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maskormenacelogs2020-10-02 12:22 am
- dabi | n/a,
- darth nox | n/a,
- david alleyne | prodigy,
- finn onaru | the dragonborn,
- jonathan sims | the archivist,
- katie 'pidge' holt | the green paladin,
- kurt | the reptilian,
- padmé amidala | senator,
- pepper potts | rescue,
- rude | n/a,
- rufus shinra | n/a,
- sephiroth | n/a,
- tina belcher | n/a,
- toshinori yagi | all might,
- wanda maximoff | scarlet witch,
- wen ning | ghost general,
- wolf | boneripper,
- ysanne isard | iceheart,
- † billy kaplan | wiccan
ARRIVAL CEREMONY: OCTOBER 2020
Blink and you find yourself in a beautiful, green Floridian forest, other people scattered throughout.
You may have come straight from the brink of destruction, but if you mention the other dimension or that you think you may be missing memories even once to the nearest native, they'll be just as confused as you. As far as they're concerned, all of this is perfectly normal, if exciting— it isn't every day they get to attend an arrival ceremony.
"What are you talking about? You mean, on vacation? The imPorts didn't go anywhere."
But at least this time, the setting is soothing, the event peaceful. Maybe you just need a drink and a moment to catch up and compare notes with your friends... or to catch a shuttle home from the nearby parking lot.
For those Porting in for the first time, the experience is less abstract — but just as bizarre. They wake in the comfortably dim light of the Porter room, laid out on an exam table. Wounds, if any, have been healed — and even those who died find themselves miraculously restored. As they regain consciousness, an automatic audio-visual presentation triggers. Regardless of backgrounds or physiology, all imPorts 'see' and 'hear' this message as if in their own language:
"Greetings, imPort." The voice is calm and gently authoritative, almost certainly selected by committee. "On behalf of all imPorts, we welcome you to the planet Earth."
A decidedly non-humanoid robotic arm holds out a palm-sized device and rather insistently demands the new arrival take it. This is the imPort's comm, used for accessing the Porter's database of information, as well as the communications network — though it won't receive signal until carried out into the world. You also get a dossier about your new abilities.
"You'll have access your housing designation after the Arrival Ceremony."
Arrival Ceremony? Arrival Ceremony. Even the most asocial new imPort nonetheless has little alternative. Everyone is provided with a glamorous outfit according to their size, which they may or may not choose to change into. Then they're directed to the hoverbus.
The hoverbus is a luxury autonomous vehicle. The seating is plush and arranged to encourage conversation between occupants, with high-quality liquor and disposable cups within reach. It doesn't depart the Porter Building until it senses that every imPort is inside. Once they're all safely seated, the doors lock and it glides smoothly through the air.
As the bus begins to move, the screen at the front comes to life, playing a short orientation video that answers some of the most pressing questions new imPorts might be asking. It advises seeking out veteran imPorts for further details.
Out the windows, throngs of people can be seen gathered just outside the gates of the military base. It might look like a protest at first, but it becomes obvious upon closer examination that they're jubilant, cheering and waving and holding up homemade signs scrawled with sentiments like WELCOME, HEROES! and WE LOVE YOU!
Paparazzi hang out of cars with their cameras pointed at the hoverbus as they tail it all the way to its destination. There's another crowd waiting when the hoverbus arrives, though the red carpet has been cleared to give the new arrivals a safe path into the building that's hosting the Arrival Ceremony. Better hurry inside! It doesn't seem like these fans can be held at bay for long.
This is Cape Canaveral's first annual Green Dawn, a pro-environment Arrival Ceremony for the imPorts and natives alike.
The planting of saplings takes place in a wide tract of recently reclaimed flatland. Wide wooden walkways and outdoor lamps you to range up to two miles away on foot. As you wander, deer and other fauna might come by, before skittering away if disturbed. It's both quiet and orchestrally alive with the sounds of wildlife and wind.
In the meantime, socializing, food and drink, and festivities take place at an airy, casual, rustically-furnished event space, standing ten stories tall to offer vantage of the surrounding nature. Smaller nooks afford privacy to smaller groups, such as couples— and some of you neurotic survivors going "What the actual Hell?" at the interdimensional chaos you just Ported in from.
Wine and cheese are the main items on the menu, as well as various vegan options.
You can plant any ecologically safe tree, but a flyer suggests an optional sentimental activity: use the Language of Flowers, representing someone or something important to you now.
You can also carefully carve a small message on the trunk, up to 10 characters long; for example, names or initials. Better not leave something embarrassing, or hope no one's watching...
no subject
[ He glanced at the plant in her hands. ]
A spot of color, huh? Do they do this every year?
no subject
This particular event is a new one. But there is a welcoming ceremony for new imPorts once a month... they have an unfortunate tendency to go wrong in dramatic ways, but I think we may get through this one.
[She smiles as though she's mentioning the possibility of rain later. Though perhaps the going-wrong is the sense she has of everything being shifted ever so slightly to the left.]
My name is Fuu Hououji. I do have an apple I brought as a snack... maybe we can distract our little friend that way.
no subject
[ He bowed politely, never quite letting his sapling out of his sight. Somehow, he'd gotten attached to it. ]
That might work, if ya don't mind giving up your food. Might not satisfy his old lady, though, when she gets back.
...wait. Go wrong?
no subject
Swear-ins--Arrival ceremonies, that is--tend to attract unwelcome attention. Whether it's from people with ill intentions or people who have... [she searches for a diplomatic term.] More ambition than wisdom in arranging big events.
[aka: rich idiots who want to show off their company's great new invention.]
[She gives the apple a gentle toss, letting it roll away. The fawn trots after it--hopefully that buys their saplings some peace.]
no subject
[ If one might count a man who woke up in another universe just as his last one was starting to shape up for him as 'lucky'. The fawn bleated a little, then chased after the apple, making chomping noises as it gobbled the fruit down in bites. ]
But if that's the case, why are you still attendin'?
[ One might think older imPorts would have better things to do. (Perhaps the wine and cheese would lure in the foodies.) ]
no subject
[She gives him a bright, cheerful smile, but then she becomes more earnest.]
When I first came here, I was just fourteen. And that's not uncommon--or even adults, if they're from a world without magic or supernatural happenings, can get into a lot of trouble. Since I'm quite used to my own powers, I try to lend a hand.
no subject
[ Don't mind him, just sudDENLY concerned. It had been a long day. ]
I mean, they gave me this file and all that, but I half thought this was all some kinda joke. Hell, I'm still not convinced I'm not gonna wake up at some point!
no subject
I've been here for about three years. [which is... quite a thing to think about.] It's quite a shock to find yourself suddenly dropped into another world--the first thing I did here was try to find the Japanese consulate.
[She smiles again.]
But if it is a dream, it's a long-running one... and a complicated one to boot. I don't think I've ever had one with this many distinct events and individuals.
no subject
[ Not that it would do Majima much good to go to alternate Japan, of course, because he'd still be in the wrong dimension. ]
But it's not very encouragin'. I got family back home, I don't have three more years to spend out here.
no subject
[or the ordinary gangster. maybe. or just. very tough looking family man. if she's learned anything it's Don't Judge By First Impressions.]
Though we don't get to remember our life here... which I don't like all that much, truthfully.
no subject
[ Ordinarily, Majima wouldn't take someone at face value like this, but Fuu was strangely convincing. Maybe it was her honor student vibe. ]
So whatever I do here doesn't even count? What kinda sense does that make? And if we lose our memories when we go back... wait, people just hop in and out of here?
no subject
I don't like it either. It's happened to me--I went home, went back to my life as though nothing had happened, and then came back here and remembered it all. It was--disorienting.
[Especially because she did learn things here. Just as she had in Cephiro. And she didn't want to just lose those things, those friendships, just because of some interdimensional flick of the wrist.]
I suppose some might consider it a good thing, though. It would be quite a fantastic story to try and tell--or a hefty secret to keep.
no subject
But I guess my feelings on the matter don't make one bit of difference. So instead... you think this spot here looks like a decent one for a scraggly little tree?
no subject
[For now, she'll keep to herself that this isn't her first time she was transplanted from one world to another; not that she thinks he would make that comment given their current situation, bu it would be a lot to get into right now. So instead she smiles and considers their saplings, and then looks around their immediate surroundings.]
I think there's enough light here. If these little ones are going to have a new home in this park, I think that this is as good a spot as any.
[She takes a few steps away, setting her hibiscus down to test how she likes it in this spot.]
no subject
[ Majima hefted the little novelty shovel they'd handed to him, and started to dig. And dig, with the little tree set off to the side. Maybe he was thinking about something else, because he seemed almost lost to the task --
That really was getting a little too deep....... ]
no subject
She smiles, and almost cups her cheek in her hand before remembering that it's covered in dirt.]
Excuse me, Majima-san... I think your tree might be happier with a shallower pit.