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meadowlarklogs2019-02-09 11:25 am
- !arrival log,
- castlevania: alucard,
- darker than black: hei,
- dc comics: dick grayson,
- dogs b&c: giovanni rammsteiner,
- dogs b&c: nill,
- ffxiv: arya gastaurknan,
- ffxv: noctis lucis caelum,
- ffxv: prompto argentum,
- game of thrones: sansa stark,
- gangsta: alex benedetto,
- starfighter: cain,
- starfighter: deimos
ARRIVAL LOG 007
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Night of September 20 to night of September 23
WHAT: The seventh arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy. Further notes at end of log.
Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see four people in black body armor seated opposite you, as well as a man in dark gray scrubs.
You realize there are others next to you. All of you are dressed differently: each in a cheap, clunky bodysuit of different colors. Red, blue, yellow, green, black, pink, purple, teal. It's as if you were put into a costume, the blurry shades of the outfits moving in and out with your hazy recognition. Your hair has been recently cut, and is at various stages of growth, and you're restrained across your arms, chests, and feet, left firmly attached to the softly cushioned seat beneath you. To your left, an armored interior door, two more people visible, the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.
The vehicle stops. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, and there is a clutter of sounds and lights outside, children and adults milling about, with giddy cheerful music accompanying the pitter patter of sounds. The warm air is dry but cooling, and you'll likely wish you weren't in whatever overwrought attire you were dressed in for the occasion. Before you're let out, the nurse moves to check each passenger, releasing them from their restraints just before they're helped out of the vehicle. The nurse doesn't follow, instead moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.
The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick and firm, but not unkind. Once the passengers are out, the guards place a mask in each of their hands that matches the color of their clothing, and from it hangs a metal card that will grant everyone entrance to the party up ahead. Then the guards climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.
You're left alone at the large entrance of a festival of some kind, with many people milling about in costumes while loud music plays from speakers. The festival itself undoubtedly looks like some kind of costume party, though you'll come to notice that your costumes aren't unique.
Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request.
The message from El comes the same as usual: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.
Wow, I have to say – the guys behind this? They're getting creative. I'm sure some of you are already aware, but Anime Naex is on, and arrival #7 is there waiting for you in some rather unfortunate getups. Make sure you look up the Vestica pilots on the way so you can pick them out. Have fun and pick me up something there, will you? I never get to go.
Animation Naexpo – which is more coloquially known as Anime Naex – is a popular annual convention, born out of a subculture of video game and animation fans around the city. Since our time, animation has become a world-wide sensation, and is distributed out of numerous megacities, with each one specializing in their own flavor and genre. There are many smaller conventions that are held every year in New Amsterdam, but this is the largest of them all, complete with the most competitive cosplay competitions, as well as the most popular guests who travel from other megacities around the world to meet and interact with their fans. It also has the hottest venue: set in the tallest hotel in the center of the financial district, it's a place that many of the con attendees could never dream of entering without having the convention as their annual ticket inside.
The streets leading up to the hotel are lined with booths, all trying to sell handmade wares. These booths act as the artist's alley for the convention, allowing people to set up within rented spaces. Many of the artists craft their own supplies – T-shirts, shoes, and other articles of clothing – while also having a code that will allow someone to access their digital gallery if someone might want to commission anyone on their way inside. There won't be anything like the ubiquitous keychains, prints or stickers of today, but there are many an enamel pin for someone to show off their particular allegiances.
Just above these booths and on the way inside, there are numerous AR displays paid for by multiple streaming companies. Any of the new arrivals won't get a read on these displays because their implants aren't registered yet, but the previous arrivals will be able to see targeted advertisements featuring a wide array of different cartoons and animation programs meant for all different types of audiences. These advertisements are often fairly generic, inviting someone inside so they can learn more.
Once inside, it seems that there's a lot to do. Anime Naex is a three day event, and everyone there working the event is dressed up in the same dark blue period costumes, celebrating the biggest show at the moment: a moody noir show that's set in the late 1990s. Each of them have a different pair of gaudy sunglasses, and their pants have numerous pockets, signifying the long-forgotten cargo pants of the past. While these workers are dressed up, they are the hotel employees, and they won't be happy to be there. Try to treat them kindly?
The program for the event is full of a great deal of things, so try to have fun.
> CURRENT HITS
The two top shows that are getting the most attention are Hot Case and Vestica: Aeon. Hot Case is the aforementioned noir anime set in the late 1990s, involving a snarky, too smart for his own good detective as he tries to solve the unsolved mysteries of the previous centuries. He's a cynic who often believes he's chasing urban legends down blind alleys. Vestica: Aeon is the most recent addition to the popular mecha franchise that's been around for well over a century. This particular addition has been running for five years with no end in sight, featuring a rotating cast and different mechs tied to various animal and nature spirits. Otherwise, the current trends vary a lot: many are historical in nature (set in the 20th or 21st centuries, often with an emphasis on traveling to prevent this future from happening), while others are high fantasy and worlds that could never be, free of the constraints of technology and filled with magic and great wonders. There are also plenty of aliens, ready to intervene and keep humanity from destroying itself further. Some shows are more generic than others, and they're typically meant for varying ages rather than genders, with a lot of the modern-day fanservice and tropes left behind as society evolved. But don't worry: there are still magical girls.
> COSTUMES
Much like today, there are a few of the lazy people who haphazardly put together a costume at the last minute or buy it online. But then there's everyone else. Anime Naex is the convention to show off someone's hard work and ingenuity when it comes to the costuming scene. Many of these costumes are high tech in nature – and many involve various inspirational spins on classics, showing the creativity behind the design. Some of the more committed cosplayers have cybernetics to help enable their costumes, helping them replace certain aspects so that it can best suit their appearance for the event the following year. The goal for these cosplayers is always the same: win the big prize at the show, which is a hefty amount of credits and an internship with a top costume designer who's worked on some of the world's biggest blockbusters.
> EVENTS
The three day schedule for Anime Naex is jam packed, with certain panels running around the clock. No matter what, there will always be a steampunk or traditional tea ceremony of some time going on – albeit with leaves that leave a lot to be desired, grown in gardens around the city (don't expect much). Otherwise, there are lots of panels led by guests or con attendees hoping to convince someone to watch their favorite show, or to discuss some of the more involved pieces of subtext. Yes, there are still awkward shipping panels with involved, AR powerpoint displays and clips often taken wildly out of context to prove what they have to say. These panels can get rather heated, often bringing people who discuss and debate online into the same room once a year. There are also many game rooms and amateur gaming competitions.
> THE DEALERS
Like with many different events around New Amsterdam, Anime Naex acts as a hot spot for consumerism. There are numerous booths set up throughout the many floors of the hotel, selling different wares, including various pillows, stuffed creatures, and – while often more expensive – robotic versions of mascots from the shows. These robots lack any artificial intelligence, but function and work rather similarly to appear as if they've come right out of everyone's favorite shows. For anyone who's lacking a stellar costume, there are numerous booths set up to help people buff up what they want.
> THE BALL
There is, of course, a ball. Titled the Dawn Ball, it's held on the Saturday of the event, providing numerous con-goers an opportunity to wear a fancy version of their costume to dance. These balls are opportunities for people to show off their cosplay partner and relationships, and even show a different kind of ingenuity, as they maintain their character in question while wearing formal wear. Admission does require formal wear, and most of the people who go are on the younger side.
> MISCELLANY
Like any convention, there are always those people who stroll up to stay in a hotel without knowing what they're getting in to, and that'll happen here. Unaware of why so many rooms weren't available, there will be the occasional individual who doesn't know what's even happening. Life outside of the hub of the convention will go on as normal … but with a lot more strangely costumed people walking the streets as they go out to get food or head home after the day's events. Many of the restaurants nearby will have restaurant week deals with special menus designed for con goers. Prove you have a badge to get another discount – and try out your favorite Vestica pilot's favorite snack!
Access to the safehouse is a hatch hidden behind stacks of empty storage shelves in the back of an abandoned supermarket in an outer district of the city. The immediate area is similarly abandoned, empty stores, flanked by several blocks of dive bars and clubs which cater to more niche tastes. A place where people can come and go unseen, or, if seen, not spoken of. A dark haired woman called Gaby is ready to greet the new arrivals and get them settled in, brusque and no-nonsense – she'll be open for in depth questions later, but will advise everyone to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information.
◉ The safe house is a large open space, filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.
There is a sign of some things being in disarray, with numerous metal containers meant to help stock things, as well as be moved out. There will be Morningstar agents moving in and out of the safehouse, helping prepare for the next step for their lives.
◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.
◉ While there were previously also NPC occupants of the safehouse, natives to New Amsterdam, these people have now been moved on to somewhere safer. A few of their belongings remain, discarded or accidentally abandoned.
◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.
◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.
◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.
◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until SEPTEMBER 24. These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.
Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until September 24 (February 17). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.
If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.
Please check out our February calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods. We made a couple of revisions/corrections to the calendar since it was first posted, so please have another look at it!
As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in February will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on March 1 and close on March 7. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.
safehouse!
he looks like a variation on corporate casual, as ever, sleeves rolled and oxfords, crisp. maybe a bit scruffier than usual around the face. been a long month, y'know. he deposits his rucksack on the kitchen counter, moving past billy to restock the fridge. after all these weeks, he knows a newbie on sight, even if he lets the lad search in silence for a moment. ]
Looking for something in particular? [ said as he peaks around the fridge door, waving a hand in a nebulous gesture. ] Gets proper messy in here, with us lot popping in and out, [ his mouth quirks, attempting a reassuring smile. ] but I might know where there good stuff's hidden, yeah?
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he does, today. it's gross, but eventually billy'll get to that. just not quite yet. his hand moves away from the cupboard door when what he's looking for obviously isn't in there, and he offers fitz the smallest, tiniest apologetic smile. )
Coffee? I found tea, but that doesn't quite have the kick I'm looking for. ( caffeine is important to life, where is the caffeine. there's not a lack of it, more a lack of the source billy tends to prefer. which is close enough. )
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Bit of a luxe commodity, what with the cataclysmic environmental shifts — [ not reassuring, right. he knows Jemma would tell him off for including that stinger in the welcome spiel, so he closes the fridge door, smile turning penitent. ] — but you've arrived in time for a special delivery.
[ newbies always want coffee, and when they're going through so much shit already, they might as well have a spot of something nice. it takes some rooting through his bag, but he finds a coffee can near the bottom and deposits it on the counter (in all its uber recyclable and overpriced glory), sliding nearer to billy. ]
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considering all the entities out to rule the entire world, a little environmental shift isn't. the absolute worst thing billy has had to deal with. the lack of coffee? might be a deal breaker. but fitz pulls out a coffee can and slides it over and billy's expression quickly goes from angsty teen to someone who just discovered their birthday came early. a smile spreads over his lips as he moves to grab onto it, turning it over to check out the roast, all the important stuff. not that it matters that much. coffee is coffee and billy's happy with it regardless, considering he was starting to get the feeling he wasn't going to find any at all. )
Oh my god, thank you so much. ( now it's time to soft th rough cabinets to find some empty tea bags, since there isn't a coffee maker close by. billy can figure it out. ) You have no idea how much I needed this.
( but he does turn to fitz, pauses in his mad dash to try and make a cup to offer a hand out. makes sure to. pull his sleeve down over skin to cover it. no one needs that. )
Billy Kaplan. Or uh, Wiccan in some circles. ( loki's here, so is kate and (a weird version of) tommy. and after his id was spoiled to his parents, hiding it kind of. became a nonissue. ) Nice to meet you.
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Reckon that I'm starting to get the idea, Billy. [ most their fellow displaced aren't the polite and grateful, either, so he's helpless to do anything but smile back and carefully return the shake, avoiding anything but the most incidental haptic connection. ] Leo Fitz, but — [ a little tilt of his head. ] Fitz. [ a beat. ] Agent of SHIELD, if that means anything. [ since he's the head of PR now, christ. ] Good to meet you.
[ seeing as he dropped a bloody wiccan in there. he knows the two-name drill by now, recording codenames since the terrigen bomb went off years ago. fitz hates magic, for the record (on account of lorelei getting in his head and, uh, nearly getting dragged to hell with the ghost rider...) but he'll withhold judgment.
a fleeting clap on billy's back as he passes, too, on his way to find a makeshift filter for his old school coffee-making endeavours. cooking is just science, y'know. ]
Can I take the Wiccan of it all to mean you've been down a winding, timey-wimey road before now?
[ as it happens, there aren't very many adjacent codenames. hellfire and scarlet witch both come to mind, but it's no guarantee that his (likely former) skillset was in that neighbourhood, just a passing thought. ]
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( look his hero team of choice is the avengers, for all their faults. it kind of goes with the whole being an avenger fanboy thing, and was the starting point of his own skin tight suits with capes story. the recognition is pretty amazing, and it only makes the smile grow wider before he gets back for looking for a filter. finds a container of empty tea bags meant for loose leaf tea, and pours some of the coffee into it.
he's so fucking excited, both for s.h.i.e.l.d and for the coffee. his day may have started with vomiting on loki but really, it's only getting better. suck it loki. )
This isn't my first multiversal journey, no. But it is my first like this. The rest, America held our hands through. And she's uh. a totally amazing inter-dimensional traveler by trade, so. ( he'd be more worried about namedropping but it's not as if america has a secret id to begin with, and quake being with s.h.i.e.l.d at some point in time isn't exactly news, either. as for his own--it's pretty much useless. )
I'm part of the Young Avengers, if that sounds familiar.
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he leans back against the counter, letting billy sort himself out and, uh, babble. it's nice. like how he was, at the start of his career. ]
They worked pretty hard to spell SHIELD, didn't they? [ he's contractually obligated to make the SHIELD dad joke. ] I'll admit I'm only recently familiar with the Young Avengers. Home to better Hawkeye and younger Loki, yeah? [ agent barton cuts in line at the vending machines at SHIELD headquarters; it's a whole thing. ] You're Universe A1, [ motioning at billy, then back to himself. ] and I'm over in A2. Similar but not quite the same, as I'm sure you already understand.
[ multiversal journey, he says, and fitz wonders how SHIELD missed recruiting the kid before the bleeding avengers got to him. he assumes by america, billy means some younger, dimension-hopping captain america or related hero? that's kind of how their team works, isn't it? big name associations. ]
Quake's a friend and a teammate. [ family, he thinks. she needs to come home. ] My version's here, actually, just recovering from a recent field operation. I'm sure she'll be chuffed to meet you.
[ Daisy being missing is need-to-know until she returns, sorry. ]
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if he's thinking about it in third person and chatting about it, it's easier. lends more to the fan in him than all the horrible bits and pieces in between. ) I guess that's one way to think of the world designations.
( honestly, loki is most likely more familiar with them. given all things loki. the lip folded over on the teabag, billy's intention turns to getting a cup, placing it in whatever passes for a microwave, and warming up the water. this isn't the best way to go about it but it is the only way he's got on hand. he'll miss his coffee maker. )
But yeah, home to the young and talented Hawkeye, and boyband Loki. ( have u seen his hair. technically, part of that is probably billy's fault. he should have wished for him to have a big ugly nose or something, but it's too late for regrets now. ) We've also got myself, Wiccan. Speed, my brother. He's here, you'll recognize him. White-haired me, but he's also from a different side of the multiverse as us. Then there's Hulkling, Prodigy, Noh-Varr-slash-Marvel Boy, and America.
( a beat, lips pursing. )
Or that was Young Avengers part two, for a while. Loki took off because he messed up, Noh-Varr took off because he was a jerk, Speed kind of does what he wants whenever he wants to, and Prodigy only came after us because he lost Speed to a cosmic horror-thing.
( he could explain this in a much more complicated way, but billy isn't. be thankful. )
Quake's cool.
no subject
a startled laugh, then, at boyband loki. yeah, he can see the resemblance. only it's the mention of a twin brother with the name "speed" that catches his attention. hulkling, too. there are more hulks? jesus christ. throughout the spiel, he nods along. loki took off because he messed up matches what kate said, when he first met her. it fills in some of the gaps in his understand of the other universe. ]
Yeah, she is. [ a brief, fond smile, with a duck of his head that helps him engage. this conversation is enjoyable — and useful. fitz can't afford to be out of it, so. he drags a hand over his jaw, re-calibrating. ] Most of those names are likely further along than my point in the timeline, though I appreciate the information, regardless.
[ canting his head. ] You don't have to answer this, Billy, but with a name like Wiccan, I assume you have powers of some sort, right?
[ fitz is careful to use the present tense. he doesn't think their powers are gone, just inhibited. ]
no subject
despite his own side of the civil war, billy has never been one to hide himself behind a mask. this bit has the tendency to get a bit of a loaded reaction, though.
when the microwave goes off, he takes out the hot water. tests the temperature with a hand over the mug before shoving the coffee into it. ) I've gotten some mixed reviews on the name, honestly. Just couldn't be Asgardian anymore, for obvious reasons. ( namely, he isn't asgardian at all. they were meant to draw out the avengers, and that's what their original names did. thanks nate, before going weird and causing havoc. )
Speed and I are the children of the Scarlet Witch. While he inherited her brother Quicksilver's mutation, I got hers. ( there's a careful eye watching fitz, gauging his reaction. )
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As it stands, it’s only a passing, horrible thought. Cut off before it can spiral into something tangible. He’s still in the process of debugging his brain, rewriting the subroutines that read HYDRA instead of SHIELD. His expression only shifts slightly, more thoughtful than anything else. After a moment, he digs beneath the cold, instinctive response to unearth his empathy.
That’s quite a lot of power for a young man to bear. Daisy had been a wreck when she first changed, dealing with terrifying quakes — and Fitz had held her for what felt like hours. Maybe a family of similar individuals helped. ]
I know of the Scarlet Witch. Last I heard, she was with the Avengers.
[ a little nod. sure, she’s a war criminal with frightening powers — but so was daisy and, uh, captain america. can’t really judge, with his own recent alignment swaps. ]
Bit of a baptism by fire, as abilities go, isn’t it? [ mild ‘cause it does seem like The Most of all the powers out there. ] I’m impressed that you’re already fighting for a team.
no subject
She's been with the Avengers, yeah. ( for a while. there's a lot of stories he could get into--would and probably will, because billy does like to talk about his favorite things and those definitely rank high up there. fitz doesn't tell him to shut up about it, which is all he needs to babble. ) They split up, after--a lot of things went down, but the world needs the Avengers. I mean, there's--other teams? There was the X-Men around still, even if their numbers were a lot less. But they have a terrible rep, and a lot of people would prefer to just ( die probably. cutting himself off from that thought. )
So we formed our own team to get the Avengers back together. Then that grew, then fell apart, and then grew again and, y'know.
Complicated hero stuff.
( everything is hard when you're a mutant teenager. the mug raises to his lips, and billy takes a small sip of the coffee. )
But this definitely makes everything seven times better, thanks again.
no subject
various waxing and waning teams seem novel to a man who's only recently witnessed the civil war between registered and unregistered. their split still marks a flashpoint, devastating in its consequences. ]
Yeah, of course. [ a lift of his shoulders, nearly a shrug. ] We've gotta stick together.
[ canting his head. ]
Not just we, ah, multiversal neighbours. All of us displaced, I mean.
[ which seems to be the consensus term now, representative of their temporal and spatial misalignment. ]
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the coffee disappears quick enough. maybe a little too quickly, considering he's only got what's left in the canister and it's not an easy to afford item but he'll figure out what to do with that when he gets there. )
And having a team is better than going it alone. ( says billy kaplan, king of running off on his own and getting set on fire. once and done, he's learned his lesson now. especially considering he's depowered here. ) I won't be much use with this thing in our chests, ( free hand raising to press over his sternum. ) but you've got my sword.
( oh, but-- ) Figuratively speaking. I can't use a sword.
no subject
[ like their overlapping pair, though several remind him of home, too. Marcos' world of powered prisoners, Markus and Connor's Detroit full of androids, and so on. space and time are both units of distance, after all. ]
And my axe, yeah, yeah, I've got you. [ a little smile, peaking out behind the hand over his mouth. nice to know he doesn't fight asgardian style, though, eh. ]
Don't underestimate what you can offer so soon, though. [ delivered lightly. he's had a variation on this conversation with daisy ten times over. you're more than your powers. it doesn't invalidate the gravity of that loss, but — everyone's more than one thing, y'know. ] You've only just had caffeine.
[ the same spirit as a dad joke, ah. ]
no subject
and billy will one day define the rules of magic across all multiverses, across space and time and change everything. probably not a safe topic to think about, considering how much anxiety it gives him. but it serves as a reminder that whatever did this is more powerful than the raw strength a teenaged future demiurge has.
it's worrying. something loki has definitely figured out by now, scheming mind thinking steps beyond where billy had been when they had met up.
damn. )
I know. ( kind of. but now he's thinking about how this place took from him what not even an interdimensional parasite who controlled his life for almost a year could get their grubby paws on. what no one should be able to get hold of without him handing it over willingly. the thing that made him an avenger. ) I've still got myself. It's--probably enough.