larkers: (Default)
MEADOWLARK MODS ([personal profile] larkers) wrote in [community profile] meadowlarklogs2019-05-11 12:20 pm

ARRIVAL LOG 010

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Evening of October 21 and 22
WHAT: The tenth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion, loss of autonomy, sexual themes and alcohol usage. Further notes at end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #010

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 in white scrubs, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth, restrained by straps across your chests, arms, feet, holding you to the bench under 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 false, colored light, illuminating the streets in the distance will first alert your senses of being somewhere else, combined with air that's only cooled with the setting of the sun. The nurse moves to stand at the back, checking each passenger over one by one just before they're helped out of the vehicle, quick and methodical. He doesn't climb out after you, moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.

The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick, firm, but not entirely unkind. Once all the passengers are out, they drop some masks on the ground in a tan-colored tote bag. "Pick a mask," they bark, and then turn to climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.

You're left alone in an alley, with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here.

Around the corner of the alley, there is the sound of various different carnival rides and men yelling for someone to step right up and try their luck on the various assortment of games that are available. Off in the distance, there's a large, hulking structure – perfectly vertical in nature, and people on it twist upward and then come slamming down mere moments later. It seems that you've just arrived as a part of some festivity, though it's probably hard to tell if you're an attraction or a coincidence of this all.

Either way – time to pick a mask. They're nothing special: they go over the head, but no one was ordered to put one on. They show various monsters – generic and otherwise – and it looks like they were purchased in bulk.

◉ 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.

> 10 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: OPENING CEREMONY

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.

Here we go again. You know the drill by now. Our new batch has been thrown into the middle of a Halloween party. They should have masks on which doesn't make them much easier to find, but I trust you guys can figure this out. You know the signs to look for by now. So… Happy Halloween. 🎃

Having ten actual days dedicated to Halloween may seem like a bit much, but New Amsterdam takes the festivities seriously. Thanks to being a melting pot of two millenia's worth of cultures, they try to touch on every aspect of it. The launch party is a two-day event set in the cultural district. Thanks to the lack of ground traffic, the city easily rolls in what acts as a mini-carnival. The ground throughout the carnival is lit with candle-filled pumpkins, providing a warmth of inviting light as the nights grow cooler. While the carnival shuts down during the working day, it opens again in the evening, allowing working parents to bring their children before the hours come to a close. During this time, children run around with their friends in costumes to ask for candy or food from nearby businesses or carnival booths. Sometimes these children have to perform a task before they get what they've asked for – either through playing a game or answering a trivia question – but they're never turned away empty handed.

The first two days are largely billed as a time for people to come together and have a good time, but Halloween is also known for offering opportunities to local artists to get their work recognized. Whether digital or otherwise, artists are asked to commit to a theme and produce art on the first day of the event that's viewed throughout the next nine days. Part of the tradition is the crunch of trying to produce a work of art with limited notice and time. If they aren't done before the first two days are over, they won't be able to get free advertisement for their work. When the event is over, all of the art will go up for auction, and the artists will receive 75% of whatever is offered for their work. This year's theme is "Remembrance and Renewal" – and most themes from past years are just as open for interpretation.

As it gets deeper into the evening and children have returned home, the festivities turn toward being more adult. While barred from selling alcohol until 9 PM, the various carnival booths change their tune after that point, offering a wide array of alcohol – including their own takes on moonshine. The first night even features a competition over who's brought the best, and everyone's invited to try a sample and put in a vote – for free. A rather savvy individual would likely be able to find themselves well in their cups just off of these samples, as the moonshine contest is the way for the adults to get a treat of their own. For these evening festivities, everyone is allowed to wear a more risque costume, and sex workers come over from the neighboring Red Light District in order to advertise some of their more unique services for the evenings ahead. Every brothel will have a unique theme of its own to mark how special the event is, and their services will match.

Otherwise, the first two days of Halloween are known for allowing kids to have fun and for adults to be anonymous for a little while. Anyone who holds down a day job will still be expected to turn into work, but there's a tacit understanding that most people will be under the weather during this time.

◉ The carnival will have a wide array of rides that are set up rather quickly. There's a ferris wheel with seats that will rotate around a large machine like an atom, but with many different "branches" to allow a great deal of people to go on at once. Everyone gets on at the same time, and the seats "float." Each person can pay for how long their ride is in increments, and extend that time if they so choose. For the after dark people, there is a definite badge of honor in having a good time in a ferris wheel without getting caught with your pants down. Other rides include the Wicked Force – which rapidly takes people up 500 ft into the air and then drops them – as well as carousels that allow someone to customize their mount for an additional amount of money. Want a lewd mount? That's fine … after the kids have gone home to play, and some people like to show off whatever they thought up on Cooltalk.

◉ As always, there are a large number of food options available thanks to the local food trucks coming out to sell their food. Taco trucks are the most popular around this time, and that's most of what will be offered. Many trucks will have some homemade candy that they offer for free with each meal – with the option to get more.

◉ Throughout the city, there will be controlled bonfire pits that are lit every night at 8 PM, though they won't be present in the less cared for parts of New Amsterdam. Ahead of the event starting, there will be a website to let people know where these pits are going up so they can set up meeting places with their friends – or even reserve a pit for a private group. Reservations around the more popular areas cost more than ones that are nearing the "disreputable" sections – though "disreputable" is shorthand for rundown buildings in need of repair more than any crime.

◉ There are, of course, costume contests! While many local bars – dive and otherwise – will have smaller affairs, there is a large contest held on these first two nights. Because of the wide array of people and costumes available, someone has to enter their costume according to a certain theme. Some of the themes are: vampires, ghosts, zombies, pop culture (animation), pop culture (action movies), pop culture (celebrities), political figures, historical figures – and more! In the five days that follow, people will be able to go online and vote for their favorite costume. Whoever accumulates the most votes gets a meal of their choice at a number of participating restaurants – HAPPYHAPPYJOYJOY, SOL, Monde Pizza, Sweetwaffel and more – as well as 200 credits added to their funds.

◉ There will be dealers around the carnival trying to get someone to buy something to "heighten" their experience. While the "monster drug" is out in the city, it won't be available here. Halloween is thought of as a neutral ground for the city, and even the gangs recognize that. Most drugs will be hallucinatory in nature, providing effects similar to shrooms. Of course, any drugs are still illegal, and people will want to be careful not to get caught – or buy from the wrong person.

◉ Anyone who chooses to take part in the more illicit and sexual activities will be advised to go home to finish out their nights. Being handsy is fine, but getting caught on the ferris wheel? Well, the goal is to not get caught. Public acts are still illegal, though most people just spend a night in jail thinking about what they did. It's treated as more embarrassing than anything, but sometimes people let things get away from them. Many of the brothels will offer rooms to couples for the evening, complete with toys and supplies to practice safe sex. Even if they aren't spending their night with a sex worker, the themed goods are still there to enjoy.

> 10 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: THE NEXT EIGHT DAYS

After the rowdier events pass, Halloween splits into two main categories: corporate popups and remembrance. Halloween parties continue to be thrown at restaurants and bars, allowing people to enjoy a more low key version of what was previously available. Many of the bars have karaoke contests and themed parties, and many retail stores maintain a Halloween section until November first. If anyone's been invited to a party last minute – or they need a series of costumes to be extra about the whole occasion – they can hit these stores when needed.

◉ Pulsar's hover car-focused subsidiary, Bakker, advertises their 2512 line of cars by having hover hay rides around the city. Their trucks can hold up to six. Anyone hoping to go on a hover truck hay ride around the city to take in the sights and bonfires in the evening can call one on New Amsterdam's special Halloween app! These rides don't only show the city: they give a glimpse at the large amount of forestation just over the wall, allowing people to see that the Earth is gradually improving.

◉ There are, of course, haunted houses set up around the city! Haunted houses come in two varieties: virtual reality and 4D. Vyonation's gaming subsidiary, Vizija, sets up the virtual reality popups around the city. Due to the high tech nature of these setups, people do have to be on site to enjoy them. They interface with someone's neural implant, and depending on the experience, they can involve puzzles, escape rooms, murder mysteries, or even dissection tables. The 4D houses are the result of a joint partnership between Poe and Polarized – which are subsidiaries of Giles Bell and Pulsar, respectively.

4D haunted houses involve a great deal of props, realistic sights and smells, as well as the potential for certain drugs that can help provide a certain physical or emotional response. Whereas Vizija's simulation comes with the reassurance that nothing is real, Poe and Polarized team up to scare someone – and try to ensure it's as real as possible. Nothing offered at either is illegal, including the drug – though people with a history of heart issues won't be allowed to use the drug at all.

These experiences are made unique for everyone going in: people are allowed to opt out of anything that might make them uncomfortable, or even add in something along the way. If someone is feeling too much anxiety thanks to the drugs, they'll find a counter-drug added to their system to negate the artificial effects rather quickly.

◉ Remember that art contest? Anyone who finished a work will find their art somewhere in the city – and that includes anyone among the Displaced. If anyone is looking for artwork that's similar to what's been featured on the shrines, there will be a few, only they will seem more inviting. Whereas they celebrated people before, they now involve hands outstretched, welcoming someone down a blue-lit path. The same imagery – triangles and overlapping circles – will still be present, especially on the hands as tattoos.

◉ Five days before the 31st, there is a tradition of everyone donating a knife from their house to make it so that "spirits" can return safely. While no one in New Amsterdam genuinely believes that they might be visited by a spirit, the odd occasions around the city recently have lent some credence to this superstition. There will be knife disposal boxes all around the city – and anyone who doesn't give up a knife, butter or otherwise, will be seen as a bit of a spoilsport.

◉ On October 29th, there will be a procession from one end of the city to the other that starts just as the sun goes down and finishes when everyone has reached the other side. As you might imagine, this is a very, very long walk, and many people slip in and out according to what they can individually manage. People walk with candles along the way, and there will be booths selling new or replacement candles for a low price. Since the procession goes along the path of a lot of bonfires, it won't ever be difficult to get them lit. The purpose of this? Everyone uniting in remembrance: of a world that's healing, to celebrate the lives lost to usher in a peaceful era, to thank everyone on the colonies for offering a humanity a new home, and any personal losses that people might have faced. Even though there are still billions of people alive, there is the sense that everyone knows that they remain on Earth on borrowed time.

◉ For the last two days, people light candles and put them in their windows, and they also leave food outside of their windows and in the front of their apartments so that "spirits" can return safely. There's an implicit understanding that most of this food will be taken by people who aren't doing as well, and much of it is nonperishable. Anyone who's down on their luck will see candles in the window and will know that they will likely find food there. Many people stock up for this occasion so that they can replace any food. Unsurprisingly, most high-end apartments with well-off people don't honor this tradition, but people in mid-to-low end apartments will almost always have something to spare in the spirit of charity.

> SAFEHOUSE

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.

◉ 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.

◉ Any belongings from previous safehouse occupants have been packed up – and that includes any current Displaced who just got back from a trip. If someone left something out while they were in New Tokyo, Gaby will tell them where these objects can be found. For her part, she's just trying to get everything set up for the upcoming move.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.

◉ Once everyone that El spotted has arrived back, they'll be informed that the safehouse will be a temporary location. By the end of the month, everyone will be moving to a new location about fifteen blocks away.

◉ 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 OCTOBER 25 (MAY 19). 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.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

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 OCTOBER 25 (MAY 19). 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 an artist character, please feel free to comment below under our QUESTIONS header to submit a description for a work of art! As long as they submitted something, you can feel free to assume they made some credits off of the whole experience!

Since there is a part of this log that involves explicit sexual activity, please remember content warnings. If your character engages in a sexual act, slap a warning on that! None of the drugs available at the event will involve aphrodisiacs or anything that will remove consent. Some of the brothels may involve play with that, but everyone entering those arrangements would need to consent from the start. We're well aware of the sensitive nature of having a Red Light District-adjacent event while characters are under the influence of compulsory drugs, so no characters will be forced or asked into any acts against their will. There will be no exceptions to this. In addition, any newcomers won't be able to skip off into a brothel because they're new, won't be able to confirm their ages, and they won't have any other identifying information. Otherwise, please be respectful and check everyone's permissions.

As a blanket reminder, all arrival logs are designed as mingle logs for the entire game.

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 May calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in May 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 June 1 at 12 AM UTC and close on June 8 at 12 AM UTC. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

transuniversal: (oh no he didn't)

Noh-Varr | Marvel Comics | OTA

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-15 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
001. ARRIVAL [CLOSED TO BILLY]
[ Noh's heard a saying, some time back: history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme. And as rhymes go, this one's like trying to find a match for orange. The sort of joke he's not in any mood to make, as he comes to with the pungent, stinging scent of something antiseptic, bound and momentarily helpless. It's too familiar. He doesn't even— who? SHIELD? (There's no more SHIELD.) SWORD? (Brand would never let him wake up in transport.) Skrulls? (It's probably not Skrulls.)

Somewhere along the way he notices his mouth doesn't taste right.

Noh doesn't fight the manhandling, when they pull him from the restraints. It'd be foolish to fight when they're handing him an advantage. He'll bide his time, try to get all his sluggish limbs back online, in anticipation of the moment he can break free—

They let him go.

It's only because he doesn't understand that he doesn't immediately bolt from the vicinity. And the fact that his body won't obey his commands. Noh doesn't stick to walls anymore, his joints don't bend as they ought. All the little tricks they programmed into his DNA, the bombs in his fingernails, the taste of potent mind-altering chemicals secreted in his saliva— not there. He feels slower, weaker, and nothing makes a damn bit of sense. Noh has the inescapable feeling that he's being toyed with, and that might be because he knows he didn't want to pick up that mask, and he picked it up, and whoever's behind that should feel very, very worried right now, if only he had the slightest idea of where to start.

He makes for shadows, and whatever higher ground there might be to claim. It's not heroic to leave...whoever these other people are...to fend for themselves. So he won't, even if there seems like a solid chance they might also be highly suspect alien fugitives (the way he, technically, is an extremely suspicious alien fugitive.) The plan is to gather information, and then bolt for cover until he can get a grip on why he can't command the machines around him and bend them to his will, or grow a bomb in his thumbnail. He just needs a lead, any lead.

Noh lurks on the edges of spaces, aloof, and waits to see who shows up.
]


002. COMMUNAL SAFEHOUSE SHOWERS
[ If given the choice, he would not have elected to be here. Technically, Billy was very careful to give him the choice, while also stressing that he had no better options, a distinction which might be academic but still remains meaningful. This doesn't mean that he trusts anyone else, yet, or the organization; only trusts that this is the safest place he has to be, for the moment, and the best place to start towards...whatever's next.

But not even being kidnapped (back) to the future can fully diminish Noh's free spirit. Maybe he's harboring deep suspicions of everything taking place, and he's currently ambivalent about everyone whose name isn't Billy Kaplan (at least for the next five minutes.)

It's a small safehouse. So anyone using the bathroom while he's occupying the shower will be able to hear him humming to himself while he washes off whatever's left of whatever's been done, occasionally letting out an occasional line:
]

Hmm hmm— rock, what's the matter with you, rock—

[ Noh doesn't really care if anyone hears. He knows he doesn't have Nina's range. But it feels normal to do this, and so he does. ]


002a. SHIRTLESS IN THE SAFEHOUSE (HOT IN HERRE?)

[ Some people (most people?) experience self-consciousness around being semi-nude (mostly nude?) around other people. Particularly after a traumatic, violating experience like involuntary neurological surgery.

And then some people just exit the showers in nothing but a towel and don't really care who's watching. (Or, if you catch him a day or two in, in black underwear, but it covers even less.) Sorting through the clothes he's given with a resigned disappointment, because he does need pants. But none of the shirts fit quite right in the shoulders, so maybe he should just forego shirts and stick with a jacket? A sweatshirt?

He will, eventually, get dressed. Without any shame or modesty or even interest (for the moment) that anybody might be nearby. Just gotta make the best of this, okay?
]
wiccant: (the breath of you upon me.)

001;

[personal profile] wiccant 2019-05-15 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
( he's not looking for noh-varr specifically, but the call of new arrivals does have billy outside and on the lookout for anyone he recognizes. or just--anyone who needs a hand finding their way to the safehouse. this whole thing feels terrible, and he can just imagine how much worse it'd be for someone who was left out here on their own without anyone to help them along.

the galaxy print jacket and matching converse-esque shoes definitely scream billy, at least. and despite the fact he doesn't follow anything that'd be considered a good search pattern, he does clear a lot of area. the hay rides on hover cars help cover more, too.

but that's not how he finds noh. no, he finds him when billy makes a wrong turn into a dark alley, one arm full of food from one of the street vendors and comes face to face with a head full of white hair. for a split second, he thinks it's tommy being a shit and lurking in dark places, but he's. too tall, definitely not the right shape-- )


Noh? ( voice a little more high-pitched than usual and eyes wide. billy doesn't give him pause to answer, just. keeps babbling. ) Hey, uh. So all of this is going to be really terrible and messy and confusing and I'm sorry in advance if I say anything that can be even mildly taken as an order, I promise I definitely don't mean it but--
transuniversal: (super srs)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-17 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Does anyone else in the multiverse have quite that style? The "Galactic Portlandia" vibe, casual demiurgal je ne sais quoi. Drugged he might be, pissed off most certainly, but not so distracted that he can't recognize Billy Kaplan, even backlit in a dark alley. ]

I understand, Billy Kaplan. [ Each syllable enunciated sharp and cold. Thin ice over dark waters, deep currents. He is not a happy alien. But he is in his right mind. ] I appreciate it.

[ It'd be nice if Billy's presence could put him instantly at ease. Noh would like to feel reassured by it— more reassured, because the friendly face of a trustworthy teammate does make the bitter pill of whatever-the-fuck-is-going-on go down just a tad easier. It's just not enough to get him all the way.

But he tries. No less tense, but at least he straightens up from where he'd been poised to fight-or-flee at a moment's notice. Keeps his hands where Billy can see. Doesn't make any move to approach.

The best Noh can do is to be still, because he knows Billy won't have forgotten (because Noh has never forgotten) what happened last time they met like this. It doesn't have to be spoken to be acknowledged.
]

What are we doing here? [ There's a beat, and then, with slightly more of his usual personality: ] Why are you there, in your own clothes, with snacks, but I woke up in a van?

[ It just seems unfair, is all. ]
wiccant: (can feel it in my bones.)

[personal profile] wiccant 2019-05-17 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
( wow leave him and his galaxy print flair alone, he's doing his best here.

it's--tense. a tense situation. a tense thing to try and talk over, especially when noh-varr is on edge. he gets it. really, he does. and billy is also well aware that one wrong turn in this conversation and chances are high he'd be the one not coming out of it in one piece. as an (ex) kree soldier, noh could lay him out in five seconds flat. less, even. but it won't get there. that's his name, noh may be having a real shitty time but he's not trying to tackle him down now so it (probably) won't happen.

great. that's always a good sign. )


I've been here longer than you is why. I did the whole wake up in a van thing in September, it's late October now.

( he's had about a month to pull himself together, basically. but he'll offer a bag of snacks out to noh anyway. doesn't move any closer, noh can take a step forward if he decides he wants them. )

The what is--complicated? We really don't know. As a group, I mean. We were multiversally displaced-slash-kidnapped, chipped, and dumped on the side of the road to be someone else's problem. We've got Loki and Thor here, from home. Or at least I think it's our Thor. And then Doctor Strange from a different universe, and Tommy from another universe, and some SHIELD agents, and another mutant that I'm assuming is from the same kind of side of the multiverse as ours and a lot of folk from completely different places, too. Without Kree or Skrull or mutants or any of it. ( that was a mouthful, but he keeps going. ) Anyway, we're stuck here, all our abilities we had back home are gone, and everything here's going absolutely crazy and there's basically nothing we can do about it except try not to get sucked under the current. Welcome?

( no one put billy on the welcoming committee. )

There's--nothing we can directly fight. No one's going to come after us on the streets. I'm not sure if anyone really cares enough to come after us right now at all. There's a chip in everyone's head, an implant, that a group of rebels against the UN will program with information so the cops don't pick you up off the street after figuring out you don't exist? But aside from that.
transuniversal: (there's something rotten in denmark)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-20 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ This is a lot of talking. Billy's nervous? He seems nervous. Noh understands, and he might try to put his friend better at ease if every word didn't seem designed to just dig under his fingernails and settle right beneath his skin.

That's not Billy's fault. He's handing out information like the affluent hand out candy on Halloween. As sitreps go, maybe it's lacking some crucial tactical detail. Because there isn't any to be had, it sounds like. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't put Noh at ease. It doesn't leave him with a lot of options.

Somebody's going to pay for that. But it won't be here and now.

Noh-Varr sighs, and the tension snaps. He'll come forward and take the snacks.
]

...I am used to not existing, as far as human authority is concerned. [ Dryly, one hand reaching to smooth back his too-short hair where it falls across his forehead. That's going to get old so fast. ] But it's easier when I can use the nanotech seeded in my body to hijack everything around me that might be inconvenient.

[ Just casual Noh things: unsettling reminders that his powerset's weird as fuck. The nanites being the least of it. ]

Is that who came to get you? These rebels?

[ The conclusion's obvious: Billy doesn't present any other options for getting by, so he's fallen in with them. Which isn't the same as there not being any. But sometimes Billy talks a lot, and the more he talks, the more Noh learns.

This would be a good time to have popcorn. Is this popcorn? It doesn't seem to be.
]

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deicider: (107)

002a

[personal profile] deicider 2019-05-16 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Sniper was only back at the safehouse for socializing. They hadn't had much to do with the newbies lately, and had decided to put more time into it now that the Displaced's numbers were expanding.

And here one was. A newbie. They don't watch Noh-Varr on purpose. It's an open room, and it looks like Noh-Varr is just about done, so they wait... and end up waiting through several shirt-changes, growing more bemused.]


Do you need help?
transuniversal: (not "norman")

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-17 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Does he need help? That feels like a very loaded question to be asking right now. A bit too large. He does need help. He needs all his tools back, and his ship, and any information on who's responsible.

(So that, upon recovering his guns, he can then pistol whip them in the face and blast off into the sunset. This is how he would like to process his current feelings at this time.)

But he's been on Earth awhile. Noh knows this is not an open-ended invitation to demand aid. He cannot shake down everyone he meets for answers and equipment. (Yet.)
]

Help with what?

[ Accessorizing? Coming to terms with being cut off from his cockroach half? There's a lot of things he might need help with right now. ]
deicider: (107)

[personal profile] deicider 2019-05-17 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Anything, [Says Sniper agreeably. In this case, it is an open-ended invitation. Sniper doesn't have any need to be stingy with their resources, and helping the newbies get their feet under them was practical in its benefits.

They add, so Noh can have a better idea of the potential scope of their aid:]
I've been here a few months already.

[Meaning they were rich in information and in money.]
transuniversal: (who i gotta shoot next)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-20 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ Noh-Varr cocks his head, the too-short strands of his white hair immediately falling back across his forehead from where he'd tried to sweep them back. It's going to get annoying so fast.

What he's fighting with: he's not sure anyone here has the answers he wants, or they wouldn't be here. Right? Maybe. But he doesn't lose much by asking. Surely everyone else has asked them, too. Surely Billy would have asked. Would have told him, if he'd gotten anywhere. But it's those burning whodunnit questions that itch him the most. Who's responsible. Where's my stuff. How do I override this thing in my head.
]

This chip they grafted to my nervous system— it doubles as a tracking system, correct?

[ We're just gonna go for the paranoid questions off the bat. While half-dressed. But once a super-soldier... ]

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laozu: <user name=WAFFULLE site=twitter.com> (Default)

002. hi it's me

[personal profile] laozu 2019-05-17 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ there's one other person, still making use of the safehouse, who also has absolutely no issue with nudity around others - and it's this guy, already working on scrubbing aggressively at a motley of colors still left on his forearms and throat from a costume he'd worn the previous night. and then slept in, like a sloppy, lazy fool. there's ashen facepaint in his hairline, leaving shocks of muddled grey dripping down one side of his face while he scrubs and srubs and scrubs --

and runs out of soap. ]
Hm.

[ what a pickle.

it's what leads him to, shamelessly, raise his head and look in the direction of the one who is - gloriously singing - FINALLY SOME DAMN MUSIC IN THIS PLACE. ]


Sorry to interrupt your solo, but do you have more soap over there? This body paint is really caked on.

[ -- he's a soap monster, having shaped bubbles into a goofy little beard on his chin as well ]
transuniversal: (may i sleep with you)

you????

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-20 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ Noh's memory for the Earth Classics will never fade, not even with unplanned brain surgery in the very recent past. Given time he'd gladly regale the whole community with his rendition of "Life On Mars?" in the little Spotify playlist going in his head, but.

It's hard not to be distracted by that fabulous soap goatee, is all.
]

Was it really body paint, or was it some other kind of paint? Because I have learned from hard experience that regular paint is not meant to go on carbon-based skin.

[ There'd definitely been several days of not-so-secret glowpaint sunk into his skin after some parties. But Noh didn't really mind. It's not like he's ever had a day job to worry about.

Anyway, he'll gladly fork over some soap. And lean against the divider, very James Dean, not exactly looking in so much as he is casually looking over at what's going on next door.
]
laozu: <user name=WAFFULLE site=twitter.com> (Default)

ME

[personal profile] laozu 2019-05-20 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, does it really matter? It's absolutely everywhere now!

[ there's very little to him in terms of modesty, snagging the offered soap so that he's able to lay into the old, cracked makeup that's been smeared up into his hair as well, leaving the black streaked with random shocks of white. it's not a bad look, but it's definitely encroaching into the "unflattering mimicry" of noh-varr's own hair, the more he scrubs his skin and then swaps off to his hair. chaotic and without focus whatsover. ]

I slept in it, that's half my problem - no matter which type of paint it is, it's all dried and stuck in the cracks.

[ of his skin, he means. ( the soap goatee is already flopping off his face; he was going for "lan qiren" but it's really just a horrendous mess of bubbles slapped on his chin. ) ]

Oh dear. Now, don't stop singing on my account; I'm something of a music-man myself.
transuniversal: (still marvel boy)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-23 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ Modesty's for squares. And imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Plenty of people would pay ridiculous sums of money to try and reach a color within a mile of that pure white. ]

No, I want to hear about your party. [ He runs a hand through his own wet hair; it's missing at least two inches from his usual, and it doesn't want to stay pushed back, even wet. ] Since I am currently under house arrest here until they program me a new identity.

[ Insomuch as he's not coldly, solidly plotting the methodical downfall of whoever's responsible for bringing him here under that pretty surface, he's curious what it's like. ]

How do they do it, in the future?

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kleptocratic: (ϟζʹ)

002a.

[personal profile] kleptocratic 2019-05-18 06:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ Eugenides was used to communal bathing situations before he came here, and is generally unperturbed by male nudity. Enough that he is content to browse articles in the confines of his own head without remarking on the spectacularly unshy, evidently many-abbed stranger rummaging through clothes in front of him.

At least until something terrible happens, and he has to speak up— ]


No, not that one, it doesn't suit you at all.
transuniversal: (not sure what that's about)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-20 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ Noh-Varr holds up the sweater in question. It's at least green. It is, admittedly, a shade of green that verges slightly close towards what could generously be called creamed pees and that more discerning souls might call baby puke. ]

Do people in the future have something against the color green?

[ But this stranger's correct. It's not going to suit. And it was too baggy, anyway. Noh tosses it back into the pile with a sigh. ]

Maybe it's been so long since they have seen it, they forgot what it is supposed to look like.
kleptocratic: (οηʹ)

[personal profile] kleptocratic 2019-05-20 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
People mostly wear black here. It's how you can tell that the world has ended.

[ In fact Eugenides is wearing mostly black himself. Stealth. He doesn't like it, it makes him feel like his father. ]

What about that one?

[ There's a bolt of rich green peeking out from the pile. Of course, it's only the corner of something, the rest of it might be a mistake. ]
transuniversal: (I made a few mistakes)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-23 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
It is not my first apocalypse.

[ It's not that the fashion in this city is a mistake, exactly. Though it does feel like perhaps too many people watched the Matrix and took it to heart, even though that was over 500 years ago. Noh can appreciate it, but it's not an aesthetic he wants to live in indefinitely. Where's his violently purple crop-top vintage tees? The future's taken all the fun out of clothes. ]

At least human civilization is still here. I wouldn't have been entirely certain it would be, if I had been asked before I arrived in the future.

[ He fishes out the clothing. It is...well. It's more green than he would have thought. It might not qualify as vintage. Or fashion. Green, but the fabric is vinyl-ish. The 80s don't die, apparently. He can probably make that work. ]

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selfimage: — ᴍᴄᴋᴇʟᴠɪᴇ — (If there is something.)

002a.

[personal profile] selfimage 2019-05-20 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Loki would know those chiseled pecs anywhere: it's Noh-Varr.

after the new arrivals appear, Loki generally takes a walk around the safehouse to look for familiar faces, either to keep away or to approach them, depending on the circumstance. with a heave of a sigh, he stops dead, and then waves a hand dismissively.
]

I suppose I should expect the unexpected. It hasn't even been long enough for a ten year reunion.

[ he leans a hip against the nearest wall. ]
transuniversal: (time for brooding introspection)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-26 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
[ Bless Billy's babbling, because Noh's been expecting this. But he'd expected it to be more dramatic. Not for Loki to just appear in his periphery and take up residence against the wall, seeming tired and uninterested. What kind of friendship is this?

But it's not like Noh's surprised to see him either, so. What cool guys they both are, eh?
]

We'd never be forgiven for having a reunion without Teddy. [ Teddy, and not Kate, because Noh-Varr doesn't want to think too much about how he missed her, here. ] What do they do for five-hundred year reunions on Asgard?
selfimage: — ɢᴀʀʙᴇᴛᴛ — (Concert exit and credits.)

[personal profile] selfimage 2019-05-28 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ there are days when a grand entrance is appropriate, and others where he'd rather not make anyone notice him, and this is one of the latter. his association with the Young Avengers was short-lived, but so was Noh-Varr's. they were in an eerily similar situation. ]

Go to war, usually. [ he says with a long gesture of painted fingers, and continues totally casually. ] For a while there was a Ragnarok. If either can last five-hundred years.

What do the Kree do for reunions?

[ if they care to have them at all. ]

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gravemistake: (Default)

002

[personal profile] gravemistake 2019-05-27 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Gabriel is no stranger to these types of communal settings--it comes with being career military, so he doesn't really blink when they get to the New Amsterdam safehouse and it turns out nobody has a private bathroom. He does his very best to ignore anything else going on in the communal showers when he's using them, as it's very likely not his business and he'd appreciate the same kind of courtesy.

Suffice to say, he's generally willing to overlook someone singing in the shower, but given how on-edge he's been lately, he finds it difficult to keep his mouth shut.

He calls over from the sink where he's currently cleaning up his facial hair.
]

Didn't know it was open mic night.
transuniversal: (faking it is total)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-28 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
It can be.

[ Shame rarely appears in Noh-Varr's vocabulary. And embarrassment even less, let alone abashed. Universal enlightenment might have peace and love but also left a lot of emotional vacuum to be filled with the brilliance of Earth pop music. At least it's not Taylor Swift. ]

I will take requests.

[ Provided he actually knows the artist in question. There's a lot of music and only so much time to devote to plumbing the depths when you're a full-time fuckboy and superhero. ]
gravemistake: (pic#12397933)

[personal profile] gravemistake 2019-05-31 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, at least he doesn't seem to have any shame about it--better than half-assing shower singing for all to hear. He kind of doubts that this guy would know anything from Gabriel's version of Earth, so he'll toss the ball into Noh-Varr's court.]

What about one of your favorites?

[If anything, it'll be interesting to hear.]

god please forgive me

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mutriarchy: (tomtom0059)

002a

[personal profile] mutriarchy 2019-05-29 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ special delivery, noh. Billy says his friend could use company and so he goes to make himself company - it's not like he has anything better to do, because what the hell is having a normal job or literally anyting ever.

it's not the tommy you went on a multiversal adventure to rescue, but it is a tommy from the multiverse. one who grew up in the lap of luxury - dysfunctional and highly explosive family aside - and who never once experienced discrimination for being a mutant.

the opposite, actually. which if nothing else, made it a lot easier for him to be openly compassionate and worry about the state of other people.

and the state of this dude is very, very naked. ]


Yooooou must be Noh-varr. [ it's the hair that gives it away. not the - literally everything else on display here, wow, holy shit this guy is already a legend. ]
transuniversal: (sup guys just kicking ass)

[personal profile] transuniversal 2019-05-31 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's nice to be a legend. For good reasons, or at least for reasons unrelated to being an alien fugitive. He's mostly used to be infamous, and somewhere along the way he suspects it became less about his indecision between the Avengers and the Kree and more because he's Kate's ex-boyfriend.

But. It's Tommy. Who was...not a rival, but? Maybe Kate has a small subtype. Thank god for Billy's babbling, or this could be even more awkward.
]

And you're Tommy-from-another-universe.

[ It's not awkward, the way Noh-Varr tries to play it. Like there's nothing awkward here at all. Didn't sorta date the same girl in another universe (maybe? Kate's relationship with Tommy is unclear to Noh even now.)

He sticks out his hand to shake. Forgetting, or perhaps completely unconcerned by the fact that he's still in nothing but a towel.
]

Billy made sure I was "clued in."