The Network Comm for FluxScape.

It's another weather-related update! Yaaaay!

[ That is the most tired sarcasm anyone's ever heard, she's sure of it. ]

Listen friends, family and everyone else. Until further notice, Starkbucks is closed. Our roof is...pretty much falling in on itself slowly but surely and our roaster is just not gonna work in this weater.


Let me be another voice to tell you guys to stay home, wait this out and if you have to, get somewhere safe.

Don't be stupid.

[ And that's that. There's a semi-ominous creaking sound and Gwen is heard to go 'oh, that's no good' before her audio ends. ]

Count me one of The Mystics fans. Guy does some amazing tattoo work. Like...really, really good.

I got two. The second one I'm gonna show you was planned, the first one not so much? I was kinda sitting on the idea for a bit before bringing it up to The Mystic and my boyfriend, since it concerned him, too.

[ And there's photos! The first one is just simple. Black and white. Nothing too special about it on sight. But it's The Mystic. He deals in amazing and special tattoos. So there's gotta be something.

The second tattoo photograph is of the one on her right thigh. Just as her boyfriend suggested. Bright blue ballet shoes with the ribbons wrapped around slightly worn-looking drumsticks. The detailing on both tattoos is amazing. The Mystic knows what he's doing.

A third photo appears soon after, this one shot in the dark. The details on the ballet shoes, things like shading and fine stitching, appear to glow in the dark.

Something odd to note; these tattoos look like they healed quickly. Like they've already been there a while and aren't just a few days old. ]

Seriously. If you're considering getting tattoos? Talk to The Mystic.

He might be one of my favorite people in town.

[ Gwen's stealth recording. Which means she's aware she's streaming, but someone in the room might not be. It's around lunch time and Gwen's eating some nachos she got from one of the restaurants on the SuperWaiter app. In the background, a womans voice is heard talking. Telling really awful jokes and laughing about them and Gwen, while amused? Isn't cracking as much of a smile. Or at least, trying not to. ]

I tried playing hide and seek in the hospital, but they kept finding me in the ICU.

[ That's the person she's recording, telling that joke. And Gwen's eyebrow twitches upward some, but that's about it. ]

Please don't quit your day job.

[ That gets a laugh out of whoever's telling jokes and Gwen smiles just a little bit more. ]

That can't be the best you have.

I got more. Just you wait. Who’s the coolest person in the hospital? The Ultra Sound guy.

Who stands in for him when he’s on leave? The Hip Replacement Guy.

[ A soft snort from Gwen, trying to not laugh is getting a bit difficult. ]

A man goes to the hospital and says, “Doctor, I think I’m a bit hard of hearing”. The doctor replies “Can you describe the symptoms?” The man says “Sure. Marge has blue hair, Homer is fat and bald”

[ That's it. That's what does it. Gwen actually laughs just a bit, the laugh turning into a small fit of coughing but she's fine. ]

Okay, okay...next time I order from SuperWaiter, I'll get you churros. That was the bet. You won.

[ There's a laugh from the person off screen and then the nurse walks out, grinning from ear to ear, telling Gwen to get some rest. ]

Bye, Hanna!

[ They notice Gwen recording, give the camera a wave, and the petite, black haired nurse heads out the door to check on other patients. Gwen finally turns to look at her FluxPhone. ]

So, that's life at the Driftcrest Hospital. Where nurses have jokes and they don't care if you order outside food.

Someone told me I've been an ice statue for a couple weeks, and we have a lot of new faces in town. I'm Gwen. I work part time at Starkbucks as shift supervisor, and teach drums. I also work for SuperWaiter when I have a minute or so. For anyone that's just arrived, you don't by any chance remember being on a train that was travelling through what people in that universe called The Void, do you? Just wondering.


Also, if you're new, and have questions. Let me know. And yes, I did say Starkbucks. Not Starbucks. Starkbucks is a coffee chain from my universe, owned by the Tony Stark there.

Anyway, hi. Let me know if you have questions. I'll do what I can to either answer or give you my theories as to why this place is just a little crazy.

Thanks!

[ /endfeed. ]

[ There are two very distressed and alarmed looking teenagers on the screen, dressed in hoodies and clearly one-hundred percent hiding out in a blanket fort. It’s Gwen Stacy and her best friend Miles.

They look like they have important things to share, and Gwen takes the lead on that one. ]

So!! So...uh…

[ Try as Gwen might, she sounds high-strung and nervous. Even the smile on her face might make some think of that dog in a hat, sitting in a room on fire and going ‘This is fine!’

Everything is not fine. ]

So...there are most certainly things out there. In the cold. In the dark. I didn’t get a look at them, but whatever it was just chased Miles and I back home from the arcade in town. It sounded...really big. And fuckin’ scary…

[ And it’s probably a bad sign if Gwen is scared. ]

...and everything got really cold. Like...a lot colder. When it started chasing us. Uh…

[ Oh, god. She’s 404’d. She looks at Miles, hoping he’ll take over because all she can think right now is ‘what the actual fuck’ over and over. Worst. Mantra. Ever. ]

[Looking back at Gwen, Miles takes her hand, needing to hang on just as much as he’s trying to comfort her. Because he looks pretty shaken up himself, and it takes him a few minutes before he can manage to speak.]

Listen, just uh...make sure you get inside when it starts getting dark, yeah? I know everyone around here keeps warning us about it, but it’s definitely no joke. Even just the sounds the...whatever it is was making.

Seriously, stay indoors. Hopefully everything changes again soon and we can leave this thing behind.

[He turns back to Gwen, in case she has anything left to add.]

Yeah. Seriously. Follow the curfew. I know we’re all probably over this place changing as much as it does, but I’m good to go this time. And...maybe make sure you have people that you can contact in case you are out past curfew by accident, like we were. Like some kind of...digital buddy system or a phone tree or something. You call a couple people, they call a couple people. Keep track of your friends and family.

[ Squeezing Miles hand slightly, she offers him a very brief and very shaky smile that vanishes. She looks tired. Terrified. Over all of it. She just turns her Fluxphone off and leaves it off. She really hopes people take her advice, because she can’t fight something that 1: scares the ever-loving shit out of her and 2: she can’t even track, herself. ]

[ ooc: gwen is in blue and miles is in red. expect replies from one or both. ]

[ Gwen's in the park, and it's snowing. She's dressed for the weather.

There's a smile on her face as she walks through the park, glancing upward as snow falls down around her. With a backpack over her shoulder, it's clear she's coming home from school. ]

I don't know what the official word is on snow-days at the schools, since there are also options to study virtually, but if the snow starts sticking and all? I say giant snowball fight in the park. Who's in?

[ Because let's be honest, that'd be so much fun. ]

[ Gwen's face appears on screen. She's at the music store, on her shift and while there's a chance to see the look of irritation on her face, there's a loud bang and some swearing from off-screen. Gwen jumps and turns to look at the faint line of smoke coming out of the back room and she addresses her NPC coworker. ]

Holy crap, dude. Are you okay?

[ There's more swearing, anger pretty palpable as a very tall man with a thin body frame stomps out of the repairs room. He's a bit sooty and singed and pissed and Gwen steps out of his way, watching him head outside to catch some fresh air. ]

Ooooh-kay. So! Our previous instrument repair person, Agatha, is gone. Her castle is no longer in town, nor is the very road it lived on. I know this because I went to drop off something of hers and it's...literally just not there. It's probably a good thing she's gone because she's kind of in trouble right now.

See...nowhere in her job description did it say she could weaponize instruments but we just had a couple flutes and a clarinet returned that had some interesting extra features added. The new repair guy, Eitan? He's really good at what he does, but what he does is for actual instruments. Neither of us can figure out how to make these instruments safe again. They're being turned over to the police and anyone that's had an instrument 'repaired' recently...if it's acting funny, bring it by. Financially, this is going to suck, but we'll replace it for you. Cool?

Cool.

[ A sigh, a shake of her head and Gwen turns off her feed just as Eitan comes back inside and heads to the repair room to keep working. ]

[private text to the other spiders: ]

My danger sense is flipping out. I'm cancelling my classes for tonight and going home. I cannot believe my place of zen and peace was screwed over so badly by this.