etrayalogs | MAY MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: May 17th-31st
WHERE: On Etraya
WHAT: A mingle log!
NOTES\WARNINGS: N/A, please note any needed warnings in threads.

⏵ a hero's return ⏴

As champions exit the Labyrinth, they’ll find that their environment has gone through some fairly drastic changes. Where there used to be larger bodies of water is now thinner rivers going through land; the amount of bridges connecting landmasses has decreased, given what had been individual islands are now much more connected. In addition, Etraya is significantly more green; flowers bloom, birds chirp cheerfully, and there are numerous additional species of insects, mammals, and aquatic creatures throughout the lands. Baby foxes roam through forested areas, bees pollinate the flowers to spread them more thoroughly around the inhabited areas, and it feels brighter. Or perhaps that’s just in comparison to how the Labyrinth had been.

There are more areas to explore, new facilities, animals, and Etraya feels significantly more settled than it had before. Aurora’s promise of renovations had been true. And if one looks up, they may notice a city bubble visible on the closest planet that hadn't been visible before.

⏵ coffee break ⏴
After hearing Clarke’s suggestion, Aurora sets up a new cafe close to the apartment complex, and sends out notices to individuals with mandatory coffee hour times listed for them to come to Corrine's Cafe and make a few friends.

While the note does state that it is mandatory, there will be no follow-up from Aurora nor the companion bots to ensure those who receive notes do show. Given this is Aurora trying to take suggestions in mind and see how successful they are among the citizens of Etraya, however, following directives may not be a terrible idea.

It's up like a modern-day, smaller cafe. One walks in through the front door, and is greeted by a companion bot behind the counter who offers a wave of their hand and a friendly “Welcome! Let me know when you’re ready to order”. The menu offers lattes, mochas, espresso, black coffee, several different kinds of teas, and a few drinks that are a little odd to find in a cafe; ale, canned sodas and coffees, numerous bottles of wine, but only pinot noir.

Soft music plays in the background, impossible to place but it sounds as if it may be based on tracks that were popular in the early 90s.

Tables and booths are set up to seat two to four, with packets of sugar and small containers of creamer set out towards the middle. There are charging stations set up at every table, which may seem strange considering phones and laptops aren’t widely available, but Aurora’s doing her best. There are also a few bookshelves full of the classics, a few historical fiction, and several written by H.P. Lovecraft.

Each seat has a placard in front of it, with a name, and a ‘fun fact’. One might say “Hello! My name is Joe, and I like to paint!” Another may say “Hi, I’m Jill! My sister died tragically in front of me and I’ve never gotten over it.”

⏵ new horizons ⏴

Several of the new bridges found in Etraya now have signs posted just outside of them, and on those signs is a QR code that the earpiece’s HUD can scan. Scanning this with the HUD will bring up a scavenger hunt, listing several items and circling areas where they can be found.

Some of these objects will be obvious: find Corrine at Corrine’s Cafe - the companion bot who runs the counter, find a delicious meal at Bangsan Market, break into S.T.A.R Labs, or find room 87 at Point Blanc Academy. Some will be less obvious, like locating a bat, becoming friends with an archer, find a pink shirt, open bagged milk without making a mess, or get a drink at the mutant-friendly pub. Please feel free to make up your own items to find around Etraya!

⏵ NOTES ⏴
Welcome to our mid-month mingle!

Please feel free to use this to explore Etraya, put up wildcard prompts (you don't need to use the above!), or use the open prompts to assist in jumpstarting cr.

This mingle covers the period from May 17th to May 31st. Our next mission (and next mod log) will not go up until June 7th.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Wade is used to people averting their gaze, and usually he acts like he doesn't notice or care. Of course, he does care. He's got no worse critic than himself. There's a reason he seldom walks around this place without his mask. Even now, he's wearing the mask, along with a Golden Girls T-shirt and a pair of Hawaiian shorts. It means that the scars on his arms and legs are visible. Scars that seems to have no end to them. His suit had taken something of a beating in the Labyrinth, so it needed mending before he could wear it again.

He notices her staring as he takes his 'coffee' to find a seat. Can it really be called coffee when it's more sugar than anything else? He approaches, setting down his own placard, taking her unblinking gaze as invitation.

His reads, 'I'm Wade Wilson. AKA Deadpool. AKA a mutated lab rat who talks too much!

Anybody sitting here? Couldn't help but notice you looking at me. I know I'm hot and all but that's no reason to stare... [Her staring is different from some-- it's not cruel, or careless, but penetrating. It's a little unsettling, actually. Wade doesn't actually like being seen. Actually seen. He likes it better when people just think he's an idiot. It's easier that way.]

[ It has to be one of the more colorful mix of garments that Vanessa has seen in awhile, and there's actually a flicker of recognition when regarding the shirt, all considered in passing before she settles on his eyes. At least, where one might see his eyes proper if not for how the mask manages to hinder the sight of them.

Somehow, that doesn't stop her from seeing straight through.

With her page bookmarked, Vanessa drapes her arm across the book cover and takes a moment to appreciate the placard he sets down before returning her gaze to his face, hidden though it is. He would not be the first 'mutated lab rat' that she has met, and she has her own history with mad doctors, so there is already an understanding to how he presents himself.

If her staring caused true offense, she may think to apologize, but his tone leads her toward a different address. He could have shied away, hidden his placard, had he wanted to. Perhaps he may yet wish that he had before their conversation is through. ]

I was wondering if you have a favorite.

[ Her nod toward his shirt is slight. ]

[Thank fuck he's got his mask on, so he can hide the discomfort on his face at the way she's looking at him like she knows everything there is to know. Which would be impressive, since half of the time Wade doesn't even entirely know himself anymore.

He peers down at his shirt, pulling it off his abs to get a better look at all the lovely older ladies.] Of course, I do! Dorothy. Bea Arthur, the Queen. All the other Golden Girls pale by comparison!

[ The answer has her smile softening, minutely, if only because she is reminded of the one who made her aware of certain programmes. That, and romantic comedy films.

She does miss him. ]

I always enjoyed Rose Nylund. The woman could say the strangest things. She was often viewed as foolish, even absurd, but I don’t believe that was the entire truth. She was much more clever than she often let on. I believe that she understood the power of being underestimated.

It is a strange power to have, don’t you think?

I do think you're onto something there. Life is also easier when people think you're dumb! [A very astute observation that's clearly not in reference to him! Right? Right...?]

But I prefer Dorothy, because she doesn't take shit. And I want her to step on me and give me that annoyed look and call me mean names. [He shudders at the thought.]

[ Her brow perks at such an admission, just as colorful as his choice in outfits. Any other Victorian might have balked at humoring this discussion, but Vanessa only needs a moment to remember just how different these other times and worlds are. The contrasts here might seem stark, but she can be adaptable when it comes to certain things.

And men will be men. ]

And what of the name Deadpool? Was that bestowed upon you, or did you choose it for yourself?

[All sorts of people balk at humoring him, Victorian or no! So that she's not tried to take her leave already is a vast improvement to how a couple interactions have gone already.]

A bit of column A, bit of column B... [Wade shrugs.] I'm a mercenary. The bar all the other local mercs go to had a running betting pool. The Dead Pool. Placing bets on which of us would die next. And then I got all unkillable, so I'd never be on the short end of that bet.

[ He already has her attention when he mentions being a mercenary, but 'unkillable' is quite a claim. Without looking from his face, she considers the scarred state of him and wonders just what Hellish trial he went through to gain that sort of power. She can't help but think of Heine.

Deals with the Devil usually left one with false beauty and youth, and there is the mention of a lab, after all.

Leaning in as though expecting more to the story, Vanessa tips her head and rests her chin over folded hands, with elbows propped against the tabletop. ]

Clever.

[ And tragic, in its way, but she is familiar with the mindset of not knowing who will die next, even if she has never been a soldier or mercenary. She can't say she's ever been sure that she would be the only one to survive, but then she has a penchant for bad choices and she is woefully killable. ]

Does your being immortal have something to do with the laboratory mentioned?

[ Her gaze drifts to the placard momentarily. Normally, she may not pry into such a thing, but he is the one to have displayed it. ]

[He sips his coffee, adjusting the half of his mask up above his nose to make it easier. The question makes him set down that coffee, glancing at the placard himself.]

Yeah. That's my origin story. Pretty fucked up one too. [He finds it easier to make a joke of this, same as everything.] H'okay. Deep breath, exposition time! I got cancer. Got desperate. So I agreed to let some psycho's experiment on me with the premise that they could cure me. They tortured the shit out of me instead. Water boarding, electrocution, burning, oxygen deprivation, you name it they did it. It did what they wanted though, being on the brink of death made my latent mutant powers pop up, making me look like this-- [He gestures to the scars on the visible part of his face.] And gave me regeneration powers. Making me this messed up idiot you see before you. The real kicker is that I still have cancer, it's just that my regeneration is constantly keeping it at bay.

MAY MINGLE

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cw: cancer, torture