[Shows up and kills people... guess that's him too. Though he doesn't use the guise of religion and all that. Sometimes a motherfucker, or several, need to die.]
Guess you've had the same talks.
[That does get an amused laugh from Cooper.]
Hoo-rah, am I right?
[A soft snort.]
If that's the case then guess I've been in one too, marines though.
[ He's right though, sometimes a motherfucker or a few need to get put in the ground! Arthur would absolutely agree. ]
Talked to at least three people who have had some kind of run in, from what I gather.
[ Cooper's immediate answer using the Marines' catchphrase does pull an amused smile from him. ]
Standard Army, for me. Special projects or whatever they're calling it. What made you join up? [ He doesn't strike him as the most patriotic kind of guy. But then, 200-some years could really change a man. ]
It's a tenuous connection I'll admit, but it's funny it keeps popping up.
[It's also funny how 200 years after your own side drops the bombs you get disillusioned with all the patriotic bullshit. Also the way Arthur just throws it out there so casually that he's with special projects like that isn't insane. Or was with.]
Ah, so you was doing all the behind the scenes shit then. Kinda fella you don't fuck with.
[Guess it explains why he's got a taste and knack for information gathering. Bet he's real efficient when it comes to a fight.]
Oh you know how it is, war starts and all the boys join up to make their daddy proud. Was a bit older than most first timers joining up, but had family who'd served and guess I wanted to get my glory too.
[Except there was no glory, just people killing each other and for what? Fucking Alaska. Okay it was more than that, shh.]
Not a bad ground to build a theory on. [ Look at that, he's even giving a genuine compliment, old man, take that! ]
I suppose. Still break bones and bleed like the next guy. [ A shrug, but then a grin that's more feral than would be expected as he follows that up: ] I do know how to kill someone with a pencil.
[ And assorted other weapons. Or improvised ones. Eames has said he has no imagination, but Arthur just likes to apply his creativity to other places. ]
Let me guess: it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
At this point all we got is theories and a puzzle where all we got are the sky and grass pieces.
[But hey, that's just a theory- a game theory. Cooper's tiny little grinch heart may actually feel a smidge proud someone agrees with him. Someone who seems competent that is.]
That right? [There's a curious lilt to his voice.] There's knowing and there's doing. Ever scrambled someone's brain with a pencil then?
[A man just wants to know okay.]
Sure as hell wasn't. You think you're going to war for a cause and the cause is men with too much money and power playing chess and everyone else is the pieces.
And our lives. Relative freedom. Important details. Not every theory comes together quickly.
[ The research, the waiting and fitting everything together–this is what he excels at. While it's frustrating to go without his usual tools, he still knows how to do this the hard and long way. ]
If I have, what then? [ He's scrambled people's brains in a lot of ways. A pencil is probably the least of them. ]
Yeah, that's about the sum of it. I got a couple friends out of the arrangement, but the rest was a load of bullshit. Did my four years and got the fuck out. They couldn't pay me enough to stay working under some of those psychopaths.
[ Some days, though, he's not sure running with Cobb has been any better. ]
[But maybe Arthur is right, he's just being pessimistic.]
Curious- you go in through the eye? Knives and guns do the trick just fine with that kinda bullseye, guess I just never had a pencil lying round to give it a shot.
[Man to man, tell him the details.]
Worked with a few fellas after the war... good men.
[Does he sound a little soft reminiscing? Maybe. It's a past long gone, people long gone.]
Heh, true though. Honorable discharge was probably the best thing that happened to me. Seen a lotta men die when they didn't have to and not just cause of the war mind you. People who ain't risking their lives giving us faulty shit to work with then laughing and smiling behind the scenes cause they lining their pockets with our blood.
Optimism would be: sure there's a puzzle, but we'll solve it soon. I'd hardly put "well, at least we're still alive" in that category.
[ It's just a realistic view, that's all. ]
Nah, gotta go in under the soft palate. More accurate results. The other way can get ... messy and has a higher percentage of failing to actually kill the person.
[ As Cooper may suspect: he doesn't like inefficient methods. ]
Yeah, some of them aren't so bad. [ He lets Cooper have the nostalgia, allows to pass by unremarked upon, in a sense. Anything more would be prodding and while he's a bit curious, this doesn't seem like the time or avenue to ask about it. ]
Exactly, same here. [ Because despite being a constant thorn in his commanding officer's side, he'd managed to wring an honorable discharge out. ] You ever get a chance to pull something over on those motherfuckers?
[ It doesn't even have to be big–malicious compliance and all that. Just, Cooper seems the type to have enough spite to bite back a little. ]
[Said with a humorous snort. He likes to look at the world how it is too, at least in his point of view. A overfilled bucket of shit. The ghoul breathes out in a low noise, chuckling as Arthur explains almost clinically how he'd do it. It's kinda hot.]
Sounds like you got a lotta experience with that. Killin'. As matter of fact 'bout it as you are with words, huh?
[On a less preferable topic, Cooper grunts.]
Eh, guess you could say I'm still working on that.
[Lot of those people are probably long dead, if not holed up some where frozen in vaults waiting for a time when the world is ripe for them to take over or some bullshit.]
[ Said with a sly smile, something that translates over the Murmur; it's there and gone, almost as if it have been a mistake. ]
You could say that. [ It's not the same in dreams, it isn't, because the first time he killed someone topside, he still threw up and spent the rest of the day miserable and shaking. But, he know the weight of a dead body, the exact angles to make it painless or painful, is intimately familiar with how long it takes to die with a collapsed lung. ] I don't see the point in drawing it out. People have tried to kill me; I just got to them first.
[ And one day, he won't be so lucky. He's made his peace with that already–he was here to live exactly how he wanted, by virtually no one else's rules. That didn't necessarily translate to a long lifespan. ]
Hope you get your shot. It's the least they deserve.
[Hey now, don't be giving him that smile, sir. Might have been quick, but he got it. This murmur shit is something else. Maybe there's something of a whisper of his own smile too.]
Oh for sure, clean and quick is best, but sometimes folks need a little tenderizing.
[And hell, Cooper hopes as much too. Maybe after all these fucking years he'll finally meet some of those at the top who hid away before they dropped the bombs on all their heads. He'd love to have his way with em.]
[ Getting a smile, however small, out of the cranky old man is oddly gratifying. He tucks that in his back pocket to remember for later. ]
Plenty do. I'm just not usually in a position to spend the time on it.
[ Because while dreams last longer under than they do topside, he's not really concerned about scrambling projections. And if he's being shot at topside, he rarely wants to waste time and is more focused on getting the fuck out so law enforcement didn't show up and muddy the waters even more. ]
I'll cross mine for you, too. Can't say I gave them the karmic retribution they earned, but anything is better than nothing, yeah?
Dunno, probably. Social media lingo is not really my area.
[ Trawling for information on those platforms—well, that's a different story. ] Besides, what counts as "these days", with so many different time periods converging? Are we going with an average?
[What the hell is social media? Media that's social? Isn't that technically all media? Media is meant to be viewed by and listened to by people, so... social? Fuck if he knows.]
I'm gonna need a bottle of whiskey before we get into any of that timey whimey shit.
Y'know what? You're probably better off without it.
[ Kinda. He did have a whole ... nuclear apocalypse happen in his lifetime. Not a fair trade off by any stretch. But, it's not like he's missing a whole lot. ]
Unearthed a couple bottles of Maker's Mark that were unopened, if you're game for drunken philosophy.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2025-08-09 07:36 am (UTC)I'm not even religious, so, no. Why?
no subject
Date: 2025-08-09 07:43 am (UTC)Well hell, was testing out a theory. Not that it means it ain't something...
Spoken with some other folks and cults are repeating subject is all. Had my own run ins with em myself, not been in one though.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-09 08:31 am (UTC)Okay, I think I see how you arrived at that. There's a few, right? Who've had run-ins with cults. Or been in them, I suppose.
[ A beat, then: ] Does the US military count as one?
no subject
Date: 2025-08-09 09:20 am (UTC)Guess you've had the same talks.
[That does get an amused laugh from Cooper.]
Hoo-rah, am I right?
[A soft snort.]
If that's the case then guess I've been in one too, marines though.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-11 09:15 pm (UTC)Talked to at least three people who have had some kind of run in, from what I gather.
[ Cooper's immediate answer using the Marines' catchphrase does pull an amused smile from him. ]
Standard Army, for me. Special projects or whatever they're calling it. What made you join up? [ He doesn't strike him as the most patriotic kind of guy. But then, 200-some years could really change a man. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 04:15 am (UTC)[It's also funny how 200 years after your own side drops the bombs you get disillusioned with all the patriotic bullshit. Also the way Arthur just throws it out there so casually that he's with special projects like that isn't insane. Or was with.]
Ah, so you was doing all the behind the scenes shit then. Kinda fella you don't fuck with.
[Guess it explains why he's got a taste and knack for information gathering. Bet he's real efficient when it comes to a fight.]
Oh you know how it is, war starts and all the boys join up to make their daddy proud. Was a bit older than most first timers joining up, but had family who'd served and guess I wanted to get my glory too.
[Except there was no glory, just people killing each other and for what? Fucking Alaska.
Okay it was more than that, shh.]no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 04:28 am (UTC)I suppose. Still break bones and bleed like the next guy. [ A shrug, but then a grin that's more feral than would be expected as he follows that up: ] I do know how to kill someone with a pencil.
[ And assorted other weapons. Or improvised ones. Eames has said he has no imagination, but Arthur just likes to apply his creativity to other places. ]
Let me guess: it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 05:05 am (UTC)[But hey, that's just a theory- a game theory. Cooper's tiny little grinch heart may actually feel a smidge proud someone agrees with him. Someone who seems competent that is.]
That right? [There's a curious lilt to his voice.] There's knowing and there's doing. Ever scrambled someone's brain with a pencil then?
[A man just wants to know okay.]
Sure as hell wasn't. You think you're going to war for a cause and the cause is men with too much money and power playing chess and everyone else is the pieces.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 05:26 am (UTC)[ The research, the waiting and fitting everything together–this is what he excels at. While it's frustrating to go without his usual tools, he still knows how to do this the hard and long way. ]
If I have, what then? [ He's scrambled people's brains in a lot of ways. A pencil is probably the least of them. ]
Yeah, that's about the sum of it. I got a couple friends out of the arrangement, but the rest was a load of bullshit. Did my four years and got the fuck out. They couldn't pay me enough to stay working under some of those psychopaths.
[ Some days, though, he's not sure running with Cobb has been any better. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-13 01:23 pm (UTC)[But maybe Arthur is right, he's just being pessimistic.]
Curious- you go in through the eye? Knives and guns do the trick just fine with that kinda bullseye, guess I just never had a pencil lying round to give it a shot.
[Man to man, tell him the details.]
Worked with a few fellas after the war... good men.
[Does he sound a little soft reminiscing? Maybe. It's a past long gone, people long gone.]
Heh, true though. Honorable discharge was probably the best thing that happened to me. Seen a lotta men die when they didn't have to and not just cause of the war mind you. People who ain't risking their lives giving us faulty shit to work with then laughing and smiling behind the scenes cause they lining their pockets with our blood.
[And a whole lotta money.]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-14 06:01 am (UTC)[ It's just a realistic view, that's all. ]
Nah, gotta go in under the soft palate. More accurate results. The other way can get ... messy and has a higher percentage of failing to actually kill the person.
[ As Cooper may suspect: he doesn't like inefficient methods. ]
Yeah, some of them aren't so bad. [ He lets Cooper have the nostalgia, allows to pass by unremarked upon, in a sense. Anything more would be prodding and while he's a bit curious, this doesn't seem like the time or avenue to ask about it. ]
Exactly, same here. [ Because despite being a constant thorn in his commanding officer's side, he'd managed to wring an honorable discharge out. ] You ever get a chance to pull something over on those motherfuckers?
[ It doesn't even have to be big–malicious compliance and all that. Just, Cooper seems the type to have enough spite to bite back a little. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-14 08:56 am (UTC)[Said with a humorous snort. He likes to look at the world how it is too, at least in his point of view. A overfilled bucket of shit. The ghoul breathes out in a low noise, chuckling as Arthur explains almost clinically how he'd do it.
It's kinda hot.]Sounds like you got a lotta experience with that. Killin'. As matter of fact 'bout it as you are with words, huh?
[On a less preferable topic, Cooper grunts.]
Eh, guess you could say I'm still working on that.
[Lot of those people are probably long dead, if not holed up some where frozen in vaults waiting for a time when the world is ripe for them to take over or some bullshit.]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-14 02:50 pm (UTC)[ Said with a sly smile, something that translates over the Murmur; it's there and gone, almost as if it have been a mistake. ]
You could say that. [ It's not the same in dreams, it isn't, because the first time he killed someone topside, he still threw up and spent the rest of the day miserable and shaking. But, he know the weight of a dead body, the exact angles to make it painless or painful, is intimately familiar with how long it takes to die with a collapsed lung. ] I don't see the point in drawing it out. People have tried to kill me; I just got to them first.
[ And one day, he won't be so lucky. He's made his peace with that already–he was here to live exactly how he wanted, by virtually no one else's rules. That didn't necessarily translate to a long lifespan. ]
Hope you get your shot. It's the least they deserve.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-16 08:53 am (UTC)Oh for sure, clean and quick is best, but sometimes folks need a little tenderizing.
[And hell, Cooper hopes as much too. Maybe after all these fucking years he'll finally meet some of those at the top who hid away before they dropped the bombs on all their heads. He'd love to have his way with em.]
Don't you worry, crossing my fingers every day.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-18 06:23 pm (UTC)Plenty do. I'm just not usually in a position to spend the time on it.
[ Because while dreams last longer under than they do topside, he's not really concerned about scrambling projections. And if he's being shot at topside, he rarely wants to waste time and is more focused on getting the fuck out so law enforcement didn't show up and muddy the waters even more. ]
I'll cross mine for you, too. Can't say I gave them the karmic retribution they earned, but anything is better than nothing, yeah?
no subject
Date: 2025-08-20 08:26 am (UTC)Normally I'd agree, but these ones deserve more than just "better than nothing".
I think they deserve the proper time and effort. Wouldn't want to half ass this.
[But he appreciates the support in his homicidal designs.]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-21 04:08 am (UTC)Ah, that sort. Alright, I suppose that's different. Gotta make sure you whole ass it.
[ Look, some people just need to be put 6 feet under. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-21 06:37 am (UTC)Whole ass it, huh? That what the kids call it these days?
[Even though Arthur is younger than him, he's technically from the past sooo... this time stuff is going to do his head in one of these days.]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 10:14 pm (UTC)[ Trawling for information on those platforms—well, that's a different story. ] Besides, what counts as "these days", with so many different time periods converging? Are we going with an average?
no subject
Date: 2025-08-27 01:34 pm (UTC)[What the hell is social media? Media that's social? Isn't that technically all media? Media is meant to be viewed by and listened to by people, so... social? Fuck if he knows.]
I'm gonna need a bottle of whiskey before we get into any of that timey whimey shit.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-27 09:42 pm (UTC)[ Kinda. He did have a whole ... nuclear apocalypse happen in his lifetime. Not a fair trade off by any stretch. But, it's not like he's missing a whole lot. ]
Unearthed a couple bottles of Maker's Mark that were unopened, if you're game for drunken philosophy.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-28 07:21 am (UTC)Ha! Now that's my kinda philosophy.
[If it'll be enough to get him truly drunk is another thing, but fuck it. A good stiff drink in this hell hole sounds like a good ol' time.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-01 05:23 am (UTC)[ Let's get drunk, old man. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-02 01:09 am (UTC)[No dramatic reenactments of Hamlet okay.]
Heading your way.
[Let's get drunk.]
🎀
Date: 2025-09-02 09:28 pm (UTC)[ But what about Midsummer's Night Dream? ]
See you soon.