kenoma | the yassification begins, voice

[oomfies]

[ Hello everybody, are you ready for the wildest thing to hit your brain this afternoon? It's Lottie! This time not giving in and resorting to text, and post giving herself the pep talk of her life to introduce this idea to all her fellow baddies™ (literally). ]

Hii! Hope I'm not interrupting anything by posting this since I know we're all busy adjusting. I'm Lottie Person, and I was thinking over some things about the war and all that stuff..

We really need to start working on our image. If we want to make sure people don't leave and join the other side, or think we're bad people, we have to rebrand. Thankfully, I'm pretty experienced in PR [ she isn't ] so I'm putting this thing together for the Regent.

Soo, send me your best selfie!

Thanks. TTYL!

[ Yes, you WILL hear a kissie sound at the end of this post. ]

Comments

[oomfies]

[ There's a moment of silence, comprised of Lottie tapping her long nails against her chin in thought. She hasn't but.. She really should when he puts it like that. She gives a long glance towards her servant (aka, her intern) as she replies, ]

Um.. I haven't, actually! But that's a really good idea.

[ She grabs a nearby pencil and writes this down, ]

Are there any districts I should get to first, you think? [ A pause, and then a gasp, ] Maybe I should ask the interns what they want?!

[epiprocta]

[ Is she serious. Sounding more weary and skeptical than he does truly annoyed: ]

Didn't pin the guy as the type to appreciate a photobook of selfies or whatever. S'all.

[ Well, whatever. No skin off his back if she gets yelled at for wasting the Regent's time with a lookbook or whatever. And since it's easy enough to feign cooperation with this mundane bullshit, he does follow up his comment with a mental snapshot.

Freshly showered (after getting rolled around the training grounds by Eustace) and dressed in plainer clothes, with his hair down, Lottie might notice he looks younger than when they last spoke. Much more his age than the surly thug he'd probably seemed and acted like before. ]

[lachtara]

Ask anyone you like. I am sure that more answers could only provide you with a clearer vision to draw from. Perhaps inspiration may strike from something unexpected.

[ This conversation is stoking his love for presentation. Ah, distant memories of the Theater... ]

[oomfies]

Okayyy..

[ Oh god. She wants to be a tour guide. Suddenly everything makes sense, now (does it???). Ciel seems pretty confident in her reply, sounding like she already painted an image for herself and is dead set on it. So does she really need her help? What does Ciel even look like?? ]

So [ Lottie thinks intensely, trying to spin this in a way that isn't just "approachable", ] you want to be seen as someone people can lean on, is that it?

[oomfies]

[ Oops. She certainly hasn't been thinking about projecting wind or anything of the sort, but she could, right? Lottie writes down a note on her piece of paper nearby (it reads: make wind).

And sadly, Lottie doesn't really pick up on the fact he'ss trying to hit on her. In a way, it's better she doesn't for the moment - she'll get confused and run away for three hours before coming back. So her reply is a very surprised, ]

are you sure???
i don't know if i could learn any of that fast, so..

[oomfies]

Yup! Just got it. [ The image, she means. Then she waits a moment to give ample time to make sure he knows she's not just glossing this over. Once she's ready, she continues with a confident: ] And yup. Just like that!

[ There are metaphorical, prideful, tears being shed at this moment. His first mentally projected selfie!! ]

Me too, though.. I think it's just the culture here. Everyone is so.. Alternative.

[semicharmed]

[ One might get the sense that Matt's been ... psychically lurking, through some of these conversations. He's unsure what he has to offer combatively speaking, and even less sure that anyone would want to hear from him.

But if beautiful Lottie (also known as just Lottie) is asking him for a selfie--well, that's only as fraught as Tinder used to be. So Matt tries to channel his psychic focus towards projecting his self-conception into an image.

... Oh God, not that one.

Here we go! ]

Sorry, the second one is my submission. Psychic communication is ... only selectively my forte.

[lifespanned]

[ There's a little feeling of recognition transmitted between the two of them from Misa's side— yes, she does know. The bleach! The dieting! It's especially hard keeping it up here. ]

Then everyone in the city would know we're Aions right away. [ Which, to her attention-loving brain, is great. She's been walking around town with her shard exposed solely for the clout, but if all the Aions had matching identifiable outfits, then.... ] That would be fun, wouldn't it? It'd kinda be like being a celebrity again.

[zauneyete]

[ An uncontrolled ripple of confusion. Enjoy it now, Lottie, before he learns how to control his emotions here, too. ]

I'll take your word for it. I'm not one for fashion.

[ He says, dressing like a Piltie. ]

Please put me in a good light, in your little roster thing, hm?

[ It's the only time he's ever going to get a good review, he needs it. ]

[galdorleod]

Perhaps not, but everyone has to start somewhere. I certainly would not judge you for needing extra help, especially if you've never used magic before.

And it would give us a chance to get to know each other in the meantime.

[oomfies]

[ Lottie has to refrain from commenting that these selfies aren't for the Regent, because she has a feeling even if she did this guy will still think otherwise.. Which is a dumb train of thought itself - she hates how much she cares about how other people think of her!!

It means she's a little more Judgmental™ when he mentally sends that selfie over. And she does notice his face, but Misty's (her bestie from the ye olde verse, god rest her cute soul) skin is as smooth as a baby's ass and she's thirty, so, this guy is probably older. Secretly crustier, she childishly concludes. ]

You wear your bangs down?

[oomfies]

Okayyy..

[ Inspiration may strike from something unexpected.. Lottie waits a few moments to see if something does happen, if only because the way he says it makes it seem like she's going to get all the answers she wants now. Predictably, nothing happens. So she decides to ask, ]

What do you think is memorable, then?

[oomfies]

[ Faintly, Lottie does agree.. It would be kind of great to be recognized. Granted, Lottie has a following, but she certainly wasn't a celebrity. Not like actual celebrities, or even minor TV stars like her sister.. But she can experience some of that adoration here, right? No one's gonna call her 'mom' like all her favorite fans did, but it's something! ]

Almost like the before times.. [ Pre-Kenomaing™. ] The only thing we'd be missing to complete the fantasy are phones.

[epiprocta]

... kinda surprised you're asking that.

[ Especially after that last conversation they had. What kind of good organized-crime-affiliated thug wears their hair down? The only saving grace here is probably the fact that that smarmy response is said pretty blandly; he's too tired to give her too much attitude at the moment, and he does answer her properly afterward. ]

Not usually. I was ... [ Ugh. 'Training' sounds so dweeby. ] -- working out. Gets in the way if I wear it down.

[ He only bothers when he needs to pretend to be a 'normal student,' and that's really not very often. ]

Are you thinking about how to give everyone matching makeovers or something?

[lachtara]

[ He notices that pause. She waited for the inspiration, didn't she? Dear girl... ]

It must stand out from the everyday garbs that the common person wears. It must be lavish in its uses of patterns and material, with a flourish of color that would allow us to be prominent in a crowd.

[oomfies]

[ She is definitely enjoying it, if only because that was her three days ago trying to figure out how to mentally video chat, and now that she's moved past it (sort of) it's.. Endearing, seeing her same struggles mirrored onto someone else. ]

Want me to plug any key words for you?

[oomfies]

[ Oh. Okay, now she's seeing what's happening. Lottie manages to feel unexpectedly flustered because, really, she thought flirting would be the last thing happening here. Also, she's terrible at navigating situations like this with pretty people?! ]

hahaa.. is it that obvious?
but, sure! we can do that :) i'm free next week, if that works for you??

[oomfies]

[ This is.. An interesting misfire, if only because Lottie was instinctually expecting a selfie and got. Well, an interesting perception of the self?? Is that how she should phrase it? A good concept for a shoot, too, she decides after lingering on the first photo for a moment. ]

It's no problem! Psychic communication is new to me, too. Haven't been without a phone like this in years..

[ Understatement of the century! ]

Nice pic, though. [ She draws back to the second picture, brows raising at his choice of fashion but in a less judgmental way, more huh, wow, alright. ] The sweater vest is cute?

[semicharmed]

God, right? [ comes Matt's immediate, commiserating psychic reply. ] I mean, I'm sure tech companies back home would have loved to put SIM cards directly into our brains, but the technology never got to that point.

[ There's a pause, before a laugh comes through the connection. If it sounds tinny and self-conscious, it's only because Matt's not totally sure how to purposefully share something like this. He normally laughs without thinking. ]

... Thank you, [ he adds. ] Honestly, I haven't worn one in years. I guess they're in a lot of family photos, though. Were in.

[galdorleod]

[ Flirting, the last thing happening? When she's so beautiful?? Don't tell Howl that, or you'll be buried in an avalanche of reassuring flattery. ]

Works for me quite nicely. Please let me know what day and time is best for you. And, hmm... let's meet at the training grounds, shall we? We wouldn't want a spell to go errant in an inappropriate place.

[ The fact that Howl isn't inviting her out to a bar to practice magic should hopefully be a reliable sign that he actually is offering to help her. Even if he might have some secondary flirtatious intentions at the same time. ]

[zauneyete]

Key words? Oh. [ A mental scoff, as if he's trying to brush it off. ]

Industrialist is what they normally call me, and it's...apt enough to apply, I suppose.

[lifespanned]

I kinda like this whole communion thing, though.

[ Who needs phones and T9 when you can just mentally broadcast your thoughts to your friends?? ]

Speaking of the "before times"... I've only met a few other people from normal Earth, but something tells me you're one of those few. And I've been trying to become friends with everyone from there. [ BECAUSE THEYRE THE ONLY NORMAL PPL!!! ] You're an American, aren't you?

[affal]

( you're welcome, lottie. engineering and maintaining an Image was sort of a part of his former life, but it had been far less important than the wordsmithery which he utilizes here and now. )

I understand. It's certainly worth discussing, though I fear it will likely fall by the wayside should the situation deteriorate to violence.

( he says this in a way that clearly describes his distaste for such a possibility. but it is the unfortunate reality with which they grapple. )

If you would, please, call me M.

[oomfies]

[ Oof. Lottie sure did walk into that one! The past tense makes her pause, if only because she figures it's just a resource thing (no CVS available to print out photos, she gets it). Until she remembers that were really is, 'were in', does she laugh awkwardly to herself. ]

I mean, maybe the Regent won't say anything next family dinner?

[oomfies]

[ There's training grounds???

Lottie jumps up from her bed to look ominously outside at said grounds, frowning immensely at having to think about the Ye Olde™ equivalent of yoga pants where her butt will look good. She hops onto her bed to properly reply, ]

sure!! tentatively i'm thinking around brunch time? like, 10am ishhh?