Forget Spooktober, How About Softober | OPEN TO ALL

[forgeabettertomorrow]

WHO: Darin Altway AND YOU!!!
WHERE: All over the place!
WHEN: October!
WHAT: Softember transitioning into Softober
WARNINGS: The usual Darin Shenanigans always possible


HEROPA

Now here's something Darin hasn't had a tremendous amount of time to do lately; fishing! And since the weather is starting to cool down, it's the perfect time to hit the piers of Heropa to try and find a good fishing spot. You'll find him staring longingly at boats, still waiting for the day when he can get one himself, and the shake himself out of his malaise to sit on the edge of a pier or scurry under a boardwalk before pitching his line and relaxing. Usually, he hauls in garbage, but he doesn't seem too perturbed. He just sees it as cleaning up the ocean little by little. Aside from that, he'll be lounging and reading or working on designs in his notebook or tablet. A fishing buddy is always welcome!

DARIN'S FORGE - NONAH

With the expansion of Darin's Forge from one warehouse in Nonah to three, a number of major renovations have been taking place. What once was a humble business operated out of a warehouse has now changed into a rather large complex, complete with testing and training areas, an abundance of storage, and several work stations, all available for use if he's brought you on to work. What kind of work gets done here? Who cares! Innovate! Make whatever you want! Science! Engineering! Art! Want to use a workstation for a day? Come on by and don't forget your safety goggles! Darin will likely be between projects, but he'll be coming by to see if you need help or want to work on anything together! Or if you want to commission him for something or just talk shop, he'll be at his own ginormous work station, putting together something or other.

DE CHIMA

Wandering one of De Chima's many malls, Darin can be found slurping down a slushie while he looks at one of those pop-up costume shops that always randomly appears for the month of October before either disappearing altogether or becoming a Christmas stall. He never understood how someone could do business this way, but he digresses. He's currently looking at the imPort themed costumes. Let's see there's Buff Pirate Dad, Team Skeleton Thuglord, Owlman, Robot Gunslinger, Masked Warrior Princess, Hot Space Elf, Magical Girl, Tabletop RPG Sorceress, Power Space Ranger, and...

Wait a second this one's clearly him. What the hell's this one call—

"ANIME GUY?! WHAT THE HELL?!"

MAURTIA FALLS

For once, Darin isn't patrolling for Aegis. In fact, he's just wandering around enjoying the rather brisk fall day. He's enjoying a hot apple cider, while wearing a new white hoodie, one he had custom made with his family crest on the back. He's taking a rest, sitting on a park bench and watching the leaves slowly flutter to the ground. He'll likely pop by the bakery to grab some apple tarts or something else of that nature. You know, something in season. Apples, peaches, honestly anything suits him. This is his favorite time of year and the odds of you catching him with some sort of baked good or snack is super high. He might be putting on weight, actually.

(OOC: Feel free to top level with your own prompt, or if you want to work something out, ping me at bitterbearface

Comments

Closed to Shiro

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin was pleasantly surprised to see Shiro drop by the forge unannounced. They haven't had much of a chance to get to know each other and with all of his work and his time split between the Forge and Aegis, he'd been meaning to make time for the Paladin leader.]

Shiro! Welcome to the Forge! What brings you in??

['The Forge' is definitely impressive. It looks more like a military installation and engineering bay now, which is a far cry from how it started.]

Have a seat! Want anything to drink? Coffee Tea?

[spaceforged]

Nothing for me and sorry to drop in without calling ahead. [He hasn’t known what to say. Everything he thinks about it his mind blanks. Explaining it over the phone felt too large. He takes a moment to glance around. The Forge is a reassurance that he made the right choice.

Time to actually say it.] I need someone to check over my arm. You said you wanted to before and I need it checked.

[The reason why...Shiro continues his tone as neutral as his face.] From what little I know about the future, I want to sure it can’t be used against the team. That I can’t be used that way.

It’s...creator isn’t here. [He finally sits down and runs a hand over his face and into his hair.] But that doesn’t mean someone couldn’t use it that way. Sorry to ask something like this of you. I’ll understand if you would rather not do this.

Closed to Keith

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Well, this could prove interesting. Seems like a museum in Maurtia Falls is opening an exhibit on a newly donated collection of 'Medieval Armor and Weaponry.' Apparently they'll even have a fully restored trebuchet and ballista.]

[Darin really wanted to go...and there was one person he knew who loved knives as much as he did.]

[So Keith will be getting a call on his comm one day.]

Hey, Keith! It's Darin! You wouldn't happen to be free today, would you?

finally here!! sorry for the delay

[lonered]

[Keith, honestly, is okay with the fact that he comes to mind at the thought of loves knives. Because he sure as hell can't argue that. In his defense, it apparently runs in his blood.

That said, he's also pleasantly surprised to get a call from Darin.]

Hey. Actually, I am. No shifts at the cafe or anything.

[Which is a relief at the moment.] What's up?

Closed to Cecelia

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Ever since his close encounter of the elemental kind on the roof last month, Darin's been beside himself with the knowledge that Cecelia was somehow part dragon. That was so cool and so impressive and if he thought so, that meant that Cecelia hated it. Which was infuriating for the both of them because Darin had so many questions and Cecelia had zero intentions of cooperating.]

[Which meant it was time to be covert about his queries.]

[Somehow, Darin had gotten access to a rather large plasma globe with conducting rod, which he had placed on a cart. He'd made sure the cart's wheels were oiled so it wouldn't squeak when he did his absolute best to wheel it behind the couch where Cecelia was attempting to watch television. She said she could sense lightning, so obviously, this was the best way to test this. It's not like her elvish ears will hear a six foot lumbering jackass wheeling a cart of constantly buzzing electricity her way.]

[This plan is flawless.]

[adamantlyardent]

[oh, certainly. there is nothing more stealthy, truly.

except she's got exceptional hearing, and his enthusiasm's got his heart hammering loud enough to be a palpable tap on her shoulder. of course, she's not going to investigate right away, not until commercial. like, honestly -- whatever this idiot's doing? it can wait until after this spicy stupid cat fight between Shea and Bethany over Julian. the second it cuts to black after the long-awaited face-slap, she peels her eyes away and glares over her shoulder, ear twitching.]

What are you doing now? [blink blink. squint.] What the hell is that?

Closed to Lucina

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[One of the local schools is looking for help in decorating their school for the upcoming fall festivities! That meant carving pumpkins! Painting gourds! Making scarecrows and other fun crafts! Who else to tackle this most noble of tasks than two blue-haired clowns that don't know the meaning of subtlety!?]

[Darin knocks on Lucina's door, assuming she had procured all of the necessary craft tools and paints and other assortment of things. Darin raided a pumpkin patch and currently has a truck parked out front literally bursting with gourds.]

Hey, Lucina? You there? I brought the stuff! Sidenote: I'm not welcome at Gourdon Ramsay's Pumpkin Patch anymore...

[fauxmarth]

[she has gotten what was needed and then some: notes from her practice round with Archie! because it's not enough to be prepared with supplies, she needed to train a bit in advance to make sure she wasn't completely incompetent or caught off-guard! she's not a craftswoman by trade, after all...

she's stuffed her share of the supplies in her duffel bag, already on her shoulder when she greets him at the door.]

Ah, greetings, Darin! I've got--wait, what? [she frowns.] Why? What did you do?

De Chima

[helpdesk_hero]

To be honest, David wasn't even paying attention to the people around him. He had just finished up a round of tutoring with a kid whose parents felt the best environment to learn it was a mall food court, because if she could focus in the noise and bustle and interesting things of the mall, she could handle a noisy classroom. Not entirely wrong. David, for instance, had been so caught up in a podcast and the like that he didn't catch the shout from one of those pop-up booths beyond the food court until the last words.

'What the hell' definitely gets his head snapping up, and David quickly piles everything into his satchel before heading over toward the source of the noise, only to find a man staring at costumes. Including one that might, vaguely, look like the stranger.

Sometimes heroic instincts were just wrong. Still, he had to ask.

"Is everything okay, sir?"

[forgeabettertomorrow]

"Everything is not okay!"

Darin turns and shows the concerned citizen the costume that is vaguely supposed to look like him. It certainly has spiky blue hair but the color is off, the outfit is like a cheap facsimile of what he wears, and what's worse (to Darin at least) is that the blacksmithing hammer he always carried is replaced with a dinky, fake hatchet.

Also, he's drawn terribly.

"How the hell is this supposed to be me?! What the hell is 'anime' even?!"

Forge

[mysterioisthetruth]

[Beck had spent half the day working on replica orders for the forge. His enthusiasm for practical work had been renewed recently and so he was very productive on this day and a good amount of items had been made. But now, later in the afternoon it was time to work on his own tech and he'd set up a corner in which he was putting together small robotics. It was clearly a work in progress as he experimented with different parts and there were a lot of scattered, abandoned parts in a pile to the side of the table. He was so focused on attaching tiny propeller blades, he didn't immediately notice he was no longer alone.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[At some point, Darin his wheeled his chair over and has been watching with no small amount of curiosity and amazement as Beck works.]

You know, robotics have always amazed me. Is what you're working on meant to be manually controlled or automated?

De Chima

[hatestrashcans]

Marco is currently carrying around a basket full of imPort themed costumes. What? He thinks they're hilarious. He sort of has started collecting imPort related merchandise. (He does the same thing at home with Animorphs knock-offs, as well as writing angry letters about how obviously there are going to be cheap knock-offs, but he is a gorilla not a monkey and Tobias is a red-tailed hawk, not an eagle, morons.)

"Oh oh! Hey!" Marco hears someone yell something about an 'Anime Guy' costume, "Wait, wait, don't take it, I still need that one!"

[forgeabettertomorrow]

"Take it? I wanna pitch it into a dumpster! You're telling me you actually want this thing? It's totally inaccurate!"

Don't mind him, Marco. Darin hates shoddy workmanship of any kind.

another de chima one babey

[h2no]

[these stupid knock-off costumes roll around every year for halloween, sometimes during fanport as well. every year, it's funny to see new imPort confusion about them-- even if darin isn't necessarily... new anymore. he takes the buff pirate dad costume off the counter, eyebrow raised.]

My costume last year was better, I reckon. [he comments, amiably.] It was sluttier. Look at this crap, I'd wear this of a normal day!

[a beat.]

Actually... [he takes a few dollar notes out his pocket to buy it. archie, your sense of fashion has never been worse.]

How did I know

[forgeabettertomorrow]

What...did it look like last year?

No, actually, you know what? I'm don't want to know. You're not on the short list of people I'd want to think about in those types of costumes.

Forge

[slapfight]

Peridot had been quick to assume that Darin's set-up wouldn't be comparable to Bismuth's, and she's shocked to be wrong (though she'd never admit this out loud), and it kinda makes her wish Bismuth was here so she could see it. And also Lapis, though she'd care less about it. That's just a side effect of missing Lapis.

This is her first time properly visiting and she is in awe of it all as she spins in place, taking it all in. "It's so much bigger than I thought it would be."

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Darin laughs, puffing his chest out in pride.

"Well, I've been here for almost two years now! I had to have something to show for it! I only recently just expanded to the other two warehouses and completed renovations. Make yourself at home! My forge is your forge!"

Maurtia Falls 👀

[golisolation]

[One of the times Darin's emerging from the bakery to load himself up on baked goods, he'll be greeted to the sight of two Skull grunts...trying to upend one of those blue mailboxes that's bolted to the sidewalk. They thought it'd be a quick job, and yet...

It's almost comical in a way. One has a crowbar and is trying to break the rivets, while the other is pulling on the top to assist in loosening it. But the moment the bakery door opens, they turn with scowls with an attempt to intimidate Darin like they seemingly have everyone else on the street that's dared to come close enough, or even look at them funny—but the looks fade quick when they see how big Darin is. Not to mention the recognition of who he is.

Eyes wide, they look to each other, then to Darin. For a moment that feels like forever in their mind, they consider fleeing, and they're about to, but then a familiar voice to all three of them sounds from around the corner of the bakery's building:]

Yo, whaddaya doin'?

[Guzma doesn't notice Darin at first due to the angle, but once he's fully around the corner (Golisopod behind him), facing the three, he stops. That usual posture of his in full effect as he looks at the situation going on right now: Darin fresh from the bakery with some tarts, two of his goons trying to...steal a mailbox in broad fucking daylight? Right in front of the bakery in which Darin was in...

The grunts scramble to explain themselves, both cutting the other off with a peppering of stuttered "B-Boss!" here and there. Their explanations don't make much sense, and they seem to contradict each other to boot, they even look fit to fight each other over which is the right version of the story.

Guzma closes his eyes for a second to breathe a sigh through his nose as the two idiots continue, before snapping them open again, an annoyed scowl on his face. Maybe he'd be less annoyed with them if it wasn't for Darin being right there, but it is what it is!]

YO!

[They freeze and stare at him like fearful deerlings in headlights. The glare he gives them tells them enough, and with a muttered "s-sorry boss!" from both of them, they scram. Leaving Darin alone with Guzma and Golisopod. What a fucking circus that was, huh?

As if this is at all an appropriate segue from that, Guzma gives Darin a glance over before grinning.]

You, uh...bulkin' up for our next fight?

[Of course it's said with sarcasm dripping from the words. He seems fit to ignore that whole exchange with his grunts even happened.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Well, that was surprising. It's not like Darin was going to stop them. Dumb teens were going to be dumb teens and if they somehow managed to abscond with a fucking mailbox then they probably deserved to keep it. Besides, it was his day off and if the cops in Maurtia Falls can't handle a couple of powerless thugs, then this town had way more problems.]

[He didn't expect Guzma, of all people, to chase them off like that. He wondered what that was about but knew better than to question it outright. Instead, he laughs at Guzma's assessment.]

Please. You think bulking up is the way to go about getting by you? I see how you move. If anything, I'd be trying to get faster, now slower.

Fall just happens to my favorite time of year. The food is always the best.

[He turns the box of tarts and pastries around and opens it, offering one to Guzma and, of course, Golisopod.]

De Chima

[monster_san]

[Darin yelling is a familiar sound to Fuu, but she wasn't expecting to encounter it out and about in De Chima. And the words he does yell are strange enough that she'd have to come and investigate even if they were happening at home.

She surveys the Halloween costumes and thinks she can pick out several that are a bit too familiar.]

Oh dear... I think there may be some copyright infringement going on here.

[and yes, there's the "anime guy" and... oh, if she could say it wasn't accurate, she would.

she can't. so she's trying no to smile.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Copyright nothin'! If they're gonna take the time to make the costume, at least make it look like the person you're supposed to dress as!

Look at this hair! Is this hair foam?!

HEROPA say around the tenth...?

[namesaquestion]

You won't get anything from there.

[Says the one astride his feraligatr, who's swimming lazily through the water without much direction; it's likely the cause of little to no fish. Niko himself is in a wetsuit that all but screams 'I like dark and edgy colours!' in black and dark purple. There's a tiny bit of silver trim and it's highly likely he got it custom made.

Also, blue bandanna with a black A on it. Because that's not jarring against the wetsuit.

Shockingly there's not that much bite to the words and he looks happy. Or, happier at least.]

Why not get a boat?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

You'd be surprised. Sometimes fish like to hang out just below the docks where it's nice and dark and quiet.

[Well, that sure is a familiar emblem on that bandana. Darin doesn't say anything though, he just smiles.]

You mean like, rent a boat? Or buy one?

Heropa

[mycrosstobear]

[Wolfwood comes down to the docks from time to time. Not to do anything, just to look at the ocean. It's still amazing, okay? And there's something about it that makes it easy to think, or relax. To collect yourself.

He settles himself on a post nearby in time to see Darin reel in a beer can.] It's a shame, what people will just dump in there.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

It really is. You'd think for all the complaining people do about imPorts wrecking things, they'd take more care of their own world from the start.

But hey, you know what they say: Man is a walking hypocrisy.