the epistolary+ meme

[loregasm]

sincerely yours,



If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a written word has to be worth ten thousand spoken ones. Right?

Every thread starts with a written (or typed) conversation. Where it goes from there is up to you.

HOW TO PLAY:
- Comment with character. State your preferences - shipping permissions, what your character might write letters/notes/etc about or be written to about, any other pertinent information.
- Comment to others. Play whatever first comes to mind, or RNG .
- Prompts 1-4 aren't medium-specific; they can be letters, emails, PMs, or any other form of text communication.
- Have fun and play nice!

PROMPTS:

1. Pen pals. Usually an arrangement between two strangers to improve foreign language skills or cultural awareness, but the internet has opened up a whole new world of text-based, long-distance friendships, too. Can be assigned or voluntary.

2. Business correspondence. Friendly social calls are nice, but right now it's expertise you're calling on. That doesn't have to be the end of it, though! Maybe you'll keep talking after the job's done.

3. A big fan. You think you know the person you're writing to pretty well, but they don't know you. Better write this carefully so you don't sound creepy.

4. Far from home. Writing to keep in touch with people you can't see in person - how romantic! But letters can take a while to get to their destination, so there's no telling what's happened since this one was sent.

5. Post-its. Popular with housemates and coworkers, a sticky note with a quick message can be helpful in a pinch...or a vehicle for passive-aggression. The key is to not be there when they read it.

6. Texting. The short and fast version. Instantaneous messages make texting a little more like holding a face-to-face conversation, except...not face-to-face. It's also pretty easy to hit the wrong person with a careless text.

7. Ad posting. One character put up an ad - in the newspaper, on a local bulletin board, on street signs or power line poles. The other is answering it. Was this call for help practical, or bizarre?

8. Forums. Slow conversations done fast. Threads, if not the entire forum, usually revolve around a specific topic, and opinions can run loud and stubborn - flame war, or nerd jam session?

Comments

1

[unloading]

[ via some old school snail mail, sender marked RIKER'S ISLAND CORRECTIONAL CENTRE ]

Miss Schmidt,

"The Reverend" thought it'd be a good idea to send you a letter. A couple guys caught up with him and persuaded him otherwise. He's been moved up to solitary for his own safety-- Don't expect him to be bothering you any time in the future.

- FC

P.S. Big fans.

[tooken]

[ the 'from' label makes her blood run cold, but the contents of the letter - not so much. every time she thinks of the Reverend rotting away in prison - surely he is at the bottom of the food chain; surely the charisma that had nearly won him the trial would not work in there - she smiles a little. it makes her skin crawl to think about him trying to write her, but she truly appreciates the mysterious sender of this letter. so, she writes back, on finding nemo stationery: ]

Dear FC,

Are you SERIOUS???? He's a VERY pursuay persway persuasive person, are you sure? He is like impossible to reason with.



Wait, my room mate just read this letter over my shoulder and told me that persuading him otherwise means something bad happened! To the Rev Mr. Wa that guy. Which I guess I don't mind! To be honest I like to imagine him having his tray flipped up in his face every day in the prison cafeteria. I hope they run out of dessert every time he gets there.

Titus says it was probably worse than that. I know you're not supposed to wish bad things on people but I totally wish I could've seen it. Is it true that someone like him wouldn't be very popular in the clink prison? (Titus told me no one says 'the clink' any more, can you confirm or deny so I can rub it in his face)

I've never had a fan before! That's exciting! You should tell me more about yourself! The last time I had a pen pal was in sixth grade. Apparently no one is pen pals any more? Which I think is really lame because it's nice to get something someone took their time on to write and mail and stuff that you can hold in your hands. Just my opinion!

Sincerely,
Kimmy Schmidt

[unloading]

[ he's not expecting anything back. and when he gets it, and when he opens it, prior to reading it, he has to confirm with the internet that kimmy schmidt is a grown-ass woman. once that weird flood of relief has passed, he can crack a smile at the stationery. dory in the corner helpfully reminds him to just keep swimming. he totally forgot about that movie.

as much as he'd love to answer her questions (also, who the hell is titus?), writing back anything else errs too close to leading her on. ]

It's the Punisher. [ no initials this time. it's obviously the same writing. frank figures that'll be the end of that, but who knows? nelson said one useful thing they got from jury selection was that women were more likely to side with him than men. because of shitbags like the rev, he figures.

if she still wants to talk, he's got the time. ]

[tooken]

[ kimmy, generally not fond of signals and also generally impossible to deter, responds with another enthusiastic letter. this time, it is on winnie the pooh stationery. if she should recognize the name, well... she's missed out on a lot of news in the past fifteen years, so she just assumes it is an incredibly cool nickname. ]

Dear THE PUNISHER,

That is the coolest name EVER. How did you get it??? Who do you punish?? (Only bad guys hopefully like you know who?) Did they put a word limit on you when you wrote back?? Do you only get a certain amount of letters a month?? I know THE CLINK (still wondering about that) has a lot of rules! I don't know any of them. I tried doing a Google on it but I couldn't find anything. Also how long does a solitary confinement last???

Today I found a lost dog and brought it to his home, so that was pretty great. But two different people didn't pay me for Uber rides so that was awful. But all in all, I don't have anything to complain about. I mean, I ordered pizza for dinner ON THE INTERNET and it came to my door. TECHNOLOGY! Hope you're well!

Sincerely,
Kimmy Schmidt

[unloading]

[ by the time he receives her second letter, he's forgotten what all her questions were in the first. keeping it felt creepy for several reasons. he remembered the 'clink' one because he's noticed how often it's said: never. one for titus the roommate (he put it together; pronunciation is anyone's guess). ]

Yeah, bad guys. Even violent criminals don't take kindly to men who kidnap little girls. Not a lotta shit to be agreed on in here but that's 1. Nobody calls it the clink -- sorry.

And you wanted details right? Broke pretty boy's nose. Eye socket didn't look good either. Like most slick talkers, he couldn't fight for shit.

It's Frank [??? cross out period/spike ball of random ink]Castle.
You might want to google the name

[tooken]

Dear THE PUNISHER aka FRANK CASTLE aka THAT'S A LOT OF ARTICLES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES,

Firstly, holy cow no one calls it the clink. Firstly FIRSTLY, you're a veteran? I talked to one once who told me that he didn't like being told "thank you for your service." So I don't know if I should say that to you. But he also told me that I have dead eyes and he thought I was a veteran because of my dead eyes. Dunno where I'm going with this but I did a Google and it's called "the thousand yard stare." Yikes! Anywho, I was gonna write thanks for your service but then I wasn't sure and that's why.

Reading all that stuff about you made me surprised you didnt punch you-know-who to death. Not that I doubt your restraint but even I used to be able to push him over if I got the jump on him. I saw a pic of you and I think one slap from you would probably kill him! Thinking about him in an eye patch is SUPER L-O-L so thanks for that.

I'm not going to condamn condem condom omg no make judgment on what you did or why you're in there. I think maybe not enough people care enough about anything or making things right or stopping the bad stuff from happening. I spent 15 years underground cuz no one cared enough to keep looking for me after the first few months. They just thought I was dead + shrugged + moved on. Sounds mean but that's what the world's like I guess. But it's wrong and it shouldn't be.

Maybe if more people got tired of the way things are and got angry cuz of it then stuff like what happened to me and what happened to your family wouldnt happen anymore to anybody else and no one innocent would have to be hurt again. Hope you dont mind me saying that. But everything I've read says, you tried to do something about the world. That's more than most people can say.

Sincerely,
Kimmy Schmidt