003; text; l.morningstar

[dealwiththe]

All right, it's share time. Here's some "get to know you" questions. Feel free to answer any or all. Then ask each other new ones you come up with.

1. Who is one person you admire from your world? Historical figure, celebrity, friend or relative - anyone. And why?

2. What's a fond childhood memory you have?

3. What's your hidden talent? The thing you're good at that others might not be aware of.

4. What animal would you be, and why?

Have fun!

Warden filter

Movie night, tomorrow night, 8 pm. The Weaponizer. It's a classic.

Comments

[rank1]

1. If I just wanted to fight, I'd join the military or something. Nobody gets a master just to learn forms. That's not what it's about.

3. Danmaku games. They're scrolling shooters where nearly the whole screen fills up with bullets, so you need superfine motor control, concentration and quick thinking so your ship doesn't get blown out of the sky.

[dealwiththe]

What's it about, then?

[rank1]

It's commitment. Most instructors are with you for a twelve-week course, maybe three hours a week. A school teacher's with you for a year, maybe another if the place is small. Hell, even parents have a point where their kids are on the hook for their own lives, right? "Figure it out on your own."

But you and your master are together until one of you dies. He teaches you and you teach him what he needs to continue teaching you. Even if a dojo closes or an injury takes someone out, you're always gonna check back in. You're always gonna commit yourself to being the kind of person he'd admire.

It's never over.

[dealwiththe]

So this person isn't just a fighter. You might, theoretically, choose to model your life after them. Someone you admire enough to calibrate your moral compass to, perhaps.

Is it like that?

[rank1]

Pretty close. It's intense.

[dealwiththe]

What sort of man was this master of yours? Apart from "badass fighter", I mean. Was there anything else about him you admired?

[rank1]

He had a way with words. Didn't talk much, but you knew what he meant. When I started out, he accepted it. Said there'd be no reward to anything I didn't perfect. Takes a big man to commit to a philosophy like that, you know? Who's perfect? But he went hard.

[dealwiththe]

He seems like a harsh man, and a harsh life.

Was he right?

[rank1]

[A pause.]

You know how God answers prayers with "yes", "no" or "wait", but every "no" could just be a "wait"? It's like that. I'm waiting for my reward.

[dealwiththe]

That requires a great deal of faith.

Was your master so perfectly fulfilled and happy? Or was his reward something different?

[rank1]

Yeah.

[Does he have faith? His fingers linger on the keys for a moment, but then eh, fuck it. Move on.]

He knew what he was + what he wanted, and usually got it. I've seen him walk into rooms and every head would turn to see what he wanted to say. He was a pretty respected guy. Feared, even. I'd like to think he was happy that way.

[dealwiththe]

And is that what you want? To be respected and feared?

[rank1]

Nah. I've been there. It's a pain in the ass to keep up, and it's just not my style. My master and I were in the same arena, fighting different battles.

[dealwiththe]

So then what do you want from your life as an assassin? Or what *did* you want, I suppose. What battle were you fighting?

[rank1]

Man, that’s a loaded question. It wasn’t any one thing.

[dealwiththe]

Loaded or not, I think it's a fair question. This master of yours gave you something to aspire to, but apparently not exactly the same thing?

[rank1]

Yeah. He was yakuza, and I've never been into crime. The kills are different. The lifestyle's different. End result's different, too. All we needed was our desire to be on top.

[dealwiththe]

In my experience, the end result of "kills because of organized crime" and "kills for money" is the same. People are dead. So what "end result" do you mean?

[rank1]

If you're on the sidelines, maybe it looks that way. Truth is there's killing because you want someone dead and there's killing because you and your opponent know only one of you is making it out alive. The guys at the ends of our blades know exactly where they stand.

Besides. If I killed for money, I wouldn't be living in a trailer in buttfuck nowhere.

[dealwiththe]

Where do you stand, precisely? Killing because _________ ? It’s not money. It’s not desire for revenge or to right a wrong or any number of sympathetic or downright villainous motivations. Just to prove you can? To whom?

[rank1]

It’s a base human instinct, like eating or breathing or blowing a load. The thing that sets my kind apart from serial killers and psychos is that we seek out others who live for the same thrill we do.

[dealwiththe]

You know, I have heard many, many justifications for murder. Apart from ruling Hell for millennia, I worked with a homicide detective for several years, so I’ve heard it all. And I have to hand it to you, Travis.





Yours is by far the saddest, most pathetic excuse for killing I’ve ever heard. It’s a great big nothingburger. Is that all you were able to come up with in your trailer?

[rank1]

[There's a pause. Not a long one, but it's there.]

What can I say? I just love being #1.

[dealwiththe]

That sounds a lot like something I would’ve said, back when I couldn’t see any better way to spend my existence.

[rank1]

Yeah? Because I've taste-tested, and it turns out I just like the taste of blood.