milliways_bar | Jun. 4th, 2013

Jun. 4th, 2013

It's dawn. Or as close to dawn as the asteroid on which Milliways was built ever gets. And as the light touches the Bar at the start of day, the change sweeps over the building, inside and out. The entire Bar- walls, floor, furniture, everything- breaks out in a profusion of Legos, Capselas, Meccanoblox, and every other construction toy imaginable. And Ray, who had been sliding down the Firehouse pole to come to the Bar just for the occasion, finds himself dropped directly behind the Bar. A vidwindow pops up in front of him, and in front of every other patron to enter:

Hello! Welcome to Milliways. Today, Milliways marks the Cybertronian holiday of Cubefall, the anniversary of the day upon which the Allspark first landed on the rocky world that would become Cybertron. Would you like to sample some possible reconfigurations? (y/n)

Ray's has the additional line:

Since we're a bit low on Cybertronian patrons this year, you got nominated to do the explaining. Thanks, Ray.

Ray just grins and pokes one of the reconfiguration options that pop up in front of him, resulting in a sudden upward motion of the ceiling and a rather awkwardly bent robot behind the Bar.

Look, the subspace compression field doesn't always work. I'm sorry. Just handle tending and answer people's questions anyway, okay?

"Well, okay," says robot!Ray as the Bar goes to sleep. "Happy hour for Cubefall, people! Half off if you need an explanation of anything that's going on today!"

[OOC: It's Cubefall! The toys and other conditions will continue for three days. Please see the linked back room post for details about the holiday and what to expect. Thank you.]

no_vampires_plz

Twilight was just coming to Milliways for lunch, but the fact that the Bar has broken out in construction toys means that she might have to change her schedule a bit. Especially if she ends up taking an alternate form again this year.

She settles into a corner booth and starts scrolling through the choices offered to her. Most of the options she recognizes from last year, but at the bottom of the list there's a new entry that makes her frown and cant her head to one side.

"...what the hay is that supposed to be?"

Alyx Vance will not be changing forms this Cubefall, or any other Cubefall. She hasn't stopped having Issues with that. She has, however, commandeered a massive bin of Duplo blocks and dumped them out in a convenient open space for her children to play with. Hope and Eli are now engaged in building... something. It's questionable whether even they know what it is, yet.

As far as the twins are concerned, this is the BEST HOLIDAY EVER.

seat_five_girl

Ako may have been cat napping waiting for this day. (Cubefall is not like Santa, it will still come even if you don't sleep, but she didn't want to collapse from exhaustion part way through day two.)

Hello! Welcome to Milliways. Today, Milliways marks the Cybertronian holiday of Cubefall, the anniversary of the day upon which the Allspark first landed on the rocky world that would become Cybertron.

( Would you like to sample some possible reconfigurations? )

Feel free to kibitz.

raptorcanaria

Dinah hasn't participated in Cubefall celebrations before, and today her most prominent thought is whyever not?. So when the screen comes up, she browses her options quickly before selecting the robot.

What she didn't do before selecting was pay attention to the insignia on the robot's chest.

"Wait, I'm a Green Lantern?"

Best. Costume. Ever!

claudiometer

Claudia gets all of three steps into the bar before she stops and grins. Now this is the construction toy outbreak she's been waiting for.
So she turns around.
(the heart won't remember the burning fire)
A while later, she comes back with a stack of papers in her arms, making a beeline for the furnace. If anyone were to get a good look at the papers, they appear to be records about someone, with a few notes mixed in about just how old the data that makes them up actually is.
(next time you feel the flame of desire)
She figures it's time she put some of this Todd craziness behind her.

gavin62truck

Oh god, here we go again. The entire bar looks as if an army of toddlers has overturned their toyboxes, and there's a vidscreen at the bar that's asking Tommy if he wants to reconfigure.

(He'll have a sandwich and a cup of coffee first before he does anything, though.)

These are his choices:

( Read more... )

And then suddenly--

"Rurrf?"

--there's a very large Irish wolfhound in the bar.

Its rough, shaggy coat is an uneven mix of gray and white and light brown, even a little blond around the eyes, which are an uncharacteristic blue for its breed. It stands a little over three feet tall at the shoulder, its floppy ears pinned back and its long, whip-like tail held low with uncertainty.

Because Tommy's got four legs now, and he's not sure how to use them yet.

It would probably be a good idea for a dog of this size to be outside, because he could be prone to knocking over tables and chairs. And people. Unless you find that sort of thing hilarious.

Plus there are waitrats. He might eat them. (He wouldn't, really, but you never know what instincts might kick in.)

needs_fern

Fluttershy remembers this day from last year. This was when she got to be a tree!

As her options are presented to her this time, though, she notices that trees don't seem to be on the menu.

( Instead... )

Oh. This is kind of an odd selection. Pardon Fluttershy a moment while she thinks it over.

herr_bookman

[OOM: In which Autor faces the impracticality of women's clothing, and his inability to put them on.]

There's a girl in the bar today, hunting down very specific Lego pieces and placing them in one of five bags. She's wearing glasses and trying to ignore how her grey school uniform's skirt cuts off above the knee and flares out like a tutu.

Don't startle her. Her stance is fairly unsteady, so she might tip over. Again.

52_dropoff

Cubefall offered Charlie the usual array of choices. Kitty cat? Nope. Robot. Nope.

Alien? He did that last time.

Beautiful woman (apparently a young Helen Mirren, circa The Long Good Friday)? It would be different. But that just never seemed like the best idea for some reason.

And…”well, that could be fun.”

The selection made, Charlie vanished. And was replaced by a chimpanzee. Wearing a rather well tailored suit. And a deerstalker cap.

A big dopey chimp grin came to Charlie’s face. And then, quick as a chimp, he leapt into the rafters with an ease he never had before. Making sure to hold on to his hat, of course.

[ooc: Couldn't wait to get this posted but will reply after work.]

hecu_marine

See, here's the thing- as far as Shephard is concerned it's still early spring and he's on board the Borealis along with Maripyaipok, Jan ten Boom, and several other people who all had different reasons for wanting to accompany the teleporting boat to Brazil. He's got absolutely no reason to suspect anything about the-

"Mother pus bucket!"

-calendar on the Milliways side being set to Cubefall. Oh well.

At least he got some decently interesting choices this year. GERTY isn't really his style, but it's still kind of interesting; he might be scared of flying but it's probably different if you're actually built to do it; the wearable NBC response robot has its own kind of appeal; and-

Huh. Well, why not:

"This ain't as bad as that thing with the hooves'n mandibles, that's for damn sure."

knightoftheswan

"Reconfigurations?"

It doesn't take long for the Knight to turn the options down. The changes to the bar itself are big enough. Besides, there are other changes he's been pondering.

So now there's Duck, who is to Princess Tutu as Fakir is to him. But why? What purpose is Tutu going to serve? And if Duck wasn't born to be Tutu the way Fakir was born to be the Knight, how did things come to this state? In any case, it's clear that Tutu will become a permanent part of his life, probably along the lines of an "every spring" visitor until even that is not often enough for her and Siegfried.

He tries not to let himself stew in the unfairness of it all.

a1enzo

"Okay, Ana, you're gonna like this..."

Mairi was here for this last year, but both little girls still ooooh and squeal at the current restructuring of the bar.

"You're also allowed to turn into something for the holiday, like rebooting. But once you do you're stuck that way for the next few seconds, and if you're something that doesn't have hands, you won't be able to play with the toys. So let's play for a while first, okay, and then we can see what we can reboot as?"

"YAAAAY!"

And so there are small children running amok. Goodness knows what they're trying to make.

thekidfrombrooklyn

Steve never played with Legos--they didn't come to the States until after he was a Capsicle. They do look like fun, though, and he's smiling as he moves through the bar, watching other people build things.

At the Bar herself, a vidscreen pops up. He reads the information with a widening grin, and decides, Sure, let's do something different for the holiday. It's kind of like wearing new clothes on Easter.

So, his choices are:

( bip )
Ever press a button just to see what it does?

Well, he can't say this was wholly unexpected.

morethanprops

Moist considers his options as he drinks his coffee, a robot that looks to be a mail sorter, a vampire and a weasel. The weasel is rather cute and it would be restful to not have to talk or deal with any transformations or surprise meetings as Urquhart does enjoy changing himself.

After another sip of coffee, he presses the tablet and soon there's a weasel on the counter who washes its fur and then scampers down to explore the Bar. Perhaps he's found your table.

iambetadraconis

Up first, for her Cubefall debut, is one orange-and-magenta pegasus filly.

She'd just managed to figure out how to sit on stools meant for bipeds, when the vid window appears.

"Welcome to Cubefall", it announces. "Would you like to try on a configuration? Tap 'Yes' or 'No'".

Scootaloo looks about. It's full of manipulables, and while there are plenty for those without opposable thumbs, having digits instead of hooves sounds even better.

A tap of the screen [she made sure her hoof was aligned correctly before she made her choice—she didn't want to be stuck with a mistake for three whole days], and without any fanfare, a young girl of about ten, albeit with hair the same colour as it was when she was equine, with matching overalls and orange tartan shirt.

Let's go see what the big deal is about hands!

For our next act, we have Strength and Wheel. They tap "No" when asked about configurations. Why would they want to test one out? Wheel does it all the time, and even Strength can be something else if she really wants to be.

It's Shujaa and Utani, however, who decide simultaneously that they both want to go human for the holidays [apparently going naked ape is a popular choice if you happen to be an animal].

And just like Scootaloo, there's elements of their animal forms when lion and lioness gain their new forms.

If you ask them, they think they look pretty good for two-leggers.

Last but not least is a Cubefall veteran, chewing out the vid window when it shows his selections.

Without fail the selections include a wolf among them. Albeit an organic-looking wolf with armour here and there.

At least it doesn't look like a robot, or a werewolf for that matter.

With a resigned sigh, he taps "Yes" and before you can say "Transfiguration", there's a replica of that same creature exploring the couches near the fireplace.

Feels a bit heavy and creaky, this shape...

[Tiny tag: Scootaloo.]

student_of_impossibility

"No way." The screen in front of this particular dust-covered young man receiving a glare of death. "No bloody way. Not ever again."

Not after last year.

He doesn't even bother looking at the options presented, and after a threat to throw the screen at a wall, ends up settled in a booth with a book on how early 21st century American federal government structure.

And while it is, in fact, open (to a section on the House of Representatives), he's clearly rather distracted by his bowl of paradoxes and by puzzling out the space ship LEGO sets in front of him. (Yes, there are directions. They are tossed onto the booth bench across from him. Who needs directions?)

immortalthief

Like much that she has seen here these blocks that appear before her when she approaches the bar are new to her but she thinks she understands them. Picking them up she walks over to the bar with food.

The immortal sits at a table and starts putting the Lego's together, it's looking very abstract.

stole_a_time_lord

This holiday is excellent.

Earlier, the TARDIS read the explanatory screen from end to beginning, and again, starting somewhere in the middle.

She likes middles. So much of things is made up of middles.

She's in the middle of something right now.

Specifically, she's in the middle of the floor of a 1960s British Police Box, which she built almost entirely out of blue Legos, and some black ones and white ones, and the occasional purple one, here and there.

It's smaller on the inside than she was expecting, but at least the doors open out the way, properly, when you pull them, as you should, rather than push them, as he does.

She has also, after careful review of her options, acquired webby finny fishy hands. And those, in turn, have required the acquisition of pudding.

So. One TARDIS. Sitting in a replica of a 1960s Police Box. With fish fingers. And custard.

[OOC: Slowtime please, as of 10:20 EDT. My brain has gone all . . . custardy. :) Please, no new tag ins. Thanks!]

thenewblack

Hello! Welcome to Milliways. Today, Milliways marks the Cybertronian holiday of Cubefall, the anniversary of the day upon which the Allspark first landed on the rocky world that would become Cybertron. Would you like to sample some possible reconfigurations? (y/n)

Bringing it up presents a varied list. Meercat, some kind of gold robot woman... her as a guy looks distressingly like Dad. Good to know!

the_gene_genie

Gene's been feeling ill for two days. Can't sleep, won't sleep. At least this year, he knows what's up.

He wasn't expecting Cubefall when he comes downstairs. It seems incongruous, but that's just a personal issue. He's not bothered what everyone else is doing. He only came down for a bottle of whiskey, maybe two. Drink enough, it drowns out the crowd cheering for the new Queen, and...what came later.

He'd also forgotten about the opportunity to 'reconfigure' for the holiday. His options are presented to him, and he has to grip the edge of the bar to stop the nausea.

a) a lion
b) a woman
c) a young man in a copper's uniform, smiling for a camera.

He supposes it's something that the lad has a whole face. Still, he picks the screen up and chucks it back across the bar, fervently hoping it smashes to pieces.

'Is that supposed to be funny?'

No answer from Bar. He resists the urge to kick it, and heads back to the stairs instead, whiskey in hand.

[OOC: No time to EP, so no tags, please. It's just that in light of the 60th year celebrations for the Queen's Coronation today, I couldn't let him get away without reminding him. *cruel*]

a_bolin_stone

Bar has been materializing Cubefall screens left, right, and center today, and now one more's popped up in a language that almost-but-not-quite looks like Chinese.

"Huh." Bolin peers a little closer, Pabu winding around his neck to get a better look at the screen, too. "Try out different configurations?"

One of them just looks like a giant metal man; that's no fun. The middle one's a fire ferret. All the way at the end, though, a picture of himself beams up at the reader...and on second glance, he's got the bright blue eyes (and equally bright blue sash) of a waterbender.

Huh.

Bolin rubs his chin, exchanges glances with Pabu, and looks back down at the monitor. "You know what?" he decides after a beat. "I think I'm good. Thanks, though!"

He gives Bar an affectionate pat; the monitor disappears, replaced by a mug of fresh tea.

And then Bolin immediately gets to work sweeping in all the Legos within arms' reach so he can start building something totally awesome.

[ooc: slowtime now in effect! post is open until it scrolls or until the end of Cubefall, whichever comes later.]

ostro_goth

Teja comes to the bar today, and sees it change -- so it is Cubefall!

And indeed, he gets the screen he has seen in earlier years:

Hello! Welcome to Milliways. Today, Milliways marks the Cybertronian holiday of Cubefall, the anniversary of the day upon which the Allspark first landed on the rocky world that would become Cybertron. Would you like to sample some ( possible reconfigurations? )
(y/n)

Teja has been all these shapes except one, at some stage, before; still, he ponders which one might be the most useful this time around.

wild_colts

There is a pre-plastic-era nine-year-old in the bar, picking apart the bricks with a fascinated expression. What strange little things to build stuff with!

That is until a screen floats down towards Almanzo, which causes him to stop and stare even more, before running a hand above and below it to look for the string holding it up. He hasn't even got as far as reading it yet.