death to bakerstreet

[swagu]

The All-Purpose JamJar Meme

Jamjars give people opportunities to place their favorites into alternate scenarios of circumstantial bonding, alliance, animosity, teamwork and sexuality! Some encounters are innocuous and some epiphany-spurring, and whether you're interacting with a castmate or engaging in cross-canon CR, there are opportunities for creativity and exploration only made possible through this format. If you are fucking lazy or don't want to deal with activity-checks or want to do a miniature test drive, just meme it. Just... fucking meme it.

---

I

✿1. Horror: Your characters are taken from their own worlds and thrown into a terrifying situation! Things are creepy, resources are scarce, and ensuring your own survival is paramount.
✿2. Sex Game: For whatever contrived and nonsensical reason, your characters are forced into a world where they gotta bone. Aside from smutstuff, you have the opportunity to play out how very awkward it is to navigate these agreements and encounters before and after. Lasting bonds can form from something you didn't expect! But so can eternal regret.
✿3. Slice of Life: Characters are forced to live together in familial units. They have an opportunity here -- in spite of being stuck -- to relax and slow down and do some fun, ordinary things. Picnics, dates, school, etc.
✿4. Fantasy: Characters are forced into guilds and roles, given weapons and are made to utilize their powers in coordinated units to complete missions.
✿5. Scifi: Characters are thrust on to the frontier of spacial colonization! Characters on a spaceship! Characters being drafted into an Imperial Earth Army to fight/conquer foreign entities! Characters being in a world where they are assessed, identified, tracked and policed by artificial intelligence! And so on!
✿6. Reincarnation/ New Identity: Your character has been reborn at this game, or given a new identity. Work out their karma or help them come to terms with having to live a new life.
✿7. Asylum/Prison/Institutionalized Identity: Characters are locked up and put under heavy surveillance. Slowly they are institutionalized and disintegrated from ordinary social rules of engagement. They could be told that they've been identified as mentally dysfunctional, or they could be in prison! Are they pleading their innocence, or do they know they're guilty as fuck back in their world?
✿8. Assignment-Based/Mercenary/Survival: Characters have to put their skills to good use as drafted mercenaries. Help your captors assassinate, spy, sabotage, infiltrate, steal, and terrorize for points that will lead up to your freedom or the freedom of others.
✿9. Your Choice!: Do whatever!

---

II

✿1. First Impressions: You never forget your first impression of someone. Unless it was entirely forgettable.
✿2. Oh Hey Again: I kind of know you!!!! Hi!!! I hate this place but love familiarity hi!!!
✿3. Event: SOMETHING IS HAPPENING and your characters have either run into each other or sought each other out to stick together during it!
✿4. Living Quarters: Surprise, your characters are in the same house! Or room! Or building! Either way you have to share space and facilities with this person. Enjoy!
✿5. Mystery: Who Did It? Why Are We Here? Characters are disappearing, people are dying, whatever is happening it is FISHY!
✿6. Canon Update/Respawn/"But we know each other, I swear!": One character comes (back) to a game and does not remember previous CR. A relationship or friend or even hateship is forgotten. How will this be dealt with?
✿7. Begrudgingly Working Together: You are so fucking annoying but I guess we have to fight Monster of the Day Together/Get Unstuck-UnLost Together/Find Our Way Back/Help Each Other Out.
✿8. Is This a Date: Gee, you guys sure are doing a lot of things that people on dates do and you're having a lot of fun [sweats]...
✿9. Violence: Characters beat the shit out of each other or help each other out of a gory situation with terrible traumatic injuries or something!
✿10. One-Sided(?) Crush: How do you get their attention? Or, alternatively, how do you ignore that this person obviously is crushing on you and it's totally awkward
✿11. Protecting/Saving: Your character's chance to be a hero or a damsel!
✿12. Network Post: Mandatory bs.
✿13. Inbox: Hey, can I talk to you for a second? In private?
✿14. Your Choice!: Do whatever!

Comments

cole - dragon age

[existency]

fuck (8/7)

[leucism]

[ 'begrudgingly' may be a strong word to describe Dorian's rather neutral feelings on Cole; where Vivienne is the superego, and Solas is the id, Dorian could often serve as the ego — his opinion on spirits was a bit more balanced, a case by case situation.

however, while his opinions on Cole's existence were fairly dispassionate, his thoughts on his personality were more scrutinizing. Cole just didn't understand things, things that were fundamental to — well, person-hood. and while it perhaps made him a better soldier, it left something to be desired in the conversational department.

being stuck with Cole, stranded deep in the woods alone was less than ideal. at least Sera, as incomprehensible as she may be, could chat, even if most of it was strange accusations.

so don't mind Dorian sighing, he's awfully bored, just trudging through underbrush. he almost wonders how long he can go silent without Cole actually bringing something up. apparently a very long time. ]

—Cole, did you make sure to pack plenty of stamina potions? While I may be able to provide defensive magic, you are my main form of protection here, as much as I may have debated it ending up in such a way. [ a potentially futile attempt to spark some sort of banter. ]

[existency]

[ At the very least, Cole is as he always is, which should serve as some comfort as they make their progress. He listens in a seemingly placid silence, his face always distant and haunted in a way that would make someone that didn't spend time alongside him uneasy, but... For all their travels with the Inquisitor, there are nuances that are easily learned, such as the calm he possesses now.

There's no danger here, because he could always hear when danger was coming. There were nuances in the world that he was sensitive to, because he heard them as song, whether it was the hum of idle magic off a mage like Dorian (a unique, shifting, exotic sort of sound) or the screeching anger off a demon fresh from the Fade. Though, that said... When things were calm, or where the Veil was stable, it did tend to lapse into these awkward silences. He knew that part of him should try and fill the conversation, but he never knew with what. It's why he spoke of what he heard and felt, but with nothing there, well. It was quiet, wasn't it?

So when Dorian breaks the silence, Cole's eyes widen lightly, like he's startled from some deep train of thought, but he answers easily. ]

Yes.

[ Well, the question is answered. And Cole pauses, fiddling briefly with the brim of his hat, like he knows he's expected to say more, but is uncertain of what to say. ]

Are you worried?

[leucism]

Never worried, just concerned. Like the mother of a prodigious son, hovering over him while studying as if she were a wolf circling a nug. [ a visceral image. while Dorian was always prone to figurative language to express his (often hyperbolic) points, he felt he had to use enhanced imagery with Cole. he hoped — through this naturalistic choice of words — he could promote visualization of what he meant for Cole. while Cole often seemed like an abstract concept, being a spirit, or demon, or ghost, or whatever, he had some ties and connections to the earth, so he hoped it would help get his point across.

of course, it could just serve to confuse him more. Dorian was never sure with this one whether his point landed or completely missed. it was even worse with his jokes. ] I suppose I should feel safe with you, what with your bizarre hostile sensing, but I can't help but feel apprehensive when you disappear from the battlefield. Quite literally.

[existency]

[ It's clear which of the two it is with how Cole's brow knits together, because it's not quite a analogy he understands completely. Or, well, half of it he understands. A wolf circling a nug, playing, poking, because a nug would never have a chance. It shivers or blisters, not happy anywhere but underground, so it's easy prey. So, because of that, the metaphor is unsurprisingly lost, and he focuses on that, wanting to understand as he always does, curious especially with Dorian who talks the most of things that Cole doesn't understand. ]

That's very strange. If the mother circles, the son shies away. He's afraid of being eaten, or, no, disappointing.

[ Has he felt something like that before? He can never be sure, but it's familiar enough that he feels a bit confident with saying it, but the point itself flies over his head. ]

I won't disappoint you. I only disappear for a little while. Everyone else becomes the nug for a little bit, but it's to make sure I'm helping. I always come back. [ Though he remembers a fear when he wasn't so certain about that, when he was in the White Spire and killing to make sure that he didn't disappear. He pauses, thoughtfully, then ultimately just adds simply: ] At least, I want to.

still listening to gangnam slam jam tbh

[dramatist]

[WHATEVER LET'S JUST SAY THIS IS HAVEN. A Haven before everything went crashing into the ground... an AU where people actually have luck growing gardens......

So Jack's outside of his shitty block, tending to his tomato plants and trying to do Sebastian proud by not letting things wither away and die... He has some sort of weird legacy to live up to now!! But tending to a garden is a surprisingly large amount of work (THEY REQUIRE SO MUCH WATER?!), and he doesn't really have all of the tools necessary to do it well (what even is a trowel???) which is setting him back a little time-wise.

So!! When he spots Cole, wherever Cole happens to be, he'll hold a hand out toward him.]

Oh— Excuse me! Could I trouble you for a second?

[existency]

[ At the very least, being in Skyhold, being with the Inquisition, prepared him better for moments like this. It wasn't until the Inquisitor decided to allow him to stay that he was given chances like these, where people saw him more. He was so used to slipping just out of people's sight, since that was the way he was used to existing, and though it's better, he's still startled when someone calls out to him.

But as soon as he looks up and sees Jack, sees him, he understands why. It's a strange feeling, when he reaches to touch this persons mind, because it speaks to him in a way he's never heard before. It gets his brow to knit together briefly, because there's pain, so much pain, but— ]

There's water. Endless water, rippling all around, because there's nothing, but something too. Which is it? I can't remember anymore.

[ He speaks quickly, half murmured to himself, but there's something else in what he feels, and Cole's voice sounds more solid, less of a hushed whisper and more confident as he actually addresses Jack. ]

You need water, don't you? For the plants.

[dramatist]

[WELL THAT sure is one way to start off a conversation... THANKS COLE.

Though it was only a murmur and he isn't sure if it was even directed at him, those words strung up in that order tend to touch raw nerves, dredging fears to the surface that he'd much prefer stayed buried. So he freezes, and it's only a half-second or so that passes before he catches himself again, but it's still noticeable. A stretch of water so still that even fish avoid it...

But oh, there's a proper response, even if it's still a little surprising. He hasn't made any sort of indication about what it is he needs, after all, even if that's precisely it. His gaze drops briefly to the watering can - empty - tucked away near the front door.]

—Yes, I do. [There's a slight difference in tone between the "yes" and the "I do", like he's still regaining his metaphoric footing. But he seems to catch himself with a fair amount of ease, and his energetic air carries his next words forward smoothly.]

My goodness, I hope they don't look dry enough to give it away that easily! It feels like I water these plants again and again and they're still thirsty by the end of the day... Oh, but I'm trying to get these vines to stick here- [He hoists up the hand that hadn't gestured Cole over; he's holding onto a lattice.] -so I can't get to the well just yet. Would it be too much trouble to ask you for a bucket?

[existency]

[ He's used to this sort of reaction too, and though part of him wants to reach deeper into that feeling. But it's frightening too, since even though he's drawn to this person, enough for him to see him, there's an emptiness inside too. It's like looking into that wound in the world, were the Blight had come so long ago. So, like then, he's afraid of venturing too close, lest he be swallowed up.

So he nods, since it's all right. This is helping too, and even though there's a feeling that this is the person that smiles when they're hurting, they seem happy too. Small gestures like this are what he can do. ]

No. [ His answer is calm, but simple, and he walks to a nearby house to walk inside without much more than that. With the confidence of how he walks inside, you'd assume it was where he lived, but it totally isn't... He just knows no one inside will see, and he'll return the bucket once they're done. ]

Is this good?

[dramatist]

[Yeah Jack totally assumes that Cole is a new neighbor or something... because who just walks into someone else's house like they own the place when it belongs to a different group of bums?? (Jack would, probably, but that's neither here nor there.)

He'll go back to trying to get the little budding vines to cling to the lattice board in the meantime, looking back up once Cole returns with the bucket. His expression immediately brightens and he stands up from his semi-crouch... sort of. He's still stooped low enough so that the vines that have already wrapped around the lattice won't tear.]

Perfect! You could set it down over here, if you'd like. [A nod toward the dry ground at the edge of the garden.] Just mind the mud! Shoes are a little difficult to clean here. [DOES COLE EVEN WEAR SHOES]

[existency]

[ I had to check because not everyone in this series does, but Cole does indeed wear shoes!! But considering he looks like a filthy hobo child, he probably wouldn't care anyways...

He quietly does as he's told and walks to set the bucket on the ground by Jack, then shakes his head. ]

It's fine. The mud will wash off.

[ It's more important to help, he thinks, but that part he doesn't say aloud. He does tilt his head curiously as he looks at the plants, and in a bit of curiosity, he decides to ask. ]

What are you growing?

[dramatist]

[i'm surprised honestly...

BUT GOOD, okay, Jack's looking out for his new filthy hobo child friend. Shoes are still important and a person just can't go running around with water-logged boots in a grossass place like Haven!!]

Tomatoes, mostly. I had a few other things before, but I don't think it was good to try growing them all together... [HIS TOMATOES SUCKED THE LIFE OUT OF EVERYTHING AROUND THEM. But hey, at least they're looking good!]

Some herbs, too! But those are inside.

[existency]

[ Cole nods along, and though he shifts like he's anxious and nervous being next to Jack, it's not because of the memories and feelings that he's wanting to dip into, but it's just because being around someone else. It makes him nervous, to be seen, but he's getting used to it. He's getting better at it. ]

They sucked out what the others needed. In the gardens, the tomatoes are always grown away from other things. The gardener looks, carefully, gently digs his fingers into earth to pull out weeds, since— [ He breaks off abruptly, since this isn't his friends, who understand and are used to hearing him relay the memories that pile up in his brain. He ducks his head shyly under his ridiculous hat, then shakes his head. ]

Sorry. If you grow them alone, they'll grow better, I mean.

[dramatist]

[WEIRD. A weird kid... Jack looks at him without outwardly giving too much of that uneasy curiosity away, because that's just how he tends to observe the things around him. It's vague enough that he can at least overlook some of the strangeness in what's said, though, and his head cants a little to the side.]

I've been told. [A LITTLE TOO LATE, BUT...] I'll have to wait for the ground to regain some of its nutrients before I start to plant more things, but I'm looking forward to it! I do love tomatoes, but having only tomatoes is a little limiting.

[That said, easy as that strange statement would be to pass right over and leave unaddressed, curiosity does get the better of him in the end.]

Are you a storyteller by trade? You seem to have a knack for it!

[existency]

Not me. That's Varric.

[ He looks up towards Jack again, and his light blue eyes meet Jack's even if it's through a mess of scraggly blonde hair and from under the brim of his big dumb hat. ]

I listen. I help those that are hurting.

[ There's a pause, as he decides to take this as his chance, and there's a pause as he just stares at Jack as if uncertain of what to say. He's sifting through what he sees, hears, feels, because there's so much of it with this person, since he's allowing some of it to flood into himself, carefully. Green, red, black, snow stained with blood, two siblings, but one of them is gone, or... Ah. That's a part of it. ]

You climbed the castle because you wanted to see her. But it wasn't her. You knew this, but it was important all the same. Because it was you, wasn't it? It's all you were, wanted, would be... [ His gaze is still even, unwavering, since when he speaks like this, he has confidence. Not otherwise. ]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry that she died. But that's not all who you are.

[dramatist]

[WELL, he was about to ask who Varric is, or maybe make some pleasant surface remark about story-telling skills and how it'd be nice, listening to a children's story or a fairy tale if it were told like that, BUT THEN COLE HAS TO GO DO HIS DUMB GHOST THING and naturally Jack is like what the shit but probably with more vague murderous intent, because his kneejerk reaction to scary things is also murder. Two peas in a pod!!

That said, it's a good thing Jack is currently surrounded by plants and a lattice that might as well be stationary, because his other kneejerk reaction to scary things is to throw glasses of water in their faces (or shoot them in the ear, apparently). Maybe a bucket of water here, if Cole gets really lucky! For now, though, he seems quite rooted to the spot. It's because Jack knows that Oz knows - he's shown his memories, after all; shared something dear with his dearest Chain. Oz knows, and Glen knows, and Lacie almost knows (but Glen isn't here, and Lacie never will be), and no one else should because those are private things that he keeps close to himself. The things he wanted for Lacie, the things that he wanted to use to cement his own realness—

"I help those that are hurting", huh.]

How do you know about her? About Lacie...? Even the tower— only the Baskervilles should know, but I've never seen you before - not once. [He shakes his head once, easing the lattice toward the ground.] What you're saying... It doesn't make any sense at all.

[Apparently he's just going to skip over the customary WHO ARE YOU considering he's like 99% sure Cole's some sort of dEMON STRAIGHT FROM HELL.]

I AM HERE 3/4 proceeds to misfire magnificently

[bisouled]

[ is this holly heights?? oh well.

Fiora has been through enough insane life-changing events to last her entire life - why not have one more? She's actually surprising herself with how well she's dealing with this particular change; after the initial confusion, she's calmed down quite nicely, focusing on figuring things out and keeping herself fully operational. Saying she didn't have half a mind to go charging after the man who was supposedly in charge with guns blazing would be a lie, but she's miraculously managing to hold in that desire. For the moment.

Really, she's just working up to it...

For now, though - house. It had been ages since she'd been in a normal house of any kind, it feels like, and indeed, she'd say that she looks pretty out of place in it, what with 90% of her body being mechanical at this point. Nonetheless, she's half expecting to see Dunban when she opens the door into one of the bedrooms on the second floor. But instead, she sees... someone else. With a really big hat. ]

Oh - sorry, I didn't know anyone else was living here. You must be... my roommate, I guess?

[existency]

[ Cole is standing on a chair when she enters, trying to get closer to something in a high, far corner, but his hat also obscures what exactly that is. When the door opens, he doesn't move, but when she speaks to him, he turns, looking startled briefly before his eyes drop to the floor. His hands stay up in the corner for a moment, but they drop, though one palm is turned upward, where a spider crawls along his hand.

...He's still not used to this. People seeing him, that is. She won't remember him long, but it's still strange, when he had gotten so used to the Spire where there was truly only Rhys, and even in the Inquisition, most of the people in Skyhold never saw him at all. It was fine that way. He didn't mind. ]

I... [ He starts carefully, in a gentle, small sort of voice, but then nods ] We don't have to be. I don't really need a room at all, if you want one to yourself.

[bisouled]

Don't be silly! I didn't mean it in a bad way. Besides, you got here first, so if anyone was going to sit out, it should be me.

[ she does notice the spider - strange, she feels like it's something she wouldn't have noticed before, her eyes must be changed, too - but doesn't take any offense to it. Her brother always liked to play with bugs, too. And this one seemed... shy, maybe. Fiora is usually good at reading people, but for some reason, she finds she can't really tell how he's feeling.

Somewhat hesitantly, she takes a few steps closer, as if approaching a frightened animal. (You're a mechon now, remember? Don't scare him off.) ]

If you don't mind being roommates... My name is Fiora. Did you just wake up here, too?

[existency]

[ The brim of the hat tips up as Cole looks at her. He does give the impression of being shy with the softness of his voice and how he reacts when she enters, but he stares at her with an unwavering, almost uncomfortable sort of intensity. There's a kindness in his face that's clear, but also a sallowness, as if he hasn't eaten a good meal in month. ]

I did. But I didn't have to. So it's strange that I should wake up at all, since dreams don't come to me like they do for other people.

[ The hat tilts back down to hide his face, and he hops off the chair, heading to the cracked open window instead. It might seem rude, like he's ignoring her, since he doesn't speak again until the spider crawls off his hand and onto the windowsill, but his voice is still gentle and pleasant. ]

I am Cole. Did you dream? Or do you not?

[bisouled]

[ it is uncomfortable. She tells herself it's normal for others to stare; it's a pain she's going to have to get used to for however little time she has left. At the same time, it doesn't really feel like he's staring at her or her strange inhuman body. It's like he's staring through her.

As soon as she sees his face, she finds herself feeling strangely on edge. Just her imagination, right? His words are confusing; she tries to focus on understanding them, instead. ]

Cole... right. I... don't remember dreaming? Do you mean you think this is a dream? [ a pause. Fiora glances around their surroundings. ] It sure feels like one, but... I don't know.

[existency]

No. It isn't a dream.

[ Cole says that with certainty, even with a certain lilt to his voice that implies a sort of playfulness however soft. It's just a sign of his certainty, since such certainty doesn't always come to him. He withdraws his hand, then looks back to Fiora, though his gaze isn't as intense this time. ]

Your armor. It's strange. But pretty. [ He pauses, looking towards the parts on her head, then tilts his head in light confusion. ] Does it keep your ears warm?

[bisouled]

[ discomfort aside, she can't help but chuckle slightly at that comment. ]

Oh, no. They're radars. I can detect fluctuations in the ether around me. [ that makes sense right cole ] Oh, and they sort of work like a compass, too. Although my ears are pretty warm.

[ maybe he was just disoriented, and that's why he seemed strange. She couldn't exactly blame him; only her tough attitude and (unwanted) familiarity with dealing with enormous unexpected disasters are keeping her acting mostly normal right now. Although she continues speaking in a light voice, there's an edge of uncertainty to her next words - she's not confident that she'll be accepted for it. She still hasn't really accepted herself for it. ]

And I'm glad you think it's pretty. But... it's not really armor. It's a part of me. [ pause. ] Sorry if that's weird.

1/4

[beejar]

[ it had only been a day, and Sera was noticeably exhausted, more-so than usual; this place was interesting, but horrifying, almost magic — god, why did magic have to always be involved — and Cole was the only one here that she recognized.

she, begrudgingly, felt some sort of obligation towards him, like a reluctant teenaged older sister would to her infantile brother. she had to watch him close with her peerless marksman eyes to ensure he wouldn't wander off too far into the unknown, where sera would never think to travel, or do his disappear-y thing and make everyone forget stuff.

it was tiresome. more tiresome then shooting things.

when she finally finds some manner of quarters to rest, she makes sure Cole is there, too. ]

Hey. Hey! Come out. I know you're round here somewhere, doing your poofy shit. Since Ser Lordybloomers's missing, now I'm the boss, right? So listen up and un-poof yourself.

[ anyone who saw sera would think she was insane (well), talking to seemingly nothing. the day's horrors apparently had a great toll on her. ]

tapdances back

[existency]

[ This place was loud. It was so loud that it almost hurt. There were so many people hurting here that he felt pulled in every direction, wanting to help and soothe the pain that he feels with all of him. But Sera wouldn't let him. Not because she didn't want him to, he knows (because he can feel that, too), but because it's too much. That hurt too, really.

But there is a limit. If he pushes himself to help too much, takes too much of people hurt inside of him, then it's harder to stay himself. He remembers that. He remembers how frightening it was to reach out to people in the Spire because of that, and though he definitely controls it better now, that fear is always still there, nagging, niggling, at the back of his mind every time.

So... He rests.

As much as he can, at least. He's quietly in their little apartment, unnoticed by everyone that passes through, because he's trying to do little gestures here. It's harder than at home. There aren't animals here, not in the same way. But still, he sets out the little fruits, hoping to attract flies for the few spiders, like he had for the healers at home. It's not much. But it helps.

So he's surprised when Sera walks in and actually calls out to him. She doesn't like him. No, she's afraid of him, because there's something about him that she has to deny. He knows that, so it's all right. He presses his thumb into a piece of soft peach, sets it on the counter where a little spider could make its home, then walks out, making sure that Sera could see him, since she asked. ]

I'm here.