#narrated

[candidated]

JESSE (designation: @narrated) "how do i know this is really you?"

He thinks it funny that she should ask. Internally, he'd been asking himself the same thing. After all this time, Jesse was right there, truly. He could see her, he had looked for her, given himself up to another cage for her, and she had found him.

It took years and a crumbling House for this to happen... And, somehow, he couldn't be happier, despite the bitterness of it all.

"The same way you've always known, sister."

Silence stands between them like the glass wall dividing them. He keeps it alive for a bit. To try and get to her? Maybe... But also, just so she understands it, too. This situation, him, her, the Hiss... She has to understand it all.

"With trust." Between the infection and their soothing lullaby, the edges of Dylan's mouth manage to form a smile. Despite all the contradicting, heavy feelings, happiness wins, this time. It's clear, even as his body remains tense, Dylan is incredibly ecstatic, if a little faded.

"You have to trust your brother. You want to trust me. Do you not trust any more? Were you changed? Are you not Jesse, after all?"

[croftborn]

👤

meet ... kaz weiss.

kaz is alex weiss' sister, and a valuable member of lara's team before a team even came together. before meeting lara, kaz worked for trinity. however, she couldn't properly free herself from them except by going completely under the rader. she lived on the streets of germany for a while, before her travels led her to meeting and finding her late wife, lucya, who was captured and tortured by trinity before eventually being killed.

kaz hides out in chernobyl when she's found by a haunted, grieving lara, who tracks her down after finding the final correspondence between the siblings from the alex's computer back in london after the endurance's remaining crew is rescued from yamati. at first, kaz is distrustful of lara, blaming her for her brother's death, before they eventually work together when trinity tracks kaz down to chernobyl again in attempt to catch her.

kaz briefly stays with sam and lara in their flat, before eventually becoming the lead tech expert on lara's team. like lara, she takes on less than legal methods to get things done, and while a lot of the team members don't enjoy enabling lara, kaz and lara usually find themselves agreeing more than most on how to do things. they've seen the damage trinity can do from the inside out, and know what lengths need to be reached to stop them and anyone like them.

[miswaken]

i don't think alice feels like an oc! it's difficult writing a canon character who ultimately does not have a lot going on in said canon (especially when they are feminine) but i think you've done a spectacular job with alice! you've built up on the core traits of her that we do know and any additions have felt in line with that and considering what alice has gone through, making her feel very well rounded and realised!! it makes it a delight to write with you always <3

how's my driving?

it is always a struggle for women / fem characters in horror media! but honestly even looking at my collection of men, I tend to gravitate towards muses who are...... shall we say under characterized. I love making shit up and not having to worry about adhering to a lot of canon facts! or more accurately I enjoy looking at a loose canon framework and extrapolating a character from there. and it's nice to know that that works, and that I'm able to write any of my muses in a way that feels both reasonable and multifaceted. thank you!!!

[strattosphaere]

‘coming from you, that’s quite the compliment.’ ( aaaand baby boy luke )

HE IS NOT WRONG, genuine compliments so often get forgotten in the rush of daily life, theirs perhaps even more hectic than usual . . . something about the world ending certainly does not bring people together. all this to say that compliments are hardly something stratt pays attention to. how, when everyone is more or less working for her & the situation is as tense as it is, being accused of playing favorites is among the last things they need. there does not need to be a repeat of the entire mess surrounding doctor grace. (FOR SEVERAL REASONS.) "almost," she tentatively agrees, there is little to no denying it anyway. "don't get used to it." which sounds meaner than it has any reason to be———— here is a perfect display on why she is not in charge of human relations. or why they have nobody in charge of human relations. one day they will all have to sit together in a big circle to have a therapy sessions, if they are all still alive at the end of it all. "you're doing good work," she tries further because it is all a muddled mess at this point, anyway. "keep that up." / RESIDENT EVIL REQUIEM FEAT. @narrated [ACCEPTING]

[obscurd]

@narrated smol starter (marya <33)

"Aaaand... you're dead," came her cheeky declaration as the tip of the wooden sword prodded the girl in her chest. The toy weapon (could a toy be a weapon?) was a little heavier than Maelle was used to, but she knew better than to point her actual rapier at someone else, especially when she was pretending to stab without some kind of armor... so this was the compromise.

Honestly, Maelle didn't think she was anything close to a decent teacher, but... Where Marya probably viewed this as some basic sword practice, the redhead was content enough to be around someone her own age for a change that she didn't really care how they spent it. Funny how loneliness could get someone to agree to anything, even as anxiety squirmed in her brain. The idea of letting Marya down in some way was a thought she had to fight to ignore.

A crooked, shy smile curved her lips as she let the other pick up her fallen tool. "Sorry. Forgot you're kinda....." She gestured awkwardly before reaching up with her free hand to scratch at her head. "Not. Good? Yet, I mean."

[strattosphaere]

'cause if i call you out, i'm an asshole. ( darling! )

"ASSHOLE IS NOT THE WORD I WOULD HAVE USED." the actual vocabulary she had consider would have been close in meaning, though & this is also not the point they are trying to argue here. it's about the situation at hand that is rapidly derailing, the potential threat to all they know & love, which they had all kind of known existed but were all too happy to downplay anyway. an issue on their collective conscience that no one is currently prepared to face head on. not that ducking heads & taking blame will safe them of imminent doom——— so perhaps the time for name calling should be postponed. "you are free to call me out. i can have an alphabetized list of my mistakes on your desk by sunrise, if you're so inclined." stratt does not yell at him, that is not the kind of dynamic they have . . . she may not have considered him a friend but he is a smart & capable colleague that she respects, regardless of what has transpired. this does not mean she cannot be absolutely furious. at the injustice, at the blame being dumped on her shoulders, at the whole thing that never should have escalated this far——— "but that sounds like a nightmare of wasted time & hypocrisy to me. & personally i'd rather be an asshole than a hypocrite, dr. darling." / THE GREAT DIVIDE FEAT. @narrated [ACCEPTING]

[astrophager]

⋆ ⭒ ˚ . ⋆ AFFECTIONATE GESTURES. ACCEPTING.

catch. receiver catches sender as they stumble or collapse from exhaustion / sickness / injuries. — @narrated (marya).

❛ whoa, hey. ❜ his arm shoots out fast, the momentum of marya's gait turning to stillness having been the first sign that something was wrong. her cane drops with a clatter but is an irrelevant collateral damage in comparison to catching her before she can hurt herself further. maybe he should have noticed sooner, that her capabilities weren't quite all there today, that she was straining herself to keep up. maybe he should have walked slower. grace rectifies now, a palm supporting her back and the other taking her arm as he gently lowers her to the ground instead of the abrupt fall she had been about to land with. ❛ you okay ? didn't hit anything ? ❜ suddenly everything seems a potential hazard, desktop corners too sharp, the ground itself gritty and threatening. grace does a quick once - over and finds her optimistically not concussed or seriously injured.

i'm not sure if her crash extends mentally as well as physically, seek her eyes for recognition and frown intuitively at her tired face. it is hard not to feel for her, mourn for her, robbed of experiences every little girl deserves, but she especially. i've learned that she is exceptionally smart, sweet, a sunbeam of a person whose light was stifled, much like the sun we are working to save. but who saves marya ?

❛ you're okay. you just had a little fall. ❜ grace's voice has lowered an octave to something soft and soothing, yet chirpy as any teacher needs to be. he is reminded of his class, a pang of something bittersweet hitting him hard for a second and instigating a careful squeeze of her shoulder as he holds her. she is propped slightly more upright — easy does it — and her hair moved from her face, the disarray of the commotion eased as best he can without jolting her more. ❛ think that's plenty enough action for today, huh ? what have you eaten, you want something from the canteen ? i'll throw in some sour skittles on the side, on the house. how's that ? ❜