☆★☆Merlin☆★☆ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gardenerofavalon) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tabularasa_rp2020-09-01 06:45 pm
gardenerofavalon) wrote in tabularasa_rp2020-09-01 06:45 pm
Gardening and catch-call (Open!)
Who: Merlin + anyone!
What: Making a garden, being a bum, and general catch-all for shenanigans
Where: Various, see prompts
When: Throughout the month, any specific timeframes will be mentioned in prompts
Content Warnings: None in initial prompts, if threads venture into iffy territory warnings will be given in comment subject lines!
[General]
If anyone interacted with Merlin shortly after everyone first arrived and the world came to be, he nearly always presented an almost annoyingly cheerful attitude. If someone interacted with him several weeks later, that was more subdued, less with the over the top nonsense and occasionally absent entirely. Lately, though, Merlin's been acting, well, almost emotionless for the most part. There's the occasional display of something or another, and his focus and attention for anything that currently holds his interest hasn't waned in the slightest, but an increasing majority of the time he's just simply not emoting. Weird, huh?
[I. Gardening]
The appearance of the small flower patch in the church-slash-bakery had given Merlin an idea, and the later appearance of the flower fields (even if, admittedly, apparently on fire) within the peculiar doomed structure gave him even more reason to properly pursue it. And while many of the proper tools for such things are lacking, as finding gardening tools in a market that never sees sunlight is a longshot at best, that's far less of an inconvenience to him than having lost proper use of his powers in the first place.
All of which means he's taken the time to painstakingly clear a wide space near where the river flows out from the base of the mountain, even going so far as to retrieve soil from the nearby forest to fill and even out places. Once this is done, it calls for several trips back and forth to the flower fields in the dome to dig up a plant or two at a time, carry it to his dirt patch, and carefully replant it. All largely by hand, given that he's yet to find a proper trowel. At least he can make use of empty bottles and cups to haul water from the nearby river, which may or may not even be necessary for the plants at this point, but probably won't hurt, at least.
Oh, and while some of the flowers ceased 'burning' once removed from the field from long enough, and others Merlin deliberately extinguished the flames, there's still a few that remain stubbornly fiery. These eventually receive their own designated section of the sparse but growing garden, ringed by a low line of rocks.
Needless to say, this is all very labor intensive, and Merlin's spending quite a bit of time with it, so it's probably one of the easiest places to catch him if one happens to be looking for him!
[II. Familiar Companion]
For all his seeming affability, Merlin's never been one to really spend too much time in the company of others, and that's only increased as time's gone on. He certainly makes his presence known often enough when he deigns to, but more often than not he's likely off on his own, whether investigating whatever strange new features the world's developed, or simply avoiding dealing with all the people.
Except that, he's never actually truly alone. One of the small, winged and furred creatures has beenstalking following him around since near the beginning as it makes a game of trying to chase and pounce on his long hair. For the most part, Merlin simply (seemingly) ignores it, only occasionally shooing it away, for all the good that ever does. At just this moment, it's running about pouncing on leaves near where Merlin's sitting with his back leaning against a tree, paying it no mind as usual.
Until, that is, the poor thing is struck by a sudden furious hunger, causing it to botch the landing of its latest jump and tumble on the ground, letting out a plaintive cry. Merlin glances over at the sound, gaze utterly expressionless as he takes in the scene.
"Oh, stop complaining, you," he mutters flatly, and looks away again. But even as he does so, his fingers slide briefly into a fold of his robes and, with a brief flick of a wrist, a small piece of giant mushroom is tossed at the critter, which naturally devours it ravenously before resuming its earlier play.
[III. Making Sense of Nonsense]
Of course, not everything Merlin does is full of melancholy and/or solitude. There's still the mystery of this place to solve, or at least figure out how on earth to get his powers to actually work on things here. In fact, while he's managed not to show it, certain aspects of that last bit actually have him just a little bit concerned, for various reasons he's naturally refusing to divulge.
But all this means he simply needs more information, and as he can't simply use Clairvoyance to observe whatever and whoever he wants, that means actually going up to people and asking them.
"Has anything new that you recognize shown up here, since you've arrived?"
There's something nagging at him that he can't quite shake but still can't put a finger on, either.
[Wildcard/Notes]
None of these scenarios work for you? Feel free to hit me up in PM or on Discord (AC#7235) if you want to plot out something else! Or just tag with whatever you have in mind, that works too. The stuff noted in the 'general' section at the top applies to all threads unless otherwise noted, I just didn't feel like repeating it over and over again.!
What: Making a garden, being a bum, and general catch-all for shenanigans
Where: Various, see prompts
When: Throughout the month, any specific timeframes will be mentioned in prompts
Content Warnings: None in initial prompts, if threads venture into iffy territory warnings will be given in comment subject lines!
[General]
If anyone interacted with Merlin shortly after everyone first arrived and the world came to be, he nearly always presented an almost annoyingly cheerful attitude. If someone interacted with him several weeks later, that was more subdued, less with the over the top nonsense and occasionally absent entirely. Lately, though, Merlin's been acting, well, almost emotionless for the most part. There's the occasional display of something or another, and his focus and attention for anything that currently holds his interest hasn't waned in the slightest, but an increasing majority of the time he's just simply not emoting. Weird, huh?
[I. Gardening]
The appearance of the small flower patch in the church-slash-bakery had given Merlin an idea, and the later appearance of the flower fields (even if, admittedly, apparently on fire) within the peculiar doomed structure gave him even more reason to properly pursue it. And while many of the proper tools for such things are lacking, as finding gardening tools in a market that never sees sunlight is a longshot at best, that's far less of an inconvenience to him than having lost proper use of his powers in the first place.
All of which means he's taken the time to painstakingly clear a wide space near where the river flows out from the base of the mountain, even going so far as to retrieve soil from the nearby forest to fill and even out places. Once this is done, it calls for several trips back and forth to the flower fields in the dome to dig up a plant or two at a time, carry it to his dirt patch, and carefully replant it. All largely by hand, given that he's yet to find a proper trowel. At least he can make use of empty bottles and cups to haul water from the nearby river, which may or may not even be necessary for the plants at this point, but probably won't hurt, at least.
Oh, and while some of the flowers ceased 'burning' once removed from the field from long enough, and others Merlin deliberately extinguished the flames, there's still a few that remain stubbornly fiery. These eventually receive their own designated section of the sparse but growing garden, ringed by a low line of rocks.
Needless to say, this is all very labor intensive, and Merlin's spending quite a bit of time with it, so it's probably one of the easiest places to catch him if one happens to be looking for him!
[II. Familiar Companion]
For all his seeming affability, Merlin's never been one to really spend too much time in the company of others, and that's only increased as time's gone on. He certainly makes his presence known often enough when he deigns to, but more often than not he's likely off on his own, whether investigating whatever strange new features the world's developed, or simply avoiding dealing with all the people.
Except that, he's never actually truly alone. One of the small, winged and furred creatures has been
Until, that is, the poor thing is struck by a sudden furious hunger, causing it to botch the landing of its latest jump and tumble on the ground, letting out a plaintive cry. Merlin glances over at the sound, gaze utterly expressionless as he takes in the scene.
"Oh, stop complaining, you," he mutters flatly, and looks away again. But even as he does so, his fingers slide briefly into a fold of his robes and, with a brief flick of a wrist, a small piece of giant mushroom is tossed at the critter, which naturally devours it ravenously before resuming its earlier play.
[III. Making Sense of Nonsense]
Of course, not everything Merlin does is full of melancholy and/or solitude. There's still the mystery of this place to solve, or at least figure out how on earth to get his powers to actually work on things here. In fact, while he's managed not to show it, certain aspects of that last bit actually have him just a little bit concerned, for various reasons he's naturally refusing to divulge.
But all this means he simply needs more information, and as he can't simply use Clairvoyance to observe whatever and whoever he wants, that means actually going up to people and asking them.
"Has anything new that you recognize shown up here, since you've arrived?"
There's something nagging at him that he can't quite shake but still can't put a finger on, either.
[Wildcard/Notes]
None of these scenarios work for you? Feel free to hit me up in PM or on Discord (AC#7235) if you want to plot out something else! Or just tag with whatever you have in mind, that works too. The stuff noted in the 'general' section at the top applies to all threads unless otherwise noted, I just didn't feel like repeating it over and over again.!
I.
Sparse or not, they had never seen a garden this large before. ...It was also one of the only gardens they had seen in person, but still.
"Your garden is quite vibrant!"
no subject
Merlin glances up from his work when he's addressed, raising an eyebrow slightly at the newcomer.
"It's still rather sparse," he says. He's not even being modest; it continues to mildly frustrate him that his usual influence over flowers and such seems to have no effect here.
no subject
They crouched down, but it wasn't so much so they could see the flowers better. (That was another perk of not having sight like a human's.) It was more so they could be closer to the flowers in general, though they were careful not to step on them.
"Would you like any help?"
Though considering how quick they were to offer, it wouldn't be weird for someone to interpret it as 'please let me help.' Working in a garden would be a new experience for Turing, though they had helped with individual plants before.
no subject
Mind you, a part of his ego finds the attention quite satisfying, but that doesn't make it any less unexpected.
"Do you know anything about gardening?"
no subject
"My knowledge is...somewhat limited, unfortunately," they said, their gaze falling. "If there were gardening resources available I would happily consult them, but I'm unaware if there are any in this place."
They could take care of succulents and some trees! Alas, this was not a succulent and tree field.
no subject
In other words, not yet working directly with the flowers. Merlin's not one to judge people (he doesn't actually care enough for it) and he's quite capable of instructing someone should he be so inclined to do so. He was the one who taught the young future King Arthur, after all.
"The edge over there needs to be lined with stones to prevent the soil from falling down the slope, and then the soil leveled." He points to the area in question, which is indeed just as unfinished as he describes. Mostly because he got impatient and stopped working on it in favor of actually starting to transplant some of the flowers to the section he had gotten ready, but nobody needs to know that. "You can observe how it's been arranged as you do so."
He's not the type to hand hold though. Learn more as you go, rather than have him walk you through every step!
no subject
"Okay! I'll start right away!"
Sure enough, they were true to their word. Turing's way of learning was to mimic what they saw, so the spacing between each stone almost entirely replicated the ones that were already there. Levelling the soil was harder without seeing the technique or having proper tools at their disposal, however.
Well, they would just have to make do, right? They braced their fingers into a claw and began dragging them through the soil. It wasn't elegant, and they would need to do some cleaning later, but Turing also had the strength to make it work. To an extent.
no subject
Once he's finished making sure the last of the flowers he's transplanting for now is situated for the time being, however, he does come over to check up on things.
"You might want to add another layer of stones there," he points to a particular spot, "or else it will be lower than the level of the garden bed in that area."
Uneven ground means that the edging sometimes needs to be adjusted to accommodate!
no subject
"Oh, I see!"
Uneven edging just wouldn't do, of course. Healthy plants were a given for any garden, but aesthetics were important too. Even if they didn't have a whole lot of experience, they at least knew that much. It took a bit of a delicate touch to balance the second layer of stones, but Turing's other creative pursuits already gave them a little practice in that area. It would have been fine if that was the only issue at play here.
"It's difficult to make it all the same height," they admitted. With the first layer they could push the bigger stones into the ground some, but it was a bit more tricky with the second, and they had to pick out the ones that were juuuust right.
no subject
"Without means to cut or shape the stone, some unevenness can't be helped," Merlin points out. "But if it's too low on the lower side of the slope, then if it ever rains, there's a chance of the soil being swept away."
That bit of knowledge shared, Merlin watches for a bit as the robot gets to work. He might help if asked, but if not, well, he sees no reason to step in on someone who's learning through practice.