November Mingle

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: November 22nd - Early December
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, and an unexpected guest!
NOTES\WARNINGS: N/A, please note any needed warnings in threads.

⏵ arrival ⏴ Welcome to Etraya! Arrival goes as expected - or it would, except it is not just Aurora that greets the newcomers as they arrive. Certainly they receive their earpiece so they can communicate with one another as those before them have, however there is what seems to be a woman waiting for them that is of a more flesh and blood persuasion as they leave the hospital. She carries an air about her that isn't quite like the newcomers themselves, but she is decidedly not one of the companion bots, nor Aurora. She has bone-straight blonde hair reaching past her shoulders, with a straight-cut fringe hanging above her eyes. The black dress that ends just before her mid-thighs also has a rather revealing neckline, though the sleeves which cover her arms almost feel like a mockery of modesty considering the rest. She is also wearing black stockings and black pumps, and the red of her lipstick is striking against the extreme contrast in shades she otherwise holds. As each newcomer independently files out of the hospital, she makes certain to garner their individual attention, either with a wave of her hand, a wiggle of her fingers, or directly calling them over. She is persistent, and with being so new, it is wise to heed her. Not that anyone can force one to, if they choose to walk away, nor does she seem interested in trying to, but she has her means for those proving stubborn. However, those who aren't... “Hey! I know you’re not just walking past me. I’ve got- you know, plot relevant, written all over me. I picked this dress out just for you, you know?’ “C’mere, listen up. Mama’s got a little bit of homework for you, but it’s gonna help you, too, okay? I need you to go find the hot goss, the piping hot tea on the street for me. Find out what everyone’s saying about the people we’re stuck with, okay? People are a lot more relaxed and honest when they talk about others, right? This is about efficiency. Efficiency, honey. Don’t worry, I’ll be in the trenches, too. But make sure you come find me again. I’ll be around here, okay? I know you’re as confused as I am. Well no. I’m much less confused than you are. But if you can tell me about the people here, I’ll tell you more about where you are and what this is about.” For those who ignored her, or those not newly arrived, they will receive a message through their earpiece: “Girl. Hey. Listen. I’m kind of in a pinch, okay? I need like… a little favor. But its a fun favor! I need you to get your girl some info. I need the word on the street, honey. I need the tea piping hot- I need you to go talk to your friends, enemies, frenemies, butt buddies, cousins, and have them tell you about anyone they know. I need straight facts and good gossip on everyone here. And then get back to me. Kisses. And this isn’t something for nothing. If you bring me some good goss, you’ll get some good info in turn about your whole situation. Cause that’s what you’re missing most besides home, right? Context.” ⏵ spill the tea ⏴ Tatianna having now tasked everyone (new and old) with finding out more about their fellow inhabitants—if not for their sake, for her curiosity—and in exchange she will give them valuable information that may aid them with acclimating here, or something far more valuable depending on how hot the goss is! However, she will not just hand out her secrets so easily, and so she will need one piece of gossip about each inhabitant. So she expects everyone to get mingling and talking, she isn't a charity here! To assist in this, the companion bots have set up cozy little wicker daybeds around the main hub of the city. All of which are suspiciously cozy and warm once you have sat down on them, but especially so with the accompanying aroma of the tea wafting from the kettle which rests on the center table, accompanied by sweetmeats. The tea itself also stays warm despite the cool autumn air, and so long as you stay within the daybeds, the biting chill won't reach you either. However, the tea is not only perpetually the right temperature, but it seems to have a way of loosening one's tongue. Especially the more one imbibes it. Did you mean to share that secret that might not have been yours to begin with? Or that personal detail about your best friend that wasn't meant to be known by anyone but who they themselves have told? Probably not, but the cat is out of the bag now, isn't it? Well, hopefully word won't get around...after all, it isn't likely who you are talking is going to tell everyone else, right? Right? Adding to the oddity of it all, the tea one drinks might not be the same tea that their companion is drinking, despite it pouring from the same kettle. What might be one person's earl grey, is another's pumpkin spice chai. Whatever it may be that pours out, it certainly seems to be to one's liking, or its closest approximation. There's probably some deeper meaning in that, some sort of symbolism one might surmise from the nature of sharing gossip and it being tainted by personal bias, but who cares about navel gazing about such a thing? After all, this is meant to be an enjoyable endeavor! Getting to know your fellow inhabitant should feel as comfortable as catching up with an old friend. What better way than to do it by sharing tea you both will enjoy? ☕ ⏵ close knit ⏴ As the tail end of November draws nearer, people will have already begun to see the first flakes of snow. It grows colder, and while there isn't quite a blizzard or a snow storm happening, the snow does not seem to let up with its descent. It doesn't quite get so cold that it is untenable, of course, but it would be advisable to bundle up! In fact, the companion bots seem to be on the case with assisting in just that! Around the city people will find groups of companion bots busily knitting sweaters, scarves, gloves, hats, and so forth. In fact, the moment they see someone they clock as not quite bundled enough, they will insist on supplying them with whatever they deem as being without. Are you already wearing a scarf? Well, clearly you need two of them! How about the gloves? Couldn't hurt to have several pairs! However, that isn't all that's available to people, after all there are cafes out and about where one might get a hot beverage to help fight off the cold, but for those less inclined for such establishments, the companion bots are here to serve! There is at least one companion bot per knitting group that seems to have hot cocoa on hand. If they see someone who is looking particularly cold (almost everyone is, the companion bots aren't particularly keen on the signs of successful temperature regulation), they will have a paper cup of hot cocoa imposed upon them that has their name on the side. Or, sort of. It is at least a close approximation of their name, or maybe it is an alternate spelling? Really, who can blame the bots for getting confused, there are so many of you! ⏵ snow more games ⏴ The snow is here to stay, but that doesn't mean that it has to be a bad thing! With everyone well supplied in their winter garb, the companion bots have set up spots for fun activities! Perhaps the inhabitants would enjoy a fun snowball fight, or some sledding? Some of the waters have frozen over, so ice skating is always a possibility too. Though one might want to be careful if they are to venture past what the companion bots have marked as safe. Some of the companion bots are trying their best at making a snowman, but all their efforts seem to come out rather...square. They're trying their best, but maybe they can learn by following the inhabitant's examples. There are others that will offer gold star stickers to those who seem to dominate in the snowball fights, but unfortunately the stickers don't stick too well with all the snow. Well, they tried! People will still find bots out and about with nice warm beverages available to fight off the cold, too. That service will continue to be available for the foreseeable future. Similarly, if someone comes out who is a little too under-dressed for the weather, the bots might have to pick up those knitting needles again, so be sure to put on your winter clothes..! ⏵ NOTES ⏴ To report information to Tatianna, do so here! She will only give each person their rewarded information once she has a bit of information on each character in the game. Each bit of gossip does not require a thread to count though it should be IC knowledge gained through IC means. Try to check what gossip has been given to her already, because doubling up will not yield results! Good luck! For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[messenger]

No?

[ but it's admission that plenty make and have made. it doesn't shock him. and so it's easy for him to move on. ]

Castiel.

[ you won't find him in any books. not unless you're familiar with the suspiciously similar cassiel. ]

[banworthy]

So, if everything is a separate timeline, it doesn't necessarily mean things will play out as they did.

[ He holds his chin. That would change things. If time is still progressing, he would want to find a way to lose so his dimension would fall. But if that's not the case, there's no reason to purposely lose. ]

Guess we won't know what to do until we figure out those answers.

[ Vincent tips his chin up, pleased at the praise. It is impressive! It's nice that the elders of the Order realized as much, but he only got criticized for it by Claudia. He turns his head and clicks his tongue. ]

I don't necessarily need my present repaired, not completely. I just want to get in the way of a lunatic getting her way. Of course, it might mean I'll die sooner, but if a certain person can live... it might be worth it. [ In his petty little heart, he thinks that it would be the best ending. ]

[messenger]

You're welcome. [ and, ] I understand.

[ he's beginning to think he should employ a similar restriction. not that he needs to eat, but he can't help but worry for dean, who's quite voracious about food. castiel peers at harold's thermos, eyes returning to his face with a jump while his brows lift. he seems surprised to be called upon, but rushes to answer, earnest. ]

Yes, I'll— I'll watch over you. I watch over Dean often.

[ it's the one last thing he feels he's truly capable of doing, as an angel.

but he can't help adding, with a slip of his tongue, as though the words were on the tip and simply fell from his mouth: ]

... While he sleeps, mostly. But I don't mind doing it while you're awake.

[bookofpowers]

Not in a million years.

(but cassiel is exactly where his brain goes, his eyebrows furrowing as he tries to think back on the scriptures. he has read it a billion times, and that's the closest he can remember.)

... I believe you're named Cassiel in my world. 'God is my wrath'?

[leastdramatic]

“The memories of it got a nasty way of staying in your head for a while too,” Jason scowls.

He then looks back at Gorgug.

“After all that, you okay?”

Jason’s sympathetic to anyone who had who go through trauma like that. It has a way messing with one’s head for a while.

yw yw

[levelshift]

[He blinks at the mention of a Connor, but - no way, it can't be that one. They're pulled in from tons of different universes, and Connor seems like a common name. It's probably some other guy.

That's follow up with a slight eye twitch at being called kid, and he has to resist the urge to complain. He's trying to get better at accepting his age, even when it's coming from condescending adults, but he still doesn't like it and the annoyance is clear on his face.]

Your blood flow and your bioelectricity, for one. I could redirect your blood, and you seriously don't wanna see what happens to a body when I do that. I could also fuck up the movement of electrons in your synapses, which can do anything from giving you a brain seizure or forcing your heart to beat irregularly.

[odinpusrex]

Indeed.

[A simple, yet decisive reply. Though for the question of his name, he doesn't spare the cup a glance. He knows what it says, knows further how inaccurate it is, and the pun it seems to be playing at. He does not shake his head, nor change much of his expression, he almost makes the companion bots seem more alive by comparison.]

I am King Barnabas Tharmr.

[There is no note of pride in that title, nor his name. The words spoken as if they are as ordinary as anything else.]

We share in our paper cup plight.

[He just didn't make a fuss about it.]

[tinflower]

Oh, yeah. What gets people is how we're here to keep our universes safe, and the missions they give us are really-- we just had one where we had to build vehicles to race against each other. And another, people got given toy bears that made people obsessed over them if they kept them too long.

One guy even said his blew up. He was pretty rattled by it.

[restitui]

[ He doesn't need to be a telepath - and he is - to sense that irritation. His head tilting quizzically as he listens. He opens his mouth like he wants to say something. He does, but somehow saying "isn't alchemy just a subsect of magick," feels like it's also the wrong thing to say.

So he doesn't.

Especially when the guy just gave him better shoes than yarn-made socks in the snow. ]

That's kind of what I mean.

[ He settles on instead, ]

Most people need the labor intensive side of things to perform real - [ he tilts his head, breathes out, ] you know. So it's pretty impressive?

[tinflower]

[ Gorgug considers it, even if it's not something that needs a lot of thought. He's trying to think up reasons not to do it, but if he's honest... ]

I like making things. I wanted to talk to people because I wanted to make things... people would like. Helping you cheer up your friend doesn't sound bad, even if I'm the reason he feels sad in the first place.

[ He doesn't feel like he owes the guy it. It's more for Castiel he wants to do it. ]

Get me the pictures, [ he says again, nodding--a sign that he's fine with it. ] I'll make sure I have fun with it, too.

[ A beat. ] --but you should definitely bake a pie, too. Pies are great.

[ Very, very important. ]

Re: spill the tea

[restitui]

[ After meeting a literal talking mammoth, an anthropomorphic cat is alarmingly not as weird as it should be. Even if he has to lean forward slightly in his seat, brow raised: ]

I think the intimidation factor comes from the fact she just wouldn't let you go? Or stop talking? Like, why do I want information I want to go home?

[ He does want to go home. He knows it's more complicated than that and this place is weird - and he knows, quietly in his heart, if Tommy's here he actually doesn't want to home. ]

[ Blinking when he joins him the teenager shrugs off-handedly, ]

Isn't just the vibe enough? She talks like she's from an old Lindsay Lohan movie, it's so dramatic.

[restitui]

[ The teenager puts down the kettle and goes to pick up his own cup once more. If he has any obvious understanding of its effects, he doesn't show it since he drinks it as he listens. Brows furrowing before he shakes his head: ]

No, guess I missed it.

[ He tries to smile with a roll of his eyes, ] Probably a good thing, I mostly just cook with my dad and follow his lead. Chances are it would have gone so, so bad.

[ It actually wouldn't have, but that's a different story. ] What rumors are we even supposed to have if we're both new?

[restitui]

Fair.

[ He's watching those furiously moving bot hands. They aren't even missing stitches and they're already half done - is it because they're robots? ]

Okay, but do you have superspeed or something? I don't think we're outrunning them.

[restitui]

[ It's almost a relief that the other person is a teenager about his age (especially after an assortment of animal-like talking beings. Magick is weird, it's not usually that weird. He smiles politely, expression inquisitive as he tilts his head: ]

I do like fact over rumors, even if they have a seed of truth.

[ his hands spread in a sort of 'please go on' gesture: ] What kind of weird things? Or are you new, too, and you haven't experienced it yet?

[messenger]

Okay. I'll get the pictures.

[ he realizes as he says this that he doesn't have anything to take pictures with. he'll have to look through the stores to see if he can come by a camera. everything in the bunker is antique, so there's no way to say if a camera sourced from the men of letters would work.

he dips his head at the mention of pie, acquiescing to the fact that a love of pie is something dean and gorgug share. maybe he'll give gorgug one of his test pies when he starts trying to make them from scratch. (that is not what's happening this time. he is buying a pre-baked crust and pie filling.)

he fiddles with the straps on his sleeves. another thought has occurred to him, something to ask for in the meantime. ]

But until then... Could you make, um, a Jackalope?

[ dean seemed to like them, when they were sent hunting by the bots earlier in the week. ]

There's quite a robust population in Etraya, you know.

[restitui]

Well, if you're sure - I'd appreciate it. I'd rather them not all go to waste.

[ And he has so many more than he'd ever need himself. A beat though as he huffs a laugh: ]

Weird they'd think you'd need it, aren't you like built for cold weather?

[nobraincell]

[...He's not sure it helps but he's gonna nod anyway.]

Thank you for the information. You're a very helpful green person.

[Was the green part necessary...anyway he's sipping his tea now instead of checking out the shops.]

[tinflower]

[ Gorgug realises his mistake in phrasing with the emphasis Harold puts on, but there isn't room to correct himself--or, he doesn't make any. He focuses on Harold's main point instead, humming after a second, his eyes returning to the wire after that distracted moment. ]

Yeah, I guess. We have to...think a lot about movement, and the skeleton of an animal, if we build anything to act like one. In class. [ He could correct himself here, but a thought occurs to him, and he looks at Harold. ]

What kind of bodies do your AIs have in your world?

[ He remembers they spoke about them. Did he say he made them too? Or was he just super into them? The details are kinda fuzzy for Gorgug, admittedly. ]

[tinflower]

There are? [ Gorgug blinks, a flash of surprise...that then leads into a wrinkling nose and a small grimace. Even so, Gorgug checks for his animal book. ] Do they sit around and stare at you here, too? They really... I always see them around my tree, my side of town. They always sit there and... look at you.

[ Creepily.

But he is trying his best to not say that in case the angel really likes them?

In the meantime: Hmm, weird that this Earth book doesn't seem to have jackalopes in the back of the book so far... ]

[messenger]

Do they?

[ interesting. maybe gorgug has something they want to eat? aren't they meant to have a taste for whiskey? hm, he can see why dean has a fondness for them. ]

We took our pictures from the car. We were assigned the task by the helper bots for parts.

[ his eyes track gorgug's hands as he pages through the animal encyclopedia. ]

I still have the pictures, if you need one.

[hasitsthorns]

[ It wasn't doing much to protect from the cold, no, but Rosie would say she's killing it as far as aesthetic. Honestly, she wishes she could pull off that look near as well- She's more of a casual, didn't try (but really tried very hard to look cool and aloof) kind of gal. ]

Goop, [ she echoes, also scrunching her nose. ] Something to do with not waking up in the hospital like usual because it wasn't available, I think? All I'd cared about was getting it off.

[ When or if Rosie meets James: she'll definitely feel for Maria. Sad, soggy men can be cute in a pathetic kind of way but... If that's all that's around, then. Eugh. ]

But you're right. They were nice to me then, actually, and it hasn't really changed. Maybe it took the end of the multiverse or whatever for them to shape up, but I'm not complaining.

[hasitsthorns]

[ Yeah, the wolves in the woods had been infected for a time thanks to all that... darkness nonsense. Although back to mostly normal now, Rosie knows her boy might worry some folks who remember them with his dark coat. Thankfully though, his disposition quickly reassures people he is friend-shaped. ]

Well, thankfully, here you don't usually have to worry about too much to catch you off guard. [ She gets it though. For a long time, she also didn't have the luxury of just... letting herself be vulnerable in ways like falling asleep out in the open. ]

I'm free as can be though! May need to keep my pride in a snowball fight in a bit, but- Until then, I'm all yours. And so is Smokey! [ The dog's wispy tail wags wildly as he's pet and leans into Heather's touch. He even jumps up with his front paws gingerly to be more at "eye level" with her. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ Maybe someday, she'll talk about her own worse moments. Ones where she wasn't herself, but the very monster everyone wanted to believe she was. While those moments didn't - don't, still - define her, she still gets the... uncertainty. If she could reach that point then, what's to say she couldn't again? She doesn't want to. But then again, she hadn't wanted to then either.

A lot of it was circumstantial, sure, but she does still wonder. Worry. ]

I do too, [ she agrees. As for the beads, well- He's really just proving her point about his niceness, isn't he? That he still remembers such a small thing. ]

I- Oh, [ she starts, then softens. She takes the dog in her hands gently, carefully. So carefully. ] No, I love it! I mean, you know, I wanted a dog. I actually. Since we won the race, I finally had enough, like, influence to ask for something. So I did get one! He's around here somewhere, I think, but got distracted by a snowball fight and playing.

Re: spill the tea

[furtitude]

What's a Lindsey Lohan?

[He can't tell if it's a name, some kind of proper noun for something, some kind of colloquial name for something...]

If that's an early 2000s thing, it's a little... [He waves a hand over his head.] I'm from the year 2881 so anything from the early oh-ohs is pretty ancient for me. And I only know about some Earth stuff 'cuz my dad is human.

[There had certainly been a chance Cato was just some kind of meta from the same time period, regardless of whether he was from another dimension or not.]

[But the divide is much bigger than that.]

Definitely agree about going home, though. I want to know if we're being told the truth because if not, I plan to find a way to bail. Somehow.

we will make it so

[hasitsthorns]

[ It's okay, Eddie, the companion bots are... persistent. Although he rejected the first hat, there will be more. They're already clicking their mechanical joints away to make him his own. Maybe a different color will be acceptable? ]

Well, their leader is Aurora and she's actually pretty chatty from what I've been told. [ Rosie still needs to speak to her... eventually. Take notes. Compare impressions. ] I wonder if we even can hack into them though? I'm sure people have tried, but- I'd want to see what funny stuff they could do.

I bet they have a secret dance command or something just waiting to be run. [ Maybe she'll ask Gorgug since he seemed to be into the bots both as friend and to understand how they worked. ]