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It started with a small static sound, but it didn't stay that way for long. Soon, it was too loud for us to hear customers ordering things, and that's when my co-worker looked. She pulled one of the fridges away from the wall and we saw water spraying everywhere.

We were told to shut down the Starbucks while they figured out why the water line had busted. But we were only closed for five minutes because after they just shut the water off to that machine and we got the standing water mopped up, they ordered us to reopen. And just not use that one espresso machine.

Ignore the muted buzzing below the fridge, where the wires had been partially submerged. Ignore your instincts telling you this isn't safe. Because no matter what happens, one thing is certain.

Starbucks is always open. Goodnight, Night Vale. Goodnight.

Hello friends. After recent events, being on Discord gives me some intense anxiety. I adore all of you and the CalRef chat is home for me. That being said, for an indeterminate future I'll be taking a break from discord while I'm at work so that I can write and deal with other things instead of staring endlessly at a chat screen :P

So here I am, and I'll check this thread during my breaks 

Hey everyone, I noticed we were lacking a general discussion thread in this area!

I'm... game  :p

I don't know off the top of my head what would be a good idea, but I'm pretty open-minded on trying new things.

Don't worry Natalie ^-^ I did the same thing. Tslonia is my second serious attempt at a country. Then I have a protectorate.

I'm entirely on board with this. I really wanted to get into the political roleplaying of the last region we were part of, but I was turned off by the people there. I actually quite like the group we have going in Refugia, so I'd be overjoyed.

Welcome Bunni 

And of course welcome to everyone else! It's so nice to have all these nice friends here with us.

[Hestia]

Bzzt, Bzzt, Bzzt...

A small, blinking light lit the otherwise pitch-black apartment space. In its periodic flashes, elements of the room were illuminated. The outlines of a bedframe with messy blankets and pillows strewn about. A pair of pants that hung off the edge toward the floor, somehow having not fallen through the night. The wall, slate grey and made of a material not immediately identifiable as either plastic or metal. And a ceiling approximately 3.5 metres above the floor. The room was slightly colder than the comfort zone of most people, and silent save for eased, deep breathing and that small, muted buzz.

Bzzt, Bzzt, Bzzt...

The mass of messy blankets on the bed shifted, stopped for a moment, then shifted again. A long, thin arm emerged and grabbed onto the object emitting the flashing light. As it did, recessed rope lighting began to slowly brighten, gradually bringing the room from pitch black to a starry night. More furniture pieces were now visible; the outline of a small sofa, a desk with some manner of computer on it, a few chairs. An end table sat across from the sofa, on it a couple books and a large tablet almost thin enough to be a sheet of paper. The floor itself appeared to be some manner of wood, or at least the texture and patterns of wood, with various rugs situated to make things more comfortable. The room wasn't very large- an unfortunate necessity even on a massive space station- but it held the furniture that was in it well.

A humanoid creature, both lithe and long, sat up from the mass of cloth, her eyes squinting at the screen on the device she now held in her hand. At her pronounced movement, the light level rose to that of a comfortable interior space, imitating the warm golden sun of her home system. She yawned, rubbed at her eyes with her free hand, then sat the device back down. A muted grey on the screen showed 7:40 for a moment, then faded to dark. She rotated, long legs taking their place on the floor, then stood up. She stood at nearly 2 and a third metres, and was all thin extremities. She threw on a comfortable shirt that buttoned up the front, itself a wine red with a collar, and some black cloth pants, then moved toward her bathroom space. It was quite small, with just a toilet, sink, and sonic shower space, but as long as something was tall enough, she wouldn't complain. The woman examined herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Her skin was nearly white, though it had a pale lavender tint to it. Her head was round, and ultimately soft, but entirely hairless. Her ears were long and thin, coming to a point at the tip.

After she'd prepared for work, she threw on some soft flat-bottomed shoes and exited the bedroom area, the wall lights dimming to darkness as she did. She emerged into a relatively-sizeable living room, thinking on how she was lucky to have it. The space was larger than what she normally would have been able to afford; it was only a favour that she was given this area. Much like the previous room, warm but hidden lights brought the space to a comfortable level of illumination. The floor was still seemingly wood with rugs laid in various spaces to allow for comfortable feet. A larger sofa graced this space, as well as other tables, chairs, and a gargantuan viewscreen that took up one entire wall. A kitchenette was attached to the living room, separated by only a waist-high (for her) bar, but she wasn't about to stop in there, at least not at the moment. She grabbed a bag by the door and placed a hand to a small screen nearby. With a muted "wssh", the door slid to one side, and she stepped through to the main hallway of her apartment bloc.

It was a quick, easy walk to the rail, which rocketed her and several dozen other commuters through the arms of the space station Hestia toward the central Hearth Plaza, which was the commercial and working district for the community. The tubes the rail travelled through were clear, and the windows of the train allowed the passengers to look at the distant stars and nebulae that made up the galaxy around them. The star of their own system had long-since been covered by machinery and metal, harvested for all the energy it could produce. Nobody would complain for the lack of a view, however, as the Hestia was a beneficiary of the energy being harvested.

She got the occasional look, usually from older humans, usually from older male humans. That look of mild discomfort and judgement. Not that she could blame them, she and those like her were reminders of a painful period of their history, from not even that long ago. She just did her best to smile and appear as non-threatening as possible, and remained at her edge of the car, hoping it would get to its destination soon enough.

As the sprite spoke to her, Síne began to relax. It would seem that whatever this small creature was, it ultimately meant her no harm, despite whatever initial assumptions she had made as to its purpose. Síne had a tendency to make a lot of assumptions about things, though she always tried to adjust her viewpoint when proven wrong. In this case, she had assumed that anything outside of that which she was comfortable with automatically intended her harm, and that whatever came from Kingfisher Forest even moreso. But that certainly seemed to be anything but the case this time. The sprite -Leeva, as it introduced itself- rambled in an almost childlike fashion- not intending the word in the worst possible way, but the most charming one. Síne nodded along to its words and, once it had finished, chimed in with some of her own. Her voice was much less tense than it had been, and in the absence of alterations came across as somewhat lilting, with a light accent the people of Ceadaichte Mòir developed during their lives. "Síne is my name, and the pleasure is mine, Leeva. I would be happy for you to come along and investigate-" she slowed down and slightly bounced between the syllables, her inner teacher shining through for only a moment, "what happened. I'm glad you know more than I do, it'll make me feel much safer to have you by my side."

Once the introductions were out of the way, Síne stood and began walking through the town toward the site of whatever had happened. It had been loud, but nobody else appeared to have reacted. Lights shone through the windows of none of the homes in the village, and it would have been concerning for the woman had she not already been exposed to her fair share of strange and unusual tonight. They passed by Eoin's house, the city building where she taught the children, and a few small farm plots before the buildings abruptly stopped. There was a more rocky area just beyond, and the villagers tended more often than not to avoid it entirely. There was supposed to be a hermit that lived in that region, but she had never met them, nor heard anything denoting the accuracy of their presence until the explosion. It was as if someone beyond here was new to the area, which would also have been entirely fine.

The moon and stars shone brightly down, with no nearby lights to drown their assistance out. By its illumination, Síne was able to navigate around the rocks and shrubby grass until she felt close enough. As she peeked around a boulder, she saw smoke rising from a dead crow. Her mouth twisted with concern, though there was a small amount of disdain mixed in as well. But... there was no time to be afraid. She called out, caution and curiosity in her voice. "Hello? Is anyone hurt over here?"

[~1993-1996, SNES/Genesis era:]

I'm going to do another one of these, but mostly because I like the way that El did hers. The way I'd originally interpreted the point of this thread, I tried to keep each year to the most influential games I'd played. Now I kind of want to do all of the influential games I remember playing, which might be a bit more weighted to certain years/year groups than others. And that's okay sometimes <3

So let's start early. When I was a kid, my parents bought a Sega Genesis for my sister and I to play. We would occasionally trade out for my uncle's SNES, and rent games for that for about half a year until we traded back. Despite this nice system being in place, we ended up not owning either of the systems, and I'm not entirely sure where they went. So, with apologies to the inaccuracies of year, I begin with:

~1993-1996, SNES/Genesis era:

• Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3 (& Knuckles)
• Aladdin
• Super Mario World
• Donkey Kong Country
• Mario Paint
• Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
• Super Mario RPG
• Chrono Trigger

1996-2001, N64 era:

• Super Mario 64
• Banjo Tooie
• Mario Kart 64
• Diddy Kong Racing
• Pokemon Snap
• Pokemon Stadiums 1, 2
• Pokemon Gold (on a friend's Gameboy)
• Starfox: 64
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

2001-2003, Nintendo Gamecube, Gameboy Advance era:

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
• Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
• Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
• Super Smash Brothers: Melee
• Animal Crossing
• Tales of Symphonia
• Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• Timesplitters 2
• Timesplitters: Future Perfect
• Soul Calibur 2
• The Sims 2

2003-2006, Xbox era

• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• Halo 2
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords
• Fable
• Jade Empire
• Psychonauts
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
• Half Life 2

2006-2013, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii era

• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Super Smash Brothers: Brawl
• Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
• Tales of Vesperia
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Halo 3
• Halo 3: ODST
• Halo: Reach
• Fable 2
• Fable 3
• Fallout 3
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Battlefield 3
• Mass Effect
• Mass Effect 2
• Mass Effect 3
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age 2
• Dishonored
• Bioshock
• Bioshock 2
• Bioshock Infinite
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Lost Odyssey

2010-2013, Introduction to PC gaming era:

• Terraria
• Minecraft
• Starbound
• League of Legends
• The Witcher
• The Witcher 2
• Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
• EVE Online
• The Orange Box (Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2, Portal)

2014-Present, PC, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch era

• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
• Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
• Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Super Smash Brothers 4
• Mario Kart 8
• League of Legends
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf
• Pokemon: Moon
• Fire Emblem: Fates: Conquest
• Fire Emblem: Awakening
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy X/X2: HD
• Final Fantasy XI
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
• Final Fantasy XV
• Diablo 2
• Diablo 3
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Mass Effect: Andromeda
• Torchlight 2
• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
• Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
• Katawa Shoujo
• The Wolf Among Us
• Life Is Strange
• Elder Scrolls Online
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Dungeon of the Endless
• Divinity: Original Sin 2
• Undertale

Though the terror of being in a situation such as the one she had found herself in threatened to paralyse the poor woman, Síne had gathered enough sense to begin struggling, just a little bit, in an attempt to unpin her arm. She'd done it slowly, in hopes of not angering or possibly even alerting the being that still lay stationary on top of her, but her hopes were dashed and her fears were answered when an alarm wail rose from the wooden form.

The cry that came from it was oddly... of nature. Like the sound of a late-night breeze rushing through the tree branches, all whistle and rustle. But at the same time, it was oddly human, like the cries of a child who was lost and afraid. The two sides of her brain, the fear for her own life and concern for others, conflicted and momentarily froze the young woman. But eventually, she pulled herself to one side and, along with effort from the sprite, disentangled herself from their grasp. Sitting next to it, the woman rubbed her tender wrist, and asked in the calmest voice she could muster, "You weren't meaning to harm me at all, were you little one?"

She was hoping to calm the creature so that maybe they could check out what had exploded together, another experience where the two sides of her were competing for attention. Her fear told her to get back inside, while her curiosity bade her to see from a safe distance what was happening over yonder.

Síne took a deep breath of the night air and closed her eyes. A small headache had started to form just above and to the outside of her left eyebrow, which was ultimately something that seemed to happen fairly often when she'd spent an entire day reading or focusing too hard on one specific thing. She'd noticed it happening more and more over the past few years, but dismissed it as part of getting older. Her mother had certainly found no shortage of things to complain about, in increasing quantity and variety, as she'd aged. Beyond that, other older people in the village lamented of aches and pains that had not been there when they were younger. Though she was only thirty and four, Síne believed she was starting to enter that age, so maybe this was the new way of things. The best thing for what ailed her, to her knowledge and experience, was fresh air.

Much in that way that happens to all people at all times, Síne had intended to come outside and smell the air, to experience the humidity and cool temperature of the night, but had not gotten around to it. She had been promising the experience to herself as a reward for when she got through just one more paper. Or maybe one more beyond that. Or one more, and so on and so on and so on until the night had practically left her behind. She would have to be in bed soon, to allow those few small scraps another night of being unread, due most specifically to her body collapsing in on itself. Fye, the curses she could reap onto getting older.

And then two things happened that would likely be forever remembered as life-changing, though in the moment the only word she could think of was terrifying. First, a distant burst shook her from her own silent lamentations. She opened her eyes and looked, with no small amount of shock and horror, toward the south. That sounded like a gunpowder blast, the type that the traders had brought as objects of interest in case the people of Ceadaichte Mòir had ever thought to do some mining. They hadn't, but the sounds of distant bursts and the smell of smoke that was somehow more sour than what came from the fireplaces entertained the men and children to seemingly no end. The second thing that happened was that she was attacked. A force like an iron ball hit her just even with her left hip, wrapping whips of vine around her body and pinning her arms to her sides. Despite her best efforts, the woman couldn't remain standing, and fell over onto the soft ground, her hair flying all around her face and her chin sinking slightly into the moist dirt.

At first, the women was stunned; she didn't know what had hit her and had no proper way of knowing exactly how to deal with it. Oh, if only Eoin would come out of his home. The old mayor of the village lived a couple homes away from hers, and he always knew what to do. But if he came out to respond to the distant explosion, there was no way for her to notice; Síne's head was conveniently facing away from the direction of Eoin's house, and no doubt her penchant for brown clothing and her brown hair would blend her in for the night. Her vision tunnelled as she remembered her own thoughts- whips of vine - just like the story she had told the children. Was this Kingfisher Forest finally reaching out and taking her life? Was it because she hadn't been careful enough, was it bad luck? She started to hyperventilate, but closed her eyes tight and did her best to calm down.

She wasn't dead. Whatever it was clearly hadn't intended to kill her, only to incapacitate her. Which it had done.

After a few seconds, after properly working through her situation with as much logic as she could muster with a face full of dirt and no ability to move her arms, the woman got her breathing under control. She had been prone to anxiety attacks her entire life, and though she couldn't always control them, sometimes she could stave off the worst effects if she tried hard enough, early enough. That seemed to be the case, and it brought her no small amount of pride to acknowledge the change. That pride fuelled some self confidence, with which she attempted to struggle one of her arms free- the left one, which was exposed to the main body of whatever had attacked her, but also wasn't pinned against the ground. She grunted with the exertion, then spoke in a quiet voice as level in tone as she could muster. Even so, the fear tinged her voice with a waver and an outside chance of panic. "Who... what... are you, and what do you want from me? I have no money, and I don't have any belongings of great value."

I love this! I've put together something, but it might be edited as I think of other things. I think it should give a pretty good idea of me, though. You can really see the difference once I moved out on my own, and had the ability to get more than one game per year.

Pre-1996: A blur of Super Mario World, Mario Paint, and Sonic The Hedgehog games (mostly 3 & Knuckles)
1996-1998: Super Mario 64
1999: Ocarina of Time/Pokemon Gold
2000: Ocarina of Time/Banjo Tooie
2001: Majora's Mask/Animal Crossing
2002: Majora's Mask/Halo: Combat Evolved
2003: Knights of the Old Republic/Sonic Adventure 2: Battle/Tales of Symphonia
2004: The Wind Waker/TES: Morrowind
2005: TES: Morrowind
2006: TES: Oblivion
2007: Twilight Princess
2008: Mass Effect/Fable II
2009: Dragon Age: Origins/Tales of Vesperia
2010: Mass Effect 2/Fable III
2011: Halo: Reach/Battlefield 3/TES: Skyrim
2012: Mass Effect 2/League of Legends
2013: Minecraft/League of Legends
2014: Minecraft/League of Legends/Dragon Age: Inquisition
2015: League of Legends
2016: Pokemon: Moon/Fire Emblem: Conquest/Animal Crossing: New Leaf
2017: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2018: Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire/Divinity: Original Sin 2

Síne had always been afraid of Kingfisher Forest, because she couldn't explain it.

She could explain most things, because even if she didn't know how they worked, there was a clear logic to them. She might not understand exactly what caused the sun to move through the sky, but it did so at approximately the same time every day and followed a pattern of birth, death, and rebirth every year. The seasons lasted approximately the same length every year, and followed the same pattern as the sun, with a time of sewing, growing, reaping, and death. The cycles were so predictable that the farmers of Ceadaichte Mòir anticipated them every year and could accurately plan their yields around them.

But Kingfisher Forest didn't make sense. Trees only grew in the forest; according to the traders that came by the town twice a year, there was a dead zone for approximately 100 kilometres from the edge of the forest before trees started growing again. And even those trees were very different, small and dull of colour compared to the massive red-brown of the trees in the forest. Whatever trees were felled by axe or storm regrew in a matter of months, as tall and as vibrant as they were before. The forest was unfathomably large, extending further north and south than anyone had ever gone, and deeper west than anyone had ever been able to venture. It was an infinite expanse that happened to end right at this spot, where Ceadaichte Mòir had been founded. There were other villages, though Síne had not seen them, to the north and south along the tree wall, but none within an easy travelling distance. She would often hear animals playing or calling for mates within the trees, and the children of the town often ventured out and played among them. The forest itself showed no malevolence or intention to harm. And that's why it was scary.

It was the 8th of Sun's Rebirth, only a few days away from the beginning of the sewing season. Síne was at a desk in her home, reading scraps of paper by candlelight. She was trusted with the responsibility of teaching the town children letters and numbers, and was only able to get them to gather during the winter at the main community building, in a room near the mayor. She was also responsible for rationing out what paper and candles the community would afford to her for this task. Her last candle of the year burned with a matter of centimetres left to go, lighting the last few shreds of paper that had been left. The remaining paper was wrapped in twine in various piles around her floor. She would exchange it with the traders when they finally arrived, and they would return in the fall with it having been reformed once again blank. All of the empty ink pots had been rinsed and sat atop the various bound piles of paper, as glass was always a valuable commodity with the tradesmen. That being said, they were a few days later than expected this year, and if they took much longer she would have to start reading next to the fireplace.

The wind outside rattled her door, causing the woman to start. With a hand placed against her rapidly-beating heart, she turned to look at it, waiting. One, two, three, four... the room remained silent save the friendly crackling of the fireplace and the occasional muted pop of a candle wick near its end. If it was any quieter Síne was sure she would be able to hear her heart beating raucously against her chest. Once she was sure it wasn't an intruder, the woman sighed, blew out the candle and stood up to stretch; it had been a long day of reading; the children this year seemed more generally interested in the old stories, and were writing a lot of their own. Hence the shortage of paper. Still, it brought a lot of joy to her heart to see the spark of curiosity in one of her classes, and she would try to get more paper from the traders in the fall. Some of the children had already started borrowing out books from her, which hadn't happened before, and two of them had stayed behind the last few days to ask about one of the legends she had recited, a story about a clever princess who had evaded capture by running into the Kingfisher Forest, which had recognised her virtuous heart and protected her from her pursuers.

They had asked how the forest protected her. She wasn't sure of that; the story that had been passed down to her wasn't as concerned with the details as the inquiring minds of babes. One boy, a brash little one who was often playing pretend swords with his friends just inside the forest, theorised the forest had cut the pursuers down to size with whips of vine and spears of branch. The other boy, a shy child who had lived with and helped his grandparents after the pox had taken his father, theorised the forest made the princess disappear, and those that chased after her gave up after not finding her for a time. The fact that both of these assumptions could very well be the truth was what frightened Síne. But then again, most things surrounding the Kingfisher Forest did.

She stepped to the door and grabbed the handle of the metal bolt, rotating it up and pulling it to the side, then down again so that it caught in the unlocked position. She then pushed down a latch that allowed her door to swing outward and open, letting in the night air. It was somewhat cold outside, though it was much warmer than it had been even a few weeks prior, and was warmer still during the day. Still, she was small in frame and stature, lacking any heft that might block the chill of her environment. The ground was no longer stiff with frost, and the grass along the ground had started coming back to life. She stepped outside and stifled a yawn, then looked to the forest. The Kingfisher Forest didn't change during the winter either; its leaves were still as full, its wood still as vibrant. Though the trees felled by axe or storm dried and became quality firewood, what was still connected to the ground never changed. A wind rustled through the tree tops, causing the branches and leaves to stir and rattle quietly, as the air moved toward her house. It rustled her shoulder-length brown hair, causing it to tangle even worse than it had been before. But even then, the forest did not seem intimidating. Not of its own merit.

[they/them]

Welcome to Calamity Refuge! I thought we could go ahead and open this topic up so everyone can introduce themselves to each other.

I'm Emily or Valkyrie, so-called "Social Administrator" and general all-around culture generator. I'm married to Luca and live in British Columbia. I love writing and music, and have officially stopped toying with video content creation. I have two RPs going, though only one (A Voice From the Storm) is probably worth joining unless you have an itch for sci-fi like I do. You'll see me around driving activity and attempting to make the RP section more interesting in general. I'm on a slow genderfluid pendulum between non-binary and female, and right on the edge either way, so please use whichever is your preference between they/them and she/her pronouns.

I want more than anything for this to be a warm, happy place where we can all be friends and enjoy each others' company. If there are any issues or you want to reach out to me, I'm always just a PM away