[video]

[not-polish.livejournal.com]

[see Sally.

see Sally standing outside the Porter building putting on her camera face. aka her 'everything's fine, don't worry about me' face.]

Looks like I missed some fireworks, huh? Figures this place wouldn't have the decency to bring me back in a few hours ahead. I would've liked to have seen the show.

[she looks, hesitant, but there's a laugh and it's like there's not a problem in the world with her.]

I'm back. Again. Guess the City has a bad habit of not letting go. But it's nice to be loved by a City, even if it isn't really New York.

[there's a pause, and she looks around. maybe she should hit a bar up before she heads to see if her old apartment will still take her in........]

How was your fourth of July?

[Video]

[son_of_vell]

[The video starts showing Teddy in his and Billy's room at the Maximoff house. Teddy's on the bed, back against the wall and one knee hugged to his chest. He's holding the comm in a way that his knee is blocking the view of his face from the nose down.]

Billy's gone...

I think he got sent home.

[A long pause.]

I got up for a minute and went to the other room and when I got back to bed he wasn't there. I can't find him anywhere.

[He stares at the camera. It looks like he tries to say something a few times only he can't think of the right words. After the second try he just turns off the feed.]

cut one || video

[sharptouch]

[ And the video starts to the sight of a big pair of sears at menacing angle. A camera with scratches on it. Big scary scissors everyone and tiny scared voice that doesn't quite go with those really sharp objects ] It's on?

[ The sharp objects move and everyone now has a view of Edward looking down at the camera with a frown. Down because the com is on the floor. The com is on the floor because he turned on with his foot ]

...hello? It said hero. [ such an unsure pause ] I don't belong here.

♘03 - Audio/Action

[just-daine.livejournal.com]

The fireworks... they're really beautiful! I can see them from so far away, it's incredible. Do they do this often here, or is it just for today?

[ Action ]

[ Tonight Daine is a squirrel, flitting from tree to tree to find the perfect vantage point from which to see the fireworks. Nobody mind that the squirrel happens to be dragging clothes along with it the whole way.

Once the show is underway, Daine figures nobody will notice her getting dressed up in the top of a tree. ]

(voice.)

[dreamsonaplane.livejournal.com]

[... there's just silence at first, a heavy sort of nervous breathing before someone who sounds way more entitled should be in this situation.]

If you're looking for a randsom, I doubt you'd get it. Though, if you're more of the Morrow's more zealous - [a pause, as if he can never ever remember to correct himself] - if you were a zealous shareholder, I'm afraid you're too late. It won't do you any good, the Morrow is good as gone and your shares aren't worth anything.

[Wait - did he just give away that he's useless as a hostage? Crap.] Look, if you let me go and let me go back to - well, it doesn't have a name yet, but if you let me go, I'll be happy to compensate you for the effort of returning me safely.

[B( not before every government agency finds you and takes you into custody!!!]

01 | voice

[likethetragedy.livejournal.com]

[A very irritated female voice is addressing the Network at large.]

You know a lot of people have tried to kidnap me over the years but, I've got to hand it to you guys. Not only did you succeed, you managed to come up with a unique demand. Handing me a phone, some dog tags, and trying to convince me to become a vigilante....

Is this your way of messing with me or am I drugged out of my mind in some hole somewhere hallucinating this?

Out of all the people in New York City, some of which already run around in masks and tights to defend the public and would be happy to play along with this, I can't believe anyone would pick me to protect them. I'm not sure if whoever is in charge is insane or incredibly stupid and honestly I don't care. I have something important to do. Someone who I actually want to defend needs me right now and you're getting in my way. Unless you want me to show you what I can do I suggest you return me to him immediately.

[There's a pause, almost like she's done threatening, before she speaks again in a calm, even voice. This time she has the sense to reign herself in. He's worth swallowing some of her pride for.]

But I can settle for information for now. There was a man with me. I was holding his hand so he has to be here with me. I know he wouldn't have let go. He's very tall, has dark red hair, and pale skin. Right now he's in a tuxedo and wearing sunglasses. He's blind so I don't know if he can find his way around here and he shouldn't have to. Whoever is listening to this if you could just give me an idea of where to find him...

[Her voice drops slightly. She still sounds in control but, there's something else there: desperation. Elektra can't stand the thought of something happening to him. Matt doesn't have someone willing to give the world to spare his life. He could be dead right now because of it.]

Please. I have to protect him from whatever is going on here. 

Video

[the-other-kaiba.livejournal.com]

Hey, everyone!  My birthday is on the 7th.  Everyone should come over, because a big party is the best kind!

[Thankfully, he retains enough presence of mind to NOT post his address.  People he knows already have it, or it can be asked for privately.]

Eleventh Inquiry [text] it's like collecting pokemon

[nottheanswers]

So it's come to my attention that we have a number of new visitors that haven't bothered to introduce themselves. Poor manners if you ask me.

So if the owners of the following comm numbers could please step forward and be counted we'd certainly appreciate it.
{mackons}
{pointyarms}
{freaklike}
{wouldntthatbe}
{tobereckoned}
{airypotter}
{watchovers}

[The rest of the post is filtered from the previous seven comms.]

There's been mention of someone monitoring the Network. Figure these are the most likely suspects.

[ooc: Yeah he left out neckbeardless, but that guy made an intro post so there's no reason to single him out!]

first hack :: [video]

[leftymitt.livejournal.com]

[The feed clicks on to show a young Asian man with dark hair in a shaggy, longish cut. He's somewhere between 18 and 25, but it's hard to tell really, and he's wearing a red hunting cap with the flaps pulled down over his ears. After a second, his eyebrows furrow and he mutters something while adjusting the comm. The feed flickers and there are a few nanoseconds of white noise before he reappears, now with his face covered by this icon.]

There we go. The technology here makes it hard to work in real time, I guess. I thought the same would be true for language, but babelfish is doing pretty well as long as there's a network around to support the buffer. There's a dirty word, buffer. There's a word I didn't think I'd ever have to use, since it makes it so hard to work in real time and all.

But that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about, if you want to know the truth. For starters, the AI that greeted me was pretty rude and unhelpful, to be honest. She wasn't helpful at all and I think her information wasn't too hot either since I'm not much of a hero by conventional definition. That's a pretty common misconception though, so I'll let it slide. Even though it just proves that her information really isn't too hot.

But I wanted to talk to you about telling lies, I guess. Telling lies and keeping things from people. I guess I expected it to be different here, is all. But you all like to keep so much from each other and from all those people you're supposed to be protecting. You're all so phony to them I can almost hardly stand it and I really haven't been around here long. It's a little unfortunate and I guess I just thought the past would be different.

If this really is the past, I mean. The AI seemed to imply it was, but there's really no telling what with her information being not too hot and all. If this isn't the past and is really some elaborate VR prank, I'm impressed. The simulation generator you're running this on must be pretty top notch and I don't impress easy. But since I'm pretty sure it isn't a simulation, I guess I'm just gonna ask you all to stop lying to each other so much. Would you try to stop lying and be truthful with each other from now on? I guess that's all I really wanted to ask.

[There's another flicker of white noise and the feed goes black leaving only the icon for a second. Eventually it too drops off and the screen looks completely dead for a second before resuming whatever other normal network shenanigans were going down.

One thing of note here is that Aoi's comm number has been replaced by the Laughing Man icon. should anyone try to look him up through the comm number, that's all they'll find.]

~098 [ VIDEO ]

[meowminx]

[ Someone's out and about in the City. The video shows more of the streets than the speaker. ]

I don't really think about it most of the time, but I guess I have been stuck here longer than most people. Been sent home a few times, but a lot more time passed there than here.

And the why of it doesn't make any more sense now than it did way back when.

[ Someone's in a contemplative mood and she doesn't seem too pleased about it. ]

Most seem to settle in here okay after a while. Hell, maybe some are happy to have a second chance or whatever you want to call this. But I'd bet most of it is just adapting to whatever crap life throws at you, even when it's as screwed up as getting tossed between realities.

[ A little pause. ]

A lot of people are better at adapting than they realize.


ENCRYPTED to Tom
Interested in taking over managing the bar when you get back?


ENCRYPTED to Cassandra
You doing okay running things at the dojo?


ENCRYPTED to Bruce
How do you feel about rolling the operation of the Starlight Center into the Wayne Foundation?

Some people call me the Space Cowboy, some people call me the Gangster of Love [Video]

[boogaroos.livejournal.com]

Finally back home... By the way, Robo-building-babes, got presents for all of you. Flying Fox is looking goddamn tits.

Got a nice list of shite that needs to be made, so going to be burning the midnight oil.

Entertain me with your stories. Best trip you've ever had? Could be psychedelic or otherwise.

five songs [VIDEO do i even need to label these as video anymore]

[princesscliche.livejournal.com]

[THIS IS EARLIER TODAY.

the camera is shaking with activity today, but a happy, hair-bouncing Giselle is there, able to tilt the device well enough while carrying a big box of...something. you can't see it. DEAL WITH IT.]

Oh, hello! Hi! I hope everyone's doing well today! Wasn't last night just wonderful? I'd never seen anything like it! It was so magical. When can I see something like that again? I hope it's not just a one-time thing!

Oh--but--! [shifting, distracted a moment as she adjusts her grip on the box as she walks, chirping a little 'excuse me!' at someone.] But I wanted to let you know! I'm giving away some yummy treats today. You see, while Rapunzel was missing and everyone was looking for her and everyone, well, I just got so worried and I thought--I thought, Giselle, you can't just sit here and worry! Do something productive! So I went down to this adorable little market and they had so many fresh strawberries that I just couldn't say no and--[breath.

a winded giggle.] Well, needless to say...I wound up making too much! So, instead of letting it all go to waste...If you'd like some, you should come and take some! They're very good.

I'm...oop! I'm taking them to the park! Me and my friends. You should come by!

In just a few minutes...

third pie; video

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

[Ned is situated in the middle of The Pie Hole. He's grinning from ear-to-ear, panning the camera around to a neon "OPEN" sign hanging in the window.]

With Jim's help, opening was a bit ahead of schedule. As of right now, the Pie Hole is officially open. All of you are welcome, and the first slice is free.

My name is Ned, but you may get greeted by either Jim or Shahrazad. I hope to see you all there.