[ OPEN MINGLE ] welcome to the friends who have come from away

[goodweather]

Who: Everybody and everybody! (and phil!)
What: PUTTING UP A SIGNPOST FOREST!!
When: Mid-October and a few days afterwards
Where: Between the pool deck and the pool bar
Warnings: none yet

[MAKING SIGNS] if you're comin' from toledo or you're comin' from taipei

Paper signs go up all around the ship with dots punched for braille. They all advertise the same thing: make a sign, pointing to home or to where you wanna go. On the empty deck between the pool and the pool bar. And a helpful demonstrative drawing.

Getting there, there's a clearer picture. The empty stretch of deck has several tall wooden poles set up, currently empty but hopefully soon to be filled, and scattered all around on carts and tables with chairs dragged in from nearby establishments, are craft materials of all kind; wood, knives, paints, crayons, pencils, plates of metal, nails, tools, glue, fabric. All manner of things either sourced from César's hoard or from various places of the ship, especially the infinite spaces. It's a pretty eclectic collection. There's also snacks further off in the peripheries.

A large sign, which also has the drawing, reads:

Make a sign!
Point towards home or to where you want to go.
Make up a direction and a distance. Whatever feels right to you.
Ask Phil or César if materials run low.
Have fun!

[SALVAGING] because we come from everywhere

With all these people showing up, sometimes things run a little short. Phil makes rounds picking up requests, and then, since he's usually busy managing this or that among the group or making his own run, others will be asked to go fetch things as well. Or maybe they take initiative themselves and go for a run! Either way, this is a scavenging mission. Come back with something fun.

[TAKING IN THE VIEW] we all come from away

Whether you're just taking a break, you've finished, or you're just here to watch, there's time to sit back amongst the refreshment tables and look at the signs that have gone up so far and the signs that are still being made. This can be any time, during the initial rush or maybe you're just passing by later. Feel free to take a a gander. So many strange names... one wonders which all belongs to who.

It's probably not a coincidence that these signposts have a clear view of the memorial, is it?

[WILDCARD] welcome to the rock

If you come up with anything else, feel free to include it!

Comments

[Making] Open

[professionalriot]

He is concentrating hard on what he is doing. Tip of his tongue poking from the corner of his mouth as he maps out the letters on the piece of wood. Is he a perfectionist? Only over certain things. This apparently is one of them. He's very focused on the spacing and position of the lettering .

[businessorlibation]

"Cute message." Johnny looks over Ash's shoulder at the sign with a small nod. "Might get argument from some folks. People who'd give anything to go back home and pretend they're the exact same people who left."

[professionalriot]

"True. Valid argument. I'm not one of those people though." There are things he has found on this ship that would destroy him to give up. Ash doesn't want to go back and try to pretend like he hasn't changed. "Plus, didn't someone say if you are going through hell, keep going? Turning around seems counter productive to progress."

[businessorlibation]

"Mmm, I don't like that second idea, but that's partly because my experience of hells has usually been one of being stuck, instead of moving through them." But he won't expand that unless asked, because immediate traumadumping feels just a little rude.

He takes a seat near Ash, casually.

[professionalriot]

He's going to ask. The way his answer was worded invites Ash's curiosity. "Experience of hells. Multiple experiences or multiple hells?"

[businessorlibation]

"Multiple experiences, none literal, and I am counting this ship as a few of them all at once. We're not going to pretend the ship's moving, just to make the metaphor pretty. But my first one was a situation where I was held captive in my own home by someone exploiting me for space and money. 'Keep going' really didn't apply in that case, except in the most existential sense."

He shrugs, content to tell the tale.

[professionalriot]

"Yeah. This ship is...something." He's not sure what yet. Maybe not hell but he died very painfully this month.

"Like you said, stuck. Shit, man, that's...how does something like that happen?"

[businessorlibation]

Deep breath.

"When I had finally achieved the goal of owning the Margrave Building and building the champagne club I'd dreamed of on the top floor, my building started to have...accidents. Things broken. Staff followed home at night. A porter fell down an elevator shaft and died. I received a letter that promised it would all stop, if I reserved one floor of the building and paid a 'stipend'. Protection racket, nothing better. I tried to stand up to the villain who occupied that floor. I tried..."

His hand lifts to touch his cheek, remembering old bruises from backhands.

"And eventually, I grew scared to leave. I'd have the fear my building wouldn't be there when I got back. So I...stopped going out. It wasn't hard, there were two restaurants and I had a penthouse apartment. Why would I ever need to leave?"

[professionalriot]

"Shit." Ashley muttered. Living in New York his tribe has connections to the mob. He knows how they operate and what that means. While they work with and use the mob to serve their own purposes, they don't get involved in their business. They don't stop things like this from happening to people like Johnny. There is a sting of guilt listening to the story. "How did it end?"

[businessorlibation]

The Black Note was worse than the mob in many ways, but the differences were negligible--for this part of the story, at least.

"Do you know Honoria Crabb, yet?" His lips quirk in a smile.

[professionalriot]

"I know of Crabb. Haven't met in person yet."

[businessorlibation]

"Mmm, heard of her from Erin, I'd bet." Look, he knows her social life. "Anyway, she, a seven foot tall lady detective, a masked vigilante and a housemaid-spy were on his trail for other reasons, but saved me in the process."

...what is the Lavender League? A lot of gay bullshit, all at once.

"So, it was more a matter of enduring my hell than 'going through'."

[professionalriot]

"I did, yeah."

Oh. Ash looks impressed.

"Crabb did that?"

Ash nods. "Kinda think you are exactly the kind of person my sign is for. Keep going."

[businessorlibation]

"Crabb and friends. She...there's another whole angle to the story, one I can't tell. One that's hers. But the fact of the matter is, no one can handle all of a situation alone. The same is true here, in my opinion."

He smiles brightly.

[professionalriot]

"Couldn't agree more. People need people. We do better together." He's a pack animal, he gets that. Ash slides over another piece of wood. "What will you put on your sign?"

[businessorlibation]

"I think I need two signs to express the right sentiment. One to point home. The other to say 'be here now'."

Johnny's lips quirk. "I'm of both minds about this whole thing."

[dupli_arms]

Shouji has been helping other people mount their signs, and upon noticing what Ash is up to with his, he pauses, hands on his hips.

"Very astute. Do you need any help with that?"

[professionalriot]

"Yeah, actually." He hasn't figured out where he is suppose to put this sign once he is done. "What do I do with it now?"

[dupli_arms]

Shouji kneels briefly to inspect the sign itself, carefully turning it over and fishing into one of the pockets of his cargoes to find a set of brackets, a couple of short nails, and a hammer to set them in place. "There are posts for when they're done. Like this, it can be moved if necessary after being put in place," he explains.

[professionalriot]

"Thanks for the help." He watches what Shouji is doing with the sign. Ash is not really the handy, crafty sort of person. He's having to take care of himself here in ways he hasn't before. "I'm Ash."

[dupli_arms]

"Of course, I'm here to help," he replies, another hand folding out of the end of a limb to hold the little metal parts as the main two steady the bracket and gently tap the nails into place. "Shouji Mezo. It's good to meet you."

[professionalriot]

"Well, shit. I'm jealous." He says with a look of awe. Who couldn't use more hands? "Where are you from, Shouji?"

[dupli_arms]

It's still a bit of a novelty to hear that kind of sentiment, but he can roll with it. He lifts a hand that isn't currently occupied in a thumbs up. "Southern Japan originally. What about you?"

[professionalriot]

"Best thing about where you are from?" Ash is genuinely curious. Making signs about where you are from or want to go adds to his curious nature about where he is from. "Lived most of my life in California. Move to New York a little over a decade ago."

[dupli_arms]

A moment to think about that; there wasn't a lot that was good about his life, at least until pretty recently... "The food. I know it's a bit stereotypical but there's a reason that seafood in particular tends to be popular where I lived. I've never left the country, though. Is California nice?"