TFLN Overflow w. sentientsonder

[thesicilianopen]

here

Maybe. I’ve seen some pretty big disasters, though. You might seem chic in comparison.

Don’t feel too bad if you can’t measure up to her. Dogs usually are better at judging people’s character. They’re better at a lot of things and yet we’re labeled as the superior species. I guess it’s the thumbs.

I’ve never been fishing. It isn’t a lack of interest, just a lack of opportunity. I never had anyone to take me fishing when I was younger and then I just got so busy… Murder? You really need to explain that better. But yes, chess is cathartic in ways I don’t think I could ever really explain.

Well, they don’t necessarily have to come, but sure, all six are welcome.

Comments

[isola]

If there is something you won’t see me in is uniquely patterned suits. You could say I’ve had enough of the elite for now. There’s got to be a medium somewhere.

Can you imagine if they had thumbs? Although I appreciate my dogs and their existence, I will say if cats had thumbs, now that would be the world to fear. Winston, my most protective one, would probably try to just lock me in my house.

Chess tournaments seem like a busy lifestyle. Fishing is fishing. I wouldn't be opposed if you wanted to join. In exchange, if you want a confident booster, I’ll play you chess. Have you won any tournaments? I don’t really keep up with the news, but it seems impressive? I try to avoid them as I haven’t had a good relationship with journalists. Which leads me to murder... I’m an FBI criminal profiler, semi-retired. I’m actually surprised there hasn’t been a chess related murder yet...

You get to pet fluffy dogs, I get the social interaction my therapist tells me is good for me.

[thesicilianopen]

Oh? Not a fan of plaid suit jackets, then?

Cats would take over in no time. Dogs would probably co-exist with us, but I have visions of cats enslaving us. Winston sounds like a good dog. It’s good that you have him looking out for you. How long have you had him around for?

I might like to join. What would you tell someone who’s never been fishing to prepare them for it? I should warn you, I don’t take it easy on anyone. I won’t turn down a game, though. I’ve won and I’ve lost. I don’t think most people have good relationships with journalists. They’re the kind of people who manipulate you into saying the words they want to put on paper. A profiler? So, you try to figure out what people are thinking, why and how they do what they do? If there hasn’t been already, there probably will be. We’re such a tense, competitive bunch. It’s easy to picture it happening. Not that I’d ever kill someone over a game.

Clearly it’s a win-win. It has to happen.

[isola]

I don’t mind them. It’s more so the designer ones. Unique, yes, just a bit much. It also hits too close to certain experiences and people I’m trying to put behind me.

The only dogs I own are strays. I found him at the side of the highway when I was sleepwalking a couple years ago. He’s retained his individuality despite joining a pack. If anything, he is the only current goodness in my life—him and my other dogs.

I’d say prepare for the muck. It’s about standing in the stillness of water and being patient. I make my own lures, which is a bait style. You might be a natural, you never know. Fair warning. You can also look my name up, some of what is said is true and some of it is not. The profiler aspect... I can perceive motives and get into people’s emotional state. Some have called it “empathy in its purest form”. It’s what makes me excel at my job. Also a catch-22. Glad to know you don’t have a desire to make a human made chessboard.

How would I need to prepare for a match with you? I haven’t attempted a play since my Dad tried to find hobbies for me during my tremendous younger years.

Maybe we’ll see who runs into one another first. Our worlds could intersect, I just hope it’s not through our professions.

[thesicilianopen]

That’s an idea I can understand. I’ve reinvented my look more than once after life-changing events.

You walked a highway in your sleep? Do you do that often? It’s nice that you adopt strays, though. It makes even more sense, then, why Winston would look after you the way he does. You rescued him.

I’m sure if I try very hard I can manage some patience and I don’t think I would mind the muck. I would definitely prefer handmade lures over impaling worms and nightcrawlers on hooks. Is that an invitation to investigate you? Your empathy sounds like a mixed blessing. I’m not sure I’d always want to know what people were feeling. The only time I can read a person that well is when there are thirty-two pieces between us.

It would help to go over my past games, study which openings I favor and where I make my mistakes. I guess I was lucky in that sense. I never had anyone pressuring me to do anything I didn’t want to do.

That’s certainly a passive way of handling things. Oh, you mean like if I should go off the rails and finally kill someone? Yeah, I’m with you. That should never happen.

[isola]

No, I used to back in the day. Had to sleep with towels because I got sweaty. I think it happens more so because of nightmares on occasion. I had Encephalitis. It’s a disease that was eating my brain, but I was cured from it. Would it be cheesy if I said he rescued me?

When it comes to any food hunt you need to have some care. It’s respect towards nature. I’ve always found the hunting for sport mentality to be distasteful. I envy your ability to look at the board with pure effortless logic. Although, isn’t this just the age old debate of pathos vs logos in our polarized cases? Always on opposition, but really work best mixed like a well-made cocktail.

I also wouldn’t think you would be the one going on a murder rampage. Pardon if I’m outdated, but isn’t chess still largely male dominated? I’ve found female killers to be intriguing for the sake that they have an unfortunate gender invisibility, and to me they can do more damage if they wanted. However, murdering is still largely male. If I were to interpret a crime scene at a tournament, you wouldn’t be the first on my mind given the demographics and competitive nature fed into masculinity that’s often damaging in any sport.

…

I just realized I was giving you a slight lecture. I apologize, it never leaves me. I foremost taught criminology. How is it to be free without pressure? Has it influenced you to shift after life-changing events?

[thesicilianopen]

Wow. That’s way beyond what I was imagining. How does it feel to have lived through something like that? It sounds cheesy, but also sweet, so I think the cheesiness is forgiven.

I get that. At the end of the day you’re taking a life. It’s kind of deep when you think about it. I mean, unless you throw the fish back. Maybe if we spliced our minds somehow we’d be one well-adjusted individual. I think I like the cocktail metaphor more.

Ah. Yes. I find that people are always surprised when the person who beats them in a game of chess is wearing a skirt. There are certain ideas and norms that have sort of been pounded into people’s brains that don’t seem to be leaving anytime soon. One of them is that chess is a men’s game. It can be frustrating. It is comforting to know that I’m not on your hypothetical list of immediate suspects, though.

A little lonely, if I’m being honest, but I’ve never really minded much. It’s given me room to breathe when things go wrong. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes I self-destruct. But fuck it, in the end it’s always my decision.

[isola]

It’s never fun to have great amounts of loss of time and an inability to comprehend if what you are seeing is real or not. I sometimes still have nightmares, but at this point they are less about the fear and more about slowly accepting what has occurred in my life. It's still a process.

Then, it seems, Miss. Harmon, that we both have dealt with an equal amount of ego. It all feeds into the same patterns. I won’t deny that I sometimes fall into it, but I’d like to think we are starting to see the cracks of resistance if not one way or another. I will gladly step aside if you choose to demolish your chess mates with what I presume is a sharp tongue. I’ve had my share of frustrations. It’s nice to let other people have control when all I’ve done is try to regain the one taken from me. What kind of person do you consider your biggest undertaker?

If you think about it, people who are lonely all end up actually having more in common. In a way, we are never truly alone. It’s the saddest form, but at least it is something. It’s why I keep my dogs around. We have entered a contract. I give them their basic needs, and they give me their companionship. It might not be a healthy perspective, but as you’ve said… I have chosen. It is why I still don't regret having gone to Florence when all it did was leave me nothing but grief in the end. Self-destruct away. It is our given right.