Title, and segment titles, drawn from Van Gennepe’s Les Rites de Passage. The three segment titles draw from the concept of a rite of passage, which Gennepe holds to have three parts. The preliminal is the state of getting ready for the actual event, or liminal moment, and the postliminal is what occurs afterward. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~ Soldier Preliminal “Ever wonder what it’s like to kill someone?†They had been lying on their backs, watching the clouds skid past the parade grounds. “huh?†She had flipped onto her stomach, looking him in the eyes. With a small smile, he did the same. “You musta thought ‘a it now ‘gain, mean you’re lookin’ at th’ military as an actual career.†“’pose I have.†It was a harmless lie at the time, but when the reality of the battlefield hit home (two weeks into his first term of service in a god-forsaken jungle called Vietnam), he had wondered what it would have been like to tell his sweet the truth. That he was scared shitless of killing and what happened afterwards. It didn’t help that more of his comrades were killed than those they were supposed to be fighting. A year later, another shock occurred, in the form of a small seek and destroy mission that ended it two words. Dishonourably discharged. Two words that doomed him for the rest of his life….all for refusing orders to open fire on unarmed civilians. They had been children, harmless, and even if the Vietcong bastards were using them as weapons, they were still children. That left him out of a job, out of a home (as he lied to his sweetheart), and wondering what to do. To say that BLU saved his ass would be an understatement. Liminal They all thought of him as the crazy one…the one to avoid. And that suited him fine. After all, one never knew if there were Spies lurking around. Pretending to be crazy kept them away. Postliminal Adjusting to life after 9 to 5 warfare had been…awkward, but he had eventually managed to do it. Got married to his sweetheart, 20 years too late to have children, but they still had years left, they could adopt, maybe foster. He kept in contact with a few of the members from his old base, namely the Engineer and Demo. They keep him up to date with all the gossip from all the others. No, they hadn’t heard anything from the Heavy, musta gone back to Russia, and yes, the Medic did get his licence to practice over in the US, he knew where the Heavy had gone, but wasn’t certain if he’d be willing to entertain. All normal gossip- such an oddity after the time spent at war. Demoman Preliminal He hadn’t meant to blow the garden shed up. Just like he hadn’t meant to send the chemistry teacher to the hospital. He really didn’t mean to! Honest, it wasn’t his fault the reactions he created tended to get out of hand. And honest, the latest experiment, that caused him to loose his left eye, was not supposed to do that. Truly, all it was supposed to do was to create a stable polymer…What do you mean his past time was dangerous and a harm to everyone near him? Liminal War stank. Literally. From the kerosene-gasoline accelerant blend that the Pyro used to light their flamethrower, to the slightly more pleasant scent of dispensers, and the burnt ozone scent of the Mediguns…he was constantly surrounded by new, and often disturbing scents. That didn’t matter, after all, it was a job. Postliminal After the War, he stayed in the States; liking the almost religious devotion the nation gave to fireworks. For a year or so, he worked with a bigger fireworks company, reuniting himself with his first love. A few years later, he opened up his own shop, specializing in pyrotechnics. He got a fair trade from the University that the Engie now taught at and the two shared many a pint, swapping stories from work. Sometimes, the Solly joined them, traveling into the city to get something for his lass, and the brood that they had started to foster. He didn’t keep in touch with the Heavy, but he occasionally heard from the Pyro. Turned out the firebug had fallen in love with someone (the letters were always vague on the sex of said person), moved back home to Wales, and was doing something related to the government. The letters were always typewritten, and neatly presented, but the Demo always caught the faint scent of charcoal and lighter fluid on them. With a smile, he folded the latest letter from his old friend, pulled on his battered cap and headed out to the local bar. Scout Preliminal “Th’ fucker’s ‘ere again.†“Wot?’†“Th’ neighbour’s kid.†“Just brin’ ‘im in ta th’ ‘ouse. ‘E’s prolly ‘voidin’ ‘is siblin’s an’ Dad.†Liminal He was fast. The fastest, if he was allowed to toot his own horn. Nobody could best him, not even that fuck on the RED team. With a laugh, he rushed past his team’s Engineer, heading out into the dead land between the BLU and RED bases. Postliminal “Has anyone heard from the Scout?†The Engineer looked at the Soldier, shaking his head. “Wonder what happened to him.†Pyro Preliminal Today I watched a man burn to death Liminal The only real thing in life is my flamethrower, my target, and me. Beyond that is an imagined dream. Injury and damage is only transitory. It will heal. If it does not heal, I am not worthy. If it does heal, I have survived another day. If I survive another day, I am one step closer to home. To be one step closer to home means one leap closer to normality. One leap closer to normality means that I can have a house, live, and love and not be considered abnormal. Hence, the only real thing in life is my flamethrower, my target, and me. Postliminal Dear Demo, It is funny that, despite the years that we have known each other, we have yet to know each other’s name, and the letters that we write are addressed to our former job titles. I don’t think that will ever change, but it is interesting to note. How are you? I have been kept busy recently, as my job has picked up steam. (No pun intended) They seem to think that I don’t want to have a day off, but I really can’t complain. I have a job, it pays well, and I get to travel. Don’t know if you have heard. The Spy and Sniper recently got….married. I don’t know how they managed to do it, but I get the feeling that it involved the disguise kit that the Spy had. If what the Spy was saying is true, I do believe that the minister was quite surprised when the man and wife he had married turned into, well….man and man. I got a letter from BLU the other day. Turns out they are looking for more people to employ- to send to a new base in God knows where. They offered me my old job back, as well as a slightly larger pay packet, and the position of troop leader. Threw me for a bit of a loop, as you can imagine. Wrote back and told them that I was happy with my job and wouldn’t go back for the world. Wonder how that old bitch that did all the announcements will take it, but it isn’t as if she can do anything to anything to me, or any of us. We all retired along time ago. Look at me rambling on about bygones. How is the Soldier’s brood? Still causing him hassles, or have they been adopted? Hope this letter finds you and the remainder of the group well, Pyro.
While you have a neat concept going here, it'd be nice if you elaborated a bit more on the Preliminal and Postliminal segments; Scout's preliminal was almost nonexistant.