[WORLD TWO | INTRO LOG]

[spellbindmods]

Who: All coven members
Where: In and around the new world’s apartment building where the coven is staying
When: Day (the calendar isn’t syncing for me hELP)
Open/Closed: Open to All

You’re in a room. It’s pretty bright — blindingly so, even. There’s something very stark and very clean about the place, and also the person you’re sitting in front of. You’re sitting? You’re sitting. There’s also a pane of very powerful plexiglass separating you from the uniform-clad person who is now speaking to you. It’s impossible to transcribe what they say verbatim, but here’s the gist of it: - You’re being welcomed to a city called Shehui. Depending on who you are, the level of technology may be light years ahead of you or child’s play. - There’s a very strict policy about magic. While there are measures put in place to prevent magic from happening, this is still something that they reiterate over and over. They don’t want to take chances. - Crime is also frowned upon. Small infractions will result in credit deductions, while major crimes will get you banned. Antisocial behavior is also looked down upon. You’re locked in the city for your initial eight weeks. You can leave afterwards, but trying to break out of the city or cause social unrest will result in monitoring and a potential ban. - This city is supposed to be somewhat relaxing. Is it a free pleasure cruise? No. Is it a self-contained society that runs on community and indulgence? Yes. - You’re being given an allotment of credits in order to stay in the city, which is what the economy there runs on. This goes on for quite some time. - You’re being moved to a housing location. Despite the slotted speaker in the middle of the plexiglass, the only time you have a chance to ask questions is when a small slit opens in the bottom and a package is slid towards you. - What’s in the package? There’s a credit card-like apparatus that has apparently taken a picture of you. It contains a place to write your name, an identification number and barcode. It also has a thin strip near the top that has scrolling script floating by. It states “WELCOME TO SHEHUI. YOUR ID WILL UPDATE WITH COMMUNITY NOTICES AND PERSONAL PINGS FOR JOBS AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES RELATED TO YOUR INTEREST.” It’s a lot to take in, but that’s the long and short of it. Have questions? The person will reiterate a few times that there are information desks around the city. That’s all for now…now you’ll be traveling to your next destination: your new home. The floor slowly lowers as if you’ve been in an elevator the whole time. It connects to several other glass containers, much like your own, all suddenly clanking together in a chain. After a short wait, the chain begins to move — quickly. Faster, maybe, than you’ve ever gone before. It’s hard to even make out the scenery when you’re zipping past everything so quickly. Where does this trip lead you? The ground floor of your new apartment building. The plexiglass cases open up and you’re in a hotel lobby. There’s a flashing board on the wall — NEW ARRIVALS, COME HERE. A ▢ So now’s the time to get settled into your new digs. Your name is on the board, and there’s a promise that your things — which, by the way, were mysteriously taken — will be located in your room. No need to fight over bedrooms; those also hold name placards that are digitally installed. Maybe everyone else is already there. Maybe you’re the first person there and need to find a way to stake your claim on the fridge or a bathroom. B ▢ Maybe you don’t want to fuck with anybody right now and are busy exploring the apartment building. You may encounter some aliens, some strangers, some ice machines. There IS that floor that’s nothing but recreational stations. If you’re overwhelmed, the garden is a good place to start. The sport court is pretty empty right now, if you want to have any regrouping meetings.

The apartment building is locked up tight for three hours in order to let new arrivals get their bearings. After that, the ground floor lobby doors open into the city of Shehui. There’s a lot to take in, but let’s cover the biggest bases: C ▢ Right outside this communal apartment building is a large, digital job board. The list of available jobs and credit opportunities are constantly flashing by. Want to pick one out? Just hold up that ID card you were given and the instructions and location will be sent to the ID’s text scroller. D ▢ You’ve got 500 credits to blow on clothes, food, strippers…whatever you’d like? Right next to the apartment complex are tons of local businesses, from bistros to outlet malls. A movie theater, an arcade, a video game store…and the best thing about Shehui? Most everything is dirt cheap. Where are you shopping? What are you buying? Enquiring minds would like to know! E ▢ Right next to the shopping area is a wooded park. It’s akin to a nature trail that’s similar to Yellowstone in scenery and topography. If you’re more comfortable someplace less…tech or modern…then this may be exactly where you’d like to be. F ▢ Wildcard! How will your character interact with this new and unusual world?

Comments

[splinten]

Yeah?

[rootandbranch]

What.

What are you doing.

[splinten]

I'm petting your snout.

[rootandbranch]

Yes, and keep doing that, but you stopped talking!

[splinten]

[wow bossyfangs fine he'll keep doing that]

You were thinking things through.

[He is repeating his defence and he knows it.]

[rootandbranch]

Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirk.

[this dragon has NO DIGNITY, wow?????]

[splinten]

Geir.

[rootandbranch]

[with some anxiety finally surfacing, as simply trying to ask about the problem doesn't garner an answer:]

Did I do something wrong? Sorry--

[splinten]

[oh fuck NOW HE MADE IT WORSE this is why he's prince of hearts, right here, destroyer of souls, fucker-up of everything]

It's all right, Geir. You didn't do anything. I'm wary of being too invasive with my questions again, so I was trying to not do that.

[rootandbranch]

[weirdly, that actually seems to fix the problem entirely. Geir relaxes again, relieved, though his eyes widen in surprise.]

Oh. No, no no no! I love your asking questions. And-- talking, and saying a bunch of stuff I don't understand half the time. I felt weird for like-- five seconds. It's really fine!

[splinten]

I was under the impression you got almost everything I say, and asked for clarification when you didn't.

[Look that surprises him, and is easier than trying to negotiate the sick guilt and self-loathing inspired by fucking up in one of the ways he always does. He knows that going, But it was a bad five seconds, and I didn't notice, and I always do this and I just fuck everything up even trying to fix things isn't productive.]

[rootandbranch]

Sometimes you talk about stuff from your world and I just guess what it is and fill in the rest. It's pretty easy to tell what you're saying even when I don't know what a hot take or a douche is.

Dirk, it really is okay.

[splinten]

A hot take is deliberately provocative and controversial commentary, often off-the-cuff or given before the full facts are known. A douche is an asshole, and in its literal meaning, is a means of cleaning one out.

[Dictionaries are also easier.]

I know that it's okay. You're clearly fine now.

[but]

[rootandbranch]

I mean, it's not just okay that I'm fine! It's okay that that happened to begin with. I didn't even know it would. I-- I don't want you to feel strange about asking me questions.

[he really needs Dirk's basic honesty and comfort in questioning him. it's so helpful, and almost no one else will do it. and truly, the unpleasant part of the conversation was both a blip, and potentially taught him something about interpersonal interaction. he values the small, harmless mistake.

he and Vern hurt each others' feelings badly all the time and work stubbornly through it. he wonders why that's different...?]

[splinten]

[Dirk has to take a moment to think about how that happened. After silence (where petting is not stopped), he says, slowly,] It unnerves me to think I can fall back so easily into harmful interpersonal habits without even noticing it. I'm frightened that if I don't stay constantly alert and watch myself, I'll hurt people again.

[rootandbranch]

I don't think it was harmful, though.

[Geir speaks with unusual authority on this: it's his feelings and his relationship with Dirk, in this case, so he feels like he's on fairly solid ground.]

I'm not hurt. I don't feel weirder around you. It caught me by surprise. If you did it again, maybe I'd just say "I don't want to answer that right now!" and you'd know.

Usually when we're talking I like you asking questions. I haven't liked it once. I can't even tell if I didn't like it for a good reason. It's not weird you didn't know.

[splinten]

[Dirk can feel his mental heels digging in. It was harmful, it was bad. He hurt Geir and Geir feels weird around him. His mind comes across the prospect that things are opposite to how it thinks, and it refuses.]

I need to do the head thing again for a few minutes.

[He needs to plop his face into Geir's scales until his mind calms itself from this reflexive insistence that he is toxic and unforgivable. Which is hard, because Dirk doesn't think he deserves to be free of that insistence, but he's also trying to listen to what people say more.]

[rootandbranch]

Go ahead...

[this conversation is very revealing for Geir, because he hadn't fully appreciated before that other people can have just as much trouble with the "having a conversation" part of person functionality as he does. he leans against Dirk, sympathetic and a little worried for him.]

[splinten]

[Boy does he ever. And it really is a few minutes of Dirk just sitting there, quiet, trying to make his mind stop chasing itself in spirals. He tries to pull it out, redirect. Refocus and reorient. But fighting against it so much just makes it work, so he focuses, and he breathes, and he listens to Giant Dragon breathing. Eventually, that paces his breathing, too.

Eventually, Dirk comes out with a statement that clearly was worth all that time sitting on it.]

Yeah, okay. You're the authority on your own feelings, so I guess I'll work on believing that. Your regular dosage of pain in the ass queries will not be stoppered.

[rootandbranch]

...that was really scary for you to hear, huh...

[it's another statement so obvious that it doesn't really deserve being said out loud, but Geir isn't trying to make a point about it, not really. he's sympathetic.]

I do that too sometimes. When I can't tell what I did.

[splinten]

[Dirk doesn't answer it; it's hard to admit the truth of it. Besides, Geir clearly knows.]

You put your face on a dragon.

[rootandbranch]

[in a tone of recounting a tragedy:]

I don't have a dragon. I do put my face on Vern, though.

[he considers this further, trying to remember back...]

Or just start getting... really anxious about asking questions, yeah.

[but not of asking questions to Dirk. Dirk, at least, preestablished that he doesn't mind firmly enough that Geir wasn't anxious about it.]

[splinten]

I'm glad Vern is there to salve the tragic wound.

[Hm. Dirk pauses.]

That's related to what you alluded to before.

[rootandbranch]

Yeah. It's still okay. I just didn't realize that happened to other people too.

[now that he thinks about it, it's not really surprising that it would?? his own ignorance has just made him really narrow-sighted on this topic, maybe.]

[splinten]

I'm not sure how many people suffer this particular variation of social anxiety, but yes, it is a thing that not merely you and I are on occasion afflicted with. Actually, it's an entire category of things that a number of things suffer from, even if I'm not entirely certain the more pathologized description suits your situation, but whatever. People get fucked up and nervous about how to interact with other people, because interpersonal relationships are really important on multiple levels, and whether you call it social anxiety or just getting unnerved, it sucks.