vestige network.

[ She is there, with a very large bonnet on her head and clothes of her own making - all of it very practical to her work, and if you squint, might be repurposed from the horrible Halloween costumes. ]

If you have hands, and no fear of hard labour, I am in need of help. The crops need to be sown before the weekends and the spring rains perhaps begin. There are berries too, and herbs few as I can tell, but if you have an eye for them, that too shall be needed.

[ A sigh. ]

And with new things in the 'sup-er-ma-rk-et' I will need someone to catalogue it to start building stores again for everyone.

❰ yanli usually uses text as a vehicle for network communication, mostly because it has thus far been the simplest to learn. taking photos became simpler, but she only really uses the video when there's something she really wants to show.

anyone who saw yanli when she first arrived would prehaps only recognize her now based on her face. the long and ornate robes have been shed, hair tied up higher than usual. instead she has on a long dress and is sitting on a bench in an abandoned store she's stumbled upon. it's lucky enough -- she'd gone into town for fabric and found this shoe store on the way. she's still got only the one set of shoes from home, and the ware is definitely starting to show. the camera is set up on the shoe rack adjacent to her, so most of her body and the dusty shelving behind her are in frame. ❱

I have a question...I think a video is the most helpful way to get an answer. ❰ from a bag next to her she pulls out a lone shoe, giving it one last quizzical look, like she can finally unlock what it means. nope, nothing. instead, she holds it, arms outstretched, and turns it in her hands. ❱ I didn't expect to find shoes that I'm accustomed to, but I'm not sure what the purpose of this might be.

Is it to save your heel from becoming wet, like when fishing? But then your toes are so low and exposed. And there's a certain discomfort to it... ❰ she did try it on. it's a size or three too big, but even with the extra space, the tug in her leg...this must be a shoe for a specialized craft she just isn't accustomed to. ❱ Your foot should be covered when you're out walking, yes?

[ Watch and marvel, Vestige, your resident involuntary shitposting king has actually figured out how to Do A Thing with his phone.

There is a photograph attached to this message. ​]



[ Too bad he still hasn't figured out how to properly communicate on the network, because the message to go with the photograph just reads ]

Why?


[OOC: source

[ There is Renfri on the screen, still showing the background of the shitty apartment she has claimed for herself. ]

So I was going to join Kane in exploring the mountains but he seems to be gone, I haven't been able to find him or contact him again.

Is there anyone else who would like to join me?


[OOC: this is for the watchtower exploration which does not need to be fully played out, just want to get others involved in this]

[The camera is shaking, the girl in the frame crying as she sits on the floor of her new apartment. She wears a white cotton gown with delicate embroidery. There are hundreds and hundreds of flowers strewn about her.]

Please. I don't know where I am. I don't know what I'm doing here. I want to go home. I need my family, please. Someone tell me where I am.

Please.

[ From the moment the feed clicks on, Naminé looks... uneasy. That's probably the word for the way her eyes flicker off to the side rather pointedly, as though she's got something in her sights that she's not exactly happy about. Then the shy uncertainty of having to address her fellows at large redirects her attention, and she focuses on the camera with what would have been an, 'um,' if she'd given it enough air. ]

Hello, everyone. [ That's greeting enough, right? ] There's... something that I thought I should share. [ A hesitation, then, ] But-- Vivi, if you're watching this, maybe it'd be better if you looked away for this part.

( Read more... )

[The video starts with a shot of the snow covered ground, foliage overgrown but peaking out from under the white powder and very much of a hoppy nature. The person holding the camera is walking through it, lower half clad in pale blue and white robes embroidered with cloud patterns.

The camera spins, catching a glance of the run down farmhouse before settling on the man holding the smartphone. For someone with sticks and snow stuck in their hair, he still manages to look put together and the forehead ribbon he's wearing is not out of place and while there's a crease in his brows there's also an upward turn to his lips. Unfortunately for the protagonist of this story, he also really has no idea what the phone he's holding is or that he's recording and will soon be blasting a video out to the whole of the network.

Fortunately for him, the tumble he took earlier is not recorded. At least it hasn't started snowing. What luck.]

For a nightmare, this feels horribly tame... [There's no rain or snow suddenly falling but Lan Xichen is. The camera broadcasts the video, flies into the air, and then cuts out with the blue clad protagonist of this tale sitting in a lotus pose in a pile of snow. No scream and he nailed the landing, but is definitely worse for wear.]

Hello everyone! Today is the beginning of a New Year!
(Not by the calendars of this strange place, but by the world I and many others here come from.)

Please be sure not to wash your hair or sweep your floors today, otherwise you'll be washing and sweeping away all your good luck for the year.
And we could use all the good luck we can get...

[She's at her table, very carefully cutting out paper hearts. And snowflakes, though the snowflakes are from the same pink and red paper as the hearts are.]

I'm thinking, now that the weather is so much nicer -- it's lovely, isn't it? Anyway, I'm thinking we ought to have a Valentine's party.

Do you all celebrate Valentine's where you come from?

Good day, everyone. I hope that you are fairing well.

[ So formal. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of texting just yet, but... This makes sense. It's just a recording of himself, after all. ]

For those that I have yet to meet, my name is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd. I hail from the Holy Land of Faerghus and serve as its crown prince. [ Dimitri, buddy, that means absolutely nothing here.

But he does have a point to this, honest. ]

My homeland is known for training exemplary knights in our kingdom. As such, I have decided to set up a training grounds near the lake for those who wish to learn under my tutelage. I think knowing how to protect ourselves, considering the nature of this place, would be wise.

I have some experience with mentoring others, but I apologize if I might not be the best teacher. My skill is strongest with lances though I am decent with swordsmanship as well. I should also say that I am more than happy to learn any new fighting styles that one might wish to teach me.

[ It's here he gives a bow. ]

Thank you for your time and I look forward to working with those of you that decide to take me up on this offer.

( ooc note )

Greetings,

A moment of your time, should you see this message.

How does one effectively prevent another from contacting them through this device?

You have my thanks.

— 蓝忘机

Oh fuck me Do you ever wake up from a nap and feel hungover as shite?? But you didn't even drink? My head right now, mates

I woke up to some nice developments, though. Gonna CC the techs here to tip my hat to their mobage that I will turn into a money pit the second I find out how. Dating App I wasn't expecting but uh got some feedback for yuh

Yuh being you lot who shouldn't have access to phones. Case in point:

( Read more... )

Anyway, my SAUSAGEFREE friend code is FG782EJF937, add me pissants

[Kane is sitting at a table, his phone propped against something (a coffee mug) to film him]

Now that the blizzard seems to have calmed down, I'd like to explore more of the area. Specifically a structure I've noticed in the distance. It looks like an unlit lighthouse.

I don't know much about this place, I haven't been here long at all yet. At least I don't think I have. But in the last place I was in like this, a lighthouse was our key to getting home.

I'm looking for someone to go with me on this trip. It would be better to travel in a pair, that way we can take turns sleeping and keeping watch.

Reply to this video if you'd been interested in joining my exploration.

Hi, everyone!

[ Right now, he's in the kitchen of his cabin. Behind him, there's a whole lot of boxes beneath the kitchen counters, and another whole lot of jars and various containers for food on the counter. More than is reasonable for him to eat, and it's a logical assumption that the boxes contain the same things. ]

We've got some new arrivals, so let me introduce myself. I'm Rhys Strongfork. I'm getting ready to move out from this cabin because it's way too big for me. We used to be five in here. Because we used to be five, I also have a bunch of food left over. Enough for four people.

So, let me know if you want some of that. It's all stuff that lasts for ages if we get snowed in again or the Technicians decide to stop stocking up Foodland.

If you have any questions about this place, I've been here from the start, so feel free to ask anything. And since there's some new people, if anyone knows stuff about gardening or cars or anything else you think might be useful, there's probably some stuff you could do around here.

All right, err. Rhys, out.

[ He makes a somewhat awkward-looking salute, then cuts the feed. ]

[Fran is still wrapped in layers, except for her gloves, when the camera focuses in on her. Her hair is damp, snow still clinging to it. Her power seems to be back on, but the lights flicker every now and again. Undeterred, she waves to where she's propped her phone up to film.]

Hello all! I've just come back in from my trek to the treeline. There's a little window very high up near the ceiling, above the front door, and I managed to get out through that. But I wanted to tell you I have a brand new axe!

[She picks it up and holds it out for everyone to see] It was very useful, I was able to cut some branches off a tree to get some firewood. After asking, of course, since you never know. But if anyone else would like some firewood and you're in the cabins and I can get to you, I'm happy to bring you some!

[ Well she's mildly less insane right now babbling about half mad things, so there is a first good step.

But she's got rather more pressing concerns. ]

If you need food, please let me know. I have extra stores if the initial supplies were not enough. If you are new, please, I am Gilia - and I have been making sure that no one starves overwinter. I plead you to speak with me at your earliest moment so I can ensure you have not been lacking.

[ CAUSE GUESS WHAT, SHE WAS RIGHT, WINTER SUCKS AND NOW YOU KNOW. ]

[ For once, the residents of the containment zone are treated to a video message from Jiang Wanyin, the local weirdo who has yet to figure out that the network isn't his personal diary.

He's looking disgruntled huddled under several blankets and cradling a cup of steaming hot tea, and still shivering from the cold. ]

Somebody, please tell me this is a joke. Are they trying to drown us in snow now? If they want to kill us, I'd rather be fighting another beast!


locked to Lan Sizhui

Make sure you don't lose a toe to the cold or I'll break your legs.

[ that’s cool. hours after being revived through what will only be referred to as space magic, shiro here has been abducted and unloaded for some good ol’ torture an’ death. hold up, let him get out his tally sheet:

abductions: III
fodder for ptsd: ∞
maiming: III
deaths: I

rookie numbers but chances for boosting those tallies are lookin’ good!

speaking of lookin’ good: the video feed opens to shiro’s face. a bit disheveled, a touch exhausted, a whole lot perturbed, he keeps it together for roughly two seconds before he breaks on a sigh. okay, maybe he wasn’t as ready to make an announcement as he’d originally thought. ]

I guess it was too much to hope that this time Earth’s welcome would be better than my last return.

[ dry, very dry, the humor helps dispel his spiking annoyance. ]

Points for originality. [ been there, done that comes to mind, nonetheless. just another dire circumstance to add to the pile. ]

Right. I’m Takashi Shirogane. I’m a new arrival.

[ features setting to an expression more neutral, it’s easy to fall into the more reliable routine of diplomacy. authoritative, matter-of-fact, he sums it all up rather quickly with: ]

I have the pamphlet. The archive. The general gist of what is… happening. [ supposedly happening - but he won’t voice that. it seems far-fetched… though, being abducted by purple aliens waging a ten-thousand year long intergalactic war to take over the universe would have sounded like a b sci-fi movie a couple years ago. so.

clears his throat, refocuses and-- there’s the slightest tell in the waver in his voice and the half-curl of his mouth, the wisp of a smile self-deprecating. ]

Anyway. I’m what you’d call… a little rough right now. [ and he angles the phone, the angle showing more of himself, namely the hub at his right shoulder. ] But even if I don’t have two working hands, I’d like to lend one, in any way to help.

[The network signal is still a little rough, so at first it's just voice. Static and robotic sounding until finally the feed starts to work.

It's not perfect, but it's there.]

H-Hello?

[Sorry for the close up of glowing yellow orbs. They blink in concern that maybe his phone still isn't working well, before he pulls it back. Ah, there we go, a familiar black void face and glowing yellow eyes.]

If this is working, I hope everyone is okay. I've been trying to get rid of the snow in town as best I can.

[The feed flickers a lot, his words sound a bit choppy.]

Umm... the apartments are okay and I made sure people could get into Foodland, j-just be careful. I melted the snow with my fire magic, but it could turn to ice again cause of the cold.

I hope everyone is okay...

[It takes Cas a few moments to get himself in frame, and even then he doesn't quite manage. So enjoy half of a very scruffy looking man's face.]

Heeey so. Been a while since I used one of these. Cell signals cut out a couple years back, but here's hoping, right?

I am not... where I'm supposed to be? Possibly also not when I'm supposed to be. I'm not a lot of things I'm supposed to be but that is a very long story.

Where I am seems to be a nice little cabin by a lake. I mean, it's mostly nice. Could use some redecorating, but I've slept in worse places.

[He pauses for a moment, looking lost in thought before he comes back to himself.] I'm Cas. I don't think I said that yet. I read the pamphlet thingie, but it still doesn't give me much of a where or a when. Just that the moon is haunted.