006: Group Introductions and AMAs - Second Round

[tarnishedavenger]

[Armstrong hates to do this after so many people have introduced themselves in locked channels, but they at least need to put on a show of meeting for Jorgmund's sake.]

So, we've got a few new people here since the last time we did something like this. Time to get introductions done and over with. Just list your name, powers, if any, relevant facts, and, if you feel like it, answer reasonable questions that people have. We'll be able to function together more effectively if we know more about each other. Keep it sensible and try not to wheedle out any dark secrets.

Or, you know, old people can tell people why Taco Tuesday is the best.

Comments

[walkingballpit]

Namor. Weird eyebrows, pointy ears and no fashion sense?

[ Robbie shakes his head, but he looks relieved. ]

Don’t sweat it. If you don’t know the name, then it’s not my world, and nobody’s flooding New York. Again.

[hot_dad]

[That's one hell of a description.]

New York is fine. [He can't say the same for Poland, but let's not get bogged down in the details.] The war was decades ago, there's no real threat of conflict with humans that I know of right now.

[walkingballpit]

[ Namor is one hell of an individual. ]

Yeah, New York was fine. They’re pros about putting the city back together.

[ You’d think between the floods and Mole Man’s tunnels people would have given up by now. New York is a thing unto itself. ]

So you’re Atlantean?

[hot_dad]

Yup.

[He drags the word out, popping the P at the end of the word. It almost seems...awkward? It's a weird feeling, basically laying his shit out there to strangers who understand none of it. He's tried to avoid the spotlight when he could back home, and here he can drop a saint name and no one bats an eye.

He's quick to redirect attention elsewhere, at least.]

So Atlantis is fine where you come from?

[walkingballpit]

[ One of Robbie’s best friends is named Richard Rider. Having the word Saint in your name doesn’t trip the weird-o-meter. ]

Cool, cool. My friend Nita’s from Atlantis, so I’ve got to warn you: the bar is high. And yeah, last time I was home, Atlantis was swimming along.

[hot_dad]

[It's weird that he's apparently familiar with Atlanteans and doesn't react to the name, but then again, the Arcana only adopted those names after revealing Atlantis to the human world. Then again, this guy knows Atlanteans, so evidently they still did reveal themselves, so...?

Ugh. He's quickly coming to hate this alternate worlds shit.]

You're going to have to explain human-Atlantean affairs where you come from. I'm getting a headache trying to think about this.

[walkingballpit]

[ While he’s picked up on the fact that these are clearly two different universes, Robbie’s not stressing the differences. It’s easier that way. ]

Well, Rune, you see... when an Atlantean likes a human very, very much, she basically announces that she likes the human to the world, and the human often finds himself swept along by the riptide because Namorita Prentiss is a force of nature and they never stood a chance.

It doesn’t work so well for Namor. I think it’s the eyebrows.

[hot_dad]

[A very flat look.]

I meant more politically. Though I can't imagine how all that worked out without causing an international incident either.

[walkingballpit]

The King of Atlantis floods New York when he gets pissed. The UN meetings are fun.

[ He’s trying time make it sound fun, but it can get acrimonious. ]

And them dating hit Page Six, but it wasn’t an international incident. It takes a lot more than Johnny Storm to cause an international... let me rephrase that. It takes a lot more than dating rumours to cause an international incident in my world. Why, is interspecies dating taboo?

[hot_dad]

What? No.

[Hell, Lady Moon had technically married a human. But this conversation is confusing enough without bringing Companions into it.]

But a continent of magic creatures revealing themselves to the world by openly kidnapping a human didn't set anyone on edge? The Atlantean World War was sparked by humans just learning Atlantis existed.

[walkingballpit]

Huh? Who’s being kidnapped?

[ There’s a pause for a few seconds, and then it hits him. Robbie hurts out laughing. ]

You think Nita kidnapped him? Pfff - no way. And the world isn’t going to war over one kidnapping; that’s not how it works. Although I think Namor kidnapped someone. Still no Atlantean World War though.

[hot_dad]

[Somehow, this is the weirdest shit he's heard so far.]

...Humans are apparently a lot more easygoing where you come from. Lucky you.

[walkingballpit]

Because we don’t start wars over kidnappings?

[ He goes quiet, thinking about the number of unsolved disappearances and the relative lack of awareness from the public, unless a victim gets kidnapped on a slow news day and happens to be a white blonde. ]

I think I’d rather we were a little less easygoing, but that’s not something that I can wave a hand and have happen. It’s a massive shift in cultural priorities to doing things for the greater good and being informed beyond the limits of Twitter and TikTok, and I don’t think American humans are ready to give up their “I’ve got mine” mentality yet. Maybe there’s some human cultures that prioritize the collective while protecting the individuals in it equally, but I’m not from one of those. I’m from where the majority is constantly getting spooked flock of fainting sheep from Scotland, and they will feed a sheep to the wolves daily if it means the rest of them don’t get startled. They’re a big flock, so they tell themselves the number of dead sheep is negligible... woah, this just got heavy. Thank You for coming to my TED talk.