therookery | Crystals or Action, choose your own adventure

FORM: Sending crystal plus (see notes).
SENDER: Cosima
RECIPIENT: Rifters (others opt-in)
NOTES: Catch-all for threads about amputation (so content warning for that being discussed, though I don't expect anything too bloody). Happy to match prose or brackets, as ever. See further notes under the cut.

Cosima wouldn't flatter herself she knows everyone in Riftwatch well, but she's been here a long time and she's been leading a division for a respectable bit of that now. She has names and faces for everyone, and at least a vibe on most of the people she doesn't know well. That makes this slightly easier, but only slightly.

The entire point of seeking people out one-on-one is that making an official announcement will give the discussion she wants to have too much official weight. But that does mean tracking everyone down individually (though at least Research members who aren't in the field will come to her for their normal check-ins, if nothing else). Still. She's put this off too long, and it's not going to get any simpler if she continues to procrastinate.

If she hasn't gotten to you yet, you may notice her walking through the Gallows with a bit of extra purpose. Nothing seems to be immediately on fire, at least.

[OOC: Choose your own adventure with this very un-formatted flow chart:

1.) RIFTERS who want a thread: Good news, Cosima is tracking down every one of you to talk about amputation and anchor shards! She'd lean in person, but OOCly if you'd rather a network thread, we can just handwave that your character is out on an assignment and do it by sending crystal instead.

2.) RIFTERS who don't want a thread right now: You can assume Cosima tracked you down (unless you took truly extraordinary measures to avoid her). We can either handwave or talk OOCly about it, as you like.

3.) NATIVES with anchor shards: If you want to chat too, Cosima's not hunting you down but wouldn't avoid a conversation if you clocked what she's up to and want one.

4.) NATIVES without anchor shards: Look, if you want to talk about anchor shards for some reason, hmu. (Otherwise her inbox is open.)

For all of the above, just jump in if you'd like. If you'd like me to write a more customized starter, reach out on plurk or discord and I'll take care of you.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( gwenaëlle’s voice is particularly distinct, even for someone who hasn’t been hearing it for so many years as cosima— )

If I were to venture a guess about the specificity of who you’ve been seeking out this week, Provost, how close to the mark do you think I’d land?

Given what I know about your observational skills, probably dead on.

[She'd also told Stephen she planned to do this, but she's not going to assume that's a thing he felt compelled to pass along.]

I think Tavane’s decision to lie and her reasoning for doing so was an insult to you and every other rifter here, including the one irresponsible enough to let her handle it that way.

( and she loves that idiot dearly, to be clear, but cosima can probably do the math herself on how likely it is from her tone of voice that stephen had wanted to bring up amputation and anchor-shards with her again. )

For the record, I have a higher opinion of our colleagues and how they make decisions. I think they deserve it.

( and she just wants that on record, thank you. )

OK, noted.

[She might have left it there, but since they're talking privately:]

For the record, if I could do it over, I would have pulled rank on the lie. I should have pushed harder, instead of effectively punting it over to Stephen. But I'm trying to do better in advance of whatever the next time is. [To make sure the same logic wouldn't hold for anyone else.]

Edited (it's been private the whole time) 2025-06-26 01:12 (UTC)

I’d hope there’s not one, ( but chance would be a fine thing, so, you know. )

I expect Tavane won't be the last to want to take the chance. But if I can help it, she'll be the last who does it covertly. And if anyone asks my opinion, I'm going to be honest about the reason it's not a path I'm going to take myself.

[She's sure that there are people who would want her to take a strong position than that, even, but it's where she's landed.]

( well, with that set up, )

What is that, for you?

( if gwenaëlle is of the opinion that there’s right and wrong answers here (and she is), she doesn’t immediately lead with that in asking. it’s probably not hard to guess, all things equal. )

Professional ones: We don't have other ways to close rifts, and that's a problem. I'm also more use to the organization with both hands. If I lose one from a Venatori attack or something, I'd work around it, but it's a hindrance I won't pretend isn't one. And even though I'm not much good in a fight, I'm near them sometimes. The anchor-generated shield comes in handy.

Personally? I don't want to die, but we're all going to someday. I've already disappeared once, and it's just ... not being. That's what I expected death to be, it's not somehow worse than getting stabbed at Granitefell was except, I assume [let's not talk about the impressionistic memories], the latter hurt first. But the personal reasons are things I can sort through if and when we sort out the rifts and Corypheus. The professional ones are overriding until that happens.

Those are the most important. ( if you ask her, which cosima didn’t, but which she feels no need to equivocate or soften with in my opinion, I think. it’s her opinion because she considers it to be a fact. ) I understand Stephen’s concerns, medically,

( they’ve both been in this long enough to remember the poor unfortunate elf who hadn’t survived taking her anchor-shard to the chest, )

but it feels like a conversation that can wait, you know? It has to wait. If it doesn’t, ( a click of her tongue against her teeth. ) I used to worry about that.

Did you? I think that's natural, probably.

I was sick the first time I was here. Maybe you remember, a lot of people wouldn't. But if I ever lost access to spirit healing, I... Well. I think I expected that to kill me before the shard got close.

I remember. And it’s taken its sweet time for all but the one of us, really.

( after a beat, ) I had this theory, early on, that if Solas had figured out how to remove the anchor-shards, he’d keep it to himself. And that if he had, he was right to,

( despite being a pampered lap-cat at the time and not a combat agent; despite how badly she’d wanted to be unshackled from the inquisition, at the time. even still. )

I don’t know, I don’t think the situation is what it was, then. I don’t think we’re suffering from a dearth of people who’d make the right choice, separate from themselves.

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