(mingle) It must be party time

[forethinking]

Who: Ren Amamiya, Wanda Maximoff, you!
When: 12th of September
Where: Good Harbor Beach
Summary: Here's the barbecue log! Eating, playing games, having a bonfire and sleep-over on the beach!
Warnings: Alcohol? Ghost stories?



ɪ. ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ

Congratulations, you've made it to the Good Harbor Beach September barbecue! With the weather cooling, but still pleasant enough, it's a pleasure to have a hangout involving ADI's residents and those who live at Bonnie's. There are still so many people who don't know one another, and many to strengthen bonds with, so the hours your dearest Wanda and Ren spend cooking and flipping and seasoning are nothing but rewarding! Seeing people enjoying themselves is great and it's motivating for them to keep doing these encounters every now and then.

On the menu, we have:
- Burgers;
- Steaks with jacked potato sides;
- Ribs;
- Zucchini-and-Pecorino fritters;
- Several different salads, including ovcharska;
- Aubergine kebabs with charred onion salsa;
- Salmon yakitori;
- Takoyaki;
- Cupcakes
- Apples and honey;
- Cherry dumplings;
- Sarmale filled with rice;
- Bundevara (pumpkin pie);


For drinks, there's a selection of alcohol, as well as coffee, water, tea, and a variety of sodas. Take in the nice view, jump on the ocean, sink your toes in the sand and enjoy yourselves. There aren't any usable tables, but there are several blankets on the floor for your perusal.

ɪɪ. ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ

With bellies full, now it's when the real fun begins. There are a few decks of cards being passed around, as well as one of their single tables now organized to a beer-pong competition. Individually, games such as Never Have I Ever, as well as Truth or Dare can be seen, and those who wish to use their skills for entertaining are more than welcome to do so.

A little bonding here, a little drunken chatting there, this is your time to shine!

ɪɪɪ. ᴀ ʙᴏɴꜰɪʀᴇ

With those who have a curfew to worry about in mind, a bonfire is lit, and a few tents are set around the beach (may have to be shared). If anyone's got a nice story, now it's the time to share it, or perhaps if anyone can play an instrument, it's about time to break it out of its case. The night will be lively until the early hours of the morning, and of course, mindful of those who couldn't stay up this late.

The next morning, everyone will be properly thanked for their attendance and tupperwares will be distributed with leftovers for those who'd like to take some food home, the beach will be cleaned impeccably and everyone will go their own way, hopefully with smiles and a new sense of unity and connection from the amazing night they've just experienced.

ɪᴠ. ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴏᴏᴄ ɴᴏᴛᴇ

(Please put in your top-level subject line or prompt line whether it's okay to threadjack! Just to keep things more dynamic, we encourage it!)

Comments

[guildmastermind]

"No, I wasn't that sort of student. I was actually a bit of a shut-in. The only thing I did to be social, outside of classes, was playing an MMORPG--a video game--called Elder Tale. I'd been playing since I was a teenager, fourteen or fifteen."

The fact that she covers up her surprise so quickly, that's interesting. He decides to take the long way around his story, see what assumptions she makes along the way, or what connections.

[musicdied]

Her brow furrows slightly, expression drawing down into a slight frown as she searches her memory. After a moment, she shakes her head.

“I don’t think we have that where I’m from.” Which doesn’t necessarily matter, save that knowing which reference points are shared and which aren’t is always useful.

[guildmastermind]

"Okay. I can explain, once I figure out how far back I need to go. Do you have computers, and if so are there ways to play games on them?"

If not, then he's got to get metaphorical, but he's still got faith he can get in the right direction to explain.

[musicdied]

Yelena huffs a laugh. “Compared to ADI, you would have to go forward, not back. I don’t know which direction that would be for you. But we do have video games.”

[guildmastermind]

"MMORPGs are online computer games where hundreds, thousands of people play together in a shared world. The one I played was fantasy-based, and called Elder Tale. I played an Enchanter, a support caster class. That means instead of using my character's magic for attacking primarily, I used it to make my allies stronger and enemies weaker. I was a strategist."

He still is, both an Enchanter and a strategist.

[musicdied]

For a moment, she contemplates explaining that she’d just meant the specific game - but her teasing has embarrassed him once tonight already, and she’s more interested in the story than in sidetracking.

“Is that where your outfit comes from?” she asks. “You look very wizardly.”

[guildmastermind]

"Ah, well. Yes. It's not a cosplay, though. I was literally pulled into the world of the game, along with hundreds of other players. I became my character."

He looks down at his feet, then back at her. "When I was myself, I was shorter. I wanted my character to be tall and imposing."

[musicdied]

She considers him for a moment, head canting slightly to one side. "Is this who you wanted to be? Your idealized self? Or did you just want to experience being taller?"

[guildmastermind]

He laughs at the question.

"I think if I knew I'd someday be wearing my character's body, I'd have made some other choices. Maybe looked more heroic, maybe picked another class. But I chose this all when it was just a game and it didn't matter. I suppose I should be happy I didn't get stuck in the form of my secondary character, Roe2, who was a summoner, but also a female character."

[musicdied]

"Looking heroic is only important if you want people to stare at you while you do important things," Yelena replies, scrunching her nose in a slightly-exaggerated expression of distaste. "You look nice. But when you say you're wearing your character's body, do you mean that only your mind was pulled into the game? Or was your entire body digitized and translated into your character?"

[guildmastermind]

"Yeah, only my mind was pulled into the game. I actually had trouble for a couple of days because of the height difference. And one of my guildmates really needed a gender change potion, because she couldn't stand to be in a guy's body."

There were other players who were quite comfortable in the body of their character, even if it didn't match their gender outside the game. Shiroe had thoughts on that matter, but tended to keep those to himself.

[musicdied]

"I don't think I would like that, either," she admits.

"Were you still trapped there when you were pulled here? Or did you find a way to go back and forth when you wanted?"

It isn't something she would want to risk, but there are plenty of people who would want to escape from their own lives as thoroughly as possible for a while, if given half a chance.

[guildmastermind]

"I was still trapped. I always thought that if I made it back to Earth, it'd be as my regular old useless human self. But here I am, cloak and all."

There's enough humor behind the words to make it clear he's not really-really calling himself useless.

[musicdied]

"It is very tempting to poke you to see if you are still actually there," Yelena says solemnly, not even a twitch of her lips betraying the deadpan humour.

"How are you sure this is really Earth, and not another...simulation?"

Is that the right term for a video game turned real? Is there a right term for a video game turned real?

[guildmastermind]

"I'm not sure. But...what I've learned is that it's best to accept that whatever you're dealing with is your current reality. Learn its rules, interface on its terms. Walking around assuming it's not real, that it doesn't count is a quick way to end up in over your head. Trivializing the experience, you know?"

He reaches out slowly, in an obvious and unsubtle attempt to poke her arm. Slow enough that she could pull away without any real effort. But following up on her joke.