007 - Welcome to VoidCon!

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Welcome to VoidCon! Event Info ▲ Comments Is It Wrong To Pick Up Stamps In The Convention?
The registration desk for VoidCon rests at the base of Mt. Silver, looking a bit conspicuous in contrast to the natural cave entrance. Lanyard badges have been laid out across the desk, one for each person that dwells within the Void... although, some will still be unclaimed by the time the convention ends. Above the mountain rumbles a thunderstorm, granting enough power to easily keep the convention space powered for a few days. Even if you’re not interested in the convention itself, you might as well take advantage of the stable power source while it lasts.

Next to the pile of lanyards is a stack of cards, each covered with blank squares and the words “Stamp Rally” written at the top. The instructions can be found on the back, along with a list of goals and activities - not all of them make sense, but as long as you think your interpretation is correct, it seems to count. Each completed goal will be rewarded with a matching stamp, which will simply appear on the card on its own. Get six or more stamps and you get “a prize.” It's not clear what the prize is, but it must be something good, right?

The goals for each stamp are as follows, and can be completed in any order:

1. Sign your autograph on ten different surfaces.
2. Wear someone else’s clothes.
3. Hug lovable arcade mascot Potato-Cat.
4. Find yourself in Kyo’s merchandise booth.
5. Reenact the best scene in the book.
6. Win a round in the holo-arcade with another player's abilities.
7. Eat the BBQ.
8. How much is a currency? Can I have it?
9. Tweet a hash tag into the ley lines about your experience at VoidCon.
10. Share and subscribe to the most liked art piece.

Completing at least one stamp prompt will make your character eligible for the March event bonus. Please see the linked event post for details.

So I’m A Fanartist, So What?
In proper fandom-based convention fashion, a small herd of Brushboys have responded to the call for creativity and settled themselves into the convention space. Some have taken residence in their own stalls as they draw whatever (or whoever) comes to mind, but others will take a more guerilla approach to their art as they walk about in search of their newest source of inspiration - you!

Most art can be observed in the form of prints and postcards that are lying about for public viewing on occupied vendor stalls, but other Brushboys have taken some liberties with their mediums. A lucky individual may find an entire mural painted on a cave wall that’s dedicated to them, or perhaps telling the story of the relationship between them and another character.

Styles of the art vary depending on the individual who has painted their respective masterpiece, but most depictions are compliant to “canon” in terms of their content. That’s not to say that every piece is, however - canon divergence is key in fanworks. Pieces with two characters together may have never spoken a word to each other before, or perhaps the nature of their connection to each other has been grossly misinterpreted by the artist. Whatever the case, each work of art is certainly a conversation starter.

In Another World With My VR Headset
Numerous signs and posters found around the arcade direct attendees to the elaborate VR game set-up, the potato-cat mascot proclaiming in a large speech bubble that “Fun and Excitement Awaits!” followed by an odd little nonsense phrase in smaller writing that is probably meant to be motivational but either comes across as nonsense (“what did you do that did”) or simplistic (“wow!”). The posters are not particularly needed, however, as the set-up takes up a large area, and the bright lights and music likely draw more than enough attention to it.

The interactable and realistic hologram display shows a little piece of another world. It could be a room, or a city street, or a little piece of the outdoors, but every world is familiar to at least someone present. It changes by the hour, with every attendee’s world featured at least once. Each world is presented as a game, and while the game does not always appear relevant to the location it is usually at least playable, and frequently allows for two or more players to either cooperate or compete - it’s better with company! Games include rhythm games, stealth games, monster battles, fighting games, card games and more. The goal of each game will also change with the genre, so you’d best beat it quickly if you want to make any progress.

In this VR world, attendees will find that their existing powers work perfectly in-game, as though an intended feature, even if they don’t seem at all relevant to the game. Furthermore, powers can be unequipped or exchanged for someone else’s powers by accessing the menu, allowing for free experimentation and a chance to see what the neighbors are truly capable of. If you don’t have anyone to trade with, just hit the “randomize” option - you’ll be given a completely random powerset, or you’ll be randomly swapped with another nearby player. The possibilities are endless!

If you manage to reach the end of the game, you’ll be greeted with a large and flashy display of “Congratulations!” along with some virtual confetti, followed by a holographic display of everyone’s high scores… which are a bit confusing to read, since every new version of the game has a completely different scoring system and one player might go through several of these before hitting a proper “ending.” Is a smaller number or bigger number better? Why does a farming game even have a combo score? Maybe it’s best not to think about it.

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Comments

[bridge_princess]

"I... yeah, we could do that. It would probably fulfill the requirement," she agreed, reaching up to start pulling her outer layer out of the obi, letting it hang on her shoulders over the closer to skin tight dark body suit she wore underneath it. "Who knows. They say there's a prize, after all."

Admittedly, her insistence that this was out of kindness probably would have met head to head with the reason she wanted to take the dog. Not only did she want it returned, but she wanted to see Rinoa, badly. "I hope so too. I... I want to see her," she almost whispered, getting nuzzled by Angelo, who clearly agreed. "It's Angelo. Their name is Angelo."

[xblaze]

Es nods, removing her big puffy jacket in order to hand it off to Parsee. As her partner took off her clothing, however, she realized just how similar it was to one of her own friend's outfit. But that was a thought for a different time. "Prize? I've never had one..." she mumbles when she hears about the prize.

She realized quickly that the dog was friendly, so she lowered her guard for just a moment, wanting to pet it. Her hand was sneaking out to try. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Angelo." she says, before remembering to say, "I know you will. You must keep hope."

[bridge_princess]

Parsee handed her own over after a moment, taking the outfit and working her hands into the sleeves. On the plus side, they seemed to be both on the shorter side and relatively similar in height. "Yeah, I don't really understand how prizes work in this place, and the truth is that I don't actually think the Void understands them very well. So we'll probably get something if we fill this out."

Angelo was absolutely friendly, and after a sniff, it barked happily and was all too happy to get petted. Friendly might as well have been its middle name. "I've never been great at hope, but I've got determination, so at least I know I'm not going to be giving up."

[xblaze]

Es finishes slipping on Parsee's clothing, soon realizing herself that they were similar in both height and frame. It was nice, not to worry about being in oversized clothing. "That's good to hear. I'd like to experience getting a prize." she says happily, despite her more passive expression.

The android eagerly pets Angelo, enjoying the sensation of fur beneath her fingers. This was another new experience for her. She quite likes it. "That's good." she breathes, soon realizing something. She could help. "If you could tell me how Angelo's owner looks like, I may be able to assist in finding them."

[bridge_princess]

She almost laughed a little. "You're definitely a bit on the easy to please side, aren't you? New experiences and all." She was starting to wonder if that was a robot thing. Quite possibly, given the limited sort of experiences that they had. Trying on Es's outfit, she gave it a look and managed a little smile, watching her pet the dog. Angelo was just... Angelo was so easy to please, even if ...

oh...

She'd... uh... shit. "Rinoa went home. I... I have to find a way to open a gateway to her world to send Angelo back. I'm going to be trying to convince the Void to do it."

[xblaze]

Her face scrunched up a little when Parsee says that. She doesn't consider herself easy to please-- she was just stating fact. But the reaction was gone as soon as it came. She couldn't blame Parsee for it, that was for sure.

"The Void could do that?" she asks. That was news to her. "That sounds useful."

[bridge_princess]

Well, Parsee was still getting a feel for her. Unlike regular humans, she couldn't read this one's emotions quite so clearly. "I don't know?" she said, standing up and staying near Angelo and thinking. "We're not sure how it brings people here. We're still figuring it out I guess, and this is more important to me."