♥ November Intro Mingle Log

[hugtopiamods]

November Intro Mingle Log
Welcome to Hugtopia, and to the city of Havenwell. This mingle is meant for new arrivals to get settled and meet the other inhabitants. New characters should be the only top-levels but everyone is free to tag around and make new friends. Who knows, you may find that Perfect Hug in here. You can use the prompts here, or create a wildcard of your own.

ICly, this takes place from the 2nd to around the 10th, with a proper event coming soon after applications are processed. The prompts below are optional, but are a way to get you started if you wish. To help you create your own prompts, please take a look through our Settings and FAQ. Click on each prompt's title to see the text.

If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below.

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❥ PROMPT I: Awakening

When you awaken, you're in the last outfit you remember wearing, (up to) three of your belongings laid nearby or your animal friend curled up by you, waking as you do. A stone slab is not the most comfortable place to sleep, but once you're awake, a humanoid-looking robot comes into the room and explains that you're in Havenwell, then leads you out of the room and into the main portion of the temple where a welcoming committee of similarly humanoid-looking robots hand over a clear smartphone-sized tablet, some starting funds, and explain their dilemma. Then they release you into Havenwell to pick your new home from free housing in the city and give you the chance to settle. It might be a bit disorienting, but thankfully there seem to be a lot of robots and even some non-robots around. Maybe ask them for help? Strike up a friendly conversation, get to know your neighbours! It seems as if you may be here for the long haul.

❥ PROMPT II: Buddy System

With all the changes and the fear of a secondary attack lingering, the natives are a lot more protective of their newest arrivals. When new characters begin to appear at the temples, they receive the welcome speech, get their communicators and the simple map of the city, and a warning to stay away from the walls. Then they get taken to the front of the temple by a helpful robotic priest. Rather than turn the newcomers loose right away, they pull someone seemingly at random off the street and push the two people together with a cheerful, "It's dangerous to go alone, so please show our newest resident around. Please be buddies!" They wait until they're certain the pair is going to be moving off together before going back inside.

They try to place a new arrival with one of those who previously arrived, but who can keep track of all that, right? Characters may find themselves thrown together with an actual veteran or with another new arrival who only came here a day or even just an hour before them! Good luck helping each other out, offworlders, and don't lose your buddy!

❥ PROMPT III: Virtual Research

After the attack, every part of the city is on repair duty and the means the Entertainment District as well. As new arrivals wander the city, they might be called into one of the numerous Virtual Reality cafes. These cafes vary in layout, but most have areas for the natives to plug directly into the machines and other areas which have older looking virtual reality helmets that allow flesh bodied people experience the games. For those who need assistance with their sensory inputs, basic options like audio descriptions of visual scenes, enhanced audio and descriptive speech, closed captions, and crude mobility chairs are available. A handful of cafes have other options like direct visual or audio cortex stimulation to simulate vision or hearing, or suspension tanks to allow simulated movement, but these are currently unavailable due to damage.

All of these facilities are, unfortunately, under repair. The direct plug-in systems are easier for the robot natives to fix because they can do the most important part of it - testing - by themselves. But for the helmets and other interface systems, they need your help. Naturally, they'll pay you for the work, but they need the offworlders to play the available games and record any areas where they find glitches. Playing with a partner increases your chances of finding and fixing any issues, so feel free to log in for free for once and test any of the following games:

• Big Bass Fishing
The beautiful lake has blue-green waters surrounded by forest and rocky, reedy shores. You and your companion are on a small single-motor fishing boat and you have fishing gear - two poles in the water. As the game starts up a read-out announces the objective: Catch the largest fish before the time limit ends. What's the time limit? ...Well, that's your first glitch because it reads as static. Might as well start fishing though, right? It doesn't take long to catch a few regular sized fish, nothing too exciting, and then? You get the big one - it bows your fishing rod nearly in half as you reel it up. The fish leaps into the air and you realize this is your next glitch because the fish hangs there - the size of a minivan - and yells, "BIG. BASS. FISHING. ATTACK." The fish slaps its fins and tails at the boat and now you and your fishing companion better fight this fish or you'll end up in the lake or worse.


• A (un)Familiar Experience
Jump into the life of the temple familiars and see life from their perspective! Choose the temple, any temple is fine, and be transformed into a fledgling rainbow dragon, a purple mouse, a white raven, or a blue feline. You're free to move about the virtual confines of the temples and, in fact, you can even interact with other familiars in their temples - who may be other players in this game. Play, climb, try to get your fledgling wings to fly, tumble about with the other mice, enjoy your simple life as an animal! --or you would if you weren't an insane size. Rather than being a small mouse, you're the size of a horse. That fledgling rainbow dragon? About the size of a fly. The building sizes are off, too - one might have door that's 30 feet tall, but a ceiling that's only 12. Everything else seems fine, but those sizes? Well, you better figure out how to get around that.


• Robot Crossing
Logging in with another character will net you a little farm and a variety of games to choose from:
1. Pick and harvest as many Aellyn vegetables and fruits as you can before the timer runs out! The more you pick, the better your score. Work together with your partner to clear the field in any way you can. Strangely, once you finish clearing a tree or a field row of their bounty, they seem to magically refill when you turn your back. Strangely, when the timer runs out? It flashes 00:00 and the game...doesn't? Stop? In fact, the fruits and vegetables just keep multiplying and multiplying and if you don't hurry up you might just get buried in them all!
   
2. With a partner, use the giant slingshot to launch comically large fruits into a garden patch of other colored fruits. Match a line of 3 or more similarly shaped fruits to clear it from the field. The more fruits you can clear, the higher your score - aka welcome to Fruit Crush. Stack lines of 6 or more to get shining clear diamond fruits that clear the entire row and snag yourself some bonus points. Or they should, but whenever you clear away a matching set, the fruits explode, sending fruit bits and juice everywhere - most notably on you and your partner. Still, the game is going on and it looks like it won't stop until you finish, so good thing it's all a computer game, right? Sure feels real though - reeeeeeally sticky.
   
3. You and your partner(s) are given a magical golden pumpkin and it's your job to grow it into the largest pumpkin possible. Why? There's a county fair of course and the largest pumpkin wins! But how do you grow this pumpkin? Well, for whatever reason? This pumpkin is already the size of a grizzly bear and it just won't stop growing! You and your partner better find a way to stop it from growing out of control or you might get (virtually) crushed! You could do a song and dance routine together to touch the pumpkin's soul to teach it moderation or calm its insane vegetable puberty. You could hold hands and share stories and entertain the pumpkin until it feels satisfied that it's grown enough. You could just hack and slash at it in an attempt to reduce its unwieldy bulk. The possibilities are endless and so is the pumpkin's growth, so you better hurry!

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Comments

[yallstupid]

[Guzma...squints, dubiously. Right, robots probably aren't very, uh...savvy when it comes to high fashion. His brows knit together, and there's a wrinkle to his nose as he frowns a bit, but--]

M'sure I can manage myself, if'n they got things of the racks... Ah-- [He snaps his fingers, grumbling to himself. Damn, he nearly forgot, and this is going to be the real kicker here--] This place actually have money? I mean, like...a form'a currency?

[Cuz he is FLAT BROKE. And probably wouldn't be above stealing/shoplifting.]

[thekingsshield]

Oh, sure! But it's not real important around here. I think they let us have it just 'cause we're all used to it. Since you're new here, they'll probably let it slide.

But if doesn't work out, I'll pay! Never really needed much in munny anyway.

[Cheerful shrug!]

[yallstupid]

[Holy shit, this is a level o generosity he hasn't seen in.... EVER, honestly. He's barely just met this guy after, what, ive minutes? And he's just straight up oering to buy him a new outfit. Does...does he look that pitiable? I mean, he does look enough like an unwashed hobo that it'd probably make sense. (Somewhat) deserted island life and all that, you know.]

Wha--no joke? For real? [Free things aren't exactly new, but damn, my guy, he just MET you.] Believe me, man, if this is some kinda con, I honestly don't got nothin' on me that ain't broker than me.

[thekingsshield]

[head-tilt? Con? What's he going on about?]

Huh? ... I just wanna help out. We're all here together, why shouldn't we work together? 'Sides, I don't need money much anyhow. Get me a patch of grass to nap in, a clean river to fish, and I can't ask for anythin' more in life.

[yallstupid]

[Wow, this guy's actually being genuine and sincere. That, or really convincing. Guzma's eyebrows lift up with mild shock, but he shakes his head and waves his hand dismissively. Guess there's still a sense of community in this place, too, despite its amenities being that much more than Enso's. Good to know...he may not have to do anything, uh...'frowned upon', probably, to ensure his place here.]

Nevermind, don't sweat it. Thanks though, man, for real. If I can, I'll pay y'all back. [If he, uh...remembers, too. Ahem.]

[thekingsshield]

You don't have to do that! To me, a good smile is worth a million munny!

[Pleased, he sticks his hands and his pocket and begins to stroll. Come along, little buddy!]

[yallstupid]

[Well, if you say so. Guzma's not exactly one to push back when it comes to getting freebies. He's less a giver and more a taker, after all... But, he is genuinely thankful for the help, considering he's new here, and really hasn't come with much at all.

Following along, with his eyes peeled mostly on his equally tall comrade here, Guzma can't help but look around him as well. Is this what the tourists in Alola feel like? Taking it all in? Woof, what a culture shock...but this is pretty new, and loads different from the island of Enso. It almost feels like he's back in Alola - maybe Hau'Oli City - what with all the large building and technological advances here.]

Oh, right, uh...dunno if I caught y'all's name, my guy.

[thekingsshield]

Oh, right! I plum near forgot - my pal's usually do the introducin' for me.

[He has to laugh a little, how silly!]

The name's Goofy! It's nice ta meetcha!

[yallstupid]

Goofy? [He, uh...he's trying not to grin. Boy howdy, that's quite the name, but then again...his isn't exactly the norm either. It's based around a flower his mom liked - guzmania bromeliad - so who is he to judge when he's literally named after a flower? The airy chuckle simply can't be helped, though, it's just in his nature.] Nice.

Y'all can call me Guzma. [Somehow he feels that Goofy's not the type for the tried and true 'hand clasp' that most people like him greet others with (he seems way too polite, or just old fashioned), so Guzma keeps his hands to himself, walking with purpose at Goofy's side.] Y'been here long, homeboy?

[thekingsshield]

[No ill will felt here, he's rather used to people reacting to his name. It is what it is. But when he's asked, he does pause to count on his fingers.]

Lesse here, one... two... four or five months now? I ain't really been keepin' track.

[yallstupid]

[Guzma whistles with a slow nod of appreciation. That's quite a while, though he won't uh--...he won't mention he was trapped in the world he was in prior for a grand total of about three years. No need to break anyone's spirits or hopes of going back to their original homes. He's mean, not totally heartless.]

Dang. Well, I guess y'all's about as good as I could hope for a tour, yeah? Tch, better'n what I got when I...ffff, yo, it felt like a dream, but I swear I been here before. Like some kinda messed up introduction or whatever. [He nearly said Mu. The island of dreams, where newcomers seem to "appear" in the dreamscape before they arrive truly to the world of Lifeaftr. It's going to take a while to get out of that mindset.] This it?

[He indicates the large building they've stopped in front of. Man, it's still so weird to even see actual, thriving buildings. Sad, in a way, but weird. It's been so long...]

[thekingsshield]

[Goofy nods, giving double thumbs up.]

Sure is! Go on inside, take a look around! This place ain't too shabby... everyone's real friendly, even the robots! We all just wanna help out, and it's like y'can make a new friend every day!

[This may be leaning WAY too hard on the side of glass half full, but then look at the guy you're talking to.]

[yallstupid]

[Well, it's better than people with bad attitudes all the time. A little exhausting, sure - Guzma can only stand overly cheerful people for a number of hours - but people that grate on his last nerve are, well... They end up seeing how short a fuse he can really be.

But, he'll hold the door open for Goofy, nodding his head towards the interior.]

Y'all wanna come in, hang out here, or what? Not gonna be long, just need something what don't got no holes or stains in it. And, uh....maybe something warmer. [It may not have shown much, but boy was he shivering. The air here is cool and crisp - not hot and humid like he's used to in Alola, or on the islands. The tropical climate is where he was born and raised, a lower temperature is not something he's, uh...used to much.]

[thekingsshield]

Sure, okay!

[Without any further debate or argument, he heads on inside.]

You feelin' kinda chilly? I think in this world, they're gettin' closer to wintertime.

[yallstupid]

[And in they stride! It's not much of a shop, but at least there's enough to choose from to give Guzma at least...some semblance of a wardrobe. Plus, it looks like they can do customs, too, which is especially nice. Maybe he can get his poor, Team Skull hoodie properly tailored or, hell...just remade entirely. It's been through hell and back, though he's tried his damnedest to keep it clean, well kept, and...in one piece.

It's uh...it's still not the warmest, though. He clears his throat loudly, running fingers through his hair. Which...only reminds Guzma how badly he needs a cut. Lord, the moment he can touch up his undercut, the better.]

Yeah, uh...I ain't exactly built for the cold... Come from Alo--I mean...someplace tropical. Real hot, yeah? [Sure, Po Town was cold and rainy like, 99% of the time, but the rain was still more cool and muggy than outright cold. Plus, going a little farther toward the eastern side of Ula Ula Island, the temperature spikes back up to normal Alolan heat.] ...Dunno how y'all can function when it's this cold.

Feels like being at the base'a Mt. Lanakila. [IT DOES NOT. GUZMA IS JUST A BIG BABY.]

[thekingsshield]

[And just like that, Goofy is both distracted and curious, tilting his head.]

Mt. Lanakila...? Is that your home? What's it like?

[He wants deets on his new bff!]

[yallstupid]

Nah, guy, just a landmark. [Looking through the rack of clothes, Guzma pulls a few shirts out, holding them up to his chest and turning to look at himself in a mirror. Not bad...though he hasn't worn a long-sleeved piece of clothing in his entire life, so that's going to be new. Maybe a vest to offset the constricted feeling he's sure he's going to feel? Yeah, definitely, and some thicker pants... Faded denim? Sounds good, now to find his size...haha. Easier said than done. Guzma's waist line is easy enough to find, but his leg length? Woof, he's a tall guy, so it's not so easy to find pants that don't end up a few inches short.] Tallest mountain on the archipelago, and the island I live on. It's high 'nuff that it actually gets snow on top of and even 'round the base. Prob'y the only place in Alola what's got actual snow.

Dunno for sure, but I think Ula Ula Island is the one what's got the highest elevation outta all'a them in Alola, but don't quote me on that. [He finds some pants, tilting his head to one side, chewing his lower lip.] Gonna try these on, gimme a few, yeah?

[thekingsshield]

Aw, I love snow! It's not too great to nap on, but makin' snowmen and sleddin' are some of the best parts about winter!

['Give him a few'? Oh, he must mean privacy!]

Take your time, pal! I ain't got much of a schedule anymore, now that I'm in this world.

[So he casually turns around.]

[yallstupid]

[Nap on?! Yo, is this guy for real? Does he know that's potentially life threatening?? Snow causes fatigue, because the body temperature drops, and tries to preserve energy. Sleeping in or on snow is a surefire way to NEVER WAKE UP AGAIN.

Guzma purses his lips, clicking his tongue, and just forgoes that somber train of thought, letting it derail straight into the hell pit where it belongs as he strides off toward the changing room to try on his new clothes to see how well their fit. The shirts and vest are fine enough, some a bit tighter than he'd like, but he can easily just stretch them out or wear them in. They are his size. The pants...decent, but the pant length is still a hint shorter than he'd like. Going to have to get some boots to tuck them into.

He walks out, looking at himself in a full length mirror, tugging at the neck area of the turtleneck he grabbed.]

Ugh, this stuff's suffocating... Never had to deal with this in Alola...

[thekingsshield]

[he turns back around, and gives applause! Applause!]

Wow, pal, you look great! And real comfy too! How'd you feel about 'em?

[It looks like great stuff to nap in! Goofy just... really likes naps, okay...]