tushanshu | Entries tagged with † terry mcginnis

(action)

(So. She's back. Shayera can't say she's pleased, or even remotely okay with being back here. Nothing much said to the Emperor except a middle finger before she grabbed her belongings and got the fuck out of there. Everything's a little fuzzy, honestly. Still placing names to faces, moments to places, feelings with people. Shayera alternates between walking among the streets, and flying in the skies. Flying to notice familiar landmarks or streets, walking to get an up close view to try and ring in some of those memories that keep flitting away every now and then. Doing what she can to keep herself calm and composed, as she always tries to be. Unless it's a fight, then she doesn't bother. She stays in the Earth Sector for a good few hours, as that place was her home before leaving. It's easiest to get her memories back here.

After that, she spends fleeting amounts of time, in the closer sectors such as Fire and Water maybe half an hour, or forty-five minutes at most. The other sectors only get about twenty minutes of flight time, mostly just for her to stretch her wings, attempting to see if she can get used to this place again. She was here for a good few months, so maybe she could adjust easier this time. Of course, that's wishful thinking. It's still a bubble, and she's not one for being caged in. Her flying or walking in the streets is easily the best time to notice her, maybe give a loud shout out. By the end of her trip a few hours later, she's heading back to her own suite on foot through part of the Fire Sector, and all the way home to her suite EA-2C in the Earth Sector. If she missed anyone, she might as well give them a shout out.)

(video)

(Well, that's a face that definitely hasn't shown up on the feed for quite sometime. Though she was a little stressed out earlier, Shayera's gone back to her confident self, complete with a smirk. Yeah, everyone here definitely missed that smirk. Of course.) I hope nobody missed me too much. Was I even gone for very long? Feels like I just skipped down for a bit, then came right back because someone missed me too much.

(She leans back in her chair, already feeling comfortable back in her second home. See? That didn't take too long.) Can anyone catch me up to speed on what's happened while I was out?

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.

maipokerface

[Console, whatever. Sure she got the run down on the thing but Mai's pretty much been ignoring it for the past day. She hasn't even bothered to really look on the network itself even if she has no intention of making an entry to it.

Now she's bothering though, mainly because she just wants to ask:]

So explain this war business to me again. Or at least try to convince me why I should care. Because right now? I really can't find much inside to say I should.

skeletonenigma

[To be honest, he would have preferred text, but this is a perfect opportunity to test out the console. The keyboard is self-explanatory. The video function isn't. One of the kedan had offered to show Skulduggery how it worked, but he’d politely declined. He didn’t particularly feel like being saddled with a guide for the entirety of his time here.]

Ah, there we go. Excellent.

[This does, of course, mean that he can now be seen. He was a little concerned about that when all of this was first being explained to him, but then he saw someone walking around in the city with blue skin and two heads. He’s rather less concerned now.

... He doesn't really have anything to ask, though, now that he’s thinking about it.]

Thank you. Carry on.

[Yes, that was a skull talking just then, Irish accent and moving jaw and all. Why do you ask?]

parallels

[Clara's badly bruised face appears on the network. There's a nasty cut on her forehead and her left arm is wrapped and bandaged in a cast. She does her best to sound upbeat, but like everyone else, the events in the bottle are weighing heavily on her, both mentally and physically.]

So. Not going to talk about the bottle. Getting into something deep and philosophical here. Very serious. Very important.

[She tries to crack a grin but it comes off like a bit of a wince.]

We all know that time is stopped back home once we arrive on the Turtle, right? So even though we're gone, no one is missing us and we're not missing anything.

Except it does feel a bit like I'm missing everything, sometimes. Time is paused back home, but it's still passing for us here, the sun rises, months go by, the seasons change. Days pass and those days, back home, would have been a birthday or an anniversary or a holiday. Important traditions that I'm cut off from. Can't imagine I'm the only one feeling that way.

But I think I've found something that might make it better.

[She reaches down and pulls out what look like funny little hot air balloons made out of paper. There are more in the background of various colors]

A kedan shop owner showed these to me. They're called sky lanterns and they're like little hot air balloons. You light the candle and they fly in the air. He sold me a few and taught me how to make them myself so I can make them in all sorts of colors. He said you can write messages on them before you send them off in the sky. Messages to people you're missing. Or write down your worries and let them float away.

Thought it might be nice to get some of those things off our chests, reach out to people back at home or those who've left here. If you'd like to learn how to make them, I can teach you. It's surprisingly simple once you get the hang of it. Or if you don't fancy yourself crafty with paper, I can tell you the name of the shop. Then we could set a date to let them go at the edge of the turtle.

[She shrugs.]

I've been enjoying the distraction and I wouldn't mind some company to wallow in the homesickness with.

((ooc; I am so sorry for the delay everyone. I've been really sick and dealing with RL issues.))

mightythinice

[Ellie clicks on the console. While those who don't know her might think she looks like a normal 14 year old, those that do know her can tell she's trying to distract herself.

She rubs her nose as she ponders how to start this, before thinking that maybe she should even just cut the feed off. But, hell, she made it this far.

Her arm is bandaged up in a rough sling-- something she did herself.]

Sooo... I guess we can talk about what the fuck just happened, or we can talk about something better. Like, okay, I've had some of the kedan read to me?

Guys, guys. Their stories are fucking hilarious. I'm not even sure how someone gets engaged 12 times on accident, but there's a story for that.

And there's a story about the guy who had a huge case of mistaken identity, and owed a stupid amount of debt because someone pretended to be him when gambling.

... And a huge amount of these end up being romance stories.

Don't even fucking ask me.

[she shrugs and offers a little grin]

I asked if there was any stuff about someone pissing off a monster, or going to outer space, but nope. Nothing. Nada.

How fucking weird is that?

asoothingvoice

[What's behind Bianca isn't the scenery of her suite in Earth, or even one of the console cafes in Keeliai, though it certainly bears more resemblance to the latter, just in the middle of being redecorated- or, to be more exact, refurbished. There's definitely a lot more of a 'medical' feel to the background than one would expect at first glance.

She also looks to be on the tired side, but that probably goes for most everyone lately.]

This is a bit of a late announcement, [She was too busy running around earlier] but to make it clear to everyone: Eshai Memorial Hospital is now open, ahead of schedule.

[And there's a location ping, showing where it is in the Metal Sector.]

The Soranik Natu clinic is still open and being run by attached nurses, but the hospital is better equipped for more severe injuries and for more people.

If you haven't seen anyone for injuries from the last couple weeks in Keeliai or in that bottle, come in.

[She's saying it fairly nicely, but there's no way to ignore that that's an order.]

(OOC: Feel free to have characters go to the hospital in with action. It's not entirely finished up though, so some areas are closed off or sparsely furnished.)

nerdylilspidey

[Peter's not quite in the right place, mentally, to put up a video post. And he definitely isn't sure he should put it up from his own suite. So he's found his way to the nearest cafe, with an oversized hoodie pulled up over his head, and is starting up only an audio feed.]

Never a boring moment around here, is there? One minute we're normal-ish, celebrating Valentine's Day, and the next we're battling evil miasma inside a magic bottle.

Does anyone ever wonder what happened to the idea of rest and relaxation?

[FILTERED to the Spider-family]

...Sorry. About what happened back there. You-- You guys know that that-- That wasn't me. You know that, right...?

Oh, God... [There's a sigh, and then a beat of silence before he continues.] Anyway, just- I'm sorry.

goodanswer

uh hi everyone - new comrades i guess? my name is yosuke hanamura.

this place is CRAZY. i feel like im at a theme park or somethin. but, we r here to fight a big evil guy, huh? i guess i should be thankful im sorta a veteran for that kind of thing, at this point. not 2 brag.

[If you think he's bragging even through the text, don't worry. He's totally bragging.]

but that isnt even the weirdest thing about this. ill just say that, hopefully this will b the last time i wake up in a tub of water w/ a bunch of weirdos around me. they might as well have drawn sumthin on my face w/ a marker while they were at it. nnnnnot exactly the best first impression. and like what am i supposed to do now? its nice i got a place to live but im at a loss aside from that u know.

anyway, im looking for my friends. we r from inaba, a town in yamanashi prefecture. if any of u know people from there plz let me know.

or,hey if hey u guys see this, message me. and tell me wtf is going on... and that all this fog is a coincidence & not something i should flip about...

bludhavenknight

[Dick is at the console in Jason's apartment, since there are good reasons for him to still be there (like going through his things). And maybe he looks kind of tired, but he was working late so there is also a good reason for that.]

This is my first time making one of these, and here's hoping that it's going to be my last. [He sighs, scratching his head for a second.]

But Jason Todd is gone, for those of you who knew him. [He knows it's not exactly a large number.] I'm sorry that I have to let people know that; like I said, I hope this is the last time I have to do this.

[But he's aware that it probably isn't. That's all he has right now.]

( 100% Batcryption for Batfam )

[An hour later, Dick comes back on the network, and now he doesn't just look tired; he looks really tired.]

I shouldn't have said anything about that being my last. [He frowns, swallowing hard.] For those who knew her, Shayera Hol is also gone, I've just found out.

[He's really going to miss her, and he can't even begin to imagine the pain of someone else.] I think that's all for right now.

wintershepherd

I know it's a long shot but if anyone sees a large groundhog with a hat and a vest out today, tell him thank you for me!

[ Someone's pretty gleeful that today's weather is bright! Casting shadows everywhere! Six more weeks of winter for him! ]

mythically

( diana is seated at one of the consoles in a café when the video feed begins. it seems she’s already gone a bit native—there’s a kedan-style cloak draped around her shoulders, apparently all she needs to keep warm. still, the glint of gold from her armor is perfectly visible, as is the tiara set amongst her dark curls. she’s making no pretense of who she is, should anyone be able to recognize her.

she lifts a hand in simple greeting, smiling. she’s perfectly calm, though anyone who knows her well can probably sense just a bit of tension in the set of her shoulders, the way her eyes are focused. )

There’s many of you here that I know. And many more that I do not.

My name is Diana, and while I’m newly arrived I believe I’ve gotten most of the basics of the situation. It seems you’ve all been busy, recently.

( there’s nothing mocking about her words, and her smile is genuine and honest. she pauses, for a moment, as though to give her audience a breather. then, she continues— )

I’m sure there’s a lot to be done, and I’m willing to offer my assistance to anyone who should need it. But first, I would like to be better acquainted with all of you. If we’ve met before, I’m sure you’ll come and say hello. And if we haven’t, it’s never too soon for introductions.

( both before and after this broadcast and subsequent conversations, diana will be flying over the same café. in effect, she’s using herself as a beacon. feel free to run into her in person if you’d prefer. )

inhisherosimage

[Maybe he's being overly cautious, but Tim isn't entirely sure if he's still in the Unternet and thus the city is just some trick, and so he chooses to make his first entry on the cities network text only. His decision is further bolstered by the uniform stowed away - the uniform further complicating the location decision. If he wasn't in the Unternet, then logically he shouldn't have that uniform. Still, Tim knows at least how find if he has any allies in this unknown city - virtual world or not.]

Well. That was a pretty rude awakening. I'm not used to waking in the tub surrounded by strangers. I mean, sure the tour of the city was different and the welcome pamphlet is a nice touch. But I'm not a huge fan of waking up in some fantasy movie and being told I'm going to fight some big bad evil. I'm not really the hero type. Heck, I haven't even had my morning coffee. Oh! Name's Todd Richards. Don't suppose anyone here has heard of Star City? Or knows where to get that coffee? [That should pique the interest of anyone familiar with his dimension. And the name should alert any close allies...]

everylittlegirl

[Hayley rolls her eyes, appearing distinctly nonchalant about the whole thing. The nervous twitches of her muscles and constant movement will belie this calm to anyone paying close attention, revealing her deeper anxiety.]

Don't talk to him. It's just what he wants.

( Private messages to: Sharon Carter, Bruce Banner, Kon-El, Clark Kent, Bart Allen )

candystriped

So which of you idiots are going to this kedan powwow thing tonight? I need to know who to send sympathy cards to when you all come home with STDs from whatever weird experiment they're planning to do on you.

And by sympathy card I mean I want an embarrassing picture to post online.

hisbabygirl

Hello..?

[Have yourself a twelve year old girl testing the water on the shiny new thing and mumbling to herself a little as she does.]

...I hope I'm doing this right.

[Oh right. The people can hear her. Sarah takes a deep breath and gets to talking.]

I uh, gotta say, this is some real crazy stuff going on. I don't even know where to start makin' sense of any of it. The Kedan people, the ones that work here? I think they work here. Live here? I dunno. They explained a lot of stuff but I'm still trying to wrap my head around even being here.

[Sarah pauses. When she speaks again it's with a little less certainty.]

Do they ever make mistakes with who they bring here? I'm not sure I'm the monster fighting type.

[Not real ones anyway.]

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.

6collegecredits

[A short smile and wave from Darcy.]

So we just had Christmas celebrations so this would make today just about New Years Eve, right? Well, at least according to how things worked back home. Not exactly sure how that works on a giant turtle.

But anyway, it got me thinking about resolutions. Mostly I think resolutions are a lot of B.S. Everyone makes then, and then inevitably breaks them a week to a month later. I mean, the idea of resolutions is great, but I think people need to be less vague about them. Less "I'm going to lose weight this year" and more "I'll go to the gym twice a week" or something like that.

So. New Years. Resolutions. Any thoughts?

Also, any parties going on I could swing an invite to?

dustonmyfeet

[Toph is in her usual favorite spot -- her twisty chair by her console. If you look carefully, you can probably get a glimpse of her feet glowing green. She looks thoughtful.]

So right now the turtles are about the size of young badgermoles.

Thing is, badgermoles have whole mountain ranges to live in. If these guys are anything like the Turtle we're on, we're going to need something bigger than mountain ranges.

I mean, eventually they'll probably swim. But until then, they're definitely not always going to fit in the house. Let alone on a city street. So where are they going to go?

[She frowns a bit more, leaning her chin into her hand. What comes next will be far more serious.]

The Emperor brought us here, and she was going to send us home later. Now that she's kind of . . . gone . . . what's that mean for getting home?

[As though attempting to add a lighter note into it:] Not that it hasn't been great and all, but someday I have to get back and help save the world. That kind of thing.

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!)

Tu Shanshu

001 ♦ action → video

Video; take the big game down

001; Video

001 | Video

04 ★ Video

Something to take the blues away [video]

video;

AUDIO; from a cafe; post-bottle

text (and I'm sparing you all the full way he usually types sob)

[ video ] Another disappearance post

22 ❄ ( VIDEO ) backdated to Feb 2

i ✪ video

ʁʍ oo1; text

ten : not just anybody [video]

NINE ☰ VIDEO;

01 | Video

006 ◉ audio

video; 2nd credit

005 - Video

01 - video (no spoilers!)

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