TDM 002. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE.

[headandhand]

» 01. I LIKE TO PARTY AND BY PARTY I MEAN NAPS.

Look at all of these bright, shining new faces! There’s even a few less bright, less shining faces, but hey, this city welcomes all types. Chances are, if you’ve just arrived, you're seeing some pretty crazy things, unless you're used to an eye-blinding amount of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis,
and welcome to your monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right? Who doesn’t like friends?!

This month’s event is held at the brand new RoCocoa Cat Cafe, a sparkly new establishment that caters to children and the young at heart with iced and hot cocoa drinks of all kinds, delicious pastries, age-appropriate live music, and of course many friendly kitties who love to lounge in laps. The cats are of all shapes, sizes, and colors, including some who may look a little different from what you expect, or may look like an ordinary cat but are actually anything but ordinary underneath that adorable fur coat. All cats in the cafe are adoptable, of course, for those who meet a new furry friend and just can’t bear to go home without them!

So pull up a chair, get to know your new neighbors, and enjoy a sugary treat or two with the resident furbabies. You might just meet your new two- or four-legged best friend!

» 02. TO TAG OR NOT TO TAG, THAT IS THE QUESTION.

Welcome, one and all, to a long-running time-honored Dualis tradition: the annual city-wide Dualis Marker Tag Competition! For this entire month, all participants who accept the challenge will be given a marker and set free to tag any other participant in the city by making a mark on their skin, while attempting to avoid being tagged themselves. Careful, though - the ink marks last a very long time, so you’ll have to wait until the competition concludes to wash everything off.

Markers come in all colors, even fluorescent, glitter, and glow-in-the-dark, and you can use however many markers your inner child’s heart desires. These markers will leave marks even on people who have chosen not to play, but you can easily purchase an armband, headband, or similar accessory that says NONPARTICIPANT if you so desire. Marking nonparticipants is considered extremely bad form and wins you no prizes, but "misfires" do still happen sometimes. It’s usually considered polite to offer a mistaken nonparticipant that you’ve marked a small reparation, like coffee or a more adult beverage.

Safe zones do exist! Any establishment can put out a sign that marks it as such - signs in shop windows, chalkboards outside bars, and the like; many do this, just to keep the general chaos and injury/property damage liability down. Tenants of private residences typically agree that their spaces are also safe zones, but that's up to y’all to hash out.

Have fun! And maybe try not to put anyone’s eye out, yeah?

» 03. TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT, THE BITTER AND THE SWEET ...

Looks like the Head’s been clued in to the quaint alien custom known as trick-or-treating. Is today Halloween? Who cares! You get free candy! Free candy for you, free candy for you, everybody gets free candy!

And rather than make citizens work for that free candy by traipsing around in costumes, the Head’s decided to cut everyone a little break and just have bowls of wrapped sugary delights placed strategically throughout the city. You never know where you’ll find them, or what types of candies the bowls will contain - chocolates, of course, and jellybeans and hard candies of every flavor you can think of, and treats you’ve probably never seen before now. Ooh, is that a snoobloo-flavored truffle? Only one way to find out! Eat it.

The treats are not poisoned or otherwise dangerous, but some do have a trick up their wrappers. Candies may cause temporary side effects: minor appearance changes, enhancing or reducing senses, sudden mild development of extranormal abilities, or loss of control over abilities you already possess. Some sweets are just regular treats and produce no effect except maybe cavities, if you don’t brush your teeth. Effects will remain until another candy is consumed that either induces a different effect or nulls the current effect and simply tastes nice. Enjoy!

Comments

The Iron Bull | Dragon Age Series

[theirondragon]

» 01. NAPs

The Bull didn't know what "Network Adjacency Protocol" meant, aside from something to do with networking, but once he arrived, surrounded by cats, chocolate, and weird ass people fromw weird ass worlds he had to figure out how to work with to get out of here (because there was no way he was buying some talking, not living thing's word for whatever they were here for), he decided to have a go at it. Things were never completely, 100%, what someone claimed, and this place just struck him as off. They were trying to find a cure for some sickness, right? Then they needed to collect a bunch of people who were just like them, not different races. Everybody got sick differently. This wasn't going to help.

Which only meant one thing: it wasn't meant to. That left the Qunari in a bad place. He didn't know how most of the shit here worked, some of it really creeped him out, and he didn't even know the lay of the land. Shit, nobody could with the way it shifted around all the damned time, so the NAPs offered him an opportunity: connect with people who understood some of this shit, and maybe not go crazy.

So, he grabbed a hot chocolate (a comfort in itself, reminding him of his childhood, when things were safe-er at least), and took a seat, glancing over the card of questions he'd been given when he'd arrived, chuckling slightly at them before tossing it down on the table he sat at. At over 7 feet in height, broad of shoulder and hugely muscled (and without a shirt to boot), the Iron Bull cast an imposing shadow, even sitting, dwarfing the small table and chair at which he sat, making his cup of cocoa look as though it belonged in a child's tea set. He'd be intimidating even if he didn't have horns as broad as his shoulders.

Still, anyone who does have a seat with the one-eyed brute is treated to a pretty amicable smile and he reclines in that thoroughly threatened chair, massive hands folded on his bare belly.

"Hey. Make yourself comfortable. I'm yours until the bell." he makes and ever-so-slight nod in the direction of the chime. One has to be careful when they're swinging around a rack like that. "So. How are you doing?"

[skyward_eyes]

He'd know those horns anywhere, the spread of those shoulders, the tone of that skin. His heart actually skips a beat to see it, and Nida takes a moment to get his cup of coffee, wishing it was something stronger to offer to his friend. As it was, when the bell rings he just about pounces. Because fuck the order that this is arranged to be in. He can't wait.

"I don't know," he says, unable to keep the low purr from his voice. The tone he used to use when they were alone together, stretched out on the mattresses and pillows that served as Bull's bed. "I'm not used to bells constraining our time together."

There's nothing that makes him think that this might not be Bull as he knew the man. In fact, the 'how are you doing' almost makes him think it's the same man. He sits carefully in the chair opposite him, just trying to keep himself from smiling stupidly at the big guy.

"Is it wrong for me to say I'm glad to see you here? I wouldn't wish this place on anyone, but I've missed you, Boss. I'm doing terribly, and seeing you is a comfort."

[theirondragon]

When you'd been around the proverbial block as many times as the Bull had, you learned not to take anything at face value, and not to expect anything. Having watched the streets outside move around for no reason a few times now, he was actually surprised to realize the idea of someone knowing him but having no memory of him had never occurred to him. It raised the hairs on the back of his neck, made the shaved skin of his pate crawl. Not only did he know this admittedly handsome man, but they knew each other pretty well by the sound of it. The guy's mannerisms reaffirmed the familiar tone, the moniker.

Great. More weird crap. He gave the newcomer a shake of his head, opting for honesty, at least in admission. There was nothing telling in his face or his posture that suggested Nida knowing him without the opposite being true scared the shit out of him.

"Sorry. I think I'd remember a guy like you."

[skyward_eyes]

"Oh."

Nida's heart falls with the revelation. His face? Impassive. He's had training, he worked in the same fields Bull did. He knew better than to let the pain show. In fact, he follows the bland face with a soft smile.

"Well, I've run into all of that before actually. I'm not new to the whole inter-dimensional kidnapping thing. The last place I was happened to be a little village, far closer to your home's level of technology, and it made a man of your skills, or a man very similar to you, very useful there. He started a village patrol, with another person, and I worked under Iron Bull."

And from his tone before, well, it's not too hard for a smart man to assume that Nida meant under in both senses of the word.

"We were friends, he and I."

[theirondragon]

"Yeah, sure. Inter-dimensional...weird...shit." He shook his head. It was useless, trying to pretend all this madness didn't bother him. He breathed deeply, shaking his head. So, this guy knew some other him. There was another him, or maybe a different time him? It was enough to make his skin crawl.

"I'm gonna need somebody to hit me with a stick after this."

[skyward_eyes]

"Hit you with a stick?" Nida asks. He never really got to that sort of comment with his Bull. There was sparring, but not even much of that. Bull had strength and weight and a giant axe back there. Nida's hand-made bo staff never would have kept up with it. "Why would you want hit with a stick? Is that like sparring?"

Back there Nida and Seifer used to throw themselves into sparring matches multiple times a weak, just to pummel the pain away. It'd been good. They don't do that as much now.

[theirondragon]

Right, so, wherever they'd been together, this other him and this Nida guy, it wasn't this weird. Either that, or the other him was actually a demon or something weirder. The thought of something weirder than demons was enough to keep him awake at night, and he was pretty sure if there was any place with anything like it, it would be a place where the buildings didn't stay put. In that respect, Dualis sort of reminded Bull of the Fade, which was a memory he could certainly do without.

"Kind of, but not really." He shook his head. Shit it was weird to even think things like this. "So, uh, the other me. Did he tell you much about himself? Where he came from?"

[skyward_eyes]

If only it were as simple as them being dreamers of this place. Perhaps that would be better than the hell this was turning out to be.

“I don’t know as much about the Qun or his most recent work. I knew about the Chargers. I knew about what he actually was, though I mangled the pronunciation enough to not trust myself with it. Of course he wasn’t free with that information. We knew each other a while and he recognized similar skills within me.”

Even, to some degree, an experience with life being chosen for him. But that didn’t matter.

“I know magic was frowned on in his world, and among his people.”

[theirondragon]

The Chargers. It wrenched his gut thinking he'd never see them again. Krem and Rocky, Dailish...none of them. He smiled though, thinking about them, and about how much like himself this other him sounded. It was weird.

"Okay, so, whenever things get too much, back on Par Vollen, you could turn yourself over to the re-educators, you know. Get your head straight. That's what the stick's for."

[wickedprayers]

The more he's exposed to this practice during every NAPS, the more Thane finds the practice slightly intriguing when he thinks about, but in relation to humans as opposed to the AI that brought them here. He had heard of such practices performed by them even before he arrived here, which he thought odd considering how unpredictable they were. Humans didn't seem the type to limit themselves to a set time and a pile of questions. Weird fascination aside, he continued to attend for much the same reason. Information on who was coming in every month was vital. Who reacted poorly to being here, who reacted casually, who seemed to believe their reasoning for being brought here and who didn't — not to mention all the basics such as who might be a loose canon and who might be a valuable ally. There were many variables.

When Thane takes a seat he doesn't seem very phased at the way the large man dwarfs almost everything around him, but it would be a lie to say he didn't notice the impressive size. He could probably take numerous Krogan headbutts standing, for one. His hands fold over the top of the table and his posture is very much the opposite; stiff, purposeful, all business in spite of the all too casual and somewhat chaotic mess of the cafe. He scrutinizes the other a moment, both sets of lids blinking vertically and horizontally before he answers the question.

"Quite well," he responds with a polite nod of his head in a silent 'thank you' for the question. "You're new here." A statement, not a question. Thane is sure he would have remembered seeing the other around, even if the city was big and confusing as it were. "I hope finding your bearings hasn't been too difficult."

[theirondragon]

Once of the many reasons Bull opted to attend the NAPs, aside from warnings to the contrary, was exactly that: people watching. Now, on the outside, years of Ben-Hassrath training kept him from being surprised or slightly creeped out by the weird lizard man who sat across from him. Just wandering the streets of Dualis he'd seen some weird stuff, but nothing quite like this guy. It was slightly unnerving when he got right down to it, but by appearances it was just another day in the neighborhood.

Beyond the bizarre appearance, this new guy was pretty capable. His shoulders were set in a way that suggested he could just as soon shrug as take you down with a few swift moves, and he was obviously another one who opted to keep an eye on others to learn about them rather than ask 20 questions. He could respect that.

"Good guess. It's the horns, huh?" He grinned, "and yeah, it's not too bad. Funny thing is you keep moving straight, even if shit moves around, you get where you're going. Might go crazy if I think about that too much."

[wickedprayers]

No laughter or chuckle, but a slight brief second smirk at the comment.

"A sound strategy," he says with approval. "Fortunately, with just a bit of observation one can find some kind of logic in the madness, even if just a tiny bit."

The few landmarks that remain a constant in this shifting city, as an example. It's a thought that helps him remain grounded as he tries to figure the city out, form plans, or just prepare for anything. He's also saying this in a cafe with strange cats, some of which the biology doesn't even seem to make sense, but he stands by his flowery worded statement.

[theirondragon]

Not a tough guy, just really reserved. Bull's known people like him before, Cassandra being one of them, Cullen another. That surface could be cracked, of course, everyone had a breaking point. Of course, he meant that is the best way possible. He didn't have anything against this guy. It was just wise to know how to take someone out if you needed to. This guy, for instance, had the wiry muscles of a guy who was fast, agile, he'd need to be taken by surprise to take him out quickly. The way the skin at his throat vibrated when he spoke suggested a weakness there. Good for a dagger.

"Logic in the madness is better than the crazy." But they also left the city that much more weird. "You been around here a while?"

[wickedprayers]

"Indeed."

Thane would be remiss if he didn't, one, survey the area as he walked in and mapped out all available escapes, possible choke points, cover, etc just in case the Head brought in someone or someones who would react violently to their situation. And two, if he didn't carefully study whomever he was speaking to in order to discern the best ways to evade a possible attack or take them down. For instance, he's sure he would have to make use of his agility and possibly biotics were he and this man to get into an altercation. He wouldn't be at all offended if he knew the other was doing the same.

"Only since the beginning of last month. Dualis is very similar to where I come from, minus the shifting city run by an AI." There are a few troubling parallels. "Settling in is less harrowing for me than most, if I had to guess." Like so...this man certainly looks as if he comes from a completely different type of world.

[theirondragon]

"Yeah..." Bull didn't waste his time trying to pretend all this was fine. Besides, the easiest way to get to know people was to wear most of your intentions of your sleeve. It was easier to just be honest than it was to lie, his skill with it be damned.

"You, uh, want to fill me in on what an 'A.I.' is?"

[wickedprayers]

"Ah. Of course." Confirmation that he was correct in his observation. He expected as much, but it would be foolish to assume himself to be right.

"Artificial Intelligence. Synthetics. Machines." It's a difficult concept to explain to those unfamiliar, but he will do his best. "AI are not made up of flesh and bone like you and I. They are made up of circuitry, metal, fueled with electricity as opposed to blood. They're man made to mimic cognitive functions...learning, problem solving, communication, minus the emotion often associated with the decision making of an organic mind. Many fear AI where I come from because of situations such as this...because of AI like the Head. Some are made for nefarious purposes and carry out their duties without question, while others rebel from their creators."

He pauses in his explanation thoughtfully, tilting his head a fraction to indicate the whirring of gears as he figures out how to word his next thought.

"It is a complicated manner to which a simple explanation can't do justice. I have met several AI who display the thoughts and desires they weren't programmed to have. They sometimes question their purpose...why they were built...if they have a soul. Sometimes they seek to learn like the rest of us. There are a couple I have met that I would trust with my life."

Just in case his rather cold description of what an AI is was a turn off. He would be remiss if he didn't explain that they weren't all heartless machines that would and could kill you without a second thought.

[wishalone]

Technically, this isn't the next table Kyoko is "supposed" to sit at. But this guy actually looks interesting. She means, seriously, he's huge. But he takes up space almost like he belongs, despite the furniture definitely being way too small for him. Maybe it's not that it's like he belongs -- Maybe it's the air of confidence. Yeah, that's what caught her attention, she thinks.

He might be more than two feet taller than her and way out of her weight class, but Kyoko flops into the chair across from him so casually it's almost like she's used to it. (In truth, if she came across him on the street or something, she'd definitely be startled and unnerved by his size. But she's spotted him first, instead of being surprised, and made up her mind, so she's able to act like she isn't phased.)

"Bored," she answers, waving half a pastry before taking a bite out of it. She doesn't wait to finish chewing before continuing to talk. "This whole thing is pretty stupid. What is this, elementary school?"

[theirondragon]

The Iron Bull was used to people being dwarfed by his size and tended toward casual stances and friendly banter to keep people at ease. He was a big guy even among his own people, and was a veritable giant elsewhere in the world. He'd basically mastered the art if being unimposing.

"Hey, don't wave food in a guy's face if you're not going to share." He was smiling when he said it, though. "And this? This lets the Head get to know us, I guess." He rolled his massive shoulders in a shrug. "Might as well take advantage of it, right?"

[wishalone]

"Get your own." Maybe the words are rude, but the tone is lilting, playful, and she's answering his smile with a bit of a smirk of her own. Her next bite is more exaggerated, too, to rub it in, because she can.

But she's tilting her head to consider the rest of what he said as she chews, and this time, waits to speak until after she swallows. "So... They're eavesdropping, huh?" It hadn't occurred to her, but it makes sense. She hums to herself. "Guess that explains it."

She guesses she ought to ask a question now. There are cards on the table, but this time, Kyoko ignores them. Instead, she goes with, "How useful has this been for you?" And when she says 'this,' she gestures loosely to the café, meaning the whole NAP thing.

[theirondragon]

"Yeah, okay. Gonna be a tease, huh?" He nodded, though his expression mirrored her own: playful, joking. "I see how it is."

He rolled his massive shoulders in a shrug at her question, though. "Don't know. Maybe. If I had a place like this, I would." It was the spy in him, the deep-seated part of him that needed to know the ins and outs of everything and everyone. That kind of training was hard to shake.

"Pretty good, so far. Met some people, got a better idea what's going on around here. That's useful." He made a motion toward her. "What about you?"

Re: The Iron Bull | Dragon Age Series

[whosthemonsternow]

Alright. So. South has gotten more or less used to the weird, strange, and down right crazy looking sorts of beings around this place. It's been, what, two months? Three? A fucking year? She honestly has no real idea, to be honest. It's been both forever and the blink of an eye, everything happens so damn much but not much has entirely changed, frankly. Her job as the Mayor's bodyguard has kept her busy, and any off time she has she may or may not spend getting shitfaced at local bars, days tend to blur, really.

But despite all she's seen and forced herself to get used to, she isn't expecting to see a huge...man? Bull man? Minotaur? Someone like this thing to be sitting at the next table she hops to. She has a good half a burger in her hands, mouth too full to comment just yet as she drops down in the seat, eyeing the...man...thing.. in front of her.

Finally, she finishes her bite, eyeing said bell before she cocks her head to the side and looks up at the mountain of a being, "Yea yea, I'm fine- you're a giant fucking thing, aren't you? Ho-ly fuck, man, horns and all. Got, like, people feet, or hooves?" Blunt? Yes. Maybe rude? Definitely. But it's not meant in a dickish way, she's curious of this new sort of being she's being presented with!

[theirondragon]

There were a lot of places in the south that had never seen a Qunari, but a lot of them had weird stories about his people, that they were beasts that walked like men, that they were dumb as rocks, that they had horses cocks and goats' feet. You name it, some weird-ass human or dwarf or elf had probably thought about it. He thought it was all hilarious, really, and he laughed, a deep and resonate sound. Hell yeah, he liked her already.

"Yeah, it's a hell of a rack, huh? Go ahead," he flexed as she stared, adjusting to make his bare chest more visible. "Take it aaall in. I'll wait."

[whosthemonsternow]

The chest was fine and all, but she's peeking under the table to see if it's human feet or hooves. Feet. That's less exciting. Still, she pops upright again after a second, mildly disappointed but no less curious.

Thankfully, while she's still a blunt pain in the ass, being here for a while has made her less...racist(?) to non-human things. Before, back home, it was humans or Covvies, people that sometimes wanted to kill you or aliens that almost exclusively do. She didn't consider nice non-human beings, and had a chip on her shoulder about them. Now, she treats them just like she does humans. Which isn't all that great anyways, but oh well, at least it was just her being an ass and not close-minded about something they can't change.

She reaches a hand out in an attempt to touch one of the horns, eyebrows pulling together, "You get your eye poked out from a horned headbutt or something?"

[theirondragon]

If she had been racist, the Bull wouldn't have cared honestly, content as he was to let people underestimate him, to assume less of his mental capabilities because of assumptions they made. You see a big, dumb ox-man? Good. It's easier to get you to spill all your secrets that way.

He chuckles at her question, shaking her head. "Nah. Headbutts don't work. I've tried." He makes a motion to indicate the extensive scarring on the left side of his head. "Flail. Big ass spiked one."

[whosthemonsternow]

If it'd help or not, South isn't immediately assuming he's a big dumb oaf. She's met big guys who were somehow smarter than she is, she has what she'd consider a good friend and teammate who's huge as an ox and smart as a whip. Big guy with horns? Could be dumb, could be brilliant, doesn't relate to his build, and she hasn't decided one way or another just yet anyways.

When he doesn't stop her inquisitive hand, she touches one of the horns, fingertips brushing lightly at first before she tries to get a grip around one.

"Kinda amused already from your getup, but you from one of those, like, medieval places? With swords and shields and shit like that?" Honestly, he could just like the aesthetic or whatever, but she judged a book by the cover and automatically figured he wasn't from a place with powered suits and fancy guns.