exsilium | 001 ][ video

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001 ][ video

[ despite how hard she's trying to appear calm and collected, Gwen's eyes are wide, voice a little rough. she's not about to burst into tears, nothing to dramatic. but enough bad news might make her switch from video to text. she can't be away from her family right now, she just can't. there's too much going on, not to mention finals and- right. ahem. the camera is rolling, so to speak. ]

Hi. [ ahem ] Hello. I'm not sure who's receiving this video message, which seems a little dangerous, but I thought this would be better than not attempting to use this device at all. My name is Gwen, Gwen Stacy. About two hours ago, I was on my way to work - at the Oscorp Tower in New York, for reference - and now I'm... here. Just like that. [ and it's clear she doesn't like that fact at all. ] I'm not hurt, and I don't remember being taken or anything, it just- it's like I blinked, or- or tripped off of a curb, and ended up falling into that room. Which makes no sense. [ yeah, despite having a very polite woman walk her through that introduction here, help her with her weapon ( WEAPON, who gives out guns? honestly. ) and her new belongings, she's still completely unconvinced that this is all real. how can it be? ]

So, I just have a couple of questions, if anyone wouldn't mind taking the time to answer them for me:

One: Where are we really? In relation to New York City, specifically.

Two: Is there any way this can all be cleared up and sorted out so that I can be home by 8pm? My mother's cooking dinner for the family tonight, and I really shouldn't be late or she'll start to worry. And trust me, you do not want to see what my mother gets like when she's worried. It's bad. [ even heh!ing and doing an 'oh boy' sort of handwave as her eyes get a little bigger. hell hath no fury like a worried Helen Stacy, folks ]

I'd say those two questions are all I have so far, so.

--Thank you!

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( There's something of an amused smile at this end. Maybe. Just slightly. )

We should get a bloody tally going of how many of you yanks are gonna turn up and how many of you are from New York.

( Her accent gives her away as an Australia, and while she might be cheery for those first few moments, she sobers up pretty quick. )

I dunno if you're gonna like the answers to either of your questions though, hey.

Edited 2013-04-02 05:41 (UTC)

[Hell hath no fury? Obviously you haven't met Galadriel. Her mom could be absolutely terrifying.]

Hail and well met, Gwen. I am Celebrían. I'm sorry, I can't tell you how near 'New York City' would be. I'm not entirely certain how far that this place is from my own home.

[It's not a good news kind of day, sorry Gwen.] And I'm afraid that you cannot return home at your own whim or all those of us who have a dislike of war would have returned home already.

You've gotten some answers from people already, but I think you'll be either pleased or very distressed to know that, as far as anyone can tell, when you go home, you go right back to where you came from. So no matter how long you stay here, you'll be home in time for dinner.

From the maps, this island apparently was once called 'England', and we're in a place once called 'London'. I can't tell you how far away that is, but if the locations have meaning to you, that might help.

[ are gonna turn up. what, is it a normal thing for people to be kidnapped and brought here? sure, the tour guide sort of implied that there were a large number of people being brought here to help, but- that's- great. okay. that's not alarming at all, no. ]

I think I would rather have answers I didn't like than not have any answers at all.

[ SHE THINKS. ]

If you wouldn't mind.

All right. ( She can respect that. Better to tear off the bandaid. Although, when people said that, she wondered just how severe the injury was, or why they didn't just soak the bandaid off. The world of Ellie Linton, ladies and gentlemen: derailing, even inside her own head. )

It's some-- future version of England. And you're gonna want to get used to the idea of "versions" and different realities and worlds, that a big thing here. So, we're in London, or what's left of it, and I dunno what kind of state New York is in, these days. ( She'd looked at maps, but there was so much that was terrible to see. The new girl didn't need to know about that, yet. )

I've been here a couple of months, I got mates that have been here heaps longer, or not all that much more. Or less. People turn up, and a bunch of people try to work out plans to escape or get home, but that lot that got us here, they drag us in and don't have any kind of option for getting us back. Some of us'll just disappear, like that-- and the rest of us will still be here.

( She delivers it straight, logical, because you just need to get the facts out and lay it all bare. ) Sorry it's not better news. ( And, after a pause. ) It's a lot to take in. You doing all right?

[ whaaaaaa-t? there's just a brief lift of her brows at first, because she's only been to Medieval Times once, but suddenly she's thoroughly reminded of it. that. wasn't what she was expecting to hear. the woman also looks, like, unnaturally pretty. no, that's not right, unnatural, because it's definitely a natural kind of beauty, only it's- intimidating. wow. it takes her a moment to reply; ]

Nice to meet you, Celebrian. Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking. I suppose I kind of assumed we might have all been from- Not all from New York, but. Well. I assumed too much, obviously. [ hhhk. huff. ]

That actually is a little bit reassuring. The fact that you know that means it is possible to go home, even if we apparently don't much say in the matter.

[ but then she's back to being all wide-eyed again ]

It's- far. Then again, if we're really in the future, I guess I should be more concerned with when than where.

[ hang on one moment he just dropped his tablet

spider reflexes what are those ]

It's something like the year thirty one hundred and bits. if you know England and London, and if the numbering didn't change, then you should know how far out you are.

I'm Meliantha. And yes, this is how I always look. I'm not completely human, no. Those are the questions I tend to get asked first, you see.

[She gives a small, wry smile.] I'm very much not from here.

[ the tablet flips around from a nice view of the floor to a view of his face, and he's grinning like an idiot. ]

Sorry - that was probably - I just, I wasn't really expecting to- [ why is he trying to qualify his surprise, here. ]

It is really, really good to see you.

[ then the grin vanishes abruptly, and it's replaced by a look of almost frantic concern. ]

Are you okay? I mean, you just said you were okay. But this is - this is weird, right? I know it's weird, I just got here a few months ago, but. I am so glad to see you.

[ repetitive, but he's kind of stream of consciousness at the moment. ]

[ Gwen's an attentive listener, don't like her silent nods fool you. she's just trying to absorb this with as little reaction as possible. considering her gut reaction to all of this right now is something along the lines of HA HA HA OH YEAH? NOPE. so. she's keeping that on lock down. basically she's supposed to get used to the idea of - time travel, alternate realities, disappearing and reappearing without any say in the matter, and that she's here to help defend or protect or whatever some country that is no longer England.

s u r e ]

Yeah, I'm okay.

[ NO SHE'S VERY OBVIOUSLY NOT because she's got an Oscorp Intern Smile© plastered on her face, and she nodded probably three too many times. ]

[ Gwen's just sort of blinking at her screen for a second because she can't figure out if she's relieved or completely horrified by the fact that Peter's here too. ]

Hi.

[ because Peter being here means it's probably real or her completely screwed up Nutella-nighttime-snack fuelled dream just felt like introducing Mr. Parker to the mix. not that she was asleep before she got here. maybe she just dreamed the whole day before then. what is happening to her brain

she opens her mouth to say something like I'm glad to see you too or are you okay? or what do you mean, months? but instead all that comes out is a huff of air like she's maybe possibly offended ]

Where are you? Peter. Where, um. Where can I find you? Like right now. In this place where you've been for a few months now.

[ is she mad? she can't tell. but her face probably looks mad. this is possibly how she hides her panic ]

( Bullshit, lady. Ellie's eyebrows are set to arched. ) Uh, okay. ( Mmmhmm. ) When I got here I thought I was dead, or crazy, or both.

( If Gwen would be reassured by a bit of perspective, that is. Actually, maybe that isn't the most reassuring thing she could say. ) "This place is pretty messed up" is about the biggest understatement you can ever get, but the people are decent. A lot of them, anyway.

[ ... no but really, is she mad. he's not entirely sure. but it doesn't really matter because she's here, so he'll take it. except maybe he won't, because here isn't exactly a vacation or a cruise ship, and - well, maybe new york wasn't safer, precisely, but at least it wasn't at war.

what that all boils down to is he has no idea what to say and there's a long pause as he stares, half in disbelief and half because that is totally gwen on the screen, before he manages an answer. ]

Uh, apartment 301. [ a beat, then he realizes why she's asking. ] I can - um, I'll come to you. Where are you?

[ it's the staring from his end that makes her realize her expression got all severe and she ducks her face down just so she can hide behind her bangs, scrunch up her face until she's sure she's done doing it. which sounds stupid, but that happens, she's literally watched an intern drop their jaw in fear from the sort of looks she gets when she's nervous and feeling particularly out-of-control of a situation. it's just a thing.

she sort of squints at his answer, but it's more of a 'wait, you have your own apartment?' look before she remembers that oh right, the Initiative gives them housing. and yes, she knows, it's completely unlike her not to read all the information given to her before asking questions, but this is different. this is KIDNAPPING. ]

I'm in the Initiative building still. [ that's like basic NYC safety stuff- if she somehow ever ended up somewhere she didn't recognize, she was supposed to find somewhere she could stand inside and wait until someone could pick her up. she's only gotten off at the wrong stop twice since she started taking the subway home from work, but. well. old habits die hard. ] Near the main entrance. At least, I think it's the main entrance.

Oh. Right. That's only about a thousand years into the future. [ her sarcasm is usually much.. bubblier? more like playful snark than sarcasm. but that sounded kind of flat. which is why she frowns right after ] Sorry, I'm not the best at handling these kinds of situations. [ like she's been kidnapped before or something.. ] New things, I mean. New places. Anyway.

Hi.

It's nice to meet you, Meliantha. And oh, I didn't.. think to ask about your appearance. Although now I'm curious, what does 'not completely human' mean? [ distracted.. ]

I can't say I've taken the possibility of being crazy off the table just yet. I hate even entertaining the idea that I've lost my mind, but that makes more sense than involuntary time travel, at least. [ sigh ]

Are people really from all different realities here? Normally I would find that pretty fascinating but I can't seem to connect to that part of me just yet. [ hehh.. ] Though decent could mean any number of things..

Where I'm from, it's... well, some people refer to it as 'planet ren fest', whatever that means - we don't have guns, or these tablets, or anything like that - it's castles, and magic, and farms and swords. So I understand, a bit, how strange this can be. I was very confused for a while, and I still don't understand a lot of things that are going on.

[She sounds like she's trying to be comforting. Maybe not the best, but she is trying.]

My father was - and some people think I'm crazy when I say this, but it is the truth - only half-human. The other half of him was a demon, which for where I'm from is a creature from an outer plane that can contact mine, and they tend to be destructive and dangerous and not nice to be around. I was raised by priests, so most of the worst of those tendencies aren't in me. Mostly, it shows up in my desire to question authority and beat up people who deserve it for hurting people for no good reason.

Yes, I know it sounds crazy. But there's people here from many, many different worlds, so you might think you're crazy for a while. But no, it's here that's kind of mad. And I'm sorry for that - I had nothing to do with it, but I wish I could keep people safe from it.

No kidding. ( She's from 1993, for crying out loud. Internet was still a novelty. ) I dunno, though. I'd rather know my mind was mine. There's stuff here that I don't think I would expect my brain to go conjuring up.

( Ellie takes a moment, and sighs. Usually she leaves these kinds of things for people with more patience, but there's something that pushes her to try, because this girl seems normal (unfortunate American tendencies aside) and she has this dumb feeling like people from normal worlds need to stick together, because everyone else has a head start on the weird occurrences scale. )

Well. Since I got here, I've heard about dragons, orcs, magic. Not just one kind of magic, either, but different worlds where the magic works all different. People who can shape shift, worlds with knights and-- and time stuff, too. Like there's people from the fifteenth century and eighteenth century and twentieth century all knocking about together. ( And her first, shortlived roommate situation involved a woman with four eyes and four arms. She'll spare the new girl that. ) I mean, and they don't even make vegemite here. It's a travesty.

( The joke is weak, but she tries a smile, anyway. ) Mm. They all seem to be fully clothed more often than not, and they're good people. It seems like a good combination, to me.

[Aww, Gwen, don't be intimidated! Celebrian is really just a softy. Her parents are more intimidating, she promises.]

I don't mind your asking. I came here from Imladris, Rivendell it's called in the common tongue.

[Well, she's 'from' a lot of places but that will do for now.]

I imagine it's quite a change from what you are accustomed to, making assumptions is natural.

[ he's still staring, but that's mostly because he's not sure she's real. but then she finally answers, and he snaps out of it, because he should probably - yeah, he should probably do something. like go find her, that's a thing he should do. ]

Stay there.

[ it's abrupt, and then he goes to turn off his tablet - except that was way too abrupt, wasn't it, so he flips it back open and tries again, more calmly. ]

I'll come to you, it'll be like - five minutes. Maybe ten.

[ depending on how many people he has to dodge on his way, because he's not even bothering with the costume. sure enough, he's there about seven minutes later, and if he looks out of breath it's just because he's a bundle of nervous energy as he scans the small crowd loitering near the entrance. he eventually stuffs his hands in the pockets of his jacket to try to look less like a spaz, but it doesn't stop him from looking a bit hyper-active as he tries to spot her.

and then he does, and the dumb grin is back, but he tries to play it slightly cool by walking over instead of running. once he's in front of her, however, he freezes up. do they hug? are they on hugging terms again? he has no idea. it looks like he's going to say about eighty things, but when he finally opens his mouth, all he manages is: ]

Hi.

Oscorp? You work for Norman Osborn?

[His tone of voice is polite but a bit stiff. She doesn't sound like trouble, but ... Osborn.]

We are in an alternate universe, specifically Britain. We can none of us leave by choice.

Not directly, but, yes. He owns the company. I'm a part of the intern program, third-year.

[ Gwen shh honey, nobody cares. although maybe he does, since he's heard the name Oscorp before.. hm. if she wasn't so freaked out by the situation, she'd be a little nosier about that. maybe another time. ]

But people do go home, right? We're not suck here forever.

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001 ][ video

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let's say permavideo because i am a lazy person

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1/2 video ???

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yes video

coolcoolcool

1/?

okok 2/3

done!

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video

apparently i've decided to release the teal deers srysry

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[video]

herds them all into my pen lovingly also video -> action

video;

video;