It's a Small (Brave New) World After All - 2nd Annual World's Fair

[bravenewmods]

[It’s been a long year in this brave new world, in which the known span of human civilization has expanded more than ever before - but also come together. Between the attacks on Glacier and Union and the war with Gigas, an event like the World’s Fair feels especially poignant.

Union is making the best of it, too. Hosting the Fair for the second year in a row, the organizers have decided to use this attention to show off their newly rebuilt city, encouraging visitors to tour their refurbished industrial district and enjoy local culture at a theater or on the radio. Once more, said Entertainment District has decided to play host, and any number of booths and stalls can be seen lining the streets, with special discounts available to fairgoers at local businesses.

Excitement is running high - but so is tension. Gigas has been formally invited this year, and accepted with gusto; so has Glacier. Gigan tourists are easily identified by the propensity they have for taking pictures of everything (using much smaller cameras than anyone in Union has ever seen!) and for conversing in very loud voices about how quaint and old-fashioned and charming everything is. Will the goodwill the two cities forged after the Emperor’s fall manage to withstand the might of Gigas’s nationalism? Only time will tell.

Time, and the goodheartedness of the Union people. It’s time for the second World’s Fair!]

Comments

Union Divine Theater

[actsmagnificent]

Sirs and madams!

[ Here's Haruka Tenoh, looking unfairly handsome as always. She's got her very best theater showstopper smile on, and she's walking without crutches for the first time in months. Figures. She gets the cast off and immediately has to go back to work.

This is the true meaning of Adulthood.

From the buoyant look on her face, however, you'd think she'd been waiting for just this moment all her life. ] Today's act requires assistance from the audience. Would anyone wish to try their luck?

[ A grin for some girls in the front row. ] We'll be gentle.

[allergictoloveletters]

[Ami blinked as she was suddenly shoved forward by a cooing Rosalind. The giant Vivillion with the Marine pattern clapping her paws together as she volunteered her trainer.]

Vivi! Vivi!

Ah... It-It... would seem I have been volunteered, Haruka-san. [Ami's cheeks burned purple from being forced in front.]

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka smiles. Poor Ami, but she's a sport. Haruka will have to make sure to carry her through this. ] Then...choose our fates.

[ And she offers Ami an elaborate top hat, complete with feathers in the band....held upside down. There are slips of paper inside of it with scenario ideas.

How are you at improv, Ami? ]

[allergictoloveletters]

[Ami fished around for and pulled out a slip of paper and read it.

Only for her face to become a much deeper purple and she almost fumbled the paper back into the hat as she read: The volunteer is finally noticed by their sempai from Divine Theater.]

H-Hakura-san I-I-I don't think... I can pick again...

[actsmagnificent]

[ Honestly, considering the people (well, "people", many of them have horns and claws) who helped brainstorm these things, Ami did okay for herself. Haruka grins reassuringly, then, and pitches her voice lower so the audience won't hear. Neither of them want to be up here. ] Follow my lead.

[ In her Theater voice: ] Action!

[ And she turns her back on Ami, demeanor changing. Now she is...well...

How did Haruka's posture just become even more sophisticated?

Somebody in the front row needs to be passed a cup of water lest they faint. ]

[allergictoloveletters]

[Smitten as she is with Rei, even Ami isn't immune to Haruka's charms when they're full force and fully on her. She adjusted her glasses, her face a deep purple and she pressed a hand to her cheek. Was she actually emitting STEAM? That was her imagination, right?

But it was a scene and she had to think. What was the number one rule about improv? Always say yes? Yes, she was rather sure that was the case the book mentioned.]

T-Tenoh-s-senpai, i-it's nice to see you h-here a-at the school concert.

[actsmagnificent]

Hm?

[ Haruka turns, all smoothness, coolness, and detachment. ] Ah, you're...

[ Feigned thinking. Handsome brief crease of her brow. ] Ami Mizuno, right? What a bother.

[ Faint hint of a smile. Senpai has to be restrained for maximum effect. ] The music may be overshadowed by your beauty.

[ "WHERE WERE YOU HIDING THIS???" screams a Gigan in the front row. "WE DON'T HAVE HIM IN THE CITY!" ]

[allergictoloveletters]

[Ami has never been good with direct compliments, even (perhaps especially) from Rei. So from "full force Haruka" is just not helping her situation. She swallowed and she could hear Rosalind clapping and cheering loudly for her trainer.]

I-It's more likely they-they'll be distracted by you, T-Tenoh-senpai. E-Especially if you s-smile so.

[actsmagnificent]

Why would I be looking at anyone else?

[ Indeed, Ami appears to be the only person on Haruka's mind right now. She takes a step closer. ] You're breathtaking.

[ No one in the audience knows how to breathe right now, that's for sure. ]

[allergictoloveletters]

M-M-Me? I-I- that is... I-I think you must be thinking of a-another. [Where was a book she could hide behind?]

Tenoh-senpai I-ah... I.... am... I've always... wanted to speak with you.

[actsmagnificent]

Yes?

[ Her full attention. Rapt. Engaged. Hanging on your every stutter word. ]

[allergictoloveletters]

[It certainly sells the smitten kohai. She swallowed. She could do this.]

T-That is... I-I've always greatly... a-admired you. I-I'm sure you hear that often.

[divine_braid]

Oh, what the hell... [muttering...] Why not?

[Duo tentatively raised his hand.]

Sure, I'll give it a go.

[actsmagnificent]

[ ...Her mechanic?

Well, okay. Haruka offers this bold gentleman the hat. ] If you would, sir.

[ What sort of prompt will he draw? ]

[divine_braid]

[He pulls out a paper and looks at it.]

Haruka sees Duo at a local café and falls in love. They are too shy to approach them.

[He coughed, though the paper shifted enough that Haruka could probably see what it was.]

Uhhh... can we pick again?

1/2

[actsmagnificent]

Unfortunately...

[ ...the world of the stage is a cruel one, she means to say. Eliminating the fickle whims of chance lessens the enjoyment for the audience, she means to say. ]

2/3 whoops

[actsmagnificent]

[ Then she gets a look at the paper. ]

[actsmagnificent]

...sometimes that's necessary.

[ HERE HAVE THE HAT AGAIN PICK FAST. She'll smile at the audience to thank them for their patience, totally not rattled at all! ]

[divine_braid]

[He was a little startled at the hat being shoved at him so quickly, but sure. He can definitely pick again.]

Haruka is the leader of an organization. Duo is their loyal second-in-command.

[Well... he wasn't sure about being a 'loyal second-in-command', but whatever. It was better than the last one.

He handed it over.]

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka reads it. Her eyes narrow. She stands up taller, and, putting the hat away somewhere (who knows where?? a mystery), looks down at him from above. ]

Well?

[ Her voice is so cool, you could save an Amaura from heatstroke with it. The scene has begun. ]

[divine_braid]

[Woah... no warning? Duo looked momentarily startled, and then nodded a little.]

Well? [He straightened up a little, trying to work his way into character.] Well. The reports are in. I gathered them myself and was just bringing them to you.

[He hesitated for just a second and then held out his hand, like he was giving her a folder with paper in it.]

[actsmagnificent]

I see. [ Haruka accepts the "folders" and flips through them. ] And? What of the enemy encroaching upon our shores?

[ .....no one ever said the Union Divine Theater put on good plays. ]

[divine_braid]

Nothing we can't handle.

[He clasped his hands behind his back. Figures... military... so not his strong point.]

I have full confidence in our abilities.

[He was loyal, right? That worked, yes?]

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka nods. A shadow of anxiety passes over her face. She turns to the audience, clearly pained. There is a sigh of longing floating over everybody's heads now. ] For it to have come to this....should they set even one foot upon this sacred land, I will have betrayed my duty. And will the people I protect forgive that slight...?

[ THE UNION DIVINE THEATER DOES NOT PUT ON GOOD PLAYS. ]

[divine_braid]

[Duo coughed and then shook his head.]

There will be no need, for we will not allow them. [He was slowly picking up things now... speaking patterns, dramatics.] I, your loyal second-in-command, shall lead the forces forward. We can stop them before they reach our borders. There is still time.

[All the serious expressions are go!]