riverviewlogs | [open] remember when i put meaningful things in subject lines

who: taako
what: monster fighting + general nonsense
when: late march
where: around!
warnings: violence for any flooding threads

on this week's episode of River Monsters ; ota

[It's been a while since Taako's really had to stretch his magic out; there was the stuff with the cult, sure, but that was a minor little mess and this is like, a bunch of river monsters. Totally different ballgame. If he's being honest with himself, this is something he kind of misses about being away from Fearun and out of the cycles. Because yeah, it's a lot safe not running around fighting random monsters or possessed arcanists or whatever, but blasting shit with spells is just a little bit fun.

There's been enough time since remembering Lup that he's stopped relying quite so heavily on fire spells, especially when he doubts fire will do much against crocodiles and lizards with thick skin. He relies on lightning and energy instead, a few necromantic spells to drain the life out of the creatures, with the occasional confusion spell thrown in, turning them on each other.

At one point, one of them moves a little quicker than anticipated while he's dealing with another, and suddenly Taako is knocked aside by a scaled tale, disappearing into the underbrush with a startled yelp followed by a roughly exhaled hachi machi.

But it’s okay! Because instead of his regular adventuring gear, he's got a sweet as hell superhero costume, courtesy of one Cisco Ramon, coolest person in the Quarantine. It's made from similar material as the Flash's costume, just in purples and blues instead of red and yellow (because really, red and yellow? Pick a better palette, Barry). There might have been some arguments over exactly how fancy it needed to be, versus actual functionality, but at the end of the day Taako trusted Cisco enough to give him most of the creative control. What really matters is that it means he can take a hit like that and only lose maybe 15 HP, allowing him to get right back up again.

Now he's gonna toss a fireball, just because he's kinda pissed.]

day to day ; pre-existing cr

out and about
[Taako is a social creature. He can handle being alone, sure, the ten years in Fearun made that abundantly clear, but that doesn't mean he likes it. It's much nicer to be surrounded by attention and affection in the form of friendship. And after the last few shitty months, he's aware that he hasn't exactly been present in other peoples' lives. Sampremi and the kigu party rectified some of that, but a one off catch up doesn't quite cut it. So he slips back into old habits eagerly, sending out texts to anyone who's company he's fond of. It's often as simple as an offer to join him for lunch/brunch/dinner/coffee, though occasionally he does tailor requests to someone's interests, a mention of a new store they might like, or a band playing he thinks they'd be into. After spending the last months feeling bitter and trapped in the Quarantine, he's reaching out and reconnecting in an attempt to remind himself that it's not all terrible.]

around the house
[For anyone who has the amazing privilege of being welcome at the IPRE (minus Lucretia) residence, Taako tends to flit in and out during the day and night, not really beholden to any particular schedule. He's pretty content with an even mix of getting out and being a homebody, though it tends to tip more towards the latter on days he has a lot of orders to get through for work. Spending several hours in the kitchen isn't much of a struggle for him, but it does mean that once he's done he'd prefer to just chill out watching a movie or listening to music, rather than going out.

There's enough to do around the house to keep himself occupied, especially considering the place is full up these days. If Merle or Davenport show up, they're gonna have to look at getting a bigger place.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ That earns him a smirk. The books are far superior, but John's never said he wasn't a snob. ]

Yeah, it doesn't quite work like that for us. It's funny, because it's the same gene for all of us. At least, we call it this one thing, but it's coded differently for every Mutant. And since it's not even hereditary - most of the time, anyway - it's just. This random thing.

[ He shrugs a shoulder. ]

Makes my brother and I outliers, because we actually have the same set of powers.

[It seems weird that it's a gene but isn't hereditary, just - based on his very limited knowledge of genetics.]

This is gonna sound like a stupid fucking question, but indulge my curiosity here. Are you and your brother like... chill with each other? Are you friends?

[Look he's... going somewhere with this.]

[ It really is. Honestly, so little about the Mutants and their Mutations make sense. John often wondered if he'd been exposed to something and didn't realize. But then it was the same with James. Lightning struck twice.

The question surprises him, but John just raises an eyebrow, before taking a sip of coffee. ]

We don't see each other very often, but yeah, we are. I mean, we fight whenever we end up talking, but that's just because he says I'm uptight and overbearing, and I say he's flighty and immature. Brothers.

[ John shrugs. ]

But we love each other. Why?

Cause like half the dipshits here are all 'my brother tried to murder me' or 'I hate my sister cause she's a supervillain' or whatever, it's fucking weird. Right? Like it's weird? That's not just me?

[He knows that not every relationship is perfect but it feels like every time he hears about a set of siblings it's super fucked up. It's so different to how things are with Lup.]

[ John smirks, but it's not mocking. ]

Yeah, I guess... A lot of people around here are heroes, or want to be, and it's like. If you want to be one, you have to have this kind of hardship in your life. Like a rite of passage. Isn't it?

[ Another sip of coffee. It really is good. ]

Do you have siblings?

Just my shitty sister who's like a supervillain or whatever.

[That's not true, at all, there's so much fondness in his voice.]

We're fucking twins, actually, don't let her tell you she's older cause that's bullshit. But we've never fought, you know? A handful of centuries and it's never been hard.

[They're each others' heart. It's why it seems so strange when other siblings can't get along.]

[ John hears it, and smiles. It grows bigger as Taako talks about his sister some more. ]

James and I used to fight all the time. And have the dumb competitions - we have the same powers, so we'd try and see who's the strongest. Who can flip the heaviest car? Who can run the fastest? Who can avoid an arrow aimed for their chest? That kind of stuff. Living on the reservation, we didn't have much else to do than run around.

[ Now James is off being the lone wolf superhero type, while John herds families of Mutants out of danger. Their dad would be proud. ]

Oh, I get that for sure, we used to duel all the time to see how our spells were coming along but there's never been a drop of bad blood or whatever.

[Not like the way it seems with a lot of siblings. The thought of Pharolin still freaks him the fuck out, after witnessing Rin's memories of the dude.

But also there's a word in there that Taako isn't familiar with, so:]

What's the reservation?

[He knows conceptually what it is, but he's not quite sure if there's context he's missing.]

[ John leans against the wall, his eyes on the table in front of him. He's used to explaining so much about what and who he is, but he rarely touches on his heritage, how and where he grew up. ]

There's a lot of history behind it, and it's super messy, but basically, reservations are sections of land that are managed by Native Americans, and we tend to live on them. Not that we can't live outside of them, but for a lot of us, it's a part of our culture, our heritage. My mom cared for James and I to know about where we came from.

[ Not only a Mutant, in the political climate of the US, but also a Native American.

And people wonder why he ever thought he had a lot to prove. ]

[Taako isn't the most sensitive person in the world, but he's smart enough to recognize there's probably some kind of difference between Native Americans and the other kind of American he's familiar with. He can look it up, later. Or ask Cisco.]

That seems pretty dope, the whole... knowing your culture shit, Lulu and I know fuck all about elves or whatever.

[Running away at twelve will do that.]

Does that mean you speak something other than uh, English?

[ Enjoy. Cisco probably has a lot to say about it, too. John does, himself, but it's the kind of thing that is difficult to talk about. And he doesn't want to ruin the mood. ]

There's a lot I don't know, still. But yeah, I speak a bit of Ndéé. I'm not fluent, though. I also speak some Pashto, which has nothing to do with my roots. Why do you ask?

[ Is Taako interested in languages? ]

[He just thinks they're neat]

Oh, it's just kinda cool? I know like... [He tries to count on his fingers but gives up at about seven] I know a bunch? And I've been learning a few from Earth, I taught Cisco a bunch of Elvish cusses and pick up lines so he's traded me some Spanish lessons. And my girl Hana's been trying to get me to learn Korean, but I think that's mostly so she's got someone to sing karaoke with.

[He loves her though and he loves karaoke so everyone wins.]

Well, I don't know any cussing in Ndéé, because that was not going to happen, but I can probably give you a few tips on the Pashto side of things.

[ Most of the Afghans he'd met had been good people. It was a very conflicting, difficult thing to talk about, but he remembers a few lessons with their translators, a few good laughs as he and the other Marines butchered the language. ]

Although I can't make any promises on my pronunciation. It's been a while.

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