intro log.

[fracturamods]

welcome mingle

( AND SO IT BEGINS. )

There's nothing but the clatter of train tracks, and the odd feeling of almost floating.

When you wake, it's hard to tell exactly what it is that you're missing - only that you are. There are pieces that aren't quite right, even if you're not sure where those pieces would normally be. Pieces of what, exactly....? Well, if you had to put a word to it, it would be - yourself, probably.

The place you've found yourself in is strange, certainly. It's probably worth exploring a bit. Though it just as easily seems that the only form of welcome or explanation that you have, comes from nothing more than a slab of marble.

Well - that, and all the people who seem to have woken up alongside you, lost and also probably Doing Their Best™.

There's no need to fret that much though. It's hard to say exactly where you're going next, even though some places might feel a little bit more like a clue, but what you do know is one unshakeable thing:

There's still much more ahead of you.

Comments

[unmuted]

[well, intro log description, speak for yourself—taksaka can tell immediately that he's missing something.

or rather, he's un-missing something, in a way. namely, why the fuck does he have emotions again.]

welcome primer

[if you happen to be by the slab, you might notice a young teenage boy who looks decidedly not human, between the horns and set of sharp, pointy teeth.

he seem to be reading the slab, and by that i mean—]

Shorten your damn explanation! That's too many words!

the store

[outside the store, taksaka's sitting on the ground, a giant crate next to him. it's full of... milk?

actually, it's definitely milk, because taksaka's angrily chugging down each carton, one-by-one. he's accumulating quite the pile next to him.]

stop zero

[you might be minding your own business, when suddenly, there's a hand grabbing your wrist.]

Hey. How long is this going to take—

[except the thing is that he's gripping rather tightly! enough that he's probably a few steps away from breaking your wrist. he seems to realize this, as panic flickers across his face, and he lets go.]

Ah—my bad—

[and now he looks as though he's about to bolt, because he kind of feels bad and aaaah he's not used to running around with emotions and unsupervised—

aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAH]

[messianic]

a. train

[One would think that, upon arriving in a place like this, wandering for awhile, and finding no answers, one would be a bit more concerned about the current situation.

That is Incorrect in this case, because this blue-haired, bland-looking boy is really just mostly focused on the snack cart in this particular train car.

Judging by the mountain of wrappers next to him, he has already worked his way through a solid amount of the snacks present there, but... he also has a packaged piece of melon bread in one hand and is poking through the remaining snacks with the other. Who even needs that many snacks???

Stop this snack massacre. Or don't, you can join him, too, he might share.]

b. fantasy costco

[Fantasy Costco is.... huge. Minato was sure that eventually, he would find the way all the way around, but he has.... not. Succeeded... in doing that...

And now his feet are sore, and he's tired from eating so many snacks on the train, and he's starting to feel like he will never escape this gigantic store full of weirdass things, and that is why...

He can be found snoozing on top of a bin of plastic packs of four or five pillows with cheesy words on them like this one. The plastic honestly doesn't even look that comfy and yet. He looks like he is conked out.]

c. wildcard

[help me, I'm out of practice writing prompts, hit me with whatever or hit me up for a personalized thing]

[soulburns]

[ I. THE CENTER ]

[at the welcome primer, you might see someone trying so very hard to scratch out part of the Welcome Primer! you might also hear his annoyed huffs of breath when he doesn't make it anywhere - or once he actually chips a part off, he celebrates—]

Yosh!! Almost—Geh?!

[—only to realize that after looking away, the entire thing is fixed again. the sound that leaves him can only be described as a roar before he CHARGES on his way back out of this damn place -

and then later returns with a box full of 250 crayons.

he's taking a red one and trying to scribble right over the Welcome Primer again and if you take a closer look this time -

he's definitely trying to scribble out where it says Murder!

apparently.... that is what he takes issue with here]

Ah, what should I put instead... Eat Pizza...? Laugh... Cry... Eat pizza....

[ II. THE TRAIN ]

[no one asked for this big ol' bara to be patrolling the trains, but here he is!! there seems to be some type of blocky gun at his hip, but he's not actually reaching for it juuuust yet. that's nice. he's doing his good boy duty of making sure that there's no CRIMINALS or ASSHOLES on board this train.

though when he sees YOU probably somewhere down the aisle, he'll offer up a grin that he hopes is reassuring]

Oi! Maybe the next stop's yours?

[he does not know this for sure

he does not even know where they're going

he's just making conversation on this crazy floating train]

the store

[soulburns]

Heyheyheyheyhey!

[GUESS WHO IS APPROACHING, AS PROMISED]

You can't drink all that - how much have you had?! You need to get it out of your system ASAP!!

[HE'S CLEARLY LOOKING AROUND FOR ANYTHING IN THE STORE THAT COULD HELP WITH THIS??? he might also just punch this kid in the stomach

maybe don't do that]

fantasy costco

[soulburns]

[ . . . . . . . . . but like

why]

Hey kid...

[galo is probably no more than like 5 or 6 years older than minato and yet,, he'll just wander over to go see where this loser has just plopped over for an afternoon nap and

gently reach out to shake him]

The patio section at least won't kill your back, you know?

[this is a stupid suggestion]

[unmuted]

[please do not punch taksaka in the stomach. his anger management classes (marriage) have probably not quite prepared him for that.

he just gives this weirdass stranger a long look, not sure how to handle this situation, before he just.

looks away. and downs another carton.]

[genrouzan]

a. the center

[ Yuri's just leaning in to read that inscribed message.

...

And then he's leaning in a little more and squinting. ]

...

It's not like it says we're not supposedly to be killing. Wonder if that's significant somehow.

[ Nothing to see here. ]

b. very generic shopping

[ Someone here has literally never his whole life seen a store this size before. As evidenced by the moment of wide eyed staring as he enters and immediately stops in the doorway like an asshole.

After that initial moment of surprise he can be found browsing the aisles with a look somewhere between amused and bemused by everything he's seeing. Nothing that strikes him as hugely useful, but there are foods he's never seen before; clothing styles he doesn't recognise, and of course, those giant rubber ducks.

Come across him on his journey, and he'll spin around, pointing what looks like a sizeable leek in your face. You're welcome. ]

Question -- you come across any local currency here? Don't think I'm on Terca Lumireis anymore, so I doubt Gald'll work.

[amberspirit]

(inception voice) you're waiting for a train

[It's not the inside of the train that's the concern. In fact, the inside is quite cute. There's plenty of windows to look out while riding--

--actually, looking out the window, something whizzing along beside the train gets all the attention. A dragon is cruising along beside, the eyes focused forward. Except... strange. It's grey all over from head to tail, no color at all. After a moment, it zooms ahead and disappears out of sight near the front of the train.

Several minutes pass, and the door at the far end of the car opens. A boy steps through, glancing around.]

generic merchant costco

You will have to take all of them to be able to leave.

[Helpful advice, but it comes straight from a young boy with a level voice. There's a basket strung over one elbow. Inside of it, almost overflowing, are charms in different colors.]

[givethemhell]

the train;
[GOOD LORD as a ye olde, he's going to be experiencing so many firsts today, honestly. Waking up in a weird voidspace is the least interesting thing to happen to him?? Who cares about voids! The paths are neat and he absolutely spent some time running around on the ones that twist upside down just for the novelty of it, but it's the train he's really interested in.

When he's not just pressing his face to the windows excitedly watching paths nyoom by, he can be found in the snack booth of every damn car, as if he expects them to stock different items. Even if they don't, he's apparently decided to just try One Food Per Booth - with the caveat that if he sees someone else with any snacks in their little hands, he'll just slide on over, openly curious.]

What's that? Is it good? It smells good! Mind if I try some?

[AS IF THERE ISN'T A HEAP OF FOOD AVAILABLE.]

the store;
[Wei Wuxian hands you a kazoo.

Yeah that's it that's just how this starts; he's exited the store with a big ol bag of something and like Santa Claus, he's apparently gotten it for the express purpose of passing these items out and spreading the joy. They come in a rainbow variety of colors! Some are even holo, wild.]

Have you seen one of these before?!

[He sure hopes not because BOY he's stoked to explain!!]

stop zero;
[AIRPLANES now that's something novel. He's about equally interested in the planes themselves as he is with the inclement weather that's continuously shifting. For a little while, he's quiet (the last time he'll be quiet in the next 50 years), just watching them taxi down the runway.

And then HE'S OFF TO EXPLORE. The next time it's snowing outside, he'll trot on over to anyone who looks particularly chilly, tired, or just in need of something nice and thrusts a hand out toward them. He's holding a cup full of overpriced but pretty decent hot chocolate! Maybe you'll be lucky and have the one with extra whipped cream, or something flavored with additional peppermint or caramel.]

Here! It's very good and it'll warm you right up.

wildcard;
[Hit me up for any shenanigans you're game for!]

[messianic]

[This is a terrible suggestion and yet.

Minato kind of stirs a little when he's shaken, yawning, covering his mouth.

He pries open an eye to peer at said helpful adult [citation needed].]

... I couldn't find it again. So I gave up.

The only landmark I could find nearby was the scarily tall stack of napkins.

generic merchant costco

[messianic]

[Minato has one of those massive boxes of pocky because he couldn't find anything smaller, but honestly, he's just been staring at the counter until Haku interjects.

He clears his throat.]

... I was looking for someone to pay, but I can't find anyone here.

store;

[messianic]

Ah.

[KAZOO... Minato wasn't anticipating this, but all he does is blink blankly as he looks down at the tiny, colorful, holo kazoo in his hand.

It looks...pretty cheap...

...]

A kazoo? Yeah, of course I have. [SORRY TO CRUSH YOUR DREAMS, WEI WUXIAN.

But.

Then he just lifts it to his lips and blows.

KAZOO NOISES ENSUE.]

stop zero

[messianic]

[Minato was just minding his own business!! Living his best Minato life!! And then suddenly there is that hand, and it's rather painful, and Minato just--

Blinks.

Because, well, it changes pretty fast, so. No reason to complain.

Another slow blink.]

It's fine. [Of course it is.] Are you okay?

stop zero!

[givethemhell]

[AT LEAST HE PICKED like one of the best possible people to nearly break the wrists of... With his stupid high pain tolerance, Wei Wuxian hardly looks bothered to be manhandled by a stranger beyond a brief wince, even if he's drawing his arm back once it's free. HE'S DELICATE NO BULLY.

NO RUNNING, EITHER he holds his other hand up as soon as it looks like this poor fool is getting ready to nyoom.]

Hah, it's fine, it's fine! [IS IT.] Though I don't really have an answer to your question, there. Wish I did! [He gently rubs his wrist in the meantime, but sounds good-natured when he says:] Goodness, that's quite a grip you have.

[survivaltricks]

a. right outside fantasy Costco

[WELCOME TO SPACE EVERYONE!!! if you happen to be hanging out outside fantasy costco, you may run into a scruffy looking young man pushing a cart full of bell-tinged cat ears. he has like. . . a hundred of them. what the fuck]

[anyway if you happen to meet eyes with this enterprising teen, he is gonna hold out a pair for you, wagging it slightly to jingle the bells attached to the ears. his expression is perfectly even as he says:]

Meowy Clawsmas.

[IT IS TIME TO CELEBRATE]

b. Wildcard

[hit me up if you'd like to do something specific!!]

[unmuted]

No.

[he's honest?]

a.

[messianic]

[Minato............. accepts it. He didn't have anything in his hands anyway yet (he couldn't find a clerk to pay and that's!! Stealing!!), apparently, so he accepts the cat ears after tugging a hand out of his pocket.

... He reaches up (one hand still in his other pocket, nerd), and puts them on his head.

And:]

And a happy Nyan Year.

[His expression never shifts.]

[osuni]

train;

[Enter (1) train car and you'll find Okuni sitting on a couch and minding her own Business, in that she's busy tying as many blankets together as possible.... in order to produce, at this point, a very long rope of some kind. it's fine, IT'S SAFE!! She doesn't look up so it seems as if she hasn't noticed the newcomer until]

Hey! Are you going to help me or not? Hurry up, you look exactly like the kind of person who doesn't have anything better to do.

[MANNERS!!]

store;;

[there is just so much stuff in space costco that Okuni would undoubtedly enjoy even if she been KIDNAPPED to a strange new place, but it's fine... her attention span can only handle (1) interesting thing at the moment which is... at this point in time... the bright red plastic telephone hanging innocuously on a wall somewhere

okuni has no idea what a telephone even IS, much less how to operate one but the rp gods decide to let Okuni have this one because she somehow miraculously turns it on long enough for her voice to ECHO MYSTERIOUSLY AROUND THE STORE]

Oh!

[HOLY SHIT!!!! this is incredible.... Okuni puts her mouth right to the receiver, thinks, and then]

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt --

[that's all she does, she just makes that singular BZZZZZT noise into the intercom for however long she's allowed on, thanks]

[unmuted]

... Well, if you're not hurt, then it's fine.

[feeling bad is over.]

stop zero

[amberspirit]

[If the grabbing bothers him, he doesn't exactly show it, but it does get him to stop. His eyes drop from Taksaka to his arm and up again. The arm slowly lowers by his side.]

I can't say. Be patient. [A pause.] Isn't there something you can do while you wait?

[messianic]

That's fair.

[TO BE TOTALLY HONEST... this situation doesn't really lend itself to being fine. He retrieves his wrist quietly and shoves his hand back into his pocket. Of course.]

What's wrong?

train;

[unmuted]

[...]

The female has no way of knowing that.

[HE COULD BE VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW]

... What is the female doing?

[genrouzan]

[ a perfectly even expression too, as he takes the ears, puts them on and says: ]

I have no idea what you just said.

[ But nyan to you too good sir. ]

[unmuted]

[for someone who's lived since the dawn of the universe, taksaka is very, very bad at being patient.]

Like what?

[merrygopound]

[ A. El slab ]

[ This is a tiny girl staring at the slab and looking more and more irritated the more she reads it. But she does at least wait to finish reading it before she cracks her... knuckles...????? ]

Calling me broken... all right, fine!! You'll be the broken one in the end, you stupid piece of metamorphic calcite!

[ Mizuki. Mizuki, no. ]


[ B. La store ]

[ There's a dumbbell. It's in the exercise equipment area, or it was, except now this 250-pound and stupidly large dumbbell is coming your way!

Weird.

Weirder still is when it gets closer and you see the skinny pair of yellow-clad arms around it, and then Mizuki herself peers out at you. ]

Hey. You haven't seen any ramen packs around here, have you?

[ No, apparently she's not mentioning the obvious here. ]