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Messages - ReaperJoe

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1
Beacon Academy / Re: Philosophy Pondering Particulates [CLOSED]
« on: April 25, 2023, 02:16:39 AM »
Lucas's eyes narrowed at his teammate's comment. Having assisted with his family's shop's budget himself, he knew that even generous suppliers had their limits, and no good thing lasts forever.

Turning towards Juno, he responds, "Beacon may be supplying us now, but that won't always be the case, you know? There's no saying for sure if we'll get a steady stream after we graduate, especially during our first year or so as full hunters. All it would take is one scandal or one screw-up, and we'd be left scrounging for scraps. Forget having enough dust, there's a world where we'd be lucky to have enough ammo if things go wrong."

"Besides," he continued, "if we're ever out in the field and use dust at leisure and with no restraint, we may run out before the fight that 'counts', as you put it. It's not like we can always rely on field supply drops on every mission, right?" In fact, more often than not, supply drops were guaranteed to not be available for missions. The wilderness of Remnant and the unpredictability of the Grimm made planning and organizing air resupplies a logistical nightmare; not to mention sending out an entire bulkhead for a team of four would be a drastic waste of resources for any organization.

"And I don't know about you, but I still have a sniper rifle and smoke cannisters when I run out of dust." Lucas finished, glancing at Juno's sorted pile of crystals as if to ask, "What would you do?"

2
Beacon Academy / Re: Philosophy Pondering Particulates [CLOSED]
« on: April 24, 2023, 05:58:21 PM »
"Oh, it'll get done alright," Lucas mused as he sorted another pile of dust, "We have to. Otherwise, we'll end up with explosive powder scattered all over the place. I don't know how allergenic the rest of you are, but one good sneeze in a volatile area and--" Lucas accentuated his point with his own self-made explosion sound effect, nearly spilling the dust he was working with in the process.

After making sure that none of the particulate scattered on the floor, Lucas continued, "Still though, we're definitely consuming way more dust than other teams. Might be worth it to consider cutting back on how much we use, see if we can put that lien to other things, like weapon improvements or things like that."

3
The Vale Region / Re: A New Good Luck Charm [CLOSED]
« on: March 11, 2023, 11:23:58 PM »
"Uh, sorry, don't know any other back-alley dives other than this place," Lucas responded, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the door they just left. Most of the time, if he needed extra time away from the team, he'd just hit up the closest fast food joint and eat there before heading back, so he didn't really know what kind of food the mall had. In fact, if he thought about it, he didn't even know where the mall was. He had assumed that Vale had one, considering it was the center of one of the four kingdoms, but he never had any real reason to go there.

"I've never actually been to the mall here before," Lucas said, uttering his thoughts out loud. "Why not? Let's hit it up; see if there's anything good there.

4
Beacon Academy / Re: What the Night Owls See [Closed]
« on: March 11, 2023, 11:08:48 PM »
"Yeah, I figured it was something like that. It's pretty much the same thing for me," Lucas admitted, before adding," "Not that I'm getting much done. Pretty sure my mind wants to do anything but work, right now. Picking up his drink, he waits by the door and holds it for Prism as they enter the study room.

Taking the very first seat available, Lucas sits down unceremoniously and holds his book out in front of him, continuing trying to convince himself that he's actually reading, and responds to Prism's comments about the team, "Ya know, you say that, but I didn't think it was possible to say 'good morning' every morning until I met Cloe. Like seriously, how is that girl so full of energy from minute one? And as far as Juno's concerned, I can ignore the stink eye. It's when he decides to be 'direct' about solving his problems. Remember that time in the cafeteria when they got his order wrong?" It seems Lucas has no qualms bad-mouthing his teammates. Perhaps it was because he was speaking to Prism, who was also a member of his team. Or perhaps he was just too tired to really care.

Leaning back in his chair, Lucas changed the subject, asking, "Anyways, you said something about being productive, right? What're you working on this late?"

5
The Vale Region / Re: A New Good Luck Charm [CLOSED]
« on: January 24, 2023, 11:53:35 AM »
Lucas could say nothing (except "Ow!" after Cloe nudged him) as Cloe casually handed her card to the shopkeeper, who arched a bushy eyebrow in Lucas's direction. At least, it looked like it was in Lucas's direction. It was hard to tell with all of the hair. Nevertheless, Lucas was only able to massage his arm after Cloe elbowed it with her prosthetic, the metal proving very unforgiving against flesh. That earned a grunt from the shopkeeper, who proceeded to process the exchange. It seemed he didn't care where the payment came from, as long as it ended up in his pocket.

After making a few more arrangements to have the dust sent to the dock for them to pick up on their way back (what, you expected Lucas to carry it around all day?), Lucas turned to Cloe as they walked out of the establishment. "Uh, thanks, I guess," he started, scratching his temple. He was a little conflicted about her reasoning for paying. It was true that he bailed her out of a bad situation during initiation, but she was only there in the first place because he inadvertently lured her in. She didn't need to know that part, but he still felt a little bit guilty.

"You said something about lunch, right? I suppose that's the least I could do to make it up to you. Did you have any place in mind?"

6
The Vale Region / Re: A New Good Luck Charm [CLOSED]
« on: January 15, 2023, 01:25:48 PM »
"Bwa?" came the familiar response as Cloe made her offer. "A-are you sure? It's a lot of dust, ya know? I mean, I know I said it was cheaper, but--" she did realize that he wasn't just picking up his own dust right? This was supposed to be a restock for the entire team! And it was supposed to last them for quite a while (it won't, obviously, because Juno--and, yeah, probably Lucas, too--will go through it like an addict on a snow day).

His mind distracted by Cloe's apparent boundless ability to short circuit Lucas's thoughts, his hand pushed the door open, causing the bell to ring and shaking Lucas from trying to talk Cloe down from spending all of her money. Inside, as expected, is a dust shop. But rather than glass display cases and dispensary tubes, there are crates of crystals and barrels of powder, with sacks and scoops tacked to the side for easy packaging. At the back of the store, there was a door with a sign that said "Employees Only", but the windows revealed a warehouse full of even more crates and barrels. Perhaps dust shop was a bit too generous; this place looks more like the retail side of a distribution center.

Off to the side, there was a raised wooden counter and behind it was a man sitting on a stool, black hair covering every inch of his face except his big red nose and his bald white head. Turning towards the sound of the bell, the shop keeper let's out a grunt of acknowledgement, though his eyebrows were so thick it was hard to tell if he was looking at the pair of students or just the door in general. Taking one last look at Cloe, Lucas stepped inside, announcing, "Excuse me, I had an order under 'Meridiem'?"

The question earned another grunt from the shop keeper, who then hopped off his stool to waddle to edge of the counter and retrieve a large sack filled to the brim with dust products (all of it safely packaged, which he confirmed by hand by retrieving each item from the sack and displaying for both Lucas and Cloe to see). The purchase was clearly not just for Lucas, who turned to Cloe as the man rang up the total price. "You sure you still want to pay for all this?"

7
Beacon Academy / Re: What the Night Owls See [Closed]
« on: January 11, 2023, 03:11:15 PM »
Lucas was more or less absent-mindedly wandering the halls, his eyes on the open book in his hands but not reading the words. He didn't need to, he'd already read them. Really, this was just an excuse to not sit in front of his screen, and his legs would likely take him to a nearby vending machine. If he wants to get this assignment done tonight, he's almost certainly going to need the caffeine. He did have change on him, right?

No sooner had he thought that when he felt a bump against his chest. Instinctively, he looked up from his book, and was a little bit confused to find nobody there. He was starting to think he reallly did need to go to sleep, but then he heard a voice coming from beneath his book.

Lifting it awkwardly above his head, he looked down to find Prism looking almost as delirious as he felt. "Oh, that's where you were," he said matter-of-factly. "What are you doing up--you know what? Nevermind, forget I said anything," he continued, realizing how hypocritical it would be to ask why she's up so late mid-sentence. Instead, Lucas pivots subjects, saying, ""I wouldn't recommend heading back to the dorm right now. Cloe and Juno are asleep, but probably just barely. Pretty sure if you go back now, you'll get a pillow to the face--or worse."

Lucas stepped up to the nearby vending machine and deposited his change, which just so happened to be the right amount for a soda. "I'm heading into one of the study rooms for a bit. You can join me if you want. It's probably better than wandering the halls and bumping into even more random strangers."

8
The Vale Region / Re: A New Good Luck Charm [CLOSED]
« on: January 10, 2023, 11:20:06 PM »
Lucas sighed as Cloe used literally every name for dust but its proper one, but made no further effort to correct her. Instead, he started leaving the landing deck, with a quiet "this way" to his teammate to indicate she should follow him.

"It isn't far," he continued, turning down an alley instead of heading down the main road, "Most people wouldn't know about it unless they did some digging first, though. It's a real hole-in-the-wall. The sign on the door's practically scratched out, but I promise he's got the best deals."

"See, most of the more popular stores cater to a wider audience," Lucas continued explaining, noticeably without prompting, "which is why you can get pre-made dust ammo in most places. Their 'premium' items are just expensive toys for 'trophy hunters' with too much money. Trust me, anyone tries to sell you on their 'highest quality dust', it's because they think you're a mark."

Lucas turns down another corner, either unaware or unconcerned with how grimy his path is becoming, and continues talking, whether Cloe is listening or not. "Not to mention, most places don't offer custom jobs for storage, and if they do, they want to keep it in-house. Normally, the service is pretty good, so it's not really a rip-off, but if you go through a lot of dust like I do, it's better to find a guy that lets you do it yourself. Cheaper in the long run.

Suddenly, Lucas stops, seemingly staring at a wall. Upon closer inspection, however, he's staring at a red door that practically blends in with the brick surrounding it. A faded placard reads "Particular Particulates: For the Discerning Connoisseur".

"This is the place," Lucas says, turning to Cloe, "It'll only take about five minutes to wrap everything up, if you want to wait outside." Not that he expected Cloe to take the offer, of course.

9
Beacon Academy / Re: Philosophy Pondering Particulates [CLOSED]
« on: January 10, 2023, 12:06:11 PM »
"Last I heard, they were doing--and I quote--'hot girl stuff', end quote," Lucas responded, recalling the last thing Cloe said to him before dragging a helpless Prism out of the dorm. "I don't really know what that means, and I'm not really sure I want to. Besides, do you really want them around for this?" Lucas asked, sparing a glance towards his teammate before returning to his work.

It wasn't that Lucas thought the girls were incapable of doing this kind of work. Far from it, they both used dust and knew how it worked. It was more that the overwhelming lion's share belonged to the boys, and Lucas at least had developed his own system for organizing it all. Unfortunately, that system required taking up the entire floor of the dorm room, which would have surely offended the organizational senses of Prism, and it almost certainly would have been disturbed by Cloe's exuberance. Frankly, the only way they would get done with this fast is if they worked without them.

"Still though," Lucas mused, packing what was either the third or thirtieth vial of earth dust away, "It would be nice to have some extra hands with this. Either that, or we gotta cut back on how much we use. If the price tag doesn't kill us, we'll be crushed to death by the sheer volume."

10
Beacon Academy / Re: [sSR] Initation: Team CLVS
« on: January 10, 2023, 11:13:18 AM »
Cloe, Prism, and Juno; Cloe, Prism, and Juno; Cloe, Prism, and Juno. Lucas repeated their names like a mantra in his head, making sure to memorize them as best he can. If he forgot them, he'd have to go with the nicknames he came up for them, which were "Blondie", "Birdie", and "Bozo", respectively. Something told him those names would not be appreciated.

Nevertheless, the team has officially made their introductions, and, not wanting to spend any longer in a Grimm-infested forest than he had to, Lucas piped back up. "'Cakewalk' or not, we still gotta move our legs," he started, trying to put a little bit of tension back into the situation. "If it's all the same to you guys, we should probably get on the road. I don't hear any Grimm right now, but we did cause a pretty big commotion. It's probably a matter of 'when', not 'if', something else comes by, and I want to be a long ways away when it does."

He took a look around, regaining his bearings, before turning back to the group. "Anyone get a look at these 'ruins' on the way down? I saw a couple of clearings, but nothing that really stood out," he said. He wasn't particularly hopeful, but one of their group had literal wings, and they had four sets of eyes to work with now. Maybe between the lot of them, they could pick a proper direction to go.

11
The Vale Region / Re: A New Good Luck Charm [CLOSED]
« on: January 10, 2023, 10:45:22 AM »
"I'm not lame!" Lucas retorted. He figured Cloe wouldn't take the hint. His team's leader was many things--sociable, outgoing, charismatic--but "subtle" was not one of them. It wasn't that Lucas disliked Cloe, of course. As a team member, she ran the very-much-appreciated role of running interference for the team's backline, no doubt preventing some foul Grimm from taking a bite out of his blind spot on more than one occasion. As leader...well, she has a ways to go when it comes to strategy and tactics, but she does have a knack for keeping the team from bickering, which is more than anyone else in his team can say.

All that said, though, Lucas could only handle so much bubbly sunshine before he had to run to some rooftop gargoyle to brood over. Spending his day off galivanting around town with Cloe was pretty low on his list of things he'd like to do, but when Cloe invited herself along on this trip, he couldn't find a good enough reason to tell her no. After all, if he said he wanted to go by himself, she'd just call him lame. And he was not lame.

"Fine, I'll go with you," Lucas said, resigned to his assignment for the day, "But don't call dust 'rocks', unless you want a lecture from the proprietor. He's, uh, pretty passionate."

12
Beacon Academy / Philosophy Pondering Particulates [CLOSED]
« on: January 09, 2023, 04:46:09 PM »
Dust is an incredibly powerful and invaluable resource. The sheer variety of dust alone can reshape battlefields, allowing the forces of civilization to fight on even ground against the Grimm. The energy dust provides is used in almost all the technology of the kingdoms, including everything from cutting-edge weapons to the lights in the dorm room.

With all that in mind, it makes perfect sense for why team CLVS uses so much dust. When combined with their semblances, the versatility of dust makes them an unpredictable force, able to adapt to pretty much any situation. Thanks to all their dust, entire packs of Grimm have been wiped out, sometimes even in a matter of seconds! Yet, there is still one downside to this amazing resource.

"Why do we have so much dust?" Lucas sighed as he picked up another vial. Because the entire team uses an extensive amount of dust, there is an extensive amount of dust scattered about the dorm room. This isn't even necessarily the result of carelessness, the everyday use of it just lends itself to becoming disorganized. Because of that, Lucas had originally only resolved to keep his dust in his specific area, but the scattering about of dust crystals and particulate had blurred the boundaries, and now Lucas has taken on the unenviable task of trying to organize everything.

And that means scattering the dust even further, just so he can have space to gather his thoughts and properly classify all the scattered crystals. Thus, the CLVS dorm room is currently covered in different colored piles of dust, spaced out by strips of paper, with Lucas at the center with a notebook and a case full of vials. This is definitely going to take a lot of work.

13
The Vale Region / A New Good Luck Charm [CLOSED]
« on: January 09, 2023, 03:57:01 PM »
It was a bright and sunny day in Vale, bright enough that Lucas had to shield his eyes as he stepped down the Bullhead's loading ramp, setting out into the city of Vale. It was an off-day for Beacon, so he wasn't wearing his uniform, and he wasn't on a mission, so he wasn't wearing his combat attire either. Instead, he was wearing a more casual outfit, tennis shoes with jeans and a black t-shirt underneath a red, zipped-up jacket.

That was all he should have needed for an errand run, after all. His team consumed a massive amount of dust on their missions and training, so restocking on supplies has become a commonplace activity on weekends and holidays. Of course, Lucas could have done all the necessary shopping online and had it delivered to Beacon, but even he needed to get away every once in a while, and this errand run was the perfect excuse to stretch his legs. Besides, his family owned a dust shop, so he knew the little tricks that shops liked to pull to make more money. That combined with his own experience judging dust purity made him the perfect person to handle this.

That was why when the person behind him stepped off the loading ramp, Lucas sighed and said, "I can handle this by myself, ya know? You don't have to stick around if you don't want to..."

14
Beacon Academy / What the Night Owls See [Closed]
« on: December 28, 2022, 10:50:04 PM »
Lucas was staring at his screen, doing his best to resist the urge to drum his fingers on his desk. It was already past midnight, and his room was already filled with the sounds of his sleeping teammates. He was sure the glare from the backlight of his monitor was already enough to disturb their sleep, seeing as how it was enough to keep his own night vision from coming into focus. Anything beyond that and the typing of his keyboard was sure to earn a pillow thrown at him...or perhaps even a fist. Yeah, it was probably best to keep extraneous noise to a minimum.

Still, he was getting nowhere on his assignment, and the more he stared at the screen, the more he wanted to shout at himself for not getting started on it sooner. Sure, he has until the next evening to finish, but he had entire week to do it. Despite that, he's only managed to write a single word:

"The"

It's not that he has writer's block, per se. He knows what he wants to write, to the point that he knows the direction his entire assignment will take, including which citations he'll need. Unfortunately, since the work is done already in his head, his body is refusing to take the next step and put the words to paper. Hence, Lucas isn't staring at a blank screen because he doesn't know what to write, but because he's too bored to actually write. And yet, if he doesn't, his grade will tank, and that's something he can't afford to have happen. Thus, Lucas chains himself to his seat in a vain effort to sit down and actually do the thing he's supposed to have done ages ago.

The drive to procrastinate is strong, though, and in a matter of minutes Lucas is back up, grabbing a book out of his bag to "review" (at this point, he's practically memorized the passage that he needs, save for the page number, and he's really just trying to get his mind to focus). He steps towards the room door to "study" in peace when he spies an empty bed. Since he's up and about still, it would be practical to assume it's his, but it's not. Lucas's bed sheets are tossed all about, almost as disheveled as he currently is. This bed belongs to Prism, the crisp, tucked-in bed sheets almost as strong a tell as the nameplate.

Where could she be at such a late hour? Well, it's not really any of Lucas's business what she did in her free time. So long as she kept up her part of the team's assignments, he had no complaints. With that in mind, Lucas stepped out of his team's dormitory and started wondering down the halls, trying to force his mind to focus on more important things.

15
Beacon Academy / Re: [sSR] Initation: Team CLVS
« on: November 15, 2022, 04:28:24 AM »
If Lucas could read minds, he'd have to agree with Prism's assessment: The teamwork of this random group of students had so far been nothing short of efficient. Sure, part of that had been the unspoken agreement to go along with the first plan presented, but the fact that each of them had slipped into appropriate roles almost immediately can only be described as astounding.

Beyond their teamwork, however, were the results. Lucas had always avoided fighting Grimm, preferring to circumvent them even when they appeared in small numbers. He'd really only ever fight to either buy time or to divert attention from something else, never to exterminate.

In other words, this had been his first ever fight to the death. And it had been a total victory, punctuated by a massive eruption of flames that reduced the monsters to ash. Perhaps in time he would realize that the strategy the team just used was thrown together in the heat of battle, which meant it could be improved upon and experimented with. With time, that improvised teamwork that led to the annihilation of a pack of Beowolves might even become a signature play! Such was the power Lucas had just witnessed.

At the moment though, Lucas could only focus on the victory that seconds before had him fearing for the worst. As the flames died out and took the howls of the beasts with them, the only thing Lucas could say was, "Whoa."

It took the other boy calling out to him for Lucas to shake out of his reverie. That's right. He was still in a dangerous forest. Just because he killed a few Grimm doesn't mean more won't come.

Unaware that Juno's eyes and ears had already done so, Lucas began to scan the area for himself, though he also found nothing. For the moment, it seemed they were safe.

With that in mind, Lucas deflated, the tension in his muscles quickly being replaced with fatigue. Who knew combat situations could be so exhausting?! Nevertheless, Lucas took a deep breath and began to introduce himself.

"Right, uh, guess we're stuck with each other now," He started, clipping his weapon back onto his belt. "I'm Lucas. Lucas Meridiem. You've probably guessed already, but I'm a dust caster. I can also act as a sniper if need be. My semblance...," he trailed off, not sure how to explain the intricacies of his admittedly complicated power in a concise manner. "Well, the simple version is that it enhances the effects of dust. It's easier to understand when you see it in action."

It was definitely a stiff introduction, but since they were gonna be stuck together for at least the remainder of this initiation, he figured they should at least know what his capabilities are. Also, well...

"Uh, do you all mind giving your names again? With all the fighting going on, I kinda missed some of the details."


Situation Log
Beowolves: Defeated in a blaze of dust and glory!

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