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Post by Tzelle on Jun 2, 2016 1:30:32 GMT
(First, a note about the title. "Semi-Open" means that I'd like this thread to have some basic guidelines above and beyond the forum rules. Most importantly, I'd like this to be a slower, more in-depth area with fewer, longer posts. I'm not going to put a hard and fast word, sentence, or paragraph limit, but I'd like it to be decently lengthy, on the order of a couple full paragraphs. Posts that are too short or lack effort will have a chance to be brought up to snuff, but if they're not I'll be asking for them to be removed. This might sound exclusionary or elitist, and it is, but there are a dozen other threads where quick, short-post RP is already happening and I'd really like at least one thread for the opposite in my comfort zone. Please don't expect more than one post per day in this thread, and extend that courtesy to your partners. My starting post is not the shortest that these should be, but it represents what I'd like to see as close to the median, typical length post.
Secondly, this topic is for non-convention areas like hallways between spaces and exhibits, bathrooms, unused rooms in the convention center, and empty parts of the rooms that are in use. This means that there could be multiple interactions happening in this thread that do not intersect with each other, and could be happening on opposite, completely distinct sides of the convention. That means that this topic will have a number of distinct places involved. Please mark where your character is in each post you make in order to keep things simple. Please, please check accordingly before jumping into an interaction already in progress to make sure you're not intruding, or impossibly linking two groups that are not actually anywhere near each other. Please be courteous. Ideally, if there's already an interaction happening, send a message to the involved parties and make sure that your entrance would be appreciated.)
North Hallways, morning
Taisia couldn't stand the hustle and bustle of the main convention space for more than half an hour at a time. It just plain wasn't in her nature to be around so many people for extended periods. She didn't like it. Fortunately, conventions were big places. It was impossible to leave the convention on accident, and there were people everywhere, but it was very possible to find a place that not many people were in at a given moment and catch a breather. Perhaps this wasn't the best trip idea, she thought to herself. Introverts and huge crowds didn't mix well at all. Even though this crowd was smaller than some she could have imagined, there were still people everywhere.
Then, abruptly, she was alone. Taisia let loose a massive sigh of relief, finding herself in an empty hallway. She didn't know exactly which way the entrance was, and she could still hear things behind her going on. The hustle and bustle didn't care if one person slipped away, after all. But now that she was by herself, or at the very least not inches away from someone at all times, she immediately felt better.
The hallway wasn't spectacular, no one had set up any booths or attractions this far to the back of the convention, but already Taisia found herself enjoying it more than the crowded throngs. Throngs she knew would only get more crowded, the later in the day it became. This was a necessary respite. She kept walking, following the hallway. It stretched around, out of sight of the main hall and off to the right. Did it curve all the way around? She sure hoped so. It'd be nice to have her own little quiet space she could use to get around without wading through masses of people.
Speaking of those people... those costumes were pretty intimidating. Well, some of them. Others looked just like cat ears and a tail, which didn't seem particularly hard, but others had gone all out. Dragons and centaurs and at least one harpy, and all sorts of mythological creatures stalked these halls. Or, at least, what they would have looked like if they shared human ancestors somewhere down the line. Exotic, she thought to herself, that's the word for it. Everyone here was exotic. Some of them looked very good, and Taisia actually found herself wanting to talk to a couple of them, just to hear how they'd done it. Maybe she'd get the chance here, instead of the middle of the teeming masses of people.
She'd like that, actually. Now if only she could run into one.
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Post by sansuki on Jun 2, 2016 3:59:15 GMT
North Hallways, Morning
A jaunty tune echoed down the hallway, giving ample warning of an approach. Soon, around the corner, Matteo rounded the hallways with his hands in the front pockets of his gray sweatshirt jacket that hung more than slightly baggy around his frame. His often-unkempt hair fluffed out in an uncontrolled afro-like brown puffball around his tanned head, and he made eye contact with the human woman coming around the corner... and for an instant, his eyes twinkled with some unknown joke. Of course someone would have gotten into this hall- most of the doors were marked, but there were always ways in someone didn't catch and nobody else thought was important enough to make sure of. Slung on his back was his guitar case and bag; he wasn't scheduled to be doing a set until the early afternoon, but he did want to get to the stage early to set up. Never knew who would be influenced by a nice song before the main event, after all.
Without ceasing his whistling, Matteo broke eye contact and keeps walking closer, not altering his step. Only when getting close enough to have a civilized conversation did he stop his tune, regarding the human with curious eyes. "You lost, miss?" He asked, a friendly enough question even with a faint shadow of a smirk stuck on his goateed face. "I don't think it's exactly against the rules-" he air quoted the word, "-but I think this is supposed to be for staff to get around more easily, and you don't have that ribbon on your badge." He nodded at hers, and then at his own with a small orange 'Performer' ribbon stuck to it with a safety pin. Just here, he looked like a human, albeit one with an odd sense of hairstyle.
He considered quickly having breakfast back here where none of the unsuspecting attendees, but Matteo discarded the idea even before it could show up on his face. Too risky- and besides, he'd look a little suspicious during his performance if he still had too much of a pudge. Besides, he waited months for these- he could wait another handful of hours until he was formally let loose with no real risk to himself. Looking the woman up and down briefly, he didn't say any particular warning signs to drive him away. "What's your name? Get lost looking for something? I've been going to these for a while, so there's not much I can't get you to if you need some help. Name's Matteo- Matteo Moretti. I'm one of the musicians," he shrugged his shoulders to draw attention to the guitar case. "I'm on at 1 PM on the main stage." As soon as he'd stopped moving, Matteo seemed to slouch in place, letting his reverse jointed legs relax just a little.
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Post by Tzelle on Jun 2, 2016 21:21:57 GMT
North Hallways, Morning
Taisia hadn't expected to run into someone else so quickly! She'd only been in the hallway for a handful of minutes, at most, before that whistling tune carried around the bend to her ears. Matteo made his way into sight, and then closer. Taisia was still recovering from the relative social overload of the busy main hall, and made no move to walk away in either direction.
"Not lost, no. Well, not technically. Have to be trying to go somewhere to be lost, right? I just needed a few minutes to myself away from the crowds." Her accent immediately identified her as a non-native herself. "I'm not used to so many people all in one place. This hallway seemed like it'd be a nice reprieve." The distinct lack of identifying ribbon on her own badge was certainly a dead give away that she wasn't supposed to be here... but was he going to tell anyone? From the sound of it, that was a resounding no.
Then he mentioned music. Taisia's eyes immediately lit up. Not, necessarily, for the fact that he was someone worth knowing, but for the opportunity to strike up a conversation with someone in private on a subject that she wasn't ignorant about, but neither did she know everything. One person she could handle, a hundred was way too many. "What sort of music do you play?" I suppose I could just go watch his show later, but... people, she thought to herself. "Classical, folk, rock?"
She went on for a few more sentences before she realized that he'd offered his name, and she'd blown right by it without thinking. "I mean... I'm Taisia." Her badge had her name on it, and she picked it up to show him. "A pleasure, Matteo." Then she picked right back up where she'd left off. It'd be easy enough to get a word in edgewise, if he wanted, but even without she'd keep on talking.
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Post by sansuki on Jun 5, 2016 2:11:02 GMT
Smiling faintly along, Matteo holds the woman's eye contact while she explains her presence. "Oh. I see," the satyr says. "Though I'd say you just have to not know where you are to be lost. Conventions like these can be a little much at first. You get used to it." Of course, if this girl were here for the main event, she probably wouldn't get used to it, but that was beside the point. "It is empty, but the reason it's empty is so that staff can get here and there quickly if they have to. So try not to get in anyone's way. I'm not being paid to enforce the rules- or at all, come to think of it."
After the joke lands dubiously well, his guitar arouses more interest than he would. He weathers the sudden storm of interest, slowly and quietly getting his guitar out. Opening his mouth to start to answer the woman's questions, it's run over by another torrent of technical questions. Despite himself, the man chuckles under his breath, having some experience with the type; eventually, as soon as Taisia pauses for breath, he plays a soft simple chord to cut through the noise. Into the precious second or so of confusion, Matteo says, "A variety. I don't do much classical, but I have my own songs- and cover more." The admission comes with simple frankness. "Mostly more modern soft rock- I'm more interested in things that people will enjoy hearing in the moment than trying to create great art. I know I'm good instead of great, and I'm fine with that. Important to know what you can't do."
He slouches back against the wall. "You can come to my show if you want to hear- it's free, I make money by sellign merchandise. I'm just back here walking around and getting used to my costume," he says, smoothly lying and knowing he doesn't appear to be in costume at all. "I'll probably show it off on stage, since none of it gets in the way of anything. It chafes for a little while after I put it on, though, so I like to try to stretch it out by wearing it in the morning before I perform in it. You ever think of trying to make and put on some costumes?" He inquires politely- one of the standard jokes in an insular community like his was to use 'getting into costume' as a euphemism for being eaten by him or one of his friends, though of course Taisia'd have no reason to know that.
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Post by Tzelle on Jun 5, 2016 3:01:15 GMT
Answers to questions only spawned more questions in Taisia's mind, but she at least had the presence of self to not immediately launch into another rambling tirade of them. What bands did he like to cover most, what songs were his favorite, did he have a favorite key, a favorite time, a favorite vocal style? All sorts of questions that didn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but let Taisia feel like she was contributing to a conversation.
"I'll... I'll think about it," she said, clearly unsure, "I don't deal well with big crowds. That's why I'm in this hallway in the first place." He'd been frank about his shortcoming, it was only fair she was honest with him in return. It was perhaps a blessing, perhaps a fatal mistake that she assumed the rest of what he was saying to be true, too. "But I would like to see you play! Er, hear you play. And see the costume. I honestly couldn't tell you were wearing one." She leaned over to peer behind him; no tail. He had no visible costume ears. Everything about him seemed totally normal.
"You sure you can't show me here? Now you've got me curious, since I can't even tell what could possible be different." She tread dangerous ground, if she only knew. But she did not, and continued bumbling on as she was. "Whatever it is, it's bound to be better than anything I could come up with. I don't even know what to model one after, let alone how to put any of it together!"
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Post by sansuki on Jun 6, 2016 21:35:20 GMT
Matteo nods. "Fair enough, but isn't there a difference between a large crowd of people just aimlessly and chaotically moving around and bumping into things versus a large crowd of people who are all focused on the same single thing you are? There's less... interaction, I suppose is the word." The satyr holds eye contact, and adds, "Well, the hearing is easy, since the acoustics in the main hall are fairly good; I may not even bother with the speakers, really. Either way you'll hear just about as well on the fringes of the crowd as right in the thick of things." When she starts expressing interest about the costume, Matteo nods. "I don't show it off much when I'm not performing. And the hair helps. Here-"
He pushes his ungainly, poofy hairdo in closer to his skull, and a pair of curled horns with soft, rounded tips emerges from the mass, dark brown with speckled tan markings. They stay fairly close to his head, curling around the side of his skull right to the back of his ear. "These things just draw a crowd, but a few minutes in the shower and I can get this stuff slicked down to show them off fine. But that's not the fun part." Sitting down, he pulls up one baggy pant leg, showing off a thick fur-covered leg. "Satyr. You know, from Greek myth, with the horns and the goat or deer like lower body? I like them," he says while feeling silly about saying he likes, well, himself. "The leggings are pretty tight though. Go on, feel it." The fur itself is soft but slightly coarse, like a well cared for animal's pelt; though it goes up to the man's waist, he doesn't hike his pant leg past the knee lest he open up questions about his joints that would be unfortunately awkward- similarly, he didn't take off a boot to show his hooves off, since those were smaller than a foot would be and difficult to explain.
"It's a fairly simple costume, especially the bottom half, but it works fairly well," he says. "Groupies, especially, tend to like it, but it'd be rude to talk about that-" he laughs. "Anyway, if you want to, there's tons of things you could do. Just find some sort of creature that seems interesting to you in some way, and I'm pretty sure that around the convention there's someone who's made a costume like it that would be happy to give you free tips." Not that that would *matter*, of course. But keeping her interested and giving her something else to do would make it more likely that Taisia would stick around and not let her anxieties push her out of the convention before the main event happened.
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Post by Tzelle on Jun 7, 2016 0:50:40 GMT
Taisia seemed to consider that for a moment, but then after that consideration shook her head. "It's... not an interaction thing, it's a crowds kind of thing. Too many people, in too small a space, and too close to me. Even around the edges I couldn't handle more than a half hour or so." She sighed, looking wistfully at the guitar in his grip. "I'll give it a shot, though. I can promise that much. If it's too busy for me I'll just wander around like this again." That's about as good as she can give without potentially making a liar or herself.
Then the conversation switched to his costume. The horns seemed realistic and interesting, but they were ultimately hidden by his hair much of the time. They didn't need to be as detailed, and weren't as subject to scrutiny. His costume's legs, on the other hand, were extremely well done. She obliged his invitation to give the incredibly life-like fur a feel, and to her surprise it felt genuinely real. The girl drew her hand back as if burned, and looked up at him with wide eyes.
"How did you do that?" she said with surprise, "they actually feel like real fur. Amazing." She tried to figure out how he did it, but nothing she could come up with sounded in the slightest bit plausible. In her mind, they were a marvel of costume engineering. Her face broke into a slight blush when he mentioned groupies, correctly surmising what that particularly tidbit meant. "Oh, I don't know. Wouldn't I need to have something in mind first? You can't build... say, a mermaid tail out of the same material you make those leggings, could you?
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Post by sansuki on Jun 14, 2016 16:41:27 GMT
Letting the excitable human woman touch his leg, Matteo grinned. "Not too hard, if you believe it," he said with complete honesty. "Just good quality materials, like faux fur, and some tight leggings you can weave it into. Not a lot of fun to take off, but it's worth it." Letting her feel up the legs, Matteo kept his grin to a low burn; after all, it necessarily felt warmer and more real than any costume, being his actual leg. Tensing calf muscles under her hands, he let the human feel how the 'costume' moved with his body. "The horns look better when I shave or get my hair slicked back- you'll see when I do my concert," he added, brushing past the trepidation as though it were not there. "The legs, though, those are always right there- especially if I decide to wear some short shorts while I play my guitar to put on a bit more of a show." He chuckled at that, despite entirely intending to do so.
Seeing Taisia blush, he added, "Well- I am in a satyr's costume. I have to at least be a little forward or I'm not really in character, am I?" Keeping his pant leg up, he added, "Everything does start with an idea. I wouldn't be much use for mermaid tails, but fur can generally be kept in the same category as other fur without losing too mcuh, ah, fidelity, at least starting out. But the coming up with ideas is the fun part- figuring out what you want to be for a little while, and then only after that coming up with a way to make it happen. That is why a lot of people do this, after all, not just the groupies." Laughing again, Matteo put his hand on Taisia's. "Thank you for the promise- I'll look for you in the crowd, and I promise not to call you up on stage for everyone to look at." A wink after that- he did do that, but he wouldn't to this one- no sense giving any other monsters in the audience too much of a look at her if he wanted Taisia for himself. "Just if you're wandering around in this back hall, stay out of people's way, not that I imagine you need too much encouragement for that. Wouldn't do anyone any good if an overzealous staffer gave you the boot."
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