crystal

[undergrunn]

( Behold, a new voice on the crystals. Soft, good-humoured, with an accent that sounds Scandinavian / relative equivalent. The crystal catches a quiet breath of laughter before she speaks. )

I don’t know if you’re really lucky to have an engineer turn up, or if I’m really unlucky that I need to figure out the machinery.

I mean, learning about the infrastructure of a city in a whole different world isn’t even a “once in a lifetime” kind of opportunity, and pretending I’m some sort of genius at kinetic motion just because I know some mechanisms from home would be pretty fun, but…

Wow.

( Maybe that sounds a little weightier than her first "wow.")

Oh, I'm Abella. Riftwatch, you’re gonna have to have a lot more ramps by the time I’m done with you. Somewhere has to accommodate wheelchair users, even if it’s some kind of fairy tale world.

( Hmmm. )

Wait, can you just make them float, here? (More softly, ) Flying wheelchairs would explain the lack of ramps. I mean, this crystal thing is remarkable, so... let me know if I don't need to think about the ramps.

Comments

[laruetheday]

Don't know if you've seen the giant rock pile near the harbor, but one of our towers is a total loss and another one is non-usable. There's an elevator in the central tower that works if you can't handle stairs. Right now we need the Eyrie fully repaired and a functional residential tower so we're not all freezing our asses off in a couple months.

[ "Before anybody even thinks about adding ramps" is not said out loud but definitely implied in her tone. ]

[elegiaque]

( gwenaëlle has never been good at implication, )

Please don't waste our resources on irrelevant vanity projects for things that can't currently reach the island in the first place while the bulk of our force is living in barely defensible tents.

[laruetheday]

[ as long as one of them said it ]

[undergrunn]

( Well. Her tone was all friendliness before, and that’s not gone, but she does sound rather more serious. )

The war that’s just ended in my home world, and the one before it, sent many men home with their bodies permanently changed, and injuries can make mobility harder even in the short term. It’s not a vanity project to ensure all necessary parts of a facility are accessible for people in mobility devices, or wheeled vehicles, in some instances. I also made no reference to the order or prioritisation of projects. I won’t waste your time or resources, but please don’t dismiss me, or make assumptions about my intelligence and the reasons why accessibility was on my mind.

[elegiaque]

I'm making an assessment, not an assumption. If you wanted it assessed differently, you should have waited to have something intelligent to say. Feel free to do so at any time.

[undergrunn]

Making an assessment involves asking questions and analysis.

This sounds more like you’ve taken an attempt to introduce myself on the crystals and admittedly pretty dumb attempt at thinking of something to say, and decided that’s all you need. That’s not a reliable diagnostic method for figuring out people or systemic issues.

[elegiaque]

You sound like an excellent fit for Research when you're finished being preoccupied with a war you're no longer fighting and start taking the time to see what the needs of this one are.

( she does consider it immense, courteous restraint on her part to have left 'that no one gives a shit about' out of the war she's no longer fighting. )

Try that. It'll do you wonders, since you certainly sound as if the thirty extra seconds of thought you're taking to wag your finger at me might have saved you the time several minutes ago.

[undergrunn]

( She takes a moment. As heated as she can get, Abella’s core desire is always to help and to understand, and there’s got to be something she’s missing here, when a couple of people are annoyed already. )

Hey, I get it. I need to change gears and get my head around what this war is like, instead of going off what I’ve seen at home. I bet having new people arrive for years and probably more than a few of them saying ignorant stuff or making assumptions about somewhere you live is going to get annoying and exhausting.

( Thinking it through, yeah, it sounds annoying as hell. )

I could’ve waited until I knew more before getting on here, but honestly, I was excited about playing with a new piece of technology, and I see how that could be annoying, too. But I.. I did ask in good faith if wheelchair ramps are not a concern at all here because of magic. I’m kind of confused how I’m the one finger-wagging, to be honest.

[elegiaque]

( if she's over it already then gwenaëlle feels comfortable ignoring the part that wasn't relevant to her at all (someone else's feelings), )

To be perfectly honest, I'm confused as to why you're still talking about 'wheeled chairs' as if it's an obvious given what they are and why they'd be relevant to the conversation at all. If you have some specific personal project that interests you, propose it to the Provost or use your own time and resources, but if you announce you're specifically interested in wasting resources that the people here need for the sake of, I don't know, your fairy tale wheel people, you're going to be corrected.

( she's not from orzammar or tevinter, she's from orlais, where rich people can just order elves to carry their palanquins and poor people who can't walk had better hope they look endearing enough to catch scraps,

there is perhaps an inherent disconnect here. )

[undergrunn]

( confusedsquint.jpg

there is

A Pause )

Since we just talked about me needing to learn more about this place and not making assumptions, could you tell me what you’re thinking of when I say “wheelchair”?

[elegiaque]

( no, she's still mad about the fairy tale world crack—

fine. )

I'm thinking you'd best be a better engineer than you are a communicator, because you keep repeating that like it should mean something to me.

[undergrunn]

( She lets it go, despite the brief temptation to point out that asking the question will help with the communication. Abella is the new kid in an extreme way, she’s the one that has to do the work. )

Okay, so when I say “wheelchair,” I’m talking about a mobility device. It’s so that people whose legs don’t work the way most people’s do can get around more easily and independently. The chair might be wood or metal with fabric and cushions, and they usually have four wheels, the two front ones are smaller, and the back ones are larger and are how the user steers and accelerates.

That was why I mentioned all this being relevant to a place fighting a big war and injured soldiers, because they might wind up losing their legs, or there might be people working for Riftwatch who have a medical condition that means their legs don’t work. Being able to get around more easily is good for day to day running of a place, but if there’s an emergency or the elevator is broken, having ramps would mean they aren’t stranded, and aren’t struck relying on other people for help.

Ramps alongside staircases, providing alternatives to ladders, that’s more wheelchair focused, but ramps can be useful for other purposes as well, if you’re strategic about it.

Does that… does that make me talking about it make more sense?

[elegiaque]

In a sense, ( is measured, and doesn't sound like she's any more convinced of its relevance than she was a moment ago. )

If you want to concern yourself with 'wheeled chairs' for people, that's a personal project for your own time and using their resources. If a ramp has a meaningful use beyond that, then certainly, propose it. Inventing a thing and then declaring we have to accommodate the thing you've made up as if it's as pressing as the actual needs of our people is not the compelling argument you think it is.

[undergrunn]

Would you like to ask me about my experience and past work, or would you prefer to continue to make assumptions and be dismissive?

[laruetheday]

Assumptions? I responded directly to what you said and I'm telling you what the priority is.

[undergrunn]

Your tone came across pretty loaded, but I’m happy to treat it as earnest feedback, if you’re happy to acknowledge that something being on my mind when I just got here doesn’t mean it’s going to skew my priorities when doing a job.

[laruetheday]

I don't know anything about what your priorities are, so I won't be acknowledging shit.

[undergrunn]

I mean that… that kind of proves my point, but okay. Have a nice day.

[laruetheday]

Wh—

You show up with these plans after falling out of the sky about fifteen seconds ago and I tell you what you're talking about is like incredibly low on the list of priorities right now but I'm the one making assumptions? We've been living out of tents for three months but I'm being dismissive?

action, yoink

[armd]

(Clarisse is getting her crystal privileges revoked—)

Dude.

[laruetheday]

What the hell!

[ She's grabbing for it back— ]

[armd]

(Abby shoves her shoulder, pushing her away while she holds the crystal out of reach in her other hand. This will only work if Clarisse lets it work, gotta move quick.)

She's not worth it.

[laruetheday]

[ After the initial lunge, Clarisse just stands there glaring at her and trying to look intimidating. It's a tactic that has worked for her a lot in the past. And which would work a lot better now if Abby wasn't a) taller than her and b) probably immune to her bullshit by now. ]

Give me my crystal.

[armd]

(Abby is not swayed. She holds the crystal up higher, making a point of it. Clarisse will have to jump.

— Or she can push Abby down with her pinky finger, probably, and take it from her easily but Abby is banking on that not being honourable or whatever, so she won't do it. Right,)

Say you'll turn it off and I'll give you your crystal.

[undergrunn]

( the sun crosses the sky over the Gallows, and the light perfectly catches Abella's waist-length hair. Extreme close up of her hair, light shimmering over it.

L’Oreal: because she’s worth it )