[The video opens up with a longer-haired Lisbeth, her red-head roots showing because what does a woman have to do around here for some black hair dye? She seems distracted as she clicks around on her computer to the side. Soon, she's biting the cuticle of her thumb.]

If you could take on a project that has the potential to lead to some kind of public attention - attention on you - would you do it?

_{( Remy’s hanging out in what passes for one of the classier taverns, leaning back in a wooden chair as his hair falls over his eyes. He’s eyeing the communicator a little devilishly, and, as ever, he’s shuffling a deck of cards. And though the process is constant, he eventually pulls out exactly the card he meant to: the Ace of Diamonds. )}

Diamonds are called Coins, sometimes. If it was gonna be an element, it’d be Earth. Has ta do with the physical, your body an’ your wealth. People who do work like that, too—merchants, traders.

Sometimes it jus’ means you’re an achiever. Y’like gettin’ things done.

_{( He nods, solemnly, before replacing the card in the deck and continuing with his shuffling. He pulls out the Ace of Clubs, next. )}

Clubs’re different. Called Wands, in the old days. They’re Fire, willpower. People who do hard work, wit’ their hands. If you’re someone who likes destruction, that’s your suit. But that’s no so bad. The world needs breakin’ down an’ buldin’ up.

_{( Another nod, another tilt of his head. The next card is the Ace of Hearts. )}

Hearts’re special, some people think. Used ta be called Cups. They gotta do with Water, with emotion. People who do things spir’tually.

Hearts’re socializers. They like other people, more than things.

_{( He kisses the card lightly before shuffling it back in, pulling out the last. The Ace of Spades. )}

Now, Spades. Also called Swords, sometimes. They’re Air, freedom. But wit’ that comes unpredictability. If you’re a Spade, y’like havin’ authority. But that comes wit’ responsibility, an’ consequences.

Spades’re explorers. They like the unknown, seekin’ out what they might be ‘fraid of o’ what might bring ‘em joy.

_{( That card goes back into the deck, too. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Remy smiles at the communicator once more. )}

So, here’s a question. Which’re you?

Do you know, I've been here for a year now. Oh, how the time flies, or whatever other cliches you might like! But then with all of this time flying, I'll get straight to business and stop wasting it.

I'd like to suggest a celebration. I personally will be celebrating a year here, but I'm certain we can find a good handful of other causes, if you're in need of one to allow yourself a little food, drink, and dancing!

Ah, let's see… we might celebrate that the Initiative has finally come to its senses and realized the value of a therapeutic trip to the beach. Yes? Lovely, that one. I'm sorry to any of our new arrivals who've missed it! Or if you're not a fan, for some reason, of sun, water, and half-naked people, then maybe we might celebrate a favorite holiday from home. Calendars between here and our collective homes hardly match up, so it shouldn't be any trouble at all if it isn't the right time of year for it. Or if you're of a grimmer persuasion, perhaps we might simply celebrate the fact that, despite the United Earth's occasional brutal efforts, most of us are still alive.

So then. What do you think? Shall it have a theme? I've already done a masquerade in Versailles, it would be unsightly to do a repeat performance. I don't suppose there are any suggestions? Food requests may be delivered to Adrasteius, who I'm quite certain won't mind at all managing the banquet again. He's very agreeable like that.

[Sorry, guys. She's one of those newbies.]

For God's sake. Really? This has got to be a first. Do these people even know who they're taking in? What am I even going to do here? I'm just a radio host back home, not - whatever you think I am.

[She is no soldier worth kidnapping, no, not at all, thank you very much.]

I can't do this.

I won't do this.

[Look. She's even throwing in a pause to show how serious she is.]

Besides, Fred wouldn't begin to know what to do without me. My fiancé? I have a life back home, you know, and it can't wait. So - you ought to put me back. As soon as possible, if that's not too much trouble.

[She has spoken. ... Then she starts to press random buttons because what am this technology.]

... Hello? Can anyone hear me?

[...

beep beep beep]

( See Jules. See Jules with twenty-six shots of something dangerous arranged very neatly in front of her. She's speaking from the comfortable haze of unit 409, cigarette held between her fingers. )

I have become vaguely aware of concepts such as birthday punches, but I feel that birthday shots are infinitely more appealing.

( This is fun, okay. The only people she's really ever had around on her birthdays have been her family, or when she's accidentally been in a town on her birthday and not been run out of it, yet. )

To my dear friends in Exsilium, I most cordially invite you to join me, or take me out elsewhere.

( Isn't she the most generous? )

[Wow, Jesse is so tanned, he almost looks healthy. Almost.]

Yo, 'sup. I'm Jesse Pinkman, talking about the usual thing I talk about around this time every month. I mean cookies. You guys that're new, you probably saw me and some other people out there in the rain the day you got here, handing out free snacks and umbrellas and whatever. That's a regular thing, we do it every month for the new arrivals. It ain't a paying job, it's just like volunteer work.

Anyway, we'll be meeting up on the 30th for baking up in my unit, which is 409. Come if you want to, even if you don't know how to cook. I'll help you through it. It's real easy. It's pretty chill, no pressure, just listening to some music and making snacks. I got all the supplies we need, but if you got extra ingredients you wanna bring, that's cool. Variety and whatnot.

That's it. Door'll be open. Hope I see you there.



(( Baking is handwaved so if you wanna say you were there, you were there, but here's an example of what the newbie log thread will be like. No need for permission to participate! Jesse lets everyone help out and teaches anyone who doesn't know how to bake. ))

Good fucking job with that protective dome during the last mission, assholes.

Does anyone have aloe vera or anything to soothe sunburn?

[ Effie clears her throat. Taps the microphone. Puts on her best smile even though nobody can see it and parts her rouged lips to speak in that designer Capitol accent.

She is a woman on a mission and for once it isn't entirely selfish. ]

Attention.

Attention everyone.

Thank you.

There has been some concern as of late regarding the lack of feminine necessities available to the recruited ladies of this establishment. I have taken it upon myself to run a charitable drive for distribution of these items to any person who requires them.

We would be delighted to accept your generous donation of fine fabrics and aesthetic materials such as powder or perfume that could contribute towards a woman's well-being.

Please note, gentlemen, that this effort is as much for your sake as it is for ours, and on behalf of the ladies in Exsilium we appreciate your cooperation in advance.

[ The feed comes up to life and Gwen is by the window, watching the street outside.

Perhaps she is concerned, perhaps she's simply tired. ]

To those who helped me to improve the state of the Civic Gardens for the purpose of a memory headstone, thank you. I don't know if the recent bombings have spoiled our work but -

[ she bites on her lip, clears her throat and turns from the window. ]

I know very little of what I can do for this city. I am a maidservant, not a warrior. I don't have great powers or special skills with a sword but -

I'll help in whatever way I can. A friend of mine once taught me that every action has its significance, as small as it may appear and I suppose it's this knowledge that made him who he was. Is.

[ and she misses him. she was silly to forget that lesson. ]

....I will need more help in the Civic Gardens, if you can provide it. I will be there every afternoon. And if there are any smithies working in the city I would like to speak to them, if it's not too much trouble.

Today I've seen all the colors of the rainbow through swatches.

[GODDAMNIT JULES.]

I'm sorry to interrupt the, ah... that is, this isn't about any of — you know, the recent...

[ well this is a terrible start. A pause, an audible breath out, and he starts again. ]

I'm going to need... a programmer, I think. Anyone good with systems. That sort of thing.

[ LONG PAUSE. ]

Possibly Sollux. [ oh god kill him now. ]

_{( For once, Remy might actually be in his apartment. He's sitting on his bed, not in coat or costume but a simple cotton shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He's got a roll of cloth bandages, and is wrapping his hands methodologically. )}

Y'all really know how ta discuss, you know that? I'm very impressed.

_{( He's not, actually. He thinks the talking around such matters is a waste of time, and also a way to show the Initiative their hand. But he doesn't say so. )}

But I have ta say, all this bleak talk ain't really for me. Can't keep at it for very long. Désolé.

So, for those of you who care ta lighten the mood, here's a game. First player--that'd be me, I like ta deal--gives you a word. You say the first thing that comes ta your mind, after that. An' y'keep goin', over an' over, until someone cracks an' has ta ask the reasonin' behind your answer.

Whether y'tell 'em is up ta you.

_{( He laughs, to himself. )}

It's an option, anyways. If you don't wantta keep talkin' 'bout how unhappy y'all are.

_{( ooc / idk if this'll come up but if you want to threadjack and play with each other, i'm totally cool with that. )}

[Unusually for this network user, the transmission is purely Audio. A great deal of transports will of course recognize the voice as belonging to Kanaya Maryam. Strangers will hear a fifteen-year-old female, naturally rather mature and composed, doing her best to sound even more so. She speaks crisply and briskly with no mercy, like the distinctions between American and British English are to be stalked into a dark alley and shot in the back of the skull.]

The armageddon that occurred in the world of Elmer C. Albatross isn't the only one that's ever occurred in paradox space, you know. Just ask Asuka Langley Soryu or Rei Ayanami or Shinji Ikari. Any of them can tell you that the end of a world is always at least as ugly a thing as what happened on May Twenty-First. Anyone who escaped the planet Alternia before the meteors struck can reiterate the sentiments that Exsilium is a far better alternative to no planet at all. For many of us, Exsilium is our home now and we'll fight literally to the ends of an Earth for its sake.

I know not all of you feel that sort of debt to the Initiative. You do want to go home, this isn't your war, it's their fault. That's really too bad. Because if we let the United Earth have their way and don't develop Initiative in both senses of the word, we're all going to be post-apocalyptic refugees before long. We come from dozens of worlds. Would you like to take arms with the Initiative to fight against the reckoning, or watch each one meet the same fate Elmer's world did?

[An open question, Exsilium.]

Gwen. [ What are privacy settings? She does not care for them. ] The dress will need some taking in, about the length of a pinky.

[ Yes, she tried it on. Do not act so surprised by this, she has only one dress in this place and there will come a time when she will need a second. But she sure isn't going to sound thankful for all the work and effort that her former maid is putting into this- because she isn't. It is simply a means to an end, or something akin to that. ]

It is in front of my lodgings for you to reclaim.

[ That may as well be the end of the post, but it isn't. There is naught but silence (and some nondescript background noises) for a time until she speaks again: ]

It is a fine collection they have assembled here. Fools and jousters and men too full of themselves to see the ground beneath their feet. [ Wonder who she's talking about here? Haha. ]

And they expect these same men to save them from their tyrannical oppressors. [ Beat. ] I would laugh were it not so sad.

Ah, hey. It's... me again. It's Lee.

I'm not real sure how I could my old profession to use yet here, but I figure I can put in some skills to offer. Where I'm from, rebuilding from what's been left behind by others isn't too unusual.

Guess what I'm saying is that you're looking for some basic reconstruction -- walls, floors, that sort of thing -- I could give a hand.

With that in mind, kind of leads to my question. Mostly targeted at any kids around here, but I guess I don't really mind responses from anyone. Are there things here that keep you entertained or occupied?

[ Gwen is sewing.

There is so much time to fill these days that she takes these projects, uses them to pass her hours and keep her mind occupied with simple things rather than her worries and lord knows she has plenty.

In her lap, a dress is laid, more of a gown of silks in shades of royal blue and lighter blue. It is an impressive piece, one she is working on for many weeks on from the look of her fingers, she had poked herself with the needle more than once.

Still she works, sewing what looks like a golden embodiment on the edges.

Beside her is a cup of tea and actually, it's not the gown she wants to talk about. ]

It's rather brilliant.

[ she takes the cup, sips her tea. ]

Are they really tea-leaves? I have never heard of any leaves that can make something so wonderful. In Camelot we only have water and if you're fortunate you have milk.

[ and ale and mead and wine, but Gwen never tried those. ]

N-not that I mind the milk and the water. Or Camelot, really, I miss it quite often but -

[ she's doing it again isn't she? the babbling. She stops, smiles. ]

It is rather brilliant. Where can one find those...tea leaves? Where do they grow?