LAMPSHADES ON FIRE / 06.16 meeting

[beck.]

    It was high-time for another dull and drawn-out meeting, much to everyone's excitement. By now, the routine Beck had constructed for himself was blander than the very dirt they walked on. All the meetings were just him droning out names and news; he was desperate to, well, shake things up a little. But how? What did people these days do during social gatherings? The poltergeist had to skim through many cobweb-wrapped memories to remember what was on the tip of his bloodless tongue. Usually he had observed, and later tormented but that part wasn't important, plenty of campers circling a fire with sticks all carelessly hovering over the flame. They were... roasting marshmallows, right? Beck's scarred face lit up with the simple idea, already setting out to gather the needed supplies.

    It had taken a miracle to ransack an empty campsite, embers still smoldering and backpacks discarded in a panic. What the owners were escaping from, Beck didn't care -- he was there for marshmallows, not a splatterfest unfortunately. Dragging back a camping bag stuffed full of whatever was salvageable from the abandoned campsite was surprisingly tiring, even for an entity existing on hateful energy. The boy had been wheezing and sputtering when he explained to their resident furnace, Fenrisulfer, his impromptu plan for a meeting, shallow chest heaving as he excitedly spat out breathless words. With the persuasion of s'mores, the volcanic beast agreed to help out the scrawny commander. Still lugging the muddied camping bag, synthetic straps gripped in his teeth as he stumbled backwards. Maybe he shouldn't have refused any further assistance from Fenrisulfr, his only working lung straining to inflate or deflate out of awful habit. Somehow Beck hauled the bulky bag all the way to the ghost town's epicenter, and even up onto the demolished statue with him. "'Kay, Fen, just sit down there and I'll put the marshmallows on, got it?" he instructed, dropping the camping pack next to him and ripping into it to find the precious ingredients. Snatching up a large cellophane bag full of the puffy white cylinders everyone knows and maybe loves, he slit an opening in the plastic with an eager claw and, stretching out from his perch until it appeared he would fall off just to reach the top of Fenris' spines, began skewering the marshmallows along one of said spines. The comical scene surely had attracted an interesting crowd, Beck's ears perking to listen for the tell-tale commotion of a waiting audience.

    Ruffling through his thankfully family-sized marshmallow bag and plucking out a handful to be speared on Fenrisulfr's assumedly heated spines, the poltergeist gave a slight huff in greeting and rasped as he worked, "Howdy, guys. If ya have been living under a rock, ya probably dunno what me and Fen are doin'. Well, it's called makin' s'mores, and y'all better like 'em or else." Ignoring any reaction to his teasing threat, Beck was quick to move onto the next order of business and spine, frigid paws already sticky with marshmallow fluff. "We've got two new fellas; give a big ol' Tangle-style welcome to Crow, or Mr. Robot, and Para -- Paranormalhoax. Both seem like they're gonna be stickin' 'round, so consider 'em part of the family." With a wry taunt towards the metallic feline and a butchered name, Beck paused in his marshmallow-spearing to wipe his paws on the front of his chest -- only serving to transfer the sticky sugar there as well. Freckled snout wrinkling in frustration, he emptied the first marshmallow bag and moved onto the other one he had stolen, distractedly mumbling from the side of his unscathed mouth all the while, "Gonna give out a few shoutouts now, some to Barb, or Barbedwire if ya don't know her, Fish, and Whisper. I've seen y'all 'round, and like to see ya three ladies... uh, what's the word... participatin'." Not because he thought they were somewhat tolerable and-or likeable. That would be selfish, and the truth. "The other half go to, ya guessed it, Fenrisulfr, Morgan, and our own l'il sawbone, Nayru. Thanks, ya three." The soft-spoken wheeze was as genuine as anyone could force out of him, his honey-brown eyes searching for Morgan and Nayru's familiar blurs out in the colored sea of indistinguishable faces.

    Running out of marshmallows to stack on Fenris' spines, Beck stabbed one of the remaining few onto the tip-top of a towering quill, continuing to ramble through his memorized list, "Next is promotions, right? Right, uh, first of all, Freyja is promoted to chaser, Iota and Vigenere to firebrands, Zimavich up to a proxy, and Amunet and KIllian up to regents. Good job, I guess, and keep it up." What else? There wasn't any demotions -- knock on wood again -- but Beck glanced from the last marshmallow in his grasp to seek out Valo-kas in the crowd. "Valo gets a l'il warnin' -- but don't worry 'bout it too much, I just wanna see ya here more." That was it for rank-related updates, and as he stepped away from the marshmallow-adorned Fen to let them roast, the boy flopped on his haunches to address the next portion of the meeting. Picking at his half-exposed teeth with fidgeting claws, Beck adopted a mocking accent of a typical newscaster, monotonous and eerily cheerful coming from a being like him. "These last two week's news report brings us Morgan workin' his ass off and not only cleaning up some of the swamp water, but also fixin' up the library, so thank him and go read a book. Similarly, Iota went out and started planting an orchard, or somethin'; if any of y'all are vegetarians, ya should help her out. On the more interesting side of things, Amunet was attacked by some bastard, and if ya see him again, ya have my official orders to tear his throat out. Oh, Valo went out and held a dance, which I guess... was fun for some of y'all. Also, I'll be doin' this week's tasks, and we've got a fancy choice awards goin' on, if you'd like to join in on that." Not him, he wasn't much for parties and large crowds and dancing. By the time he finished speaking, the marshmallows on Fenris were close to melting. Beck was quick to pluck them off their impaling spines, cold paws oblivious to their burning warmth as he handed them out, and in some cases tossed them to the creatures in the back. Any leftovers were piled up next to him on his marble perch, and dusting his paws together, he dug around in the camping bag once more to pull out containers of stale graham crackers and gooey chocolate. Curse the boiling weather, ruining all his attempts at fun. Setting the other two ingredients at the crowd's feet, he gave a brief explanation: "Just take your marshmallow, put a l'il chocolate on it -- y'all won't get sick, right? Uh, those of y'all who can't have chocolate, just leave it out unless ya like to take risks. But -- chocolate, then ya make a sandwich outta them. Ta-da -- there ya have a s'more."

    As everyone shuffled forward to make their own s'mores, Beck slouched back to gather his words, too lost in thought to be terribly jealous of their functional appetites. Practically no one knew what exactly he had done after accepting the wretched Bast's alliance request, and he opted to keep it that way. Hell, he wasn't even sure what had happened, beyond the gory mess he had to clean up after, returning Bastille to his rightful territory with guilt fogging his senses. But it didn't matter anymore -- they were even, and now had an alliance to keep up. He bet the Ascendants thought the partnership wouldn't last for more than a week. And Beck swore he would prove them wrong, so he could boast and jeer about it later. Nose twitching at the sugary scent in the air, the mangy feline straightened some after everyone had settled down and snagged themselves a s'more, coughing for a moment before croaking to the crowd, "Some of y'all probably were there for when the leader of the Ascendants -- a peaceful group up livin' in a.. uh, observatory -- Bastille came by and asked if we could have an alliance. I did some thinkin', and figurin' we need at least someone to trust in case of the worst, I said yes." At a price. "So, guess Tangle and Ascendants are allies now, so we'll need, what's it called -- ambassadors to visit from time to time to keep the alliance. I'm thinkin' two, so y'all can switch off every other week. I'll set up somethin' to keep track, who volunteers first, and who will go next time?" Beck craned his neck to look out over the small crowd, head tilting as he listened for any willing voices speaking up. Even if no one spoke right away, the poltergeist hastily shook his head and concluded, "That's it for this meetin', enjoy your s'mores, go ahead and have seconds or thirds, I don't care." With that, he reverted back to his slouch against the remnants of whatever figure the statue had been dedicated too, with a somewhat relaxed scowl on his face for once.

/ tl;dr: welcome to crow and paranormalhoax! glad to have you both here!
shoutout to barb, fish, whisper, and then fenrisulfr, morgan, and nayru
promotions are
- freyja to chaser
- iota and vigenere to firebrands
- zimavich to proxy
- amunet and killian to regents
small warning to valo-kas
basic news: morgan's library restoration and water purification, amunet's attack, iota's orchard, valo's dance
i'll hold ooc prompts this week
and its choice awards time!
we are now officially allies with the ascendants! i'll be setting up an ambassadors hub, and if anybody is interested in taking the job (two people that will switch off weekly for visits) please say in your post!
beck and fen made everyone s'mores for the meeting btw

[align=center]»――➤

[COSMIIX]

AMUNET GHANA ✧ PROXY — TANGLEWOOD — TAGS

S'mores?

Amunet had never had s'mores before and well, this would certainly be an interesting first experience for her especially since yours truly, moving and walking furnace and ghost boy were there making these treats for everyone. She would limp over with glowing golden-honey gaze locked onto Fenrisulfr, she would sit somewhat close by to him offering a smile noting how the other's spikes were a bit sticky becaude of the marshmallows buy Amunet would simply smile and say to him with a light nod of her cranium "Well, this is definitely a first, darling." She rumbled with amusement closing both of her eyes and holding her own sticky treat in her large paw only to take a bite into it. She flinched back a bit at how warm and gooey it was but would let out a muffled giggle. It was so sweet. Chocolate, gram cracker, and all. It was nice having something sweet after the bitterness she had gone through, her ears twitched momentarily hearing the "news" and a frown his behind her s'more though it only lasted a moment. It warmed her heart knowing that Beck cared and she was just so proud. Finally, some allies. She wanted to meet them all. She finally spoke with a gentle smile.

"Beck, I'd love to be ambassador to the Ascendants if I can, of course."

There was a brief pause hearing the promotions and welcomes "Welcome Para and Crow. Welcome to the family, sweeties." At the promotions she would add with a curt nod "Thank you for the promotion and congrats to those promoted! I'm so proud."

© madi

[Morgan]

Morgan stepped around to the other side of Fenrisulfr, almost nuzzling his side before realizing his mask was melting from the heat. "I'll try one," he said, quite sure that it was safe after watching Amunet eat one. Beck's warning also reached his ears - he was not sure what "chocolate" was, so he went on the safe side and picked a plain s'more. He melted his mask and took a bite, savoring the unique flavor. Even without the square of the brown treat, the snack was enjoyable enough.

"Beck, I can be an am-bassador after Amunet," he said as he ate. He peeked around Fenrisulfr's side to look at Amunet, who was now a Regent like him. He gave her a nod of congratulations, then looked up at Beck. Morgan already had a few small ties to the Ascendants - he definitely would not mind seeing more of them in the future. "Congratulations to everyone who was promoted."

[eggplant18]

//OOC

Although how such a powerful group of animals wanted to follow a tiny cat like Beck was still an idea he didn’t understand, he would accept it and tolerate it for as long as it beneficial to him. The ghost didn’t try to restrain his actions or steal his belongings. He was free to watch others and hunt for food as needed. Perhaps that was why they followed him?

Ska’arq came next, squirming through the crowd as his stare crossed between Beck, the marshmallows, and Fenrisulfr. An unusual sight to say the least. Was this another meeting? He nodded, as if confirming his observation as the Commander began to spew out news and the like. The dragon reached up, snagging the half melted marshmallow as it arced through the air. S’mores. No, you’re doing it wrong, you loser. It’s like this. Stars, you completely burnt it, didn’t you? You’re helpless. A familiar word. An overly sweet snack consisting of a warmed marshmallow crushed between one to two blocks of chocolate and two graham crackers. With an idle nod, he moved forward with the masses to complete the sugary sandwich. He supposed he should. The marshmallow was just a useless mess otherwise.

Setting the marshmallow on a cracker, he seemed to remember something and paused. As if mirroring someone’s movements, Ska’arq removed the sugary confection, breaking off two chocolate blocks before setting them on the cracker. He then set the golden lump back on, and pressed the other cracker on top. There. He popped it in his jaws and ate it.

[align=center]ATTACK IN BOLD #6e65b5 - TAGS

[Nayru]

[color=#6b7e99]✦ ✦ ✦

It was not the strange spectacle of Fenrisulfr serving as a living torch for Beck and his marshmallows or the allure of a meeting that drew her forward, but rather, the absolutely delectable scent of something sweet. Chad had noticed first, nudging her until she looked up from her book long enough to detect the smell too. It didn't take very long for her to get him onto her head and then see for herself what was occurring after that, a faint smile tugging on her lips as she drank in the indeed comical sight. War god as well as s'more god? To her, it seemed as if Fenri did it all. The only godly title he was missing at this point was 'dad god', but she kept that one to herself as she took a marshmallow and made a s'more.

A little perturbed by the warning, she opted to leave out the chocolate. It was just as good without it anyways and even Chad agreed, hissing merrily as she offered him a little bite of hers. With that, she perked her ears forward and listened to the meeting, absently pressing against Amunet whom she had decided to sit near. As her sister's name was called, she brightened immediately, a large smile coming to life upon her pale lips. [b][color=#6b7e99]"Congratulations, Freyja! I'm so proud of you!" She shouted loudly, perhaps louder than anything she had said in her entire life. Whoops... But this was her sister for goodness sake. If she wasn't loud and proud in showing her enthusiasm, was she really doing the whole sibling thing right? [color=#6b7e99]"And congratulations everyone else!" There was her typical softness again, Nayru either too embarrassed to raise her voice once more or simply not willing to. Being loud, she had discovered, was not her forte.

As for ambassadors, she was a little interested. Perhaps she'd try her hand at visiting the Ascendants a few times under the guise of such in the future. She liked both their territory and their inhabitants greatly. What better way to get to know them than as an ambassador? [color=#6b7e99]"Noted!"

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[Freyja]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 530px; min-height: 9px; font-family:; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 20px"]Freyja was sure she had had a s'more once or twice in her short life. The other children in Akala must have started up a campfire before and then proceeded to craft the tiny delicacies. Needless to say, the young goddess happily took the summer treat, finding her way towards the middle of the meeting area, munching on the food. It was better than she remembered - or imagined if she actually had not had one -. A smile curled up her lips as she chewed, listening to Beck speak.

She sat silently (for once), preoccupied with the s'more. In fact, she wasn't really listening at all. The seal point tabby was too wrapped up in her snack to pay attention; multi-tasking took too much work. Even so, she did hear her name in Beck's words, and her ears perked. Chaser? She grinned brightly, not because she was promoted, but because of how loud Nayru was cheering for her. It made her feel special. "Thank you, Beck," she called, after swallowing a mouthful of graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow.

"And noted about everything else." Alliances and all the rest of the words kind of flew over her head, but she made a note to ask Nayru about it later. Surely, her sister would know!

[▷killian◁]

Another meeting. Killian sat at the back of the crowd, ears perked and full attention on the bag of goodies that Beck had. Was that fucking food? Why was Beck putting it on Fenris' spines? Why was it white? So many questions that he was too lazy to ask. Everything Beck said floated to the back of his head to be processed later as Killian sat up a bit taller, maybe even raised up to 'sit pretty' and see over everyone. What was that?? It smelled too good. Too fucking good. He opened his mouth and began to pant, let his tail whip around behind him.

Oh! That was his name! Pay attention, dumbass, what's he saying about you? Killian's attention drifted from the food to Beck for a short second, long enough for him to say, "Oh hell yeah!" but not long enough for him to pay any attention to anyone else's promotion. He waited impatiently as Beck continued to speak, it seemed like this meeting droned on for a lot longer than the others. Maybe that was the excitement of waiting for food, though.

Then a marshmallow was thrown his direction and the dog snapped it out of the air, scarfing it down like the idiot he was. Oh, shit, that fucking food was hot! He tried his best not to focus on that. This marshmallow thing tasted amazing and he hadn't even had it with the chocolate! He remembered chocolate very vaguely and that was probably the most amazing thing he'd ever eaten even if he did technically die from it. It was just a small amount so it was okay, right?

He eagerly moved forward to get seconds, ignoring everyone else for the food.

"SPEECH"

▼o・ェ・o▼

[roman]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 600px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"]Fish is hungry. She perks up at the mention of food, having somehow found her way into the meeting area after casually following the herds of small fur-babies during a particularly long fit of boredom. It is not often that the monstrous beast ventures far from the comforts of the murky swamp water, but here she is. And she likes the idea of s'mores, even if she has no clue what exactly as s'more is. Unfortunately, given her propensity to consume vast amounts of raw meat, there is a high chance that she will be unimpressed with the meager proportions and underwhelming taste. Then again, Fish has also been known to use her mouth to investigate objects like a shark. The rusalka fiddles with a very large stick (an entire limb of a tree, more like it) as Beck talks. It is as long as one of her legs with a similar thickness, and the childlike entity is quite entertaining by gnawing it to pieces.

Fish only perks up when her name is spoken, although she does not fully understand why it was said. But she makes a cheerful sound anyways, her scales rippling with a flash of teal that matches her eyes in a way to express her joy. "Thank you and congratulations!" she exclaims, simply mimicking those around her. And then...she goes back to chewing her stick.

[Bean]