I got a question.

[he still feels weird talking at this thing on his wrist, but at least he sounds less...
irritable than he did the last time he tried this.]

I mean, I'm sure people've probably heard and answered this one before, but... does anyone really like it here? An' I don't mean just putting up with the place, I mean... people who'd rather be here than wherever they came from. Rather not go back, that kind of thing.

[after a second, he scoffs at himself.]

Though I guess if 'back home' is worse than this place, that'll be a whole lotta depressing conversation.

Have you guys seen the city?! [Of course they have. But, what happened to Aradia's room? Guess who just let the plants completely overtake the inside of her place.]

It's a jungle! An actual jungle. This is the best thing. [Aradia is just so excited. She doesn't even think this is a terrible thing. Why wouldn't you want a jungle you could adventure through?] Does anyone want to go through the jungle with me? I think it would be a lot of fun to get a group together. I guess there isn't a lot of adventuring around since the city is still the city, but I'd like company while I traverse through. I still haven't seen all of the city, so this just puts an exciting twist to things, don't you think?

Does anyone know where I can acquire a hat like Troll Indiana Jones? This would be the perfect time for it!

I'll be around the Heimdall district for a little bit, but I'll probably be going through the other districts!

[Today, you're getting a new face on the network, Asgard. A teenage girl, no older than eighteen, one who clearly doesn't put much effort into style or glamor; amongst many things, her hair is somewhat in disarray, as a result of the number of times she's run her hands through it. There's a hesitation before she speaks.]

I guess someone has the power to make the rain disappear.

[... No, Bella. Just stop while you're ahead. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

She continues after a pause.]

So they were pretty vague on the whole... power thing when I got here. [Another pause; it's obvious that public speaking isn't her forte] I was wondering if there was some sort of library. Or anywhere I could find more information.

[She almost leaves it at that, but then changes her mind right at the last second. As awkward as this is, she figures she should introduce herself. Once is better than over and over, right?]

I'm Bella, by the way. Bella Swan.

[A pile of books surround Eridan in fort-like towering stacks, a blanket and pillow shoved into the corner with a lit candle beside them on the floor. He is seated cross-legged on the ground,  elbows on his knees and his chin propped up on his hands.

Guess who didn't pay attention to the maid and has been living in the library and the park on nice days since he arrived. Certainly not Eridan Ampora.]

So. I'm goin' to cut to the chase, Is there anyone wwho hasn't lost complete control a' their think pan? All a' you idiots spend your time prattlin' on about parties and free hivves and shit that doesn't fuckin' matter!  I mean, honestly, is there anyone left wwho has the sense not to wwant to be some "god's" playthin'! I don't care about your inane arguments. "They need us!" "Oh, but they're soooo nice to us."

[Eridan smirks, showing off his sharp fangs, as he motions to the stacks of books. He picks up one of them, brandishing it at the screen.]

Clearly none a' you humans havve evven read your owwn military theory an' history. They're just placatin' you into stayin' here an' doin' their biddin' wwhen fear tactics alone wwoouldn't wwork. Etiher wway? You're still a slavve.

Think about that, Asgard.

[Initially, this was going to be an audio only post, as per her usual preference. However, almost on a whim, she changes to a video post right before she begins to record. The result is that there is now one (1) unhooded Xion, twirling one of the strings of her hoodie in somewhat nervous preparation, before putting on a straight face and focusing on the message she came here to deliver.]

Would... anybody be interested in sparring? [Mostly because she feels her skills are starting to dull, and... that's not a very good thing, should there be another invasion.] If you're interested, let me know or meet me in [training room number] at the Arena. I'll be waiting there.

[A beat.]

Thanks.

( filtered to Naminé. )

[To those who show up directly at the Arena or accidentally venture into the room Xion specified, they'll find her there, a practice sword in hand as she tries out some dull basic moves on a practice dummy. Basically, warming up.]

[ It's Tavros, looking downtrodden and slightly distraught for once. He's been all over, he's checked everywhere, but there is no sign and a quick trip to the bank only confirmed things. ]

Vriska Serket has, gone home. I just thought that, [ an awkward pause. ] I mean, I just wanted to announce that and, get it out there, so maybe, no one else would wonder. Where she was, that is. Because, she's home now, and, that's...

[ He's not even sure where he was going with that thought. He takes a deep breath, scrubs at his eyes with the back of his hands, and turns the feed off. ]

[Hello bracelet: another ©Koizumi, Inc. network message production for you; as usual, he's smiling, well-coiffed, handsome, in generally good order, with a nice, plain background behind him, and then he starts up, as he has pretty much every time he's been on the network:]

Good evening, everyone. It seems we've once again escaped, not entirely unscathed, but more or less intact, from another occurrence, this one with certain unique features that have been mentioned before on the network.

First, of course, it appears to have its origins in the world of a Traveler. As we know, it was a quite exact enough replica for the Traveler in question to give us a policy prescription and taxonomy. This issue has provoked considerable dissent, as it can be explained in any of four ways: [points to a screen "in front" of him! apparently he's put up a little thing on the bracelet screen, reading:]

Internal ("Curse")
External ("Attack")
Traveler ("Conspiracy")
Unintentional ("Side Effect")

Which I'm sure are roughly intuitive; essentially, it is a matter of allocation of blame, whether on the gods, their enemies, one of us, or no one at all. I believe it's presently impossible to decide that question for certain. My instinct, however, is to believe that it is, in fact, an outside attack. One would find this a bafflingly counterproductive move on the part of the gods, as our enemies, according to them, don't generally resemble these creatures; and yet they have shown a certain amount of willingness to make seemingly counterproductive moves--perhaps because they are not a single directed intelligence but rather a plurality. Still, because of the nature of the event -- because of the way in which it inhibited "colorfulness", in particular -- I incline to think they are not involved.

One more reason I think this is that it potentially answers in part a rather interesting question. If Asgardian gods can bring Travelers, and they are beings on a level similar to their adversaries, as we've seen, why do the others not follow suit? In other words, why would these gods in particular have access to the "multiverse"? If this was indeed an attack, we should now suspect that the adversaries can access our worlds, or knowledge of our worlds, and as such, this particular issue is somewhat resolved.

I'd like to ask any of the gods that may be listening now to weigh in on this question, if they are indeed not responsible.

As a side note, some of you who have particularly developed your powers likely had a rather easy time in this event -- those with advanced fire magic, for example. May I ask for anyone whose powers have become very advanced to speak with me? [He pauses. A slightly strange expression comes over his face--a slight twitch of the eyebrows.] It's about consolidating that power, because many of the more stupid, paranoid--

[Whoa. He didn't mean to phrase it like that. What... -- Try again.]

That is, maybe I just want to think that these gods couldn't get one past my magnificent conspiracy watch skills--

[W...hat. Why is he saying such things... Suddenly he looks decidedly flustered.]

--In any case, that's all for now, then--[Hastily signing off...!

Better go walk this off, if possible. Action for Odin district is also available! He'll be wandering the district.]



[ooc: Midway through, Odin apparently got tired of his blathering and smacked a truth curse on him. He will be unusually honest for replies to this post. It will dismay him to say the least!]

-no such thing as a 'murder magnet', Kaito-niichan. You're just making stuff up!

[The video feed is elevated, looking down on Conan's head from above and slightly behind. The pseudo-seven year old may not be aware he's being filmed, but the childish persona is in full force -- cute, slightly petulant tone of voice, and his forensic unit paperwork and notebooks out of sight in his brightly coloured school bag. Unaware of the scrutiny being directed at the top of his head, Conan continues his complaint.]

Anyway, Uncle's a detective, so it's not surprising that in the line of work, we'd encounter cases!

[Cases, he says… You know, the last time he checked, Japan’s crime rate was supposed to be low. The teenager’s fiddling with his bracelet causes the sound to oscillate for a moment. His tone, however, maintains steadily unimpressed, and perhaps just a little incredulous. ]

Uh… huh. And you wanna tell me how you manage to just happen to stumble on these ‘cases’ wherever you go? It just tells me that if I wanna get to the bottom of all this weirdness lately, I’d better start with the center of it all. Who is, naturally, the most suspicious guy.

[The look that Conan gives Kaito is baleful -- not helped as he takes in the bracelet, realises that he is being recorded.]

You make it sound like I'm responsible! I'm investigating!

So am I! I’m in the process of documenting the natural properties of detective-brats and their ability to somehow self-sustain their professions. Seriously, you attract weirdness. And dead people. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if cosmic karma was all ‘oh, hey, it’s that brat again, let’s make him trip over some dead bodies’.

[Conan rolls his eyes as Kaito's monologue continues, quickly becoming distracted by something he's spotted off camera. He stops walking; caught up in his speech, Kaito doesn't immediately notice.]

-- and if I can reverse-engineer that, I’ll be a millionaire. I mean, who wouldn't want an all-purpose murder repellant? [Beat] Oi, detective-brat, you listening?

[Turning as Kaito does, the feed swings round to show Conan opening the door of a shed that opens the street. As the door swings open, a man is revealed. His posture, his unnatural lack of colour, the fact that without the shed door holding him in place he falls to land flat in front of Conan -- it is immediately obvious that they've found a dead body.

There's a moment when neither of them react, and then Kaito swallows audibly.]

I repeat -- murder magnet.

Turn that off.

[ ooc: this is a joint post between Conan Edogawa holmes_fanatic and Kaito Kuroba requisite! they will both be replying to this post! double the fun, yes. ]

[Some might have noticed that Draco has made himself quite scarce lately...scarce to the point he really didn't even leave Baldr house or communicate over the bracelets for a period of time. And why would someone like Draco, someone who's entirely too nosy and vocal for his own good sometimes, ignore everyone entirely?

Simply because, dear Asgard, Draco wanted to run a few tests and immerse himself further into his research. He's very aware of the happenings of Asgard, very aware of the house olympics, very aware of the bodyswapping shenanigans that occurred, very aware of the traveller's festival, yes, fine, whatever. But really, what did it matter in the long run?

The bracelet feed comes on today to show Draco sitting crosslegged and more or less levitating in the air. His powers still haven't advanced, and it's starting to really bother him considering some like Jade have surpassed him tremendously.]

Morning, Asgard. Tell me, what's the worst thing that could possibly happen if you become a complete and total shut in? No reason, of course, just curious.

[Yes, never mind the stack of notes and charts and books scattered around his room. No reason, really.]

On the other hand, what's the worst thing that could happen if you actively put yourself right in the line of fire by being everywhere you possibly can in the city while talking to everyone you possibly can? You're all in luck, I actually care about your opinions today.

[Eridan is admiring his new bracelet, twisting and turning it to watch the stone set in the middle shimmer. He pauses, tapping at the center of the stone before addressing the screen, his entire demeanor radiating barely controlled rage and indignation.]

Wwhat the fuck is goin on here? Maybe you havven't heard a me, but, believve me, I am a seriously important troll an you're goin to rue the day you messed with Eridan Ampora. So wwhy don't you just go ahead an showw yourself an stop bein a fuckin cowward.

I don't blame you for hidin though, 'cause once I find wwhoevver is fuckin with me, you're dead.

[Suddenly occuring to him that his words might be more apt than he originally thought, Eridan is uncharacteristically struck silent for a moment. After all, he was dead. Not many trolls, even ones as talented as him, could survive being chainsawed in half. He'd been d-e-a-d dead and, now, well, he was here. Maybe this was some sort of afterlife... He dismisses the idea almost immediately with a visible shake of his head. This is stupid. Magic doesn't exist and these gods don't exist and... Right, getting back to the point. He taps at the bracelet again.]

I mean, at least you “gods” havve an appreciation for the finer things in life, but Eridan Ampora is nobody's toy. Least a all a bunch a shoddy magicians or wwizards or wwhatevver you wanna call yourselvves. Evveryone knows that magic isn't real. So, nice try, but  I'm not buyin it. Game's ovver.

[Secure in his victory over whatever charlatans are trying to pull the wool over his eyes, a smirking Eridan shuts off the video feed. Or at least he attempts to but only manages to change the video screen size. He curses, spluttering in frustration as he pushes buttons randomly until the bracelet finally turns off. So much for his attempt at coolkid status.]

[ Rejoice, Asgard! There is a new feed, and surprise surprise, Hanako has decided to show herself on video from the beginning and without outside pressuring! Though the camera tilted in a way that doesn't show her eyes... it looks like she's still got lots of issues about it, but she's too much in a good mood to care, really. You can see her smile a little, hands joined together. ]

Good afternoon, everyone. This will be brief and rushed, but I could no longer hold back.

I would like to thank all the people who took part in the Travellers Festival. Every single one of you. The ones who made this possible; all the helpers who contributed with the booths, exhibitions, security guarding and the firework display; the Neighbors Club; the members of each house that put their abilities to the best use, and everyone else who decided to come and have fun with us. It's thanks to you that the party was a success eventually.

Here's to hope that events like these can be held in the future. What do you all think? Is there already something in your mind that could work for the next month? I wonder if we can hold events once a month, it sounds like a reasonable idea since it gives the right space to organize- uhm...

[ Now she's just rambling... better stop it before she embarasses herself. ] Err... anyway, obviously I couldn't meet with everyone in the festival; how was it? Did you have fun? Is there something that could have been improved? What is the thing you liked the most about it?

[ There is a pause, as you can see her rub her hands together... the nervousness is catching up with her. ]

Also... as a reminder, the invite is still open for the Nightlight club. We have the right number of members, and we'd love to see more people that enjoyed the books. As for the first meeting, I have yet to decide for a date. My apologies, it's just that the festival's organization took away my whole time. When could be the right time for you folks? I'm open for suggestions.

...

That is all. Thank you again... and have a good day. [ She reaches for the bracelet, and clicks the feed off. Phew. ]

[ crash crash bang crash. The graceful sounds of a troll literally tripping over his malfunctioning, robotic feet. It turns out that being a native is not exactly great when dealing with increasingly busted technology. Or stairs.

Careful as Tavros usually is, the world conspires against him.

But Tavros has finally relocated his bracelet! There's a flash of a grin before there's a sudden solid THUMP as his left knee gives out and he has to catch himself on his desk. ]

Uhh... [ He grins a little, clearly more pleased with being back and himself than anything else. ] Is there anyone, who is good with machines, who would't mind uh, working... I can pay, I think, unless, that money is gone.

I'm also, uh, back, obviously. Hi.