![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
TDM 003
TEST DRIVE MEME 003 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore.
Please note: FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER 'HATCHING', CHARACTERS WILL FEEL WEAK AND ANY POWERS THEY HAVE WILL NOT WORK.
Test drive meme threads can be considered game canon for players who are later accepted and wish to keep their CR. The Quago prompt will be a TDM-exclusive, though existing players are welcome to use it in the game itself and players are free to use it as canon, but it will not be repeated as part of the hatching. The other prompts that you see here will also appear on our first game log. There will, of course, be more going on that week.
Please reserve questions about altering or meaningfully investigating the setting for the first log of the game, where we will have a Mod Questions thread at the top of the log. That thread will not be present on this test drive meme.
This time, the Adamant's survivors are ready. When the Hatchlings arrive, they are no longer held at gunpoint or the tip of a spear. They are helped up, taken to the showers, given time to clean themselves.
They are still quarantined for a few days — albeit in a more comfortable setting. An area of the Theatre has been set up with emergency bunking and privacy screens. Each bunk has a small bundle of amenities on it — a change of clothing (that may be too big or too small, too fine or too plain, feel free to swap!) and what precious else can be spared, including a small tube of protein paste. Given that the theater doubles as a childcare center for the basecamp, your character may find that any toddler-aged children will stare hungrily at these tubes!
Ensign Ashley Porter flits about this emergency station at all hours, chatting amicably at people. Explaining the situation. He's reasonably certain it's his fault — the entire 'hatching' process seemed to start after he tripped one day and fell into the Central Chrysalis. This disturbance must have triggered the process of pulling in people from other universes. He's terribly sorry and will say he understands if people want to be angry at him or hate him for it. He also makes mention of the fact that some people have found personal items if they return to the Chrysalis — in eggs, like the ones they woke up in.
The Hatchlings are given a few days to acclimate, and then they are expected to contribute to the duties around camp. The day-to-day life in Basecamp Leviathan is not glamorous. Repairs are always needing to be done, food is always needing to be made, dishes always needing to be washed. Anyone with specialized skills will probably be snapped up by a division before too long!
A few notes:
Please note: FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER 'HATCHING', CHARACTERS WILL FEEL WEAK AND ANY POWERS THEY HAVE WILL NOT WORK.
Test drive meme threads can be considered game canon for players who are later accepted and wish to keep their CR. The Quago prompt will be a TDM-exclusive, though existing players are welcome to use it in the game itself and players are free to use it as canon, but it will not be repeated as part of the hatching. The other prompts that you see here will also appear on our first game log. There will, of course, be more going on that week.
Please reserve questions about altering or meaningfully investigating the setting for the first log of the game, where we will have a Mod Questions thread at the top of the log. That thread will not be present on this test drive meme.
❀ HATCHING
This time, the Adamant's survivors are ready. When the Hatchlings arrive, they are no longer held at gunpoint or the tip of a spear. They are helped up, taken to the showers, given time to clean themselves.
They are still quarantined for a few days — albeit in a more comfortable setting. An area of the Theatre has been set up with emergency bunking and privacy screens. Each bunk has a small bundle of amenities on it — a change of clothing (that may be too big or too small, too fine or too plain, feel free to swap!) and what precious else can be spared, including a small tube of protein paste. Given that the theater doubles as a childcare center for the basecamp, your character may find that any toddler-aged children will stare hungrily at these tubes!
Ensign Ashley Porter flits about this emergency station at all hours, chatting amicably at people. Explaining the situation. He's reasonably certain it's his fault — the entire 'hatching' process seemed to start after he tripped one day and fell into the Central Chrysalis. This disturbance must have triggered the process of pulling in people from other universes. He's terribly sorry and will say he understands if people want to be angry at him or hate him for it. He also makes mention of the fact that some people have found personal items if they return to the Chrysalis — in eggs, like the ones they woke up in.
The Hatchlings are given a few days to acclimate, and then they are expected to contribute to the duties around camp. The day-to-day life in Basecamp Leviathan is not glamorous. Repairs are always needing to be done, food is always needing to be made, dishes always needing to be washed. Anyone with specialized skills will probably be snapped up by a division before too long!
A few notes:
☆ Your character will at some point be pulled aside and asked about where they're from, what year, any personal information they wish to share, etc. This is no longer described as an 'interrogation' as with the first set of Hatchlings. It's now more of a chat. Captain Childe has deferred this duty to her various underlings, and she will likely not make an appearance here unless a Hatchling says or does something very interesting or meaningful.
☆ The NPCs will be as forthcoming about how the Hatchlings have arrived and what they know about the Chrysalis as possible. Unfortunately to both, the answer is 'not much'. They will still try to be transparent about this.
☆ The NPCs will be as forthcoming about how the Hatchlings have arrived and what they know about the Chrysalis as possible. Unfortunately to both, the answer is 'not much'. They will still try to be transparent about this.
❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP
The Engineering Corps is always looking for new members who can contribute to some of its long term infrastructure solutions. The head of this department, Thorkil, is a large man with a booming voice who brews moonshine on the side and is the sort of bright, cheerful soul that can light up a room when he enters it. He is friendly with all the Hatchlings unless given a reason to be otherwise, and he is also very patient, gentle and understanding. If your character has demonstrated engineering skills of any coat or color (mechanical? electrical? outdated by hundreds of years? more advanced by a millennium?) please expect that Thorkil will ask if they'd be willing to help out!
The Security Division is headed up by a rather unpleasant man named Rémi. He neither wants nor, in his opinion, needs the help of the Hatchlings, but he's perfectly willing to let them risk their lives instead of the lives of his people where leaving the basecamp is concerned. Little wonder, most of his division has been chewed up and spit out by the harsh conditions on Ethyraia — can one blame him for being a little protective? If anyone asks about helping here, he's going to respond scornfully and dismissively. However, some of the Hatchlings have earned enough of his goodwill that he will consider, consider letting people have a weapon from Security's stores if they're leaving the Basecamp. (Carrying of non-Hatchling weapons is forbidden within the basecamp itself, so please be mindful!)
The Theatre is another venue that one could help out with — there are stories to be told! The current production is a classic, She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen. However, after performing this for the thessyx at the talent show, the theater department is moving onto their next show — Procyonate, for which there are many props to build. As the only truly fortified building in the Basecamp, the theatre doubles as a place to care for children (most of the 'young' survivors are between 13-19 now, but babies have been born to the survivors since their crash-landing!) there is also a need for anyone who excels with toddler care. They are also looking for anyone who can sing, write music, or play instruments. Such people will be hastily recruited and put to work!
The Aid Station is being run by a very harried woman named Sunya Hyacinth, who fits the description of 'overworked and underpaid' to a T. She doesn't have time to reach out to any recruits, but if you wander into the Aid Station you might find yourself being put to work. Just be careful — if she decides you have higher accreditation than she does, she might just decide to dump her practice on your lap for a week so she can go take a vacation! Standard injuries you may see include acid burns, broken bones, and bad cuts and gashes out of the engineering department who's hard at work repairing the sink holes around the base. Some of the 'ill' being treated will also have psychological effects. PTSD is common, and there are no officially 'trained' counsellors, just people who try to listen and help.
The Sanitation Department handles a lot of the day-to-day cleaning that involves sewage, garbage, et al. After all, it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it! Not only will they take just about anyone, but if they warm up to you they'll let you in on a little secret... they've totally started an underground green house where they're growing some interesting plants...
(pot, it's pot).
The Communications Department is headed up by the AI Cartagena, and helps with disseminating useful information to the population, as well as managing the intranet and its infrastructure. Cartagena will be quick to point out (cheerfully) that they don't get days off and would love for someone else to make announcements once in a while! A small group of the communications department is also hard at work on a distress signal, persevering in the belief that someone will come looking for the wayward Adamant.
The Agriculture department could always use a few new green thumbs around their little hydroponic garden units, and of course the Mess Hall is in dire need of someone who can make ten pounds of questionable protein paste taste palpable...
Otherwise, the daily grind in Ethyraia seems to be fairly... well, grind-y. People wake early to manage their chores in the early hours, everyone breaks during the hot hours of the afternoon to nap or lounge around, sometimes they take in the daily movie at the Theatre, and then it's back to work for the afternoon shift. People generally work from 7 AM to 11 AM, and then have between 11 AM and 3 PM 'off' (with the exception of anyone on KP duty) and then work again until 11 PM. Exceptions are: each person's designated 'days off', or recovery time from injuries/etc. Ideally, the Adamant's survivors will work 4 days and has 3 off in a week, but oftentimes this is cancelled due to need.
While it's not mandatory that the Hatchlings work, those that don't 'pull their weight' so to speak will find themselves being increasingly shunned by the community, and the quality of their rations and their overall care will decrease. There isn't enough to go around on the best days, much less when someone isn't contributing at all!
What goes on at the base for me to engage with?:
What else can I do?:
A few additional notes:
The Security Division is headed up by a rather unpleasant man named Rémi. He neither wants nor, in his opinion, needs the help of the Hatchlings, but he's perfectly willing to let them risk their lives instead of the lives of his people where leaving the basecamp is concerned. Little wonder, most of his division has been chewed up and spit out by the harsh conditions on Ethyraia — can one blame him for being a little protective? If anyone asks about helping here, he's going to respond scornfully and dismissively. However, some of the Hatchlings have earned enough of his goodwill that he will consider, consider letting people have a weapon from Security's stores if they're leaving the Basecamp. (Carrying of non-Hatchling weapons is forbidden within the basecamp itself, so please be mindful!)
The Theatre is another venue that one could help out with — there are stories to be told! The current production is a classic, She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen. However, after performing this for the thessyx at the talent show, the theater department is moving onto their next show — Procyonate, for which there are many props to build. As the only truly fortified building in the Basecamp, the theatre doubles as a place to care for children (most of the 'young' survivors are between 13-19 now, but babies have been born to the survivors since their crash-landing!) there is also a need for anyone who excels with toddler care. They are also looking for anyone who can sing, write music, or play instruments. Such people will be hastily recruited and put to work!
The Aid Station is being run by a very harried woman named Sunya Hyacinth, who fits the description of 'overworked and underpaid' to a T. She doesn't have time to reach out to any recruits, but if you wander into the Aid Station you might find yourself being put to work. Just be careful — if she decides you have higher accreditation than she does, she might just decide to dump her practice on your lap for a week so she can go take a vacation! Standard injuries you may see include acid burns, broken bones, and bad cuts and gashes out of the engineering department who's hard at work repairing the sink holes around the base. Some of the 'ill' being treated will also have psychological effects. PTSD is common, and there are no officially 'trained' counsellors, just people who try to listen and help.
The Sanitation Department handles a lot of the day-to-day cleaning that involves sewage, garbage, et al. After all, it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it! Not only will they take just about anyone, but if they warm up to you they'll let you in on a little secret... they've totally started an underground green house where they're growing some interesting plants...
(pot, it's pot).
The Communications Department is headed up by the AI Cartagena, and helps with disseminating useful information to the population, as well as managing the intranet and its infrastructure. Cartagena will be quick to point out (cheerfully) that they don't get days off and would love for someone else to make announcements once in a while! A small group of the communications department is also hard at work on a distress signal, persevering in the belief that someone will come looking for the wayward Adamant.
The Agriculture department could always use a few new green thumbs around their little hydroponic garden units, and of course the Mess Hall is in dire need of someone who can make ten pounds of questionable protein paste taste palpable...
Otherwise, the daily grind in Ethyraia seems to be fairly... well, grind-y. People wake early to manage their chores in the early hours, everyone breaks during the hot hours of the afternoon to nap or lounge around, sometimes they take in the daily movie at the Theatre, and then it's back to work for the afternoon shift. People generally work from 7 AM to 11 AM, and then have between 11 AM and 3 PM 'off' (with the exception of anyone on KP duty) and then work again until 11 PM. Exceptions are: each person's designated 'days off', or recovery time from injuries/etc. Ideally, the Adamant's survivors will work 4 days and has 3 off in a week, but oftentimes this is cancelled due to need.
While it's not mandatory that the Hatchlings work, those that don't 'pull their weight' so to speak will find themselves being increasingly shunned by the community, and the quality of their rations and their overall care will decrease. There isn't enough to go around on the best days, much less when someone isn't contributing at all!
What goes on at the base for me to engage with?:
You are free to invent NPCs to have (minor) antagonistic clashes with, or who can flag down your character to assist with something, or who you can have to help 'rescue' on a mission outside the Leviathan. We want to give players as much freedom as we can within the structure of the game, and we would rather people not feel limited.
What else can I do?:
There is no one keeping your character physically at the Basecamp! If they would like to leave and go exploring on their own, that is perfectly welcome. For the sake of the TDM, we would ask that anyone choosing this option refrain from asking us any in-depth questions — we will happily collaborate with people once they're in the game.
A few additional notes:
☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything they see that seems 'human made' will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.
☆ While mods will not be facilitating exploration beyond the basecamp at this time, characters are welcome to take on any number of missions, such as rescuing civilians, gathering supplies or travelling to the furthest 'mapped out' areas to try and chart the lands. If you would like to use any of these prompts or can think of anything else you'd like to do, feel free! If you app into the game and would like to use any of these threads as 'canon', please just let us know so we can include or incorporate any details into our overall worldbuilding! (Or work with you to tweak some details to suit!)
☆ If you think your character wouldn't be interested in helping or pitching in, that's fine! However, please be aware of the consequences that will follow — a decrease in NPC esteem, support, etc. The NPCs understand that the Hatchlings didn't ask to be here, but they simply do not have the resources or manpower to accommodate for anyone who doesn't want to work or assist in engaging with local infrastructure. Your character will not be ICly ousted from the basecamp, but they will experience a poorer quality of food and little social engagement from the NPCs. Even Captain Childe picks up a trenching tool with the best of them!
☆ While mods will not be facilitating exploration beyond the basecamp at this time, characters are welcome to take on any number of missions, such as rescuing civilians, gathering supplies or travelling to the furthest 'mapped out' areas to try and chart the lands. If you would like to use any of these prompts or can think of anything else you'd like to do, feel free! If you app into the game and would like to use any of these threads as 'canon', please just let us know so we can include or incorporate any details into our overall worldbuilding! (Or work with you to tweak some details to suit!)
☆ If you think your character wouldn't be interested in helping or pitching in, that's fine! However, please be aware of the consequences that will follow — a decrease in NPC esteem, support, etc. The NPCs understand that the Hatchlings didn't ask to be here, but they simply do not have the resources or manpower to accommodate for anyone who doesn't want to work or assist in engaging with local infrastructure. Your character will not be ICly ousted from the basecamp, but they will experience a poorer quality of food and little social engagement from the NPCs. Even Captain Childe picks up a trenching tool with the best of them!
❀ THE QUAGO
One day, a patrol team brings back a small potted plant in a containment jar. It seems rather innocuous at first, and one of the more science-minded survivors sets it aside to study it. Unfortunately for the intrepid habitants of the Basecamp Leviathan, this was the equivalent of cradle robbing! This plant is the young form of a creature known as a Quago, which is a large, semi-sentient creature with myriad tendrils and no fixed roots. It's something of a flora/fauna hybrid, and it's here for its baby!
This creature releases spores into Basecamp that, for the most part, will put people to sleep. However, some people have... different reactions. It can also cause: hallucinations, itchy rashes, feelings of thirst, lightheadedness and, perhaps counter-intuitively, insomnia. The hallucinations can range from 'acid trip' to 'that dream I once had about riding Falcor'. Not everyone will be affected — some people might have natural immunity from this strange creature.
Concern around the basecamp run high: are the conditions caused by something in the food? Is this a new Ethyraia-native illness? None of those infected seem to improve on their own. The Agricultural department is particularly on high alert until, after two days, someone notices that those that are affected can be roused by... chocolate?
Vidar and Cal Kestis, in the month prior, found a box of rare rations aboard the wreck of the Adamant. They brought this box back and opted to share it among the Survivors, and one of the items happened to be hot chocolate powder. A little sprinkle of it under the tongue of anyone sleeping, hallucinating or otherwise experiencing symptoms of the spores will find themselves returned to normalcy in a handful of minutes.
(They could also drink hot chocolate, but where's the fun in that?)
The Quago will come into the basecamp, steal its plant child and flee back to nature. It will not harm or attack anyone, but the effects of its spores will linger for one week. Those sleeping will seem almost to be in a state of suspended animation, and do not need to be tended.
Can my character fight the Quaggo? How big is it? What does it look like?
Can my character experience more than one effect of it throughout these three days?
FETCH QUEST
Once characters realize that it's chocolate that makes the difference, a singular prospect looms. There is nothing native to Ethyraia that produces chocolate — so the only hope is to travel back to the Adamant and search through its wreckage for another such box.
Luckily, Cal and Vidar have already done a great deal of work! They've cleared a previously blocked-off area of the wreck, and the route to an old storage area of the Adamant is now traversable. Any character cogent enough or immune to the spores will be able to make the trip. However, given the scorching heat and the intermittent acid rain, we would ask that a 'baseline' character (ie: someone without super speed or a vehicle/pet of some sort they arrived with from home) take roughly 2-3 days to make this round trip.
There's a possibility there could be more luxury items such as chocolate undisturbed in the Adamant for the past three years. For those who make the trip, feel free to find one small luxury item that your character can hold onto in addition to the other goods they bring back for the basecamp as a whole.
The wreckage of the Adamant is empty and overgrown. Most of the bodies have been moved out of the crash in the interest of burying them properly, but there are some that were caught in areas that were simply unreachable or unstable, so the ship is rank with death. Any of the plants listed in our herbiary may be found inside the wreckage, and players may engage with any of their myriad effects (or, if you're an existing player, feel free to add more!). There is no internal power to the Adamant, so even the emergency lighting on the floors will be out.
Can my character make a side-trip while at the Adamant crash site?
This creature releases spores into Basecamp that, for the most part, will put people to sleep. However, some people have... different reactions. It can also cause: hallucinations, itchy rashes, feelings of thirst, lightheadedness and, perhaps counter-intuitively, insomnia. The hallucinations can range from 'acid trip' to 'that dream I once had about riding Falcor'. Not everyone will be affected — some people might have natural immunity from this strange creature.
Concern around the basecamp run high: are the conditions caused by something in the food? Is this a new Ethyraia-native illness? None of those infected seem to improve on their own. The Agricultural department is particularly on high alert until, after two days, someone notices that those that are affected can be roused by... chocolate?
Vidar and Cal Kestis, in the month prior, found a box of rare rations aboard the wreck of the Adamant. They brought this box back and opted to share it among the Survivors, and one of the items happened to be hot chocolate powder. A little sprinkle of it under the tongue of anyone sleeping, hallucinating or otherwise experiencing symptoms of the spores will find themselves returned to normalcy in a handful of minutes.
(They could also drink hot chocolate, but where's the fun in that?)
The Quago will come into the basecamp, steal its plant child and flee back to nature. It will not harm or attack anyone, but the effects of its spores will linger for one week. Those sleeping will seem almost to be in a state of suspended animation, and do not need to be tended.
Can my character fight the Quaggo? How big is it? What does it look like?
Your character will likely not notice the Quaggo unless they are one of the very rare people immune to its effects. It is not hostile or violent, and killing it will not cure the symptoms of those affected. Could you kill it? Yes, but then you'd have to live with the guilt!
It is approximately the size of a VW minibus (minibus for scale!) though perhaps a little taller. It is mostly a tangled nimbus of vines and bracken around a central 'nucleus'. Imagine a giant, sci-fi tumbleweed with a disturbing amount of sentience.
It is approximately the size of a VW minibus (minibus for scale!) though perhaps a little taller. It is mostly a tangled nimbus of vines and bracken around a central 'nucleus'. Imagine a giant, sci-fi tumbleweed with a disturbing amount of sentience.
Can my character experience more than one effect of it throughout these three days?
Yes! You are free to mix and match the symptoms as you desire. Feel free to be creative! Your character could be an itchy insomniac, or hallucinate Spongebob LARP while being very thirsty... or any other combo you can imagine!
FETCH QUEST
Once characters realize that it's chocolate that makes the difference, a singular prospect looms. There is nothing native to Ethyraia that produces chocolate — so the only hope is to travel back to the Adamant and search through its wreckage for another such box.
Luckily, Cal and Vidar have already done a great deal of work! They've cleared a previously blocked-off area of the wreck, and the route to an old storage area of the Adamant is now traversable. Any character cogent enough or immune to the spores will be able to make the trip. However, given the scorching heat and the intermittent acid rain, we would ask that a 'baseline' character (ie: someone without super speed or a vehicle/pet of some sort they arrived with from home) take roughly 2-3 days to make this round trip.
There's a possibility there could be more luxury items such as chocolate undisturbed in the Adamant for the past three years. For those who make the trip, feel free to find one small luxury item that your character can hold onto in addition to the other goods they bring back for the basecamp as a whole.
The wreckage of the Adamant is empty and overgrown. Most of the bodies have been moved out of the crash in the interest of burying them properly, but there are some that were caught in areas that were simply unreachable or unstable, so the ship is rank with death. Any of the plants listed in our herbiary may be found inside the wreckage, and players may engage with any of their myriad effects (or, if you're an existing player, feel free to add more!). There is no internal power to the Adamant, so even the emergency lighting on the floors will be out.
Can my character make a side-trip while at the Adamant crash site?
At this time we will not be facilitating further in-depth exploration prompts of the Adamant.
❀ NETWORK
Oh! Look! There are more of you.
YOU may refer to
(1) Hatchlings;
(2) Children of the Leviathan,
depending on your cultural and religious background.
Hello and welcome! My name is Cartagena. As you will be responsible for one another's, and the former crew and passengers of the Adamant's, survival, it is in our best interests to get to know one another.
I have prepared some questions:
If you could be anywhere else right now, where would you go, what would you bring with you, and why?
Oh. Oh dear. That one isn't really ideal, is it? Just a moment. I will find a better one.
If you won the lottery*, what would you do with the money?
*LOTTERY may refer to a means of raising money by selling numbered tickets and giving prizes to the holders of numbers drawn at random.
A few notes:
YOU may refer to
(1) Hatchlings;
(2) Children of the Leviathan,
depending on your cultural and religious background.
Hello and welcome! My name is Cartagena. As you will be responsible for one another's, and the former crew and passengers of the Adamant's, survival, it is in our best interests to get to know one another.
I have prepared some questions:
If you could be anywhere else right now, where would you go, what would you bring with you, and why?
Oh. Oh dear. That one isn't really ideal, is it? Just a moment. I will find a better one.
If you won the lottery*, what would you do with the money?
*LOTTERY may refer to a means of raising money by selling numbered tickets and giving prizes to the holders of numbers drawn at random.
A few notes:
☆ Characters may choose their own network usernames.
zuko | avatar: the last airbender
[ 02 | the quago cometh ]
[ 03 | fetch quest ]
[ 04 | wildcard ]
01.
[ He has his medical bag with him, and the armband that all of the medical staff on base wear. He offers a polite nod to Zuko. ]
Good evening. On a night time stroll?
no subject
What's it to you, old man?
[This guy isn't even that old. He just feels like being rude.]
no subject
Oh, just wondering. I'm familiar with many others here, but I think you are new. What's your name?
no subject
I am Crown Prince Zuko, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation. [Uh... ideally, anyway...] You would do well to treat me with respect.
[Pointedly, he doesn't ask Jonathan's name.]
no subject
[ Jonathan does not show his delight, however, it's a bit silly to describe being excited about encountering another system of monarchy, generally speaking, but it is something he knows the exact parameters of. Whether he agreed with King George over the War was thoroughly irrelevant. A man knows his loyalties. ]
[ — even when that man is now a vampire. ]
[ And though he quite towers over the teenager, and despite every natural predatory instinct, he does not Loom. ]
I see! Well, I apologise, your Highness, I'm not familiar with your kingdom. I myself am from England, and a subject of King George. Dr. Jonathan Reid, at your service.
no subject
How can you not have heard of the Fire Nation?! It's the strongest and most advanced country in the world! We've controlled almost the entire map for a hundred years!
[...The irony of Zuko not having heard of England either does not seem to occur to him.]
no subject
Perhaps because I am not from your world..?
[ He says, with a hint of amusement. ]
Well — what's the most important thing to know? Besides the fact that it is a great empire.
[ #brit ]
no subject
...Of course you aren't. I realize that.
[Yeah, that was convincing. Even more so, the fact that he grasps onto the change of subject really quickly, though he flounders when he realizes he's being asked to describe a place he hasn't been allowed to visit for two years. Waxing nostalgic puts him very at risk for getting the wrong kind of emotional.]
W-Well, it's--hot. [Nice one.]
It's got good food. [No, that's dangerous territory. Time to get mad again, that's safer.]
--What do you care, anyway?!
no subject
[ l o l ]
[ He's about to ask about the food, but the attitude comes back — sore spot, perhaps? The burn on the side of Zuko's face certainly doesn't bring to mind a happy childhood. Where on earth would a child get such a large and terrible burn scar? ]
[ Jon considers the question, then, sighs. ]
Let us say I sympathise very much with waking up into a world I do not understand, and finding it.... unsatisfying.
[ underSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR ]
no subject
His comment brings Zuko up short, confusion dissipating his temper some:]
Does this kind of thing happen to you a lot?
[Yeah... like... right now, buddy.]
no subject
[ He tends to reserve his ire and childishness for his vampire Maker — hey buddy, nobody asked YOU to go sneaking around London at night! ]
What has happened has been significant, however. The egg was hardly charming, wasn't it?
one –
she is determined, though, and some of the locals keep a wide berth, presumably because they heard her whispering something along the lines of "time to face your doom".
still, she loses her grip on the breastplate when she hears that voice. it falls, clatters, but she pays it no mind anymore, instead stepping around the drapery that had hidden her from view to see him. there are no mirrors, no surfaces that could produce the sort of trick of light she keeps falling to these days, this could be real. he could be real. her brother, her most mortal enemy, whom she'd struck down, whom she is certain she has struck down –
arguably, she is the more disturbing vision. her hair is loose, the attempt on the life of her bangs still most visible, and while she is in pants and shoes that seem almost normal, her undershirt is covered by a garish pink, overlarge shirt that she wears like an open robe. she had, in the end, found nothing better than what todoroki offered her. ⟫
Zuzu... ⟪ she pauses, her mind catching up not just with his voice but with his appearance in turn. his hair is half-shaved in shame again, and her eyes narrow on the spot where the light bounces off his skull. ⟫
no subject
Instantly, the blood drains from his face. For a second he can only stare at her in shock.]
A-Azula?
[There are so many questions that come to mind that he simply can't sift through them--the same can be said for all the emotions seeing her elicits. Anger and resentment, foremost; fear, to a greater degree than he'll ever admit (he wants to ask if their father is here as well, though he knows how that will make him sound); and a strange, small amount of relief. Even after everything, she's still his little sister.
All of this goes unsaid. For a few more seconds he just gapes at her like a dead fish.]
What are you doing here?!
no subject
she takes a step towards him, faux casual, as if to test the ground. what she sees does not change, it does not have that sickly clear quality to it, it lacks the hallucinatory edge. her breath is shallow, but she seems to compose herself somewhat.
that is, she does laugh at his question. ⟫
I am taking a vacation, brother. Can't you tell?
⟪ a local passes them by, glaring as they are well in the way here. her mocking smile fades, however.
she killed him. if she hasn't killed him, she has at least gravely injured him, and at any rate, he should not be walking and talking. if they are in the same place, the implications are dark. but the water tribe fool could not possibly have landed so swift a killing blow, could she? ⟫
You look like you've seen a ghost.
no subject
[He wants to say you shouldn't be here, you should be in the Fire Nation, but, well--he was in Earth Kingdom waters last he knew, and this place clearly isn't there, either. It's clearly not anywhere that exists in the known world, and if he can be brought somewhere like this instantaneously, then the same can be said for Azula. Really, it's not that impossible to believe that she'd find herself here as well.
He just hasn't seen her since... Since. He hadn't expected their first reunion to be in a place like this. He resists the urge to turn his face away from her, to make his scar the least visible possible. He's gotten used to having it by now, but he isn't used to her seeing it.]
You--you look terrible. What happened?
[All the while, he stays tense and wary, like he's waiting for Ozai to materialize over his shoulder. Actually, he kind of is.] Is Father here?
no subject
As if you have any room to talk.
⟪ she covers half her face with her hand, a mock-scar.
agni, what will their father do when he returns? she has and has not lost the battle, it's in suspension by all accounts, but when has good enough ever pleased ozai. there is no such thing. it is a perfect, total victory or it is abject failure. ⟫
He should be in the Earth Kingdom. You know this.
⟪ Then why should he ask? At any rate, it is obvious in her hedged answer that she doesn't know – and, perhaps worse, that she isn't eager to have their father here, either. ⟫
no subject
His face, if anything, gets even paler.]
H-He's--
[Is it because Zuko's taking too long? But he's close, he's so close, he really is, if Father just gives him a little bit longer then Zuko will have captured the Avatar and can return home a worthy heir, he can prove his mettle, he can do this.
A smaller voice in his head reminds him: Azula always lies, remember?
He channels his panic back into anger, the one way he knows how to cope with anything.] No he isn't! You're lying to me again. You're just trying to sabotage me like you always do.
no subject
there he lashes out, however, and she breathes out a blue flame, the rage in her sudden and incomprehensible, difficult to contain when she is used to being so above it. ⟫
You are the one sabotaging us. You are the traitor.
⟪ her hand curls into a fist, her nails digging into the flesh of her palm. ⟫
I should have never brought you back.
02
Rough day?
（ it's said with just enough sympathy not to be condescending. ）
no subject
Got a problem with that?!
[Literal licks of fire curl out of his nostrils for effect. No talk him he angy!!!!!]
no subject
and possibly dangerous.
where's steve rogers, the patron saint of reckless dumbasses, when you need him? nat just smiles a little, crooked. ）
We all woke up on an alien planet in eggs where an alien race of sentient fish is trying to worship us, I think I'm pretty okay with the occasional rough day. I'm still missing Starbucks.
（ she tips her chin up at him a little, a sort of 's'up' gesture. ）
Neat trick, with the fire. Magic?
no subject
It's firebending.
[He says it slow and deliberate, like he's talking to someone very stupid. He does remember, though, that not everyone here is from the world he knows, and if different worlds have different spirits, perhaps it makes sense that they would not be able to bend the same way.
But why express that when he could instead cheer himself up by trying to make a random stranger feel dumb? Yeah, exactly. He crosses his arms and jerks his chin in a mirror of her own gesture, except he means it much more rudely.]
What do you want?
01
One, [ luke starts absently from the sink, where he's scrubbing at a pot that once held some pasta-adjacent substance, ] There is no feudalism when living in a lizard corpse, or you wouldn't be living in a fucking lizard corpse. The only slum lord's either the land lord - we don't have one - or the gang leader, which you, Shorty McGermaphobe, are failing the audition for if a stack of dirty dishes is too scary for you.
[ what pays off in shitty places is being of use to the community, and this kid is missing that by a long shot. ]
And two, do you really want your next lasagna with a side of week old, molding bean paste still hanging on?