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diademlogs2026-02-15 12:50 pm
thoughts) wrote in diademlogs2026-02-15 12:50 pm
OPEN ☾ crash landing
Who: river tam + you!
Where: all over panorama
When: February
What: intro log and catch all!
Warnings: will add if needed
pls check out her opt-in/opt-out post to let me know how you'd like me to handle river's psychic powers around your character or if there are any sensitive topics you'd like to avoid. hover over chinese phrases for a translation and my apologies in advance for any mistakes! feel free to hmu on ragemarshmallow @ discord if you'd like to plan something out!
Where: all over panorama
When: February
What: intro log and catch all!
Warnings: will add if needed
pls check out her opt-in/opt-out post to let me know how you'd like me to handle river's psychic powers around your character or if there are any sensitive topics you'd like to avoid. hover over chinese phrases for a translation and my apologies in advance for any mistakes! feel free to hmu on ragemarshmallow @ discord if you'd like to plan something out!
OPEN ❂ hostile hostel
she managed to scrounge up enough money in her first two days to book a week at a hostel, the cheapest thing she could afford with the small handful of joolies she earned counting inventory ( when she wasn't otherwise botching her assignment ). the place is pretty rundown, just shy of condemnable by reasonable standards that don't seem to apply here. the rooms are small, the walls are thin, and there are too many people packed into what feels like a coffin for how much river feels like she's suffocating in it.
anyone staying in the same hostel might catch a rumor that the building is haunted by the pale ghost of a young girl with long black hair. there have been sightings of her lurking in the communal showers during the witching hours around 3am or later, standing stock still under a stream of hot water until she vanishes into the steam. she might also appear as a dark shadow in the corner of your vision, darting across hallways or into rooms so quickly it seems like a trick of the eye.
on nights when her nightmares and insomnia are at their worst, she might be found pounding on the door to a nearby bedroom late at night. her eyes are bloodshot, her hair an unkempt mess, standing in the hallway with bare feet and ill-fitting sleep clothes. whether the door opens or not, she can be heard pleading in a miserable voice. ]
Can you please turn it down? Please, it - it's too loud. Qǐng ānjìng yīdiǎn, please. Hello?
[ might be your door she's come knocking on in the dead of night, when most folks ought to be sleeping - or as is more often the case, her begging goes unheeded as the room is empty. it's unclear where the racket she's hearing may be coming from but she's insistent, borderline desperate as she continues to bang on the door. ]
OPEN ✫ down the rabbit hole
if anything, she seems endlessly fascinated. this entire world is a literal mishmash of things from across the multiverse, how could she not be intrigued by all of it?
she's supposed to be looking for a job, but more often than not, river can be found meandering aimlessly through the city. she's openly transfixed by everything she sees and hears - ogling people of different species in ways that might be somewhat rude, eavesdropping on conversations in different languages and interjecting in the same tongue in ways that might also be rude, and otherwise poking her head in or touching things that don't belong to her in ways that are - you guessed it - a little bit rude.
she has no manners and no sense of shame or personal space. she's just extremely curious and willing to get all up in people's business about it. might be good to warn her off of such invasive behavior, especially in places that don't take kindly to outsiders meddling. ]
OPEN ✹ help needed
her approach to job hunting might be unorthodox in a place like the diadem and would never pass the standards of what she was taught back home, but her daddy taught her that first impressions are important. in a ratty messenger bag she found near a dumpster, she has a dozen handwritten resumes and cover letters that she tries to hand out as she makes her inquiries. her name is listed as 'r. tam' and the pages are mostly blank, effectively reduced to 'please hire me, i would like to eat.' ]
I promise to work hard in exchange for currency.
[ earnest and sincere, if a bit awkward. she means well and doesn't get discouraged when people tell her to shove off, simply gives a polite bow and moves on to the next spot. ]
CLOSED ⚝ cassian
perhaps even more now than when they first met in the scrapyard. she's been back there to watch him work or curiously peruse through the junk, trying to learn more about this world through the people and things that have been left behind. other times, cassian has shown her some of the more important things to know about life in panorama.
they're meeting up in the city today, and her demeanor might seem more nervous or erratic than the last few times they met up. she parks her scooter nearby, loops the helmet around the handles, and tugs down her goggles to face him with viciously dark circles under her eyes. ]
Nǐ hǎo.
CLOSED ❃ wanda
instead, she might need help with a much more simple task. river invites wanda to visit her at the hostel a few days after her arrival. the room is small, yet every available surface seems to be covered in a random array of clothes strewn about haphazardly. river took as much as she could carry from the wayward laundromat, but she hasn't put any effort into actually figuring out what she can wear. some things are much too large for her, it's hard to tell what's clean or dirty, and she has no fashion sense to speak of.
she's just been wearing whatever she grabs first, which is how she greets wanda at the door wearing an old pair of jeans that are long enough to hide her feet and a hoodie with a sports team logo she's never heard of and holes where the front pocket should be. still, she smiles warmly. ]
Welcome. Qǐng jìn.
no subject
So when she chooses to go out on her own, he doesn't stop her - even tries to set her up at the motel where the staff were the good sort, the kind that assured him they would keep an eye on her on the off chance she needed it before she determinedly decides to do things her own way. All the same he continues to make good on his promise to help her too, meeting up with her when she asks, offering to take her out for a meal since he can't be certain what her job prospects look like at the moment, learning a little of her language because he knows how much that can put someone at ease. Surprisingly, he's picked it up quite quickly. ]
Nǐ hǎo. [ He emerges from his own car at the hole in the wall dumpling shop they'd agreed to meet at, only to pause as he takes in her appearance. ] Everything okay?
no subject
wanda made it a day before she took river up on that, and finds herself witnessing... a room, certainly. )
Thanks.
( in she goes, pulling off the crossbody bag from her shoulder, and being careful of not stepping on anything that might seem too precious or delicate. this proves to be an almost impossible task. would it have been better to invite river to her place, instead...? wanda cannot hide the worry she feels.
before river can say anything, though, wanda turns to the teen, and, pulling something from her bag, she presents it to her. )
I got you something.
( it's a flip phone, a similar model to wanda's, and a charging cable for it, along with a sim card. all components are neatly placed inside a box for safekeeping. )
I figured you didn't have one yet after we spoke yesterday. Most everyone has one here, so — we can keep in touch easier this way. ( helpfully, she adds, ) I've already added myself as a contact.
no subject
Everything can't be okay, it's statistically impossible.
[ it's quantifiable: everything is not okay. simon isn't here and river feels unmoored without him. she's going through the motions of what she thinks you're supposed to do - eating, sleeping, showering, getting dressed, things her brother typically helps her with - but it's exhausting and there are always so many people.
except for this restaurant that river found on one of her excursions through the city. it's small, just a row of stools across the bar where they serve piping hot food directly to you for a fast and cheap meal. best of all, though - the place seems to be low on patronage because it's usually empty. bad for business maybe, but it works for river, who moves her bag into her lap as she slides onto one of the stools. ]
Your pronunciation is getting better, though. Did you practice?
no subject
Oh! You're looking for work.
[ She is talking to the right person if she wants to be doing that.]
I know several places that have open positions!
[ Jack smiles at her brightly. He's a completely average person on the outside, nothing special about him, and everything he says and feels are right there on the open. He's what he seems, which is a nice young man, with an optimistic attitude.]
What would you like to do?
no subject
Even without knowing everything that she had gone through before arriving, Cassian could surmise as much. That and he knew as well as any that the first several days here were unlikely to be "okay". But if that's what would make this easier, then so be it. ]
That's not what I meant.
[ But they can put a pin in that thought for now as they make their way into the restaurant. As they settle into the table he distributes menus between the pair of them. It's a little pointless given this place only sells five items - but he's come to enjoy the simplicity and matter-of-factness of the elderly proprietors. ]
A little. There's a couple of people in the building that speak it.
[ A battered looking tea set is set on the table before them and Cassian offers a nod of thanks to the old man as he shuffles back to the kitchen. AS he speaks he begins to pour tea between them. ]
Did you speak it growing up?
no subject
Shiny. It's a functional model of early-millennia wireless telecommunication devices from Earth-that-Was.
[ maybe it's just a flip phone - or maybe it's
maybellinea relic of ancient history from a fallen empire. river marvels at it for a long moment either way before finally turning to wanda. ]I can really have this? I didn't know it was Christmas, I didn't get you anything.
no subject
Anything would do. I'm a fast learner with very versatile skills.
[ is this an interview? she might as well treat it like one and give the business answer for 'i have no work experience and no career prospects but i need a job.' she's never thought about what she would like to do; it's not even part of the equation. ]
no subject
[ fortunately, there's someone nearby who can't mind his own business either. livio, a six foot seven towering man made of muscles, shifts so he's between the two, hands up and attempting to placate the man. he'd rather this not turn to violence, but it's clear that one punch from livio could knock this man straight out ]
Sorry about her, mister! She didn't mean ta bother you. We'll be going now.
[ the man tries to glare around livio at river, but is stopped by his sheer bulk ]
no subject
easier instead to talk about other things. river's interest genuinely perks up at the notion that there may be people that speak chinese in cassian's building. ]
Everyone speaks it growing up, it's just the way of things.
[ which is why it's strange to be surprised, when she doesn't know life any other way. the diadem is full of impossible realities, so river fixes him with the smile of a contrarian. ]
The better question is whether or not what we're speaking right now is what we grew up speaking. If we aren't from the same 'verse, could be that my version of English or Chinese is different from yours or anyone else's, so how do we all understand each other?
[ really makes you think ]
no subject
wanda just shrugs. )
You don't have to get me anything.
( after all, she had some extra cash lying around. it felt right to do this for river. )
...do you know how to use it? I could show you. ( then, humming, as she glances about, adds, ) Maybe clean up a little bit, too?
no subject
He knows a change in topic when he sees it. Though River's secrets are hers to keep, subtly when it comes to this are very obvious. And this at least is something that he doesn't mind talking about or entertaining. For now. ]
We have translator droids for that in my galaxy. There are countless languages - it would be impossible for someone to learn them all. I haven't seen anything like that here.
[ With the tea poured he slides it over to her acting none the wiser about her not so slick distraction. ]
So it has to be something to do with this planet.
no subject
Still, he does hope that it's just observing, and nothing more. He's haggling with a shopkeeper about the price of what looks to be a bin of miscellaneous parts, but her stare from beyond a nearby shelf is starting to grate. He pauses the transaction, momentarily, to tilt his head in her direction.]
Is there something I can help you with?
[There is little to be discerned from the shadow of his hood outside of two glowing yellow eyes. He doesn't sound unfriendly, at least--just a little exasperated.]
no subject
[ Jack has three jobs because he stored all his money to pay back the debts of himself and his family, but also since he doesn't sleep so he has a lot of time to work. Now he's saving up for a better place, so he doesn't slow down on his time cards. He likes each of his jobs, and he's very good at customer service. As he's showing, being so warm and friendly to a stranger.
She must be new if she's searching like this. He must help her as he would've wanted someone else to do for him.]
There is a job board by the grocery store, do you want to go look together? It'll have openings on it.
[ It's how Jack found his job there in the first place. It is a central location as everyone ends up there eventually, so they made a little job stand for newcomers or people looking to pick up extra shifts. Jack gestures in the direction of the grocery store which is always open, so they can walk there if she wants.]
If you know how to be a bartender or a waitress, you can potentially get more money through tips.