during the MIXER or BOTH. They can be indoors, upstairs, in the attic, out back by the bonfire, chowing down, whatever -- It's 100% cool to improvise! Mark will have expressly told folks this is about getting to know each other and what they can each do, too. There are some additional OOC notes here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Planet. I'm from an island." Moana didn't understand the concept of being from a planet though she's heard a few others mention planets. She thought of different worlds like realms, all connected in a way but also apart.

"It was beautiful. My village was small and I knew everyone who lived there." She wasn't sure what to tell Jyn but she missed her island very much.

An image of Scarif through the viewport pops into her mind - her gaze goes soft and out of focus. The beaches, the beautiful clear and cerulean water, the sandbanks, the softness of the sand as she ran across it - ended up on it, trying to support the weight of Cassian on her shoulders, his body broken and battered and unhealable. She remembers thinking that it looked beautiful, even with the Imperial Citadel, the troops, the ships. Even with the Imperial occupation.

She'll never step foot on a beach again, she thinks.

She comes back to herself, the conversation. Finds Moana's face and offers something like an apologetic glance.

"What sorts of things do you do there? What was your day like?"

It wasn't to difficult to tell that Jyn had gone somewhere else but Moana didn't know where. A small frown tugged at her lips though it was momentary, her smile returning as she spoke about her island.

"It was a lot of work. We all did what we could to survive. Lately I was spending evenings with my father, learning more about the village. In the mornings I'd help anyone who asked for it. It'd take me all around the village from homes to the coconut groove's. A few kids had asked me to teach them to dance one day."

It all felt like a dream now; her home, her island.

"It sounds like you were very active - very helpful to those who lived in your village," Jyn replies softly. It sounds like such an idyllic life, she thinks; so idyllic that she's having a hard time even imagining it. A beautiful, tropical island with a village full of people - no AT-ATs, no Deathtroopers, no Star Destroyers overhead. Families not ravaged by war and death. It sounds like a story straight out of the holovids she'd watch as a child. "What - what were you doing? Before you arrived here?"

Moana's expression softened. "Yeah, I had to be." As the future village chief, she had to be someone that everyone could look to. A pillar of strength and wisdom. She couldn't show her own doubts or be unsure and she'd been practicing to fill that role ever since she was young.

Her smile faltered some. "Pau and I were sailing. We were going to try and make it pass the reed around my island." She shook her head.

"We didn't make it." She'd been drowning, fighting against the current and then she was pulling herself out of the fountain. Even now she had to hope that Pau had made it back to shore safely, that her father wasn't worried about her.

She assumes that this "Pau" person is a relative of some kind, but she isn't entirely sure. When she sees the somber expression flood Moana's face, she bites the tip of her tongue (instead of shoving her foot in her mouth the way she wants to) - regretful for having breached such a sensitive, personal topic. She shakes her head as though to dismiss the whole thing entirely.

"Tell me more about your island, what it was like. Or how you learnt to be such an excellent climber."

"My island is beautiful." She spoke in a wistful tone before lifting her chin to look back up at the ceiling. "I would climb the coconut trees during the harvest. There weren't any way to hold on, you just had to pull yourself up the tree. I've done it for so long plus I liked exploring my island. It wasn't very big but it was mine."

Now it was gone. Moana sometimes wished that there was something of her island here but the cold weather made it difficult to think so.

"I've told a lot of people about Motunui. Is it weird to be from an island?" She didn't know.

Coconut trees. She's got no idea what those are, but she can imagine. The thing that stands out to Jyn the most is how loving and warm Moana is when she speaks of her home. That it's something to ground and center her, provide an identity and a purpose. For a woman who has grown up with almost nothing of her own, no home world to claim, no family to speak of .. it's nice. It's strange, in a lot of ways, but it's nice, to know that there are some places in the universe untouched by war.

She hears her father's voice in her head: "If you found a place in the galaxy untouched by war - a quiet life, maybe with a family - if you're happy, Jyn, then that's more than enough." She wonders if Moana's island is an embodiment of that place. She's long suspected that this village could be, but she's yet to put too much stock into the thought - the fear of it being ripped away too great to conquer.

"Is Motunui your island?" she asks, then shakes her head with a soft smile. "No, I don't think so. It's very different from where I am, where your home is an entire planet - but I don't think it's strange. I suppose you could think of each of the planets in my galaxy as being their own, separate islands."

Moana's island wasn't just where she lived. It was the place that she loved, filled with the people that she loved and those she wanted to protect. No, it wasn't a perfect place. There were fights and at times conflict but it was hers and one day it would be her duty to protect and up hold the laws of her people. It was a heavy weight and it split her passions but she wouldn't change how she felt about her island.

"Yes." Moana would easily claim that Motunui was the best place you could ever hope to call home.

At Jyn's description, Moana's smile grew. "That sounds wonderful. You know, I've always wanted to sail past my island. To see what was out there. Ever since I was little I thought the ocean was calling me. That it was my friend." It had all been a dream, she knew that now but her expression softened and that pure affection laced into her voice.

"The universe is a large place," Jyn explains quietly, "And not all of it is good. I'd argue that a great majority of it isn't, actually. But it's worth seeing, if you can." If we ever get out of this place, she wants to add - but it feels too much like tempting Fate (if she believed in it, that is) or like providing the prime opportunity for whoever was running the show to intervene on her behalf: 'Oh, so you want to leave, do you? We'll see about that.' That's the Darkness calling, the duality that lives inside of her - its counterpart being Light, of course. Darkness is no friend of hers, but it's strong and powerful.

She swallows, willing Darkness to recede into the shadows. Just for now.

"My best friends were toys I had," she offers, their names scrolling in her mind like a ticker-tape. Beeny. Stormy. Lucky Hass Obluebitt. "What made you think of the ocean as yours?"

Edited 2017-03-09 18:10 (UTC)

Moana's expression softened. I'm sure it is but no matter where I go or where I end up, I won't forget who I am or where I'm from. Who I am? She silently asked herself before pushing the question away. It was to complicated to answer now.

"I had a dream and we played together when I was young." Moana tucked her thick dark hair behind her ear before tugging at the rag in her hand. She knew she should get back to cleaning but she was enjoying talking to Jyn.

"I always thought that one day I might go beyond my island and see where the ocean lead."

"Well," Jyn starts, noticing the shift in Moana's stance and composition, "Should we ever leave this place, wind up back where we were before - I hope you're able to explore as much of the ocean as you can, and that you're able to climb as many trees as you'd like." With a bit of a sigh, she lifted her shoulders slightly before letting them drop again. "Suppose we should get back to work."

Moana laughed a bit. "yeah, we should and I hope so too." It was a bit more complicated than that but Moana didn't think now was a very good time to press all her worries on Jyn. "I need to get back to dusting but I hear there is going to be a party after.

She smiled brightly before tucking the cleaning clothing into the waistband of her pants. She then stepped towards the wall and easily scaled it up towards the ceiling.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We can push on through till morning; [OTA | MINGLE POST]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject