escordvi | The Light is Off But I Still Work

Who: Darin Altway and You!
Status: Open
Where: Eltrut and Nogard
What: MANTA quests and general catch-all
Warnings: Will Mark As Needed

-SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE-

[Darin sure as hell has no idea where this Tapir plushie craze came from but the markets are absolutely inundated with stalls selling tapir themed wraps and goods. A few days ago, that wouldn't have been a problem. He wasn't all that interested and fads come and go. He's a tradesman, he knows how it is.]

[But then he heard about what the tapir plushies do. And considering that someone precious to him is in some sort of sleep coma, he decided to go out and grab one. How hard could it be?]

[Hard enough that every stall is showing they're out of stock. And when one pops up with stock, they're overwhelmed within minutes.]

[So now, Darin's camping out one of the lesser known corners of the market on Eltrut. He's been out here all night and it's now 8 AM. Someone in this corner of the market is going to have a plushie and dammit he's going to get it. Trouble is...he's not the only one looking to get a plushie here.]

...Is it bad form to use your god-gifted superpowers to snag a plushie ahead of a bunch of crazed, entitled shoppers? That's bad form, right?

[He's talking to himself but hey, you're free to be there to help him.]

[Or compete with him.]

-PAINTED SKULL-O-LANTERNS-

[Coming from a world that usually has harvest festivals this time of year, hearing about all of the spooky happenings and upcoming events doesn't have Darin especially thrilled. He's got enough on his mind as it is! And while Darin might not be the most superstitious sort, he'll tend to try anything once. Especially if it means warding off scary monsters or even death itself.]

[Besides, decorating the forge could be fun.]

[So, he's sitting out front of the Starmetal Forge with a basket of (hopefully) fake skulls. He's got a small table set up and a whole bunch of paints and...a potter's wheel? Darin places a skull down on the center of the wheel and begins to spin it, then selects a color of paint and carefully drips it on the spinning skull, creating wild, circular designs. He's also making a big mess and he has more paint on him than he does the skull.]

[But there's plenty of room for someone to join him! And plenty of skulls and paint to go around. Hopefully you have a smock of your own if you're worried about making a mess. Because you probably will.]

-STARMETAL SPARRING-

[Darin has had a lot of nervous and anxious energy to get out. He hasn't had the focus to work on any projects at the forge. He's got too much on his mind to sit at home and work on personal projects. And with his body healing up nicely after crossing paths with Ganondorf, he's itching to start training. Problem is, how does he start? Well, if there's one thing he's learned is that riftfarers seem to have all sorts of crazy powers. And learning to adapt to their abilities would not only give him some valuable training, but it'd allow him to blow off some steam as well!]

[He's fashioned a small sparring area behind the Starmetal Forge. Nothing inherently fancy but enough room to move around in. He mostly uses it to test some of his projects but...well, today he's repurposing it. Finally, he hangs a sign out front that reads:]

Feelin' Frustrated? Come On In For a Pounding!

[Does Darin understand the connotations of that sign? You be the judge!]

-INFILTRATE AND LIBERATE PART 2-

[After the recovery of the tragic cargo last month, Darin's been keeping abreast of the situation regarding the victims' treatment. Since it looks like the victims can be saved after the crystals are painstakingly shaved off, Darin is currently researching and engineering a way to make the process even the slightest bit less arduous.]

[He's hunched over his workbench at the Starmetal Forge, toying with some precision tools. There's a small pile of elemental stones nearby that he's currently rummaging through.]

Gotta be a way to magically enhance the edge of a knife or scalpel...my first instinct is wind but...ice could work too. Or fire? Heating the crystal might make it easier to remove...

-UNDERWATER RUINS- HIDDEN CHAMBER

[Somehow, checking out these ruins without a certain somebody by his side isn't as fun as he was hoping. How is it he's gone on two expeditions and he's gone alone each time? He heaves a despondent sigh as he wanders into the large chamber. He wouldn't be surprised if someone was already here...these ruins have been around for over a month now. But he had to get off Eltrut for a bit. Even for a day. And being able to examine ruins would at least give him something to distract himself.]

[Darin stops and takes a careful look around the room. All of the mirrors had to serve a purpose, right?]

Why so many mirrors? They're just going to reflect themselves...

[Darin drops to a sitting position and pulls out his notebook. He starts to sketch the room in its entirety as he puzzles out the...well, the puzzle.]

(OOC: Please feel free to top-level with something else if these prompts don't work for you! And if you want to double check an idea with me, hit me up through PM or on

bitterbearface)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Wow, that's harsh. You really couldn't think of anything cool to decorate them with?

I am not an artist. I sketch what I see for reference and study, not for aesthetics.

[ Sherlock is an odd case. He has the skills of an artist, but since he maintains that only music moves him (frankly, a lie he tells himself), he hasn't cultivated an artistic eye.

And yet, part of him still can't help but feel insulted. ]

That's still art, you know. I actually do the same!

[Darin reaches into his back pocket and procures a small, worn out notebook. He flips through a few pages to show Sherlock his incredibly detailed and accurate sketches of....everything. People, places, schematics and blueprints, all with an incredible amount of notes and thoughts scribbled around.]

I used to people watch a lot when I was a kid. Taking notes on them. Learning what made people...well, normal.

[ He shuffles his hold on the plush and pulls out a similar worn casebook filled with Sherlock's notes, sketches, and studies. He writes everything down in the book. It is a way for him to keep his thoughts in order and to help protect against falsified memories. ]

All the same, I do not consider myself among artists.

[ Maybe he'll learn to accept he is one, but he has some issues to work through first. ]

Is that the first skull you've painted thus far, or do you have a finished one?

Oh, yeah I've got a finished one. Here, check it out.

[Darin stands and moves over to a makeshift shelf lined with newspaper where one of the skulls looks like...well, it might as well look like a Jackson Pollock painting. But it's vibrantly splattered with all sorts of colors. Interestingly, Darin seems to have used his finger to wipe away some of the paint to accentuate the skull's contours with bone white negative space.]

What do you think? Pretty cool, huh?

[ What does he think? He's not sure. This is so different than anything he's really used to. Sherlock stares without speaking for possibly longer than what's polite. ]

It is like you took brightly colored marbled paper and applied it to a three dimensional form.

[ Yeah, that's the best he's got if he's honest. He cannot even pull details out of it to come up with a halfway believable theme. ]

Yeah? You think?

[Darin looks at it thoughtfully.]

I just thought it looked cool. I wanted to try something and just kinda...ran with it.

You ever get that urge? To follow a thought or an idea to its logical endpoint?

Quite often. It is a staple of my profession to follow an investigation to its end, whether that be to answer a hypothesis or confirm a theory.

[ It has gotten him in trouble before, but his obsessive nature keeps him doggedly on the trail. ]

Right! That's kinda how it is with art! I can't tell you how many times I've been about to fall asleep when I get a great idea for something to work on in the forge. Then I spend the next three hours drafting the whole thing up!

Hell, sometimes I'm so excited to actually work on it that I have a hard time sleeping after that!

If you're passionate about something, you wind up creating without realizing you're creating!

The inability to sleep with such an occupied mind is also familiar. I also forwent eating and drinking for I was so occupied.

[ He still cannot relate to it being about creation or art unless he were to call it the art of deduction... It does not sound so strange as he thinks about it more. There is a certain requirement of imagination to take the clues, the materials, to discover the truth. Is that not creating in a sense? ]

Perhaps we understand one another on the matter more than we realize.

Gods, don't get me started, Sherlock. I can't tell you how many times I've gone entire days without eating. My Old Man called it "Forge Focus." When the rest of the world kinda disappears and before you know it, you've lost three days.

[Darin laughs...more at himself, really. He's lost so much time in his work that it's almost comical.]

That's why you need someone around to snap you out of it. Make sure you're taking care of yourself.

[ Someone to snap him out of it... Sherlock's gaze becomes a bit distant as if he could see the person who had done just that.

Ah, no. He's spent too much time pining for someone in another world. He can't let himself get distracted at every reminder. ]

Has anyone else taken up work in your forge to do just that?

Ah...yeah, a good friend of mine. Her name's Zelda. A...researcher. From Hyrule.

She works with me pretty regularly. Keeps me from falling apart.

[He smiles to himself fondly. Gods he wishes she was awake right now.]

She's a big help.

I've met Miss Zelda. She seems very knowledgeable and dependable.

[ He does not know that Zelda has gone into a crystal coma and would be concerned if knew. They aren't close, but they formed a weird "ghosts pretending to be our parents are taking over the conversation, and we're embarrassed but also want to make them proud" connection. ]

Do pass along my regards when you see her next.

The Light is Off But I Still Work

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