APRIL MINGLE

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: April 25th - Early May
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, spring activities, and feathered friends!
NOTES\WARNINGS:

⏵ arrival ⏴ Welcome to Etraya! Arrival goes as expected - characters awaken on hospital beds and are offered an explanation of their situation: that they have arrived in the city of Etraya, and they are their world's only hope. They are welcome to wander the hospital if they would like to - the upper floors are mostly empty, full of pristine hallways and numerous rooms filled with supplies, cots, and things one would expect from a relatively average 21st-century hospital. However, if they are arriving from Aphaia, it's a little different, though mostly through means and familiarity. They will still show up in the hospital of course, but how can vary. Either through Aurora offering a portal for escape, their own demise (however it might have happened), or even a simple blink of their eyes and they're in the hospital. They had been given the briefest explanation last time they were here, but at least Aurora can better answer their questions now. No time constraints nor rushing them off to a dying world, this time! In the hospital's lobby are several party tables set out with miscellaneous baked goods: croissants, cookies, breads, cake slices, as well as tea and coffee to accompany them - or hot chocolate, for those who are opposed to the other offerings. Outside the hospital, spring is sprung, it is warm and comfortable. Flowers have bloomed, and everything is in a sharp contrast to Aphaia—there is life within the bubble, and even the myriad wildlife seems to be basking in the glow of it all. Almost as if a celebration of that life itself. Bees are buzzing, birds are—warking? ⏵ Birds of a Feather ⏴ Etraya has always had its interesting assortment of critters, but there seems to be a particularly colorful array of birds wandering around. Those familiar would know they are named Chocobos, those less so familiar, well, these are some strange looking ostriches, or whatever large bipedal bird equivalent fits. While the birds all seem to be of the same species, there are certainly some variety in their features. Some with friendlier faces and others looking a bit more eagle-like. They are not particularly congregated in any one spot within Etraya, seeming to stick to groups, while others don't, yet even some are accompanied by newly hatched chicks. The observant might be quick to notice that their colors dictate some level of behavior, or even where their little groups mingle: Colors Behavior and habitat Yellow Can be found just about anywhere in Etraya, they don't necessarily stick to self-made groups, and typically are more likely to be friendly to people. However, if they are in the company of a newly hatched chick, they can become wary, though easily won over with some greens. Green These Chocobos are mostly found in grassy or woodsy areas, almost always in pairs, and sometimes found in the trees themselves. They are more wary than their yellow brethren, though if they see someone struggling or in danger, they are quick to offer assistance in what way they can. Doting like motherhens. Blue Most often found by bodies of water, these Chocobo seem content to keep to themselves. Three to a group, they are not so easy to approach without being noticed. Their skill and love of water is clear, however, and it's not unusual to find them flapping about or swimming. Though they may flee to the water if you spook them. Brown The most skiddish of the Chocobo, they can be found throughout Etraya, though further away from anything occupied by people. They stick to groups of four, though they have a clear leader who sports blue and green feathers, but seemingly is not of the other two types. Should they catch sight or sound of someone approaching they are like to run off, or they might attempt to defend themselves. Red There seems to be only one of these running around. Highly aggressive to anyone who dares to approach it. Best to avoid it. Very likely to hurl comet-like balls of fire your way. Untamable. The birds all favor these strange cabbage looking plants that can be found out and about in the wilds of Etraya. Some proving a little overeager in their voracity to eat the leafy greens. One should be careful, with those large beaks of theirs. ⏵ Gift Hunt ⏴ It isn't only the birds that have shown up out of nowhere. Small to medium sized boxes, wrapped as if they should be under a tree, and maybe not hidden in a tree, have also appeared. For whatever reason (possibly the same reason eggs were given out over winter) there seems to be gifts hidden all over Etraya! Some in more difficult to find locations (in trees, on top of a roof, on snake island), while others look as though whoever "hid" it gave up halfway through and simply dropped it on the ground and put a leaf over it. For those who need a little extra help, well, certainly your fellow Etrayans could lend a hand, however there are also perfectly capable birds about for those still left wanting. Certainly that blue chocobo could assist with crossing the river to obtain that perfectly balanced gift on a rock! Or what about that green chocobo roosting in a tree not too far from that gift stuck in the branches because it has entirely too many ribbons? With that said, there might also be some dangers in trying to take one of the myriad gifts from a chocobo's nest, especially if there's a chick presently sleeping next to it. Perhaps befriending them would be a good idea first, besides, isn't friendship with a big bird the truest gift of all? On the tag of each and every gift box says the same thing: To: You Love: 💋 Each gift has a random assortment within. Some contain candy, others contain alcohol, make-up...maybe even a pair of socks, very perfunctory gifts with very little thought or feeling put into them. However, there is at least one gift that is personally relevant to each character in Etraya. This item will be the equivalent of a 5 point AC reward, and does not have to be found by the person it is intended for. What better way to break the ice than to give someone their gift which you opened! ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Welcome to Etraya newcomers and happy spring to everyone! It appears that someone is trying to correct her previous mistake of handing out eggs during the winter holidays, and now there's a hunt for gifts accompanied by a bunch of lovely birds to help out! Some notes in regard to Chocobos: -Each color can be tamed except for the red one, he's a free spirit. Should someone wish to harm or attack this chocobo, let us mods know. There is only one of him, after all. -The others will just take various amounts of work to win over, however, but they are loving and cute companions for those who are willing to put in the effort! And who knows, maybe more colors could arise with time and patience... -Feel free to pull from all the designs of chocobos throughout the Final Fantasy series. If you fancy FFXII's, for example, there are some that look like that. Variety is the spice of life! Concerning the personal item, be sure to plot out and get permission when finding someone else's item. This is meant to encourage possible new CR and mingling, but the choice of the item should ultimately be within the hands of the player who is receiving it. If you are uncertain if your item is appropriate for the reward cost, feel free to ask here! 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

[limiterrings]

[ damn, a hog says yes once and everyone is shocked??? can he just not care... damn. ]

...

[ pancakes. bacon. definitely eggs too.

is that what they sell there? he must be familiar with these spots. shadow isn't one to indulge in fast food places considering how his body is, he has no need for food. though there are others around that aren't like him, so he makes sure to keep this place and the three items in mind. ]

You didn't eat at the last place?

[ there was probably no time for it, but it gives shadow an idea of how well this boy takes care of himself. or if he's just someone who walks around trying to not be a problem when he is one. ]

[tinflower]

[ Gorgug hums in agreement, understanding. The reason could be anything, really, good or bad or in between. He takes a sip of his hot cocoa, theorising in that middle: ]

Well, they've been doing this for years. There's a lot of planets, or universes. [ He pauses. ] Lot of them just have humans on them. Are you from a human-only planet?

[laserguy]

Correction, it was just random sunglasses I found, not mine.

[He points at his shades, as if emphasizing the point that he's still wearing his actual sunglasses. Like this is a totally necessary thing to do. But hm. Does he want Loki's gift? Well, it would better than the god just holding it for eternity.]

Fine, because I'm tired of you just holding onto it like it's some sort of relic that shouldn't be opened. [But with the present still being offered to him, Scott takes the box from Loki. He's really not expecting all that much as he tears into the package, but as the item inside is revealed, Scott actually stops and looks down at the gift with surprise.]

A... walkman? [Wait, is this his? Hard to say, but Scott immediately pulls it out with something bordering on excitement on his face.]

[hyphanated]

Mn...I'm ready.

[As ready as he can be, anyway...An Zhe can't help staring down at the ground below while the chocobos voice complaints behind him. The one who'd grabbed him reluctantly lets go, at least, as they watch the two float in the air.]

[strumpet]

( to his words all she can really do is smile brightly and nod in agreement. as adorable as they were, they were still a mystery to her and they certainly were rather unique.

still, the information he was of some use to her. that meant that even a seasoned veteran like himself was still surprised by the unexpected— and it seemed this place was full of the 'unexpected'. )

I see, that's quite alright. An amateur birder, my aren't you full of interesting hobbies. I don't suppose this place allows you such a large amount of time to be able to do bird watching though?

( for now she'll put a pause on her thrifting to speak to him more, still observing and gauging his level of interest in this conversation. )

[ingestion]

They're amused by me cutting up cans? Now that's interesting.....and right. I imagine.

( she's not going to divulge to paine about her own questionable encounters back home with monsters who were three times her size, but she certainly believed the other when she admitted that.

for now, heather turned around and picked up a single sliced can in her hand and looked up at the other woman with a more gentle expression on her face. )

You know, I had been wondering if I could use any of them for gathering up gifts and what not....hey are you busy? Wanna work together? I wow them with my skills and you distract them with greens?

[strumpet]

I was hoping it wouldn't quite come to that but....I can do anything I set my mind to.

( it wasn't that she didn't know how to, but given the clothes on her back were the only thing she arrived with, she wasn't too keen on ruining them just yet. still the possibility of a gun for protection came before any of the more frivolous whims she might have been feeling. )

So should we try our chances with the birds or should we just 'dive' right in?

[ingestion]

( at a certain point heather knew there was only so much information claudia would be willing to give up or indulge in— she was always like that as a child, refusing to really dive into that sort of thing.

not that heather was into it either, but this particular conversation was more so about scoping claudia's thoughts on vincent, not so much gossiping [or maybe it was]. )

A box? Oh wait you mean the ones lying around?

( even if she did want to still kill her, at least claudia was somewhat useful. )

Interesting, that means this place is pulling items from our world....I wonder if I can find something useful to me...

sorry about the delay! had some tough rl stuff come up, but no worries if this is too old

[hasitsthorns]

[ She appreciates it, of course, but makes sure to shake her head to say herself: no, it's alright. Rosie was the one kind of locked in after all. ]

Absolutely! [ comes the confident answer. ] This is a second draft, actually, of a song I tried to come up with earlier... Now I'm actually working on how it'll sound. [ A lot of scribbled scales and notes, he may notice, starting to make the beginnings of a tune. ]

That's always the hardest part, I think. Making the lyrics flow right, y'know?

sorry about the delay! had some tough rl stuff come up, but no worries if this is too old

[hasitsthorns]

[ Okay, well- She wouldn't normally just do this, but it feels like an appropriate situation. Gorgug and Mal are the only people she's 'unveiled' herself to so far. It is a bit anxiety-inducing but she wants to trust that they're right and... there isn't anything to worry about. It isn't like home here. People aren't going to hate or hunt her just because she's a 'demon.'

The blond gives a deep inhale, then on the exhale she isn't blond anymore. Her hair is white like snow - with wolf ears and a tail to match - but more importantly: She has claws now. Large, curved, and she's strong enough to dig them into the earth and lift up. ]

No need! I've got built-in ones, thankfully. Kind of. If I break one, you are paying for my manicure though. [ Either way, she focuses on the task at hand rather than how Peter might be reacting. ]

[ingestion]

( there was no intention on heather's end to bring down the mood of things but truthfully at any given chance, she wanted to make sure maria knew how much she meant to her. especially now that she had friends and even a romantic interest [?], worried about her enough to mention it to heather.

still, she was a young woman and ruminating on these kind of emotions after everything that had happened wasn't something she quite wanted to indulge in. so she smiled at maria and nodded. it wasn't a huge jump but one twist of an ankle or landing incorrectly could hurt her, so a bit of support was appreciated. )

Alright get ready, here she comes, the girl with the golden hair!

( that was the best warning maria was going to get— soon heather is jumping down in front of her, only touching her arm as the chocobo behind them scattered off without hesitation. )

Geez where's it going? Bingo? Anyways let's see what's in this!

cw: sw discussions moving forward for the rest of the thread

[strumpet]

That's part of the reason why it became legalized and a professional skill in my world, yet despite that....there are unfortunately people who still look down upon it regardless if it's a sponsored job from the government. However those things don't really matter...

( not here anyways, it wasn't like she was going to continue her work here. a thought that seemed to come in at the right moment given maria's next statement. )

Don't worry, I wasn't going to continue that line of work here by any means. I'm not....I find that unless I'm making money or friends, I'd prefer not to entertain many men these days. The female clients are always the best anyways....I always said, one can never be their true self in front of a man after all.

( inara might be giving just a bit more information than necessary here, but even with henry she found herself behaving a certain way to manage how strange [yet kind] he had been. perhaps in a way she was hinting that she wanted to be friends with maria....perhaps she could let her guard down around the other. )

[hasitsthorns]

[ When Rosie thinks about it... Okay, yeah, most things are. Including her! She has definitely been enticed to an event or gathering she otherwise wouldn't have attended if not for free food being there. ]

Alright, let's see- [ The blond crouches down to pluck the large greens from the ground. ] Step one: complete. [ She is about to say 'step two' but instead a startled sort of sound escapes her as a curious chocobo hovers closer to inspect that tasty plant. ]

Oh, wow, you weren't kidding. These guys are really into this stuff.

[devota]

I suppose not.

[There aren't likely to be many who are even left, after everything that happened.]

I haven't forgotten what you said, in Aphaia.

[She can't exactly call it a conversation, but she also had agreed with him that destroying their world. After all God should be capable of reaching even here.]

[devota]

I am... uncertain how to begin.

[It's not refusal, coming from Claudia. It's honest confusion coming from someone who is in many ways still a six-year-old girl.]

[devota]

I am, yes.

[Well, there are the denizens of the Fog World and Otherworld both, but Claudia isn't certain how to classify them, or if they can truly be considered people.]

Does that mean that there's more than just us here that they've recruited?

[laserguy]

Depends, like how annoying the asshole is about winning in the first place. Although in that case, you just want to challenge them again, if to wipe that stupid grin off their face.

[And maybe that's just a little bit of fun? And he's not speaking from experience, what are you talking about. It doesn't help that he can be kind of competitive at times. It's worse when he knew them from school, because he usually didn't get along with them. ...God he hated his old school.

But he brings his bag of chips back up to eat a few more.]

Fine, we can start at the arcade at the apartment. I'll go easy on you, maybe.

[thelightshines]

[He tilts his head.]

I assuming you've been successful to be able to say that. [He suppose the mutant human needs something to be happy about. Can't say he wouldn't feel similar if he had lost. Look at how he deals with the other one with his face. He'll beat them someday.]

Don't. [He doesn't need to be coddled.] Just explain how it works.

[bubblegumheart]

[Chrissy grins and takes the offered hand, giving it a firm shake.]

Hey, the first step is telling yourself that it's possible.

[Is that really the first step, though? Well, it is now.]

And these are edible, so you're already half-way there!

no worries! happy to continue if you are!

[cantilevers]

[He had never played a music instrument himself, but he knew plenty of people who had written music on any scrap of paper that they could find. He pulled out a chair from the table she was at and seated himself casually.]

How many drafts do you normally work your way through before presenting, hmm? I'm calculating how long I have to wait before I encourage you up on whatever table is still free for a listen. [It was no pressure on his head. This was all good-natured inquiries.

He nodded his head.] I like listening to music, but I never had much hand in creating it myself. Maybe whistle a tune now and again. I appreciate people with that gift.

[sabigoe]

[ No one would be able to guess that Fio already has some awareness of other worlds, timelines, and branches—that there are different kinds of Earth depending on the choices people make. She is one of the many memories in a massive database with all that information. Even though she came from such a place, it's not like she had the time to learn about every different time period. Compared to everyone else that she's met, she comes from a lifetime that's far behind in technology. Before being called upon by Echo, she had a few companions that might be from the same era as Scott, but they had little time to chat.

Coming to Etraya, there's been so much for her to learn... it's been overwhelming sometimes.

The place that Scott mentions is—maybe she's heard it once in passing in a data file somewhere. But she's unfamiliar. ]

You might be from a time far ahead of me. I don't know where New York is...

[ She squeezes his hand lightly as they walk along. As for favorite color, it's difficult to choose one... ]

...I think I like gold. It's kind of like Mr. Sun too. It shines!

[sabigoe]

[ Judging by what he says, she imagines that they must be massive wings. Likewise, she wouldn't want to add on to the extra cleaning. Plus she doesn't want to ruin another person's property. The clean up would be even bigger than a puddle of drool inside of a book. There's plenty more that she can ask about artificial angels, but now her mind is honing in on his wings. One kind of angel is from science and the other is from God. She has some familiarity with machines. That's enough of an explanation for now though. ]

Then let's go outside. I wanna see!

[ Shifting around in her seat, Fio allows her legs to dangle off the edge, feet barely touching the floor. Just as she's about to slide down, she realizes that she might be getting ahead of herself. She didn't even wait for him to give the green light. That's impolite.

She places her hands on her lap, to appear well-behaved and patient. ]

...Is that okay? [ A pause, realizing something else: she never introduced herself. ] My name is Fio, by the way.

[sabigoe]

[ In the end, they might not find the owner. To her, it won't feel like a waste of time because she gets to spend more time around the grumpy hedgehog.

Fio's head perks up at the mention of food. Of course, she isn't forgetting the task. She's only a human child, who will eventually need to stop and eat sometimes. She's going to need the energy from food to keep up with their search. ]

...Can we go to the diner first?

[ It's on the way, near more buildings they can search. So they're still being productive! ]

[sabigoe]

I can worry about you even if we just met.

[ She's the kind of person to worry for a stranger that's exchanged fewer words. And even someone that she's never met. There isn't any malice behind her actions. This is just how she is. But if Shadow is blinded by negative emotion—perhaps her purehearted intentions are being twisted into looking like something else. ]

I've already told you. I wanna become friends. What else would I want to do? [ She sits calmly, but the concern is written across her face. Tilting her head slightly. ] ...Are you afraid to make friends?

[ While it is the same question that she asked the other Shadow back on the other planet, they're not the first ones to hear her ask it. He's growing increasingly irritated with her, yet Fio refuses to back down. Maybe she needs to be persistent to get through to him... and she disregards how unsafe it could be. ]

[sabigoe]

[ While she only gives a quick glance back at Dion before immediately shifting focus back onto the birds, she can hear his praise. Just a simple acknowledgement from an adult brightens her mood just a little more. It's nice to hear, especially when validation from her parents was nonexistent. Or maybe they did, when she was a lot smaller, far too young and incapable of telling that she looked nothing like them. She remembers her father being too busy. And most of all, her mother with her angry voice and her scent sometimes reeking of alcohol.

She bends down, reaching into the satchel for more food. One of the brown chocobos creeps a little closer as she does. ]

Wait a second, Brownie.

[ A giggle. These poor birds are doomed to her silly nicknames. Who knows if they'll stumble upon the same flock again, but it's fun to give names! Speaking of names, she didn't get a chance to ask for his yet. ]

Um... what's your name, by the way? I'm Fio. Thank you for teaching me how to feed the birdies.