maskormenace | 005 ♍ video

Entry tags:

005 ♍ video

[ kanaya's in the garage again, but the door's open, sunlight pouring through it. she's in a green tank and black leggings, a bandanna tying back her hair, various paint splotches on her arms hinting at what she's busying herself with today. on her workbench is a brush and easel, all of the colors monochrome and drab.

unlike her previous addresses, she's already put out her cigarette rather than in the middle of it. that should cut down on unwanted lectures. though the content of her message may bring them in an entirely different form. ]

You see, this is something I will never quite understand. Here we are, sitting at the brink of war, and all anyone can talk about is voting rights. Very typically American of you. [ not that some of the people loudest about it are even american. but america, democracy, she tends to conflate the two. ] The question shouldn't be why unsettled imPorts can't vote, but why can the registered? I am a registered imPort, but I'm not an American citizen, I'm not even a citizen of Earth! Merely a resident.

Think about this, we are temporary immigrants to this world. When more permanent refugees come to live here on escaping their native lands, they have long, complicated processes to undergo before they are allowed the benefits of citizenry. Should any of us be given better treatment of those? Should I be allowed to make decisions that may affect this nation's future when these are not allowed it, when I may not even be here to experience the full consequences of those decisions? I don't think I should, neither do I think any of you should. Wherever you have come from, we are all of us aliens to this world. That isn't something we should be forgetting. You should get used to the fact that you don't belong, like some of us have always known.

I'd much rather our attention be directed to the blockade threatening Alaska. The rest of this is little more than a distraction.

But if distraction is what you're after, as the world must continue should it not abruptly end, we are all aware of the season upon us. Ghastly ghouls are all about these days. So, should we not have all died by the time Halloween is upon us, perhaps you might join us monsters at the Devil's Nest in Maurtia Falls to celebrate.

[ she gets up to move the camera, and it shifts as she holds it, spinning around to face the wall. stretched out across it is a massive sheet of paper, painted simply in grey brick, only half dingy. she's still detailing. on the floor are a few paint cans and rollers. ]

I'm working on the decor now.

Drinks are 10% off, should you arrive in costume, and there will be a drinking contest with a $100 prize, for those who pay the $10 entry fee. But just imagine how much you may potentially get from that $10, even if you shouldn't win!

[ she turns the camera back around, in a sort of awkward selfie angle. ] Our hours will be 3pm to 6am, so come early and stay all night, as you please. We hope to see you there on the 31st.

Good luck in the meantime.

Threaded | Flat

How can I come up with a costume on this short a notice?! That's hardly fair!

[ Leave it to Dorian to completely skim over all the important bits of Kanaya's speech. ]

But my opinion is the only one that matters.

And I'll be there. Do we get to murder people again?

[because there ain't no party like a troll party]

[ This person says a lot of things. A good lot of it is over Grey's head (especially the parts about Halloween, devils, and exactly where Alaska is), but she's got a strange point of view. All he's heard for so many years is people talking about how they needed more rights. How they should have the right to choose, how they deserved more than what they had. How nothing about their lives was fair.

Here she is, saying she deserves less than she has. Who does that? ]

you dont want to choose who is in charge ?

Do I win if I only drink soft drinks?

The concept of democracy has been part of the self-absorbed identity of the United States of America ever since it had thirteen colonies to its name. The effectiveness of such policies was never reliable enough in the first place to start complaining about hypocrisy now.

[ She could comment on most topics presented, but it's weird enough to agree with Kanaya in the first place to make it weirder by voicing it. So instead: ]

What's the decor theme?

[ should she be judgin ]

[Elsa doesn't feel like discussing politics, so...]

We didn't celebrate Halloween back in my country. Is there anything more to it than dressing in scary costumes and drinking?

[Not that that's a bad holiday.]

I don't think any of our votes will matter.

[This is coming from someone who doesn't care about this democracy thing. He doesn't understand it well ... or rather, he doesn't understand it first hand. He's read enough about it in school already.]

That's why they're willing to let the registered have a say. It's a matter of how it looks.

And this party and drinking contest are open to everyone, I assume. Even aliens.

[Nobody should let him enter. That would be unfair to everyone except Loki.]

[Okay, he feels kinda bad for pissing her off so much when he first arrived. So here he is. Trying to make amends. He debated for a while what he should say exactly. What would be the most sensitive thing? He doesn't know her at all, so he has no idea what would be best received.

So he settles for something simple.]

I'm sorry.

[That doesn't seem quite enough. She was so very angry. He noticed her painting in the video, maybe-]

If you need help, I can.

I don't disagree with you but I think there's more to it than that. Imports are frustrated because they are effectively being told that others are allowed to judge and dictate how they should live entirely. Voting is symbolic of independence and freedom, and so much more.

[Revan shrugs, as if at a loss for words.]

This blockade is a real threat to these United States. However, taking away an import's rights is essentially taking away anything that binds them to the cause of this nation. So is it not understandable that their focus drifts?

There's no sense talking when there's a battle to fight, I'm right there with ya.

But if a soldier's not trust worthy enough to be listened to by his commander, then why is he trustworthy enough to fight at his side?

Is it common to be in costume during this future holiday? [ He's heard of Halloween but this world's traditions can be a bit... sillier than his. Not that he minds, because truly, he's going to take some of these holidays back home with him. Still, the announcement of the costume party results in humiliating flashbacks of Armstrong's adolescence.

He needs to make sure that this is a costume party before he commits. He doesn't want to spend his money only to learn that it was a practical joke...! ]

[ the comm id reads ck ]

now THERE'S an invitation

[Halloween? That's certainly not the part of this post that Light will comment on (initially!)]

It's true that we're temporary immigrants to this world. But we're also, unequivocally, unwilling immigrants; whether we want to be or not, we've integrated into this society with varying levels of success. We've made an impact for better or for worse.

To strip of us rights simply because our arrivals are spontaneous and difficult to predict isn't exactly fair, don't you think?

[Though of course, Light would be the first to admit that it's never so simple. But for the sake of argument, he'll share his opinions on the matter. What progress is there to be made without discussion, after all?]

It's not about belonging, or forcing them to give us the same rights the natives have when we’re simply newcomers here. I wouldn’t expect that. [Even though they did kind of get brought here without anyone asking them if they wanted to, so it’s not like they had any say on the matter. They didn’t choose to get here, why should they be punished for being basically kidnapped to a world that expected them to jump at the chance to fight for them?

But that’s another topic altogether.]

But the moment they are letting registered vote and not the unsettled, they are clearly forcing our hand towards registration. It’s basically blackmail, it’s telling us we might get simple needs like a house or a job that lets us pay for food and shelter could be taken away from us because we do not want to be on their side.

A Halloween party?! Yahooooo!

[ Have a face full of Momo. Everything before the party talk is lost on him. ]

Will there be candy?

What, no costume contest?

Gotta say, I'm impressed.

[Greed's somewhere different this time, though by the sounds of it? It's probably the 'Nest's own basement.] Guess I owe you this, don't I? Eh - [Audibly, he shrugs.] - you can take half the night for yourself, lovely. Seems fair, right?

Besides, we've got someone new joining us. Not a full-time bartender, but he'll be helping out here and there. His name's Desmond. [A few knocks sound off as he taps his foot against the concrete floor.] If you need an extra errand run, get in contact with him.

I've never actually been to the Devil's Nest. I don't know about wearing a costume, but I might pop in. Depends what I've got planned that night.

Speaking of the decor, what else do you need me to pick up in town?

Threaded | Flat

voice;

no subject

text

Video.

text

audio;

video;