We're all in this train-gether 🚂

[adregem]

Who: OTA. If you’re a passenger with a ticket on this train, then you are most welcome here!
Where: Upper Music Car
When: Imagination 18, at around brunch.
What: Welcome to the train’s first ever community open forum. Come for the food, stay for the best discussions ever.
Warnings: Lots of top-levels for easy access to relevant topics to your characters, but apart from that, nothing right now! (Not a warning but a heads-up that one TL will be dedicated to the dissemination and discussion of the bonus trek during the last mission. For your OOC reference, please see here.)



Someway through the 18th of Imagination, an announcement for the already spoken for meeting is shared by the ICPs, giving people twenty minutes to come to the upper Music Carriage for the gathering. While the chairs mostly face the stage, they’ve been curved to allow people to face their fellow passengers too, so not to put the sole focus in one place.

This is a meeting for all, and everyone will have their chance to speak and be heard.

The promised snack table sits to one side of the room, and on the stage, the white board from the standard coach has been brought in, written on it bullet points for the planned topics. To assist in the flow of discussion, familiar moderators stand in place to help jot things down, carry conversation further should one idea end while another is ready to begin, among other such administrative tasks to organize the forum. Plus, the ICP’s are in constant use all throughout the meeting, with basic announcements about what’s being discussed now, and how more people are still welcome to catch up to the Music Car if they hear something that interests them.

Grab a plate, settle down, and let’s get to work.

(OOC: Specific top-levels will be set-up for ease of tagging. Select ‘Show Top-Level Comments Only’ if you would like to skip ahead! And as much as possible kindly keep to a single thread in that TL, unless a very special or private point has to be made with regards to the subject! :) Of course if you will be tagging the snacks table, the extra suggestions, or the meta-thread, this does not apply any longer.

Also, very important: Please see here for an example format of how documentation of missions can go! It is most relevant during the discussion on information gathering.)

Comments

[strawberryprotector]

"Uh huh." That was a non-answer, as far as Zangetsu was concerned. So he stepped into Raven's personal space and leaned down to look under her hood. "Ain't a chance of you bein' the scariest monster in here. Tha's my job."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven knew he was trying to intimidate her. Certainly to get a reaction, if nothing else. Fortunately, she's dealt with worse than he was so far.

It was a good thing her cowl had a deep hood, and the shadows covered her face pretty well.

"Worried I'm trying to take your job?" It was all snark as a reply.

[strawberryprotector]

Zangetsu was quiet for a moment before laughing so hard he nearly fell on his ass. "AHAHAHHAHA. Not a chance, little bird! King an' I are one an' the same."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"Just wondering." Raven just wasn't going to give in to the intimidation. "Now you've met me."

[strawberryprotector]

Straightening back up, Zangetsu gave Raven a considering look before flashing the nicest smile he'd shown to anyone but Ichigo. "If King ever needs your help, I won't interfere."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven raises an eyebrow under her hood. Before nodding, and adding. "If...you need help too, I'll try my best."

[strawberryprotector]

No one had ever offered to help him the same way they would help Ichigo before, and Zangetsu blinked in surprise. "You ever need a hand, little bird, you find a way to let me know. I'll have your back so long as King can spare me."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

The offer made Raven blink, although that was all that showed of her own surprise. "Any other questions for me? or did you just want to meet me?"

[strawberryprotector]

"Just needed ta meetcha, little bird. You an' King can go back whenever you want." Zangetsu reached under Raven's hood just to boop her on the nose. Because he could.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven wrinkled her nose in response to the boop, but resisted any other reaction. She knew it'd only feed Zangetu's urge to tease her. Letting herself focus, her soul-self was visible briefly, before she vanished from the inner world.

Opening her eyes, back in the meeting.

[strawberryprotector]

Ichigo opened his eyes as well and bowed as much as he could at Raven. "I'm sorry if he made you feel uncomfortable. Zangetsu can be an ass at times." Even if he had been quite well behaved for the young woman.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven shook her head, with a slight smile of all things. "It's okay. I can tell he's used to testing people that way, trying to get reactions. That's why I didn't give him much to work with."

[strawberryprotector]

Ichigo chuckled softly at that. "Well, you did impress him. He's not usually that well behaved with others without a fight. Part of him being mostly a hollow, I suppose."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven blinked, and tilted her head. "What's a 'hollow'?"

[strawberryprotector]

"Well," Ichigo started, taking a drink before continuing, "in my world souls do one of three things after death. They move on to the afterlife, on their own or with help from a shinigami; they turn into a hollow; or they get eaten by a hollow. If the soul doesn't pass on, and the remains of the chain that used to hold them in their body decays, they develop a hole where their heart used to be. They also develop a mask of bone and are driven to consume the souls of others as well as shinigami if they can get them."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"Sometime, you'll have to explain all of this in detail." Raven replied, with a hint of curiosity in her tone. "I'm not sure I could absorb it all right now though."

[strawberryprotector]

Hearing that made Ichigo throw his head back and laugh. "Yeah, I don't blame you. It's a lot to take in. I'll do my best not to use really crappy drawings when I explain it to you, though." Not like Rukia's Chappy diagrams.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"That would be appreciated." Raven murmured, her tone unclear as to whether it was serious or not.

[strawberryprotector]

"The friend who originally gave me my powers isn't the best artist." Wiping the corners of his eyes, Ichigo offered that tidbit as an explanation. "I know I'm a bad artist, so I won't try to subject you to that."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"I've seen some bad art in my time, so thank you." Raven responded, albeit with a hint of amusement. She was still serious.

[strawberryprotector]

"I take it you have some friends who think they're amazingly talented but who's art wouldn't look out of place at a kindergarten, too?" Really, that was the nicest thing Ichigo could say about Rukia's art.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"Supervillain." Raven replied with her usual deadpan tone.

[strawberryprotector]

Hearing that made Ichigo blink in surprise before doing his best to smother his giggles. "Was their dastardly plan to torture the world with their art?"

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"We've faced some weird ones." Was all Raven would say.

[strawberryprotector]

"You're not wrong. I mean, I was just against people that wanted to rewrite reality. So there were egos, but no bad art."