Turning over a new LIF

[maskormods]

WHO: The imPorts!
WHERE: The Ashen Tree, NYC, New York. Need help getting there? See here!
WHEN: April 14th, 8:00 PM - April 15th 1:00 AM
WHAT: The April Swearing In Guessing Game!
WARNINGS: None foreseeable!


Welcome to The Ashen Tree! This sleek, elegant private property leased out only occasionally for limited and exclusive events. The Ashen Tree is a five story, century-and-half old mansion down East 67th Street, constructed somewhat in the vein of those famed and excessive Vanderbilt houses. The theme inherent to The Ashen Tree is in black and white -- this duality means more than just visual aesthetic. There is right, and there is wrong. There is good and there is evil. There is Registered and there is Unsettled. This reoccurring dilemma won't be lost upon your hosts, governmental or otherwise.

The thrust of this Swearing In is to play a game! There will be two versions of this game. If you are newly imPorted (if this is the FIRST Swearing In that occurred since you have been ported in), then you are automatically entered into a raffle to win prizes! You can enter your name into the raffle ONCE for EVERY THREAD with A DIFFERENT CHARACTER that you have! How lucky you are! If you have BEEN here (if this is NOT the first Swearing In that occurred since you have been ported in), then you may only enter the raffle if you WIN at the game.

What is the game?

The Identity Game.

Every imPort who is in the DESIGNATED ROOMS: ROOT, TRUNK, BRANCH, and TWIGS will do their best to pretend to act like another imPort. If someone (who is also in character, just like you are) guesses what imPort you are pretending to be, then THEY may enter their name in the raffle. If you guess the pretend identity of someone else, then YOU get to enter your name in the raffle. There is no sign-up for who pretends to be whom, and there can be multiple imPorts impersonating the same imPort. That will not be regulated. The more you guess correctly someone's pretend identity (which can be achieved by threading with many people), the more you get to enter your name in the raffle. You MUST guess the identity of the imPort being impersonated correctly -- there is right and there is wrong. If someone guesses your character's impersonation correctly, then you have to tell them. You do not have to keep the same impersonation for the WHOLE LOG, but you do for at least a single thread! No changing up identity on someone. ANY imPort can play this game, INCLUDING new imPorts. While new imPorts can play the Guessing Game, or impersonate other imPorts to their desire, their eligibility to enter the raffle is still judged differently. Because they're new!

The LEAVES ROOM is the "safe" zone. You can be yourself! You can stop pretending! Well, maybe some imPorts never actually stop pretending -- maybe there is some gray between all this black and white.

Comments

TWIGS

[maskormods]

Frederick Chilton | Registered | open to all

[slightlyoffchilt]

None could persuade him from a drink. The night might be young and glamorous, but Chilton anticipated a far darker aging as the hours would wane on -- psychologically speaking, of course. When he had heard about the terms of this Identity Game, he immediately considered the cognitive ramifications: projection, ego bruising, winners and losers. It was a mind game, this whole affair. But that (professional opinion) alone wouldn't have prevented the psychiatrist from engaging socially. After all, every imPort was armed with a communicator, and therein was immediate access to speech patterns and videoed body language. A leveled field, so to speak.

Single malt scotch in hand, Chilton decided that he would nevertheless play along. A fresh impersonation for everyone was to encounter this evening, why not? One could determine social circles that way, though he suspected that his rationale for this game was somewhat singular. Chilton didn't have his eyes on those prizes, he was far more intrigued by the observable behavior soon to unfold.

[blondtactician]

[Armin's pulled his hair back, though it's not really quite long enough to be more than a tiny tuft at the back of his head. He's munching on fries when he spies Chilton, and approaches him cheerfully - still eating.]

Hey, how's it going? Long time no see!

[He has taken on a much more confident demeanor and stride.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[If the confidence surprises Chilton (and it does), he neglects to make any indication on his face. His mouth weaves into a jaunty smile, one cool and aloof and yet desperate for attention. It was something of a trail incorporating those emotional nuances into one expression.

How did the person he was emulating do it?]

You do look dashing this evening. Call me relieved to see some fashionable company afoot.

[Now, while Chilton engaged his (somewhat cruel) impersonation of his chosen identity, he analyzed Armin. It would have been outright lying to suggest that the psychiatrist did not politely observe Will Graham's acquaintances frequently, and he considered the parallels between Armin's adopted demeanor and body language and that of Sasha Blouse's.

But it would be rude to throw out that name so quickly, even if it was correct, and Chilton had to admit that Armin's depiction was fascinating.]

[glowsferatu]

[ playing a game like this with her psychiatrist seems...dangerous, at best. but somehow kanaya can't help wondering just what he'd think of it. of course, probably best to choose someone who doesn't really matter, playing norman osborn would be, aside from a terrible idea to begin with, just far too telling.

maybe some quiet shrinking violet, but she doesn't know enough of those. rarely has enough patience for them. so, as she drops her glasses into her purse and approaches him, she ends up with someone probably even more imprudent.

she squares her shoulders when she reaches him, resting her hands on her hips in a manner more confident and flippant than how she'd normally make it. she nods her chin towards his drink, giving him the biggest shit-eating grin she can manage. ]

So where's mine?

[ trying to subdue her own accent just doesn't work. try as she might, her american is just lousy. ]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton had been caught unawares -- both by Kanaya's sudden company, and by the stunning swagger she adopted for the role. Her impeccable timing interrupted his next sip of scotch, and he held a brief pause; she was remarkable, wasn't she? In the way she could switch up societal function like so. Of course, Chilton couldn't help but overlay her gameplaying with his own psychiatric interaction with her.

The psychiatrist so often lacked discretion, as Kanaya had noted on at least one count before.]

I didn't know I was supposed to serve the both of us.

[He didn't adopt a character for this round -- he wanted to focus on her. His patient.

His patient pretending to be someone else.]

[mantlepieces]

After enough time spent standing still and isolated, Reggie begins to walk around the room -- carefully, walking in a dignified, noble, yet wispy way while still avoiding physical contact -- and search it for interesting or familiar faces.

"Evening, doctor," he greets casually, almost friendly, since he's also 'playing along.' It seems to suit the tone of the evening, and hiding within another personality for the night is at least a reprieve. Of some kind. "You must be having fun. What a great idea for a party, huh?"

[slightlyoffchilt]

Chilton took his time looking over Reggie, anticipating who Reggie Mantle might want to portray. The precision in his gait, the emphasis on elegance -- that alone would diminish the field. This young man was not portraying Sasha, anyway.

Reggie, even while in character, seemed to latch onto the idea of pretending. Chilton wondered why that would be, given that pretenders often overlapped with escapists.

"I'd say," he said, easing into character of his own. "Especially given the drink selection."

Glitch

[glitchinthesystem]

[This would be a night to regret, if he has a chance to do what no fifteen year old should do.

Glitch had happened to come across a sealed bottle sitting on a table, possibly someone having gotten it for themselves and left it there, probably due to needing the washroom badly or looking away quickly. Either way, Glitch swiped said bottle because curiosity demanded it be done.

He's sitting by himself now turning it over and narrowing his eyes contemplatively at it.]

Why would anyone pay for a bottle of water? Maybe it's for the labels.

[To open or not to open...that is the question.]

[blondtactician]

It's to assure the cleanliness of the water. Which is ridiculous, because all of the running here is perfectly clean. There's also a perception that the water in bottles is better quality, which is again, ridiculous, because it's just water.

[Armin blinks, having forgotten that he's supposed to be acting and playing along with the game. His urge to be a know-it-all is just that strong. He takes a monstrous bite of the burger on his plate, not worrying about the ketchup it smears on his face.]

Weird, right?

[glitchinthesystem]

[Not that he asked this guy to sit down, but, he has food. Delicious looking food that Glitch wants to know what it is. He tolerates the presence but, he has to agree.]

Freaking weird. And they pay for this stuff in bottles when it comes out of the tap for free? People here are a lot dumber than I thought they were.

[glowsferatu]

[ the game's a little silly, but kanaya will play along. when she hears glitch's question, she has to consider carefully who she'll be emulating, but thinks of a suitable candidate quickly enough. ]

Obviously, it's another method of the bloody government attempting to bloody keep us in line. If we have to spend all our money on water, we won't bloody well be able to spend it on anything more vital.

[ she just barely contains herself from punctuating the sentence with "bloody bloody bloody." pushing her glasses up her nose, she knits her fingers together, giving glitch a deadly serious look. ]

Our only recourse is armed uprising.

[glitchinthesystem]

[Oh hey, another horned person. He just stares blankly at them listening to their explaination and then back at the bottle.]

Sounds like too much effort. Besides, didn't even pay for it, so, no sense in going to war over something shitty like that.

[He's all for the non violence so long as no violence is inflicted upon him. He stares at the top of it for a moment and then back at the girl and asks:]

Hey, this thing's plugged up. Mind if I just stick the dealy blocking it on that head of yours and try and pry it off?

[He's so kind.]

GAMAGORI IRA | REGISTERED | OPEN

[bulwank]

Gamagori is playing along.

He is the most in character person playing this game.

And by that I mean he's been hunched on a chair that is far too small for him, browsing the internet on his phone. Intently. That is all he's been doing. For hours. Dare you interrupt?

[cartesianspidertank]

"What are you looking at?"

[Tachikoma started trying to find Gamagori's phone on the network. Was it using wifi or mobile data? Hopefully it was on wifi, it would be way easier to find and hack into that way. Maybe Gamagori would just tell her before she managed that though. That would be the simplest solution]

[bulwank]

[A slight glance over but he stops himself. Almost greeting them, almost sitting up straight! It would've terribly been out of character. So he glances, stops, and then looks back to his phone.]

I am looking at the internet.

[Like literally that's- it. Looking up various things on Google a few well know search engines. He's actually looking up a fair amount of something call 'Courage Wolf' as well. Like, has a lot of open tabs to images of variations of it. That and something called 'Doge' and 'Actual Advice Mallard'.]

[glitchinthesystem]

Yes, he dare interrupt. Glitch hadn't cared much for the guy's authoratative attitude but considering the man of muscle gave Glitch directions to libraries the boy did feel the need to pay back the debt. If he were being honest, he didn't want to have to hear it come back up and being shoved in his face about how he needed to repay them.

He came over holding the bottle of unopened alcohol he'd swiped before. Looking both confused and curious as to what Gamagori had been doing, but, decided it probably wasn't a big deal.

"Yo, Gama. I got something for you."

[bulwank]

A glance up. Again finding himself needing to greet this person and be social- but that's against the game! He must remain true to his character, and his 'character' would both not greet this person by name, but they would also accept the alcoholic drink... Despite not being 21.

"Thank you, I will take it because you brought it to me and I appreciate not having to get up for things." Bam. Spot on. He hopes people guess who he is just to reassure him of how successful he is as this impersonation!

"I will not drink it, despite not being of the age to legally consume alcohol." Aaand opens it! And totally drinks it. Actually no, no he doesn't, he just sips out of it, pretending like he's drinking it. He's still not 21 after all, that's against the law and this is definitely not a good enough occasion to justify breaking it.

[wayhot]

Even though Flame Princess is used to it by now, there's always something amusing (and cute, in a way) about seeing Gamagori in something much too small for him. But at least the fact that the phone he's holding isn't too small makes the whole sight a little less ridiculous.

Though the phone thing does raise a couple of questions. He's normally intense, yes, but he doesn't normally focus it on his phone. ... So he's probably acting like the other people have been. Hm.

Spending hours in front of his phone and focusing on nothing else. She definitely has an idea of who he's pretending to be, but she kind of wants to see how he tries to act outside of just staring at his phone.

She smiles and floats over his shoulder, keeping enough distance so she doesn't burn him. "Anything interesting?"

[bulwank]

He got this phone special, yes. There is absolutely no way he could use a smart phone of a usual size, his fingers would click the entire screen constantly, it would be pointless. He's pretty much using a tablet. He doesn't mean to be adorable by existing, though apparently that's just how it is- for Flame Princess anyway.

He'll immediately know Flame Princess is nearby. While he's pretending to be completely focused on his phone, he's still aware of his surroundings. And is definitely aware of them enough to notice his girlfriend approaching. It helps that she's also made of fire. It's difficult not to smile seeing her, and his lips tug slightly, pressing tightly in defiance.

"Yes. The internet and it's various memes, pop culture references, and factual information is always interesting, at all times of the day, every day."

[lyingheart]

Oh, Gamagori. It's not difficult for Annie to make herself smile when she does eventually wander up to Ira, bringing along a glass of ice water. She sets it down near him, taking a seat at a polite distance around the table. She doesn't even interrupt. (It wouldn't be polite.) She's presuming certain aspects of this game of pretend means she doesn't need to act as if she knows who he's supposed to be, which makes it easier, in a way.

Nice nerd impression, Gamagori. For her part, Annie quietly sips at her own glass of water, observing the people in the room with an almost... no, a definitely warm smile. (That warmth only rarely makes it to her eyes.)

[bulwank]

A glance up, here and there, he'll notice her once she's near enough, looking to the glass and immediately knowing it's water. Annie knows him so well, and that smile on her face... It's really been something to see her grow during their time though. The girl had her issues, and always seemed oddly closed away from everyone but-

Despite their difficulties, despite... tying her up for days to make sure she didn't do anything terrible again when she was under the influence of someone else's personality, they've become friends, and Gamagori is very happy for that. It warms his heart to see her so casually interacting with him, her icy expression melted a bit by now.

If anyone could guess who he's being, it's Annie. Often is she over he and Inumuta's- well and Iori's now, apartment. Often is she just around Inumuta. And seeing Gamagori not immediately greet her ontop of being on his phone like that? Huge clues. It's almost unfair she's here to guess!

Another glance up.

But no!

NO!

He's in character. He can't- wait no if he's pretending to be Inumuta, then he's dating Annie! So he has to say hello!

"Annie, hello." Stares. Um. Staring is probably in character too though, so that's good? He's faltering though, unsure about how to go about this. He doesn't want to make it awkward of course. But Inumuta usually is more attentive around Annie so-

"Enjoying New York?" He'll even set his phone on his lap, though doesn't turn it off.

[sewoften]

Iori has absolutely not bothered with playing along. He's only here because there are trains that could make it so, and he's curious to listen to what kind of reasons they're recruiting people to Register. It might seem like more of a joke that he isn't when he's ostensibly "freeloading" at the home of two Registered imPorts, but he's not really freeloading at all, just not working by government channels. His black eye's mostly healed by now, but he still looks like the nerd who tried to toughen up (and subsequently failed quite a bit).

Gamagori's act gains his notice when he checks through this room, adjusting his glasses and nodding his head to another imPort he doesn't recognize. He's so... intent. Probably actually playing along, too, which meant... hah.

"Collecting any interesting new data?" Oh the places we'll go.

REGGIE MANTLE | registered & OPEN

[mantlepieces]

The night feels oddly hollow, and Reggie is self-aware enough to identify immediately why. Games with prizes, particularly acting games, appeal to his competitive and his dramatic spirits greatly; this should be the sort of thing he would love, that he'd have a great time with. Acting, mocking others, winning something for it.

But no; like most everything he's experienced here, his heart can't really get into it. He'll have to act on top of acting once again to make it seem like everything is more or less normal with him, but he's at least gotten used to that. The downside to this is that to play the part, he'll have to be nicer.

At least until he gets bored of this.

He stands apart from everything -- furniture, walls, even people to an extent -- standing in such a way that his body is compact, like he's afraid of touching anyone.

[huntergames]

Sasha had thought she had spotted Reggie earlier when she first arrived, but when he had disappeared she figured she had mistaken someone else for him. For that, she doesn't bother to seek him out and instead takes her time examining every single room, indulging her curiosity and wishing she could participate in the games and maybe even win a prize. She wouldn't hesitate if Connie were here, feeling assured the two of them could take on the competition. It's just not as fun when your best friend is back home.

There's plenty of aimless drifting before she grabs something to eat, taking a few pork kebabs and wandering off quickly before anyone can notice someone's grabbed half of them. She slips toward the side, in need of some space so she can eat but once she's gotten past a group of people that are blocking her path, she stops in her place seeing that, indeed, Reggie is attending the function.

"Reggie? I thought I was seeing things..."