silentspringooc | OOC Intro #1

OOC STUFF

Player Name: Andie
Pronouns: they/them
Contact(s):

stickyholograms or dystopiandie on Discord
Time Zone: CST (UTC−06:00)
Tagging Habits: I've got a regular 8:00 - 5:00 in state government that inhibits weekday tagging, apart from the occasional stolen paragraph here and there. Most of my tagging takes place on the weekday evenings (think 7:00 - 11:00 PM) or weekend afternoons (around 2:00 - 7:00 PM on average). I love boomeranging whenever possible, but I know that's a rare treat for most people in this hobby. I try to tag back at least every day or two unless there are extenuating circumstances. I'm always happy to take a thread to Plurk or Discord and hash out a mutual understanding of what happens if we can't play it out, but other than that I'm not often one to engage in a whole lot of heavy planning. I love to have a catalyzing event in mind and just see where things develop.

IC STUFF

Character Name: Wrench (Smith 🫢)
Character Age: ~38
Canon: Fargo TV
Canonpoint: S03E10: Somebody to Love

The Elevator Pitch:
Wrench is a former hitman and only surviving member of the Fargo crime syndicate, which operated across the upper Midwest from the 1980s through the early 2000s. As children, Wrench and his former partner Numbers were introduced to its boss, a man who would come to be known as Moses Tripoli. It is presumed that both boys grew up with some involvement in the syndicate, where they were trained to kill at the behest of its associates. While stalking Lorne Malvo — a man responsible for the death of one of the syndicate's members — Wrench was wounded by an officer, and his partner Numbers was murdered. Wrench managed to escape and has been on the run for the past decade, evading capture by the US Marshals.

It's worth the mention that Wrench is also Deaf and does not voice. I've got a fun little Communication FAQ should anyone want it, and I'm happy to answer any questions and brainstorm alternative methods of communication if so desired.

"Family" Members: Wrench Smith and his lovely spouse Teddy Smith, née Roberts. (So sorry

tedandroses.)

Non-Event Hooks:
Whew, well. In canon, Wrench has spent the last decade-plus evading capture by the US Marshals and acting as a sort of avenging angel. It's presumed that no living person knows his real name, nor has any connections to him. He's very unused to being in the public eye, and the fact that he suddenly has a wife and neighbors and people who are going to look him in the eye and call him by his name (however alias-y it might be) is Fucking Weird to him already. Learning how to behave in polite society is going to be his first hurdle because he is deeply unacculturated to living in a house.

He's also never had anything approaching a "real job," and his whole résumé is basically built around survival skills. If you need someone to teach you how to field dress a deer or build a lean-to or use an ice auger he's probably your guy, but if you're looking for someone to talk pop culture or current global events or just the best brand of breakfast cereal... the man is lost.

What are they up to in Sweetwater?
Currently fucking panicking on the inside but acting cool as ice on the outside, thanks so much for asking.

Most Desired CR:
I am literally taking all comers. I'm so excited to see how anything and everything turns out. There is nothing I don't want, except that I'd like to maybe do a little skipping past the requisite "why-are-we-here-and-how-do-we-leave" with as many characters as possible and get down to some Other Stuff.

Undesired CR:
What? Is? This?

Any threads you really want to play out?
I am here for it all and more than happy to throw Wrench into anyone's path to be a set of hands in whatever they've got going on. The man has a tendency to serve other people's aims more than his own, and it's entirely likely that he might find himself in the midst of something he did not even intend simply because he doesn't know any better.

Sokka is 1000% down to learn how to use an ice auger, he's all about making ice fishing easier and quicker. Also he'd be incredibly happy to meet someone who knows things about hunting and fishing. Who needs pop culture when you can talk about the best way to track animals through a field...

I can just imagine Wrench's excitement at having someone taking interest in the kinds of things he's good at, only then to be stricken with this moment of realization like, "Am I indoctrinating a kid?"

No it's fine. This is totally fine and normal. And Wrench would be super pumped about learning how to use a boomerang in exchange. He's pretty good with ranged weapons, but that's one he's absolutely never encountered before!

Sokka would LOVE to teach him how to boomerang, it'll make his day! Also I was thinking about their potential CR today and I think that Sokka would be really pumped to learn ASL, specifically because it would give him a tool to use to communicate silently to his friends while they're in enemy territory/war situations. Sure, he can make vague hand gestures to communicate basic things, but imagine being able to have whole, complex conversations? Changing plans on the fly and being able to communicate it without being overheard? He'll be so excited for the potential, so if Wrench wants an enthusiastic student...

Okay but I would love to keep the thread with Wrench and Arthur canon, they were so fucking good and clever and I love them so much already.

I am so disappointed that I fell into a metaphorical hole and just failed the TDM because I adore these two disaster men and their interaction so much. I would love to keep the thread with them as canon for their first interaction, and I'm so freakin' excited for Wrench to maybe see Arthur out and around town because he's probably just gonna weirdly approach him now. Friends 4 lyfe.

Wrench speedran the ability to have Arthur be comfortable being touched by him, which is hilarious to me when it took multiple months in his other game, but also I'm very proud of Wrench and I look so forward to them both. Two wise asshole monkeys.

Hey! Sans and Papyrus (

spaghettimonster) both know monster sign language, referred to as speaking in hands. Since the FAQ says whether sign language translates or not is up to discretion, which would you prefer? We're totally fine either way!

Hello hello! I am, unfortunately, entirely unfamiliar with Undertale, but now I am fascinated! Right now I'm thinking that I'd like to play around a bit with the lack of shared language and the communication barriers that it might cause, so I'm working on the premise that manual languages won't translate for Wrench.

Honestly I'm kind of interested in the phrasing about "wanting to be understood," because I'm assuming that Wrench just assumes he won't be, so there's no effort of desire there. I'm thinkin' this might leave the possibility open for that to change in the future, as he possibly becomes more comfortable. Does that seem reasonable for you? The last thing I want is to make it more trouble than it's worth for anyone to chat with him, of course!

It is before I am uuusually awake so more later but! I’m laughing so much at the …basically living in the woods and associated skills. This is going to be the only household in Sweetwater where the whole family would eat better with more access to venison and I’m guessing they BOTH have weapons as an item.

Otoh Teddy’s like ‘okay so we’re teaching you to cook and shop and generally adult, because if I end up doing the cooking and cleaning every day with a stupid apron on bc ”oh I don’t really know how to do this” I’m gonna be SUCH a young widow.”

I am so hyped for these two fools to unfurl their feral tendrils all over each other. They go to their first backyard BBQ and someone tries to serve them Jello with cottage cheese, and they both have to run home and dig through the deep freeze for some wild rabbit.

Also, I am of a mind that Wrench is probably very free of gendered expectations when it comes to keeping house, because everything he's done for his own survival over the last decade has been done by him. So cooking, cleaning, washing up, whatever... That's fine and he'll do it. He'll probably just very much suck at it! Like, how does one keep a house? What even goes into that? It's not weaponized incompetence; the man is just obtuse.

;asdlfkj YES EXACTLY. omg I was going to make a joke about Teddy just cracking and shooting some overfed suburban rabbits I'm SO GLAD we're on the same page. (Also have I thought about poking around the weird parts of Pinterest for bizarre 60s recipes that almost certainly include Jello? Yes, yes I have.)

Yeah, I sort of thought he wouldn't actually pull that, but Teddy likes to makes sure expectations are set. To be fair, she's -- well, I mean, she's not incompetent at all, but her strengths probably don't align with the ideal 60's housewife either. But she can do basic making sure they don't starve/turn into that guy from Reddit who sleeps in a pile of blankets on a mattress on the floor/etc.

(I'm actually kind of delighted at the idea of her being like "okay now explain to me WHY we don't put those clothes in a dryer" in the middle of this horrifying nightmare.)

Oh! Speaking of horrifying nightmare: I had a question on how you want Killer Salesman to go, bc both of ours were the ones to take him out in the TDM. I mean, assuming that stays a lead-in and we aren't re-playing the initial scenario...
I'm a little biased towards Teddy shooting him but I recognize that is somewhat my own bias; otoh, it does allow Wrench to have a little more time before Teddy's like "so you are extremely efficient with a handgun that looks like you stole it off a cop, should I be uh, concerned about that?" (if you want that). I am happy with him NOT having that extra time to be mysterious if you prefer though!

Wrench is just out here wearing the exact same clothes every day and occasionally washing them in a lake or stream. He's going to be so angry his standard outfit is gone, and so baffled by a 1960s washing machine. How does this thing even work? I love the idea of the both of them sort of failing at domesticity. Gosh, imagine the first time they might have to entertain their neighbors. Someone's going to take one look around their house and suggest they hire a live-in or something.

And I would be delighted if Teddy were responsible for the death of the salesman. (Har har.) Wrench sort of acted on automatic in the thread that I had written, but maybe he was a little more hesitant to "show his hand" so to speak, and he got the shock of his life when she responded so quickly and with such skill. It probably won't make him rush to tell his full backstory, of course, but he might be a little more casual about practicing his axe throwing in the backyard.

Aww, at least he wears something that he can probably...get...somewhere?? *squints at* (Teddy's absolutely going to like. Steal a flannel and pants from his closet and dart/hem so they're approaching usable and wear that shit when no one's around. Also, now I'm like shit, how different IS a 60's washing machine?? she's going to have to study the detergent box.

Ooh, perfect! Love it. I do like the moment because it gives her a chance to show her hand in terms of "can take care of myself"/"has/can use a weapon" while also being like "HOLY SHIT I JUST KILLED A GUY. OR A SOMETHING LIKE A GUY." Wrench might be in a bit of a harder situation than Jeff was (before I totally failed to tag back) with Teddy staring like "....:O" but. She will move into 'okay we need to get rid of this body' pragmatic shock mode relatively quickly if he prompts her.

And also, yeah, axe throwing wouldn't ping her as ...anything, I mean. It's become trendy in cities, hermit dude throwing axes still lines right up. At some point she's going to start putting things together if he doesn't trust her enough to tell her first, but. SHRUUUUUG

Hey! Thanks for adding me on plurk, sorry you have to witness the trainwreck that is my work consuming my life and sometimes me figuring out how Americans do America.

Also I really appreciate the Communication FAQ post you have up. I had no prior knowledge about the distinction between Deaf and deaf, and honestly I'm still working that out in my head and will need to reflect/sleep on it, and had always assumed signing is like stringing key words together in a vaguely local-language-resembling structure/order without considering all the possibilities of it being distinct languages. The post is really helpful!

Unfortunately Bucky does not sign and having only one hand might present some challenges if he tried to learn. But (luckily...?) he doesn't talk much, and he won't be particularly bothered if Wrench is basically a feral animal playing at domesticity. I too am not too fond of spending too much time on the How To Get Out Of The Jamjar Setting. Maybe they can meet over drinks or at the supermarket or at the next event or something.

Admittedly my Plurk is a bit of a mess and contains a lot fewer notes about RP than it does random thoughts that occur to me throughout the day. I am always happy for the chance to learn more about the way people live life, though. So yay!

Also I'm super-glad that you found the FAQ helpful. I wonder sometimes if it goes a little bit overboard, but given the number of times people have said similar things to me, I thought it might be a good starter. ASL's closest linguistic match is actually French Sign Language, and both have a pretty different sentence structure than English. (ASL's syntax is often explained as "TIME + TOPIC + COMMENT.") Also, there's just a lot of linguistic elements that are expressed differently in manual languages than in spoken. The shape of a signer's lips and mouth when they sign a certain word can indicate size, speed, intensity, etc. The distance of the sign from the body and how fast or slow the sign is produced can indicate the passage of time...

Anyway. I'll stop there because I'm rambling a lot, but yes! It is very complex (as languages are!) and I find that most people don't realize or appreciate that.

Also, just specific to Bucky's situation: it's definitely a lot different for one-handed signers, and especially those with amputations above the elbow or even higher. But it's absolutely not impossible. I've signed with several hand and arm amputees, people with cerebral palsy, even people with quadriplegia! Not that Wrench would in any way force Bucky to learn if he didn't show an interest, but he would be very willing to help show modifications.

Whatever they get up to, I will be very excited for them to meet!

I mean, my $0.02 is if people are genuinely not interested, they just won't read to the end, but it's great to have that kind of information available and interesting things we can google further for the people who are.

They could totally just write at each other but probably assuming they do hit it off (I don't see why not) he will want to at least pick up enough signs to carry a basic conversation. Or at least be able to do something important like warn of imminent danger. They can just hang out and do outdoorsy things with each other, if nothing else...

This is 100% an entry point Wrench uses with reluctant signers to win them over. "Hey, how's about a communication method that we can use underwater? From 200 feet apart? Silently, while we're tracking a deer? (Or maybe being hunted ourselves?). Super-secretly so no one else knows what we're saying? Boy have I got a solution for you!!"

He will at least teach Bucky signs to made quiet sniping commentary at people who won't move their seats up in small cars.

Oh, you mean it's not supposed to be a deep scowl accompanied with a raised middle finger and an otherwise closed fist? 🤔

OOC Intro #1

Wrench 🔧 | Fargo TV

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Re: Wrench 🔧 | Fargo TV

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