tushanshu | Entries tagged with † cassie lang

[Kaine had been trying to wait until Peter or someone got the consoles fixed, but that didn’t seem like it was coming any time soon, and he didn’t want to wait any longer. Taking a page from some of the others, he holds up a piece of paper with the same message written in four languages: English, French, Spanish, and Japanese. His handwriting is sloppy, but he was trying his best to make it legible in every language. The only thing betraying his true feelings on the news he’s delivering is the way he tightly clutches the paper. ]

May Parker and Miles Morales have gone home.

[He holds it up for about a minute, before holding up a new page.]

Anyone with business with either one of them can take it up with me.

[He pauses for another minute, then holds up a third piece of paper.]

What’s a more secure way to talk to people?

[Another minute, then a fourth piece of paper.]

Want to talk about the shit going on. Not stupid enough to do it here.

[He holds up one final piece of paper.]

Open to suggestions.

[He puts the last piece of paper down and turns the feed off.]

traumatizing

[Today's discovery is that Terry's still deeply uncomfortable with making video posts to the network at large, but it seems like the fastest and easiest way to flag down anyone he knows. Or who knows him for... Whatever reason. He doesn't look directly at the camera, spending most of his time on-screen looking just slightly to the side of the console.]

I think I've been gone about five months, if I'm right.

[He pauses and looks down at his hands, frowning while he works through what he wants to say in his head.] I'm not sure if there's anyone here still who knows me - I didn't know many people when I was here before - but, uh. [ahem] I'm Terry.

I've... A lot's changed. [wow great job pointing out the obvious, idiot.] I'm still wrapping my head around it all, but if there's a, I don't know. A handbook? [...] "A Summarised History of Tu Vishan: A Foreigner's Perspective." That would be really helpful.

[Beat.] Thanks.

looksfine

[You may be pleased to know, certain residents of Keelai, that Aya had no intentions of offering another long-winded highly detailed technical analysis of...whatever it is she's up to at the moment. In fact, her latest message is surprisingly simple:]

It has been brought to my attention that my choice of vocabulary and diction is considered...unnecessarily formal by some.

[To put it mildly.]

I have made several attempts to alter my speech patterns, but have realized that I still lack a more concise understanding of what precisely entails formal versus familiar speech. Therefore, I am seeking any an all information regarding more colloquial expressions or terms that may be used in everyday conversation, which I will do my best to learn and subsequently employ accordingly.

Thank you.

((PRIVATE TO: HAL JORDAN (2011) - 100% AYA ENCRYPTED))

[Her eyes narrow, however, when the following message is delivered. Anger was not quite an accurate assessment of her emotions at that particular moment...but annoyance wouldn't have been a stretch.]

You did not follow through with your agreement to meet with me last month, and have since done nothing to rectify this error.

I wish to know why.

werethatgood

[ It takes Cassie a few hours to realize that her dad isn't the only one who's gone. And then a little more to gather up... something. Courage, strength, to reach out to anyone other than Tony, anyway. But she knows her dad has more friends here, and... stuff. ]

Hi, um. Cassie here. I'm sorry that I'm with the bad news today, but...

For those that know them, my dad - Scott Lang - and Teddy Altman are gone from Keeliai. They'll be fine back home, I think, so that's at least something good, right?

Yeah, that's all.

fuckcable

[Despite being on the turtle for nearly six months, this is Rictor's first video post. He's commented with video and audio, but has largely hidden behind anonymous consoles in cafes. What with Malicant having Network access and not trusting this whole politely-worded mass abduction, it's seemed prudent.

However, this post is going up as an unencrypted video feed, because he wants people to actually trust and use the code that he's come up with to help them, and not disregard it as a potential virus from the enemy.

He's typing at the keyboard as he talks.]

I'm attaching instructions to this, walking you through how to set up your console to ping someone else's mailbox if you haven't used your login to access the network in a set number of days. It feels like there's been an uptick in disappearances lately, and I haven't been the first one to notice.

Do your friends a favor and set this up so they don't have to ask if anyone's seen you and break into your place to see if it's been cleaned out yet. If you don't have any friends, do the rest of us a favor and set it up to somebody's box so we can keep track. Use that radio guy - Kent, or whatever his name is. Shit, use mine for all I care.

This song-and-dance of "I saw the kedan cleaning her place" out is bullshit, and only covers one kind of disappearance.

mendelian

[It's been several months since Connor arrived on the Turtle, and, while he's been around town as he acclimates, he hasn't bothered much with the console in his apartment yet, preferring to learn about the city and the others there through experience.

However, it's reaching the point of antisocial and avoidant, and, so, here he is, wearing a t-shirt that proclaims that he has been kidnapped to fight a cosmic entity and all he got was this t-shirt. Except, of course, that he doesn't even own the shirt, he liberated it from Kyle Rayner.]

Hello, this is Connor Hawke. This is belated; I've been here two months, and this is actually my second cruise. I don't remember the first one, so I'd like to apologize in advance to anyone that knew me then.

[Now that the formalities are out of the way, he's at a loss for what to say. Asking mundane questions about life on the turtle, even if he still has some, seems surreal.]

If anyone needs any help with anything, feel free to let me know. I feel like I haven't done enough to help.

That's it, really. I thought I'd help break up the monotony of new arrivals and departure announcements. They don't sit well with me, but I can't speak for the rest of you.

backinakidflash

[It's been some time since Bart has graced the Network with a post. After Tim left the first time, that had been a miserable one to make. The shine is definitely gone like the cheap, shiny (lead-filled) paint on a kids meal toy.]

You know what is one of THE most annoying short story I've ever read? Hills Like White Elephants. Cause like. The Lottery was a trainwreck of stupid and gross, the one where that girl got shot out of the airlock was tragic, Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, All in a Summer Day - they're all about the worst of humanity, and I get that.

[It's strange how he has a hard time coming up with a short story that wasn't A huge downer, but, since he's venting, he doesn't pause the fast-paced, near breathless delivery to muse on it for long.]

But Hills Like White Elephants, man. It's four pages of doing nothing but waiting for this couple to stop dancing around the topic and complaining that everything tastes like licorice. Like that's a bad thing. I'd cut off my arm for a twizzler. All right not the whole arm, but me and my pinkie have never been on the best of terms. Twizzlers are nature's straws. And that's how they go. On and on. For pages of nothing that dance around everything and you just want to shout at them to freaking say it already because the rampant silence is killing her and the incessant chatter is putting him off. But on the other hand, who cares about him? He's a scumbag, and I hope that - in the fiction of Hemingway's - she grew a spine and dumped his fatass and ran off to run a tourist bar in Borneo. Because he was freaking selfish.

[He shrugs at this terrible understatement. 'Shithead' would be better, or reprehensible dickwad, but this isn't actually a symposium on the works of Ernest Hemingway. It just seemed like the best way to bring up how there were so many things, including Malicant, that no one talked about directly. Talk about white elephants by bringing up the story where they talk about white elephants to ignore the white elephants.]

So, yeah. Most annoying four pages I've ever read, and that's not counting all the essays analyzing it. Half of them were longer than the story! That is what happens when you hafta keep avoiding a topic. The coding and decoding detour takes way longer than flat out talking about it ever could, and. Let's be real. Not talking about things is halfway to lying, and oh-what-a-tangled-web hasn't stuck around for two centuries because Marmion is such a gripping read. Ohgoditreallyisn't. Why am I talking about Walter Scott?

[He actually stops here, scratching behind his ear for a moment until the tangent becomes a parabola and re-intersects with the original topic.]

Ugh, right. Hemingway. Things snowball. Before you know it, you're in an entire room full of white elephants, crowding out all the oxygen, and you can't turn around without face planting in saggy gray butt. Names that you shouldn't say, that you can't say, things you don't want to say cause you'll upset someone else or you, or piss them off and. It's turning every conversation into "Oh. We're talking about that now? OK."

ALL of it could be avoided if people just said what was on their mind because decades of watching what I say is getting old. I can't take it. I'm not wired for patient and subtle. I'm gonna be the first Allen in four generations to get gray hair. Because all I can do is sit here like -

[He jumps to his feet dramatically, pointing off in the distance.] "What in the world could that be?"

[And sits back firmly, as if it's possible to sit down resolutely with enough speed and force. Bart slaps a hand on the desk for good measure.] IT'S A WHITE ELEPHANT. It sucks.

And so does Hemingway.

definingfuture

You know what I want? A pizza. For those of you who are familiar with it, I just realized how long it's been since I've actually had a good pizza, and it's almost criminal. For the rest of you, you don't know what you're missing.

You think we can get a pizzeria started somewhere?

And while I'm thinking here, is anyone really that uncomfortable? It's not so bad once you figure out the secret to it.

[The smile he puts on is deliberate and smug. It's the kind of expression he gives when he knows someone else wants him to have a bad day just so he can ruin their plans. Or maybe he's just trying to piss someone else off. Who knows?]

Want a hint? Here's a hint: When is a door not a door?

[Locked; encrypted 30%]

"Ajar" doesn't sound like "a jar".

[Locked; encrypted 50%]

That's not even the answer I'm looking for. But this is the next clue.

[Locked; encrypted 80%]

M must be for marshmallow. And we all know that marshmallows aren't that intimidating.

The answer is adaptation. The riddle was just for fun. Also it's when it's ajar. [No it wasn't. It was "code" or "back door".]

iguanasolution

So, I'm not... [A sigh as he runs a hand through his hair.]

I had never had to do any of these before, but it's like- people do deserve it, one of these. Right? Even if their names are said on the radio when they leave it feels impersonal. But at the same time it feels like I'm mourning them? Which I am not. I really don't want to do that since it's not like they died, they really didn't. [Frank's the one that did, because he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time- even if he did have the best of companies with him to make sure he didn't harm anyone.]

They just went back home. And while that's not really a relief in some cases sometimes it is in this one now that we know we somehow manage to survive after everything goes to- well. And sometimes we just have to be glad they are there to fight their battles, even if... even if they will be missed.

[A pause.]

Percy Jackson and Leo Valdez are both gone.

Any promise, offer or favor they owed consider it mine. I obviously can't do a lot of the things Leo did when it comes to machines or things Percy did with sealife and water, and I wish I could do something about that. [He wishes he hadn't been the one to stay, not when Leo and Percy were the actually useful ones.]

But I will still do my best.

[Private to Milyn]

I haven't checked on you, sorry. I've been kind of busy in the clinic since I came back and. Well, I never liked coming up with excuses: I just thought I would finally check on you.

So.

What's up?

lostundercover

[Costigan runs a hand through his hair, looking at some paperwork on his desk. Then he looks up at the console, clearly distracted.]

For those unfamiliar, Catty Turner and Vanessa Cleveland started an Outreach Program to try to combat the spread of the drug Dust. With the two of them leaving, I, uh.. I'm funding it. It's going to be a Rehab Center, for any kind of addiction, stress relief, anything. Kedan or foreigner.

We need more people. If you're willing to do some kind of.. therapy b- [He cuts himself off before he calls it bullshit.] -business or- or relaxation, training, I don't know. [An exasperated sigh.] You know what I mean.

If you want help of any kind- you have an addiction or want to talk to someone, let me know. I don't fuck around with confidentiality. You want to be involved, wanting help or giving it, you don't fuckin' share what happens and neither will I.

It's Billy Costigan, by the way.

[ooc: Anyone interested in their character being involved in ANY way, please check out this post for more details.]

[Encrypted 97% to Jim Kirk & Emma Frost - separately]
Their files say you were involved in this place. I'd appreciate if you would stick around, but you'll have to tell me what you do and tell me if confidentiality is going to be a problem for you.

[Encrypted 97% to Dick Grayson]
You serious about managing this place?

runawayandroid

[Victor is looking straight into the camera; he's got nothing to hide, after all. He seems fairly nonchalant about being here, and he mostly is, except for a couple of concerns about people he's left behind. Sure, giant turtle cities are pretty weird as alternate dimensions go, but he can cope. At least people seem to be friendly enough, and it does sound like his help might be needed.]

Hey. My name's Victor, and I just got here, so I thought I'd say hi and see who else is here. I, uh, don't think many people will recognise me, unless my friends turned up as well and I just didn't see them. Mostly I'm looking for a couple of kids called Molly and Klara, so if anyone sees them can they let me know?

[He shrugs, and looks down at the console itself, now looking a little confused.]

Anyone know how these consoles work? I usually do okay with technology, but I can't even tell what these are made of. I don't want to mess around with them if I don't know if I can read the code... if they even run on code.

[He'll avoid mentioning why he's usually good with technology, though. He's not sure what kind of prejudices people even have here, and cyborgs usually make people a little uncomfortable even at home. He looks up again suddenly, having just remembered something.]

Speaking of which, I'm meant to find a job, apparently. Anyone know anyone who needs a mechanic or an electrician? I'm not officially trained, but I'm good for an amateur and I pick things up pretty quickly.

escarabajo

[The screen displays black for several seconds before flickering into scrolling, illegible symbols-- unless you can read Reach, of course. They begin slowly at first, but at the fifteen second mark they've filled the screen: the text speeds across the display in multiple directions in blurry blue lines.]

[requested entries no longer in database. attempt system override?]

[There's a moment or two where the text continues-- but then, abruptly, the strange alien lettering freezes. There's a harsh whirring, like a CD's gotten stuck in its player.

It's not a good sound, in any case.]

[ABORT ABORT ABORT--] [blares a voice, and there's about half a second of a partially-transformed Blue Beetle shielding his face and stumbling backward in a hurry. The screen's filled with a bright blue light, and then the feed cuts out completely once more.

Someone's gonna need a new console.]

(ooc: Jaime's just tried to hack into the console searching for the source of old Malicant posts! clearly it did not go as planned. feel free to have heard the ruckus if you're in the Wood sector; any network replies will come from a cafe console later on.)

angermanaging

[The image opens to a rare sight: Tony and Bruce, attempting at least for now to look professional in front of the camera. On Bruce, it just means that he looks slightly more serious than normal, still as unassuming and haggard as ever. On Tony, it means that he looks a little too perfectly put together, like a team of stylists and PR personnel came through and worked him over before letting him out in public. Visually they look like opposing bookends, especially with the varying heights.

Bruce clears his throat. Public speaking is not his strong suit, and he's a bit grim from the Archive's disappearance, which he'd noticed very quickly. It makes it hard for him to talk business, with the idea of anyone replacing her patently impossible, but Bruce never lets sentiment get in his way.] Hi. Uh… You might know us already, but there's been a lot of-- appearances and disappearances lately, so maybe not.

[ Tony chimes in then, with a brief half-smile toward the camera that’s recording them. ]

And if you don’t know us, I’m Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries. [ He nods toward Bruce. ] And this is Bruce Banner, Chief—Well, basically he’s my second-in-command. Officially, he’s—What did you put on the brochure, JARVIS? Head of Whatever? [ JARVIS did not, in fact, put anything on the brochure. That was all Tony. And since there’s no one else in view, it might look like he’s talking to thin air, especially since he keeps talking without waiting for anyone to respond to the question. ] Yeah, that’s his title. Anyway, since there’s so much turnover in the city, we wanted to let those of you looking for employment know that we are hiring. If you’re a scientifically or technologically minded individual with experience in the field. We’re a company, not a daycare, so, you know, some experience is required.

Though age isn't a precluding factor, [Bruce adds.] If you're brilliant at fifteen… you're still brilliant. We try to work on things that are related to our-- stated purpose here, but while we're waiting for developments, we're available to be commissioned. I did the hydroponics greenhouse about eight months ago, for example. It's still functioning. [Mostly run by NPCs at this point, but there's no reason to shut it down.

It may be obvious that Tony hasn’t been paying much attention to what Bruce is saying as he blinks abruptly and says, apropos to nothing: ] And Head of Fun and Mischief. [ He winks conspiratorially at the screen, dropping his voice to a stage whisper that’s completely pointless, given that Bruce is sitting right there in earshot. ] I know he probably doesn’t look it, but Bruce is like the most fun guy I know. Which means he’s in charge of organizing the monthly office party. [ If Tony has any sympathy for dropping a ridiculous promotion on Bruce out of nowhere, he certainly doesn’t act like it. ]

--Wait, what? [Bruce was trying to get through all the things he wanted to say without fumbling too much, which is really all the goal he usually has when posting, and it takes him a second to realize that Tony isn't just going off on a brief tangent, he's going off the track entirely.] I decline the position, [he says dryly, the second he recovers.] Having it monthly is… way too many parties. I know you actually do work. A lot of it.

[ Conducting official business is as boring as sitting through a staff meeting and Tony’s used up his professional quota for the month. That decline gets an immediate shake of his head, as he looks over at Bruce and points a finger. ] Nope. No can do. You can’t decline the position and then try to manage the parties. You either have to take the position or you have to attend mandatory weekly parties. One or the other.

[There's a momentary pause as Bruce calculates that in his head.] So if I take it, I don't have to go? [He's skeptical. Tony seems bound and determined to get him out and socializing, and that seems like too obvious a loophole.]

If you take it, you can schedule the parties whenever you like. [ Which Tony knows means that the Stark Industries social calendar will get really empty really fast. But that’s the beauty of being the boss; he can call an emergency party whenever he feels like it. ]

Fine, [Bruce sighs, and decides that's entirely enough of that. An astute viewer might notice him rolling his eyes as he reaches out and switches off the feed.]

beunbroken

[Elizabeth is not in the suite she was last seen at. Nor is she nearly as happy looking. Oh, no, the young woman that appears on the screen right now is extremely cross, her bright blue eyes ringed with red and dark circles. Her mouth is set in a fine line and her jaw tight.]

Do not trust Booker DeWitt. He's a liar and a thug.

Don't make the same mistake I did.

[Without any further explanation, she cuts the feed.]

----
[major spoilers likely for bioshock infinite in the comments, if you're worried about that sort of thing]

snehjerte

[The video feed has started to flicker, on and off, on and off, catching bits and pieces of Anna struggling to remember what the Kedan taught her about using these things. When the feed finally steadies, there's a triumphant "AHA!" that goes along with it. She looks plenty smug about her little victory, flicking a single pigtail back over her shoulder.]

Got it! Hah! That was nice and easy, just like they said.

[And then she abruptly remembers that she'd turned the thing on so she could talk to people. For half a second her eyes widen, then she recomposes herself, clearing her throat and dropping the self-satisfied smile so that she can look official. Or at least poised. ...Which doesn't last long, because she can't really help smiling or waving cheerfully (if a little awkwardly) at the camera.]

Sorry about that, I didn't mean to, um- Anyway. Hello! To... everyone that can see me! The Kedan said that I could use this- [She gestures at the console with one hand.] -this thing to contact people if I had any questions, and I, well, I've got a question! Just a quick one, really.

I know they said that we probably can't leave here, ever, but it's kind of important that I do. I mean, first of all I have to find my sister Elsa and bring her home to Arendelle because- Well, it's just really important that I do all that, so I wanted to see if anybody had any ideas?

Anyway, it's very nice to meet you all! I mean- Well, I guess I'm not really meeting you just yet, since we're not seeing each other right now, which is still really weird, but- you know what I mean.

[She pauses for a second, chewing on the corner of her lip, trying to figure out what else she should say. How do people end speeches, anyway?] Okay. Um- That's all! Sooo... Thank you very much. For your time. ...Bye!

traitorously

[Usually when Catty posts to the network, she's bright and full of energy. This Catty is more subdued, a distant, untouchable sort of look on her face as she looks pensively at the screen. Her head shifts a little, and as the light changes it's possible to see that her eyes have a phosphorescent sort of glow to them, like a cat's.]

I'm painting. [There's a pause, before she gives herself a little shake; a sheepish grin touches her lips, but she still seems sort of distracted] Um, what I mean is, does anyone want a portrait done? Or something else. A landscape, something totally made up, whatever. I ran out of ceiling space, and I feel like I need to keep busy right now. I wouldn't charge or anything.

imaginate

[ Calm, faintly amused: ]

I’m looking for someone who can teach Aya to have fun.

But, Honor Guard Rayner, I am well aware of the definition of ‘having fun’. Green Lantern Hal Jordan has informed me repeatedly in the time we spent traveling together.

[ A pause. He taps his fingers on the desk. ]

Theory is different from practice, Aya. [ A beat. ] And Hal has a really... weird definition.

...I am inclined to agree, yes. Very well. I am not adverse to experimenting with new ideas.

… Right. Anyway. [ Louder, addressing the console: ] If you’d like payment, money’s of no object. It’ll be a few weeks at most.

snedronningen

[Fire sector may notice a slight dip in temperature within the past few hours. Whoops.

A war? Elsa had no intention of fighting a war. Not after what she had just been through. And she can’t help but feel as if she’s being used as some weapon, some ultimate means to an end, and while her ‘hosts’ had been kind enough to explain everything to her it didn’t ease her feelings of discomfort at all.

She had spent most of her first day getting used to her surroundings, trying to get accustomed to the computer interface(~~A few keys had gotten stuck to her icy fingers, but she managed with some warm water~~), searching through messages. Always adapt, that was a part of being a queen wasn’t it?

There’s a small sigh of relief when she doesn’t see her sister or anyone else she cared about among the messages posted up. There was Prince Hans, but she had tried to deal with that accordingly.

Still, she’s in a foreign place all by herself. It’s time to do the queenly thing—right?

Video flips on and she shows a bit of surprise before relaxing and speaking.]

Hello, I’m Queen Elsa of Arendelle. [She had thought about hiding her title or where she was from, but Hans had decided to announce himself to the network, it’d be far too difficult to try and cover up her own identity. She won't be mentioning the ice powers quite yet, though. Call it a force of habit.] I’m new here and could use some guidance, particularly when it comes to finding a job.

[~~How does I shot job hunt?~~ Now she’ll warm up with a smile. It’s genuine, not forced, though may a touch of tiredness will hit it.]

Also, there are so many people here from places and times I’ve never heard of, I would love to hear more about every one of you.

[That’s… not even lip service. She’d been so confined to one place in her life, that now she was curious beyond reason, wanting to hear more about everything. And once she got home, because she would get home, she could tell Anna about it.]

I hope to hear from some of you very soon. Good day.

[And after a graceful curtsy, the feed cuts off.]

(ooc| If you want to tag, but don't want spoilers mentioned around your character, please feel free to drop me a line here!)

hanssome

[ooc: No spoilers for Frozen, jsyk.]

[Despite having been taught how to use the computers and the seeming necessity of doing so, Hans hadn't been quick to make his entrance. He's been observing, trying to get an idea of the sort of people he'll come across here, it's a while before he's entirely ready to begin playing along.

A bright, smiling face will appear on the feed, he's pretty delighted that he's learned how to work the contraption with such ease. He seems a little unsure of how to start, whether he should introduce himself or head straight into the issues here. Instead, he opts for small talk.]

It was very nice of the people here to teach us how to use these, we don't have anything like it where I'm from. [He gives a soft laugh.] I thought I should take the time to introduce myself. I am Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, but since they aren't here... [He trails off, looking just a bit concerned by that.] Hans, will do.

I haven't been here long, so any information you can provide would be most appreciated..And in turn, if there is any way in which I can assist you, please do not hesitate to let me know. [He can't help bowing his head a little at the computer. He's not really sure if you're meant to bow at them. Royalty could be watching, it seems a safe bet.]

saviormaiden

[ The video feed cuts on to show a very irritated looking girl. She seems to be in her late teens, and her thick lips are pursed tightly. The look might be a slightly familiar one for some residents, or ones that have seen the other Hale around. ]

Look, I feel really bad for this place and all. [ The sarcasm drips off of every word. ] My heart bleeds, really. But I don't have time for this, I have my own 'battles' to fight.

[ She's Not Pleased, capitalization included. She's frustrated that she's been taken against her will, taken so soon after she had been down and out for so long. The people weren't even clear if her brother was here.

She hopes it's not the Alpha pack. ] Derek, are you here? We need to figure out a plan to get home. I'm not twiddling my thumbs in this place any longer than I have to, this isn't my war to fight.

[ Cora is very adamant about this. She also might be thinking of a way to tell the emperor to sit and spin. ]

Tu Shanshu

VIDEO

001; video

➢ 004 | VIDEO

video;

video;

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Video; take the big game down

07 § video

video;

14M14 [VIDEO]

1 ⏚ [Video]

text/audio/video (-> action?);

06 ☣ VIDEO;

Voxophone II -- PSA

video

o6 ☽ video;

006 ◉ audio

01 - video (no spoilers!)

001 [video]

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