The Shimmer Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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theshimmer2020-07-18 12:17 am
shimmermods) wrote in theshimmer2020-07-18 12:17 am
Welcome.
WELCOME
The Shimmer is beautiful.
There are a lot of things that may or may not have been expected upon your arrival here – the walls of concrete and steel, the others that were brought here with you, the others that weren't brought here with you but have been a constant source of information and instruction and blatant, brazen surveillance – but the fact remains that this world does not seem, inherently, to be an unkind one. Foreign in some ways, perhaps familiar in others; either way, it's a world teeming with life, and with people, and perhaps most jarringly it's a world with beauty, and nothing you've seen otherwise is quite as repulsively and grotesquely beautiful as the Shimmer.
It defies desription, really; the boundaries of it are barely visible during the day, just a thin iridescent sheen encompassing the trees and thick-growing vegetation of the mountains, sweeping ever-closer and closer still to the boundaries of the compound you've been living in but are greatly unlikely to have come to call home. It cascades heavily down the face of the mountain, nestling into the tops of trees before it swallows them whole, arcing up into the sky so far that it hurts your eyes to try to find the crest. It seems almost ravenous in its grace; whatever it touches, it seems to consume.
At night, it's a different matter; it glows and dances in defiance of the bright lights of the compound, glistening bright like the Northern lights - a bit too low to the ground, a bit too far south, a bit too warm this time of year, but the effect is breathtaking. All the colors of the borealis seem to blink lazily at you as they twist in and out of view, sparkling scattershot among the remnants of a town about two miles off that has long since gone dark with abandonment and disuse.
Your mission begins tomorrow.
Your mission begins tomorrow and maybe you're ready for it, maybe you aren't; maybe you're trying not to think about it too much. But the fact of the matter is that there's a rooftop observation deck, open-air and about five stories off the ground, and it's granting you an optimal view of the surroundings and the Shimmer and that darkened town not too far off, and there are no other buildings around for miles. The air is balmy and humid, a little too warm to be pleasant but lacking the roiling heat of the day, a light breeze rendering the entire thing an acceptable respite from the training grounds within the building itself. The only sound this high up and this close to the Shimmer are those made by the people who are here with you – some you know, some you don't. Some are more recent arrivals than others; some have been here for just as long as you. You've all had information taken down about you, the results of which have been provided to you on a small device you found in your room, so perhaps it feels as though you know these people already.
Either way, the night is young, the sun having dipped below the horizon less than half an hour ago, leaving you with perimeter lights that are too bright and the ever-present, watchful glow of the Shimmer; there are tables set up around the balcony for you to use, to eat or socialize or just...sit. You haven't been deprived by any means, but the food that's been provided out here for you tonight is noticeably better than usual; perhaps they know it's the last time you'll eat well for a while. Perhaps it's an apology. Perhaps it's nothing to look into too deeply.
Feel free to stay out here for as long as you like; enjoy each other's company. Or don't let yourself enjoy it too much; it's up to you.
However you choose to do it, perhaps it's best to make sure you have no regrets.
There are a lot of things that may or may not have been expected upon your arrival here – the walls of concrete and steel, the others that were brought here with you, the others that weren't brought here with you but have been a constant source of information and instruction and blatant, brazen surveillance – but the fact remains that this world does not seem, inherently, to be an unkind one. Foreign in some ways, perhaps familiar in others; either way, it's a world teeming with life, and with people, and perhaps most jarringly it's a world with beauty, and nothing you've seen otherwise is quite as repulsively and grotesquely beautiful as the Shimmer.
It defies desription, really; the boundaries of it are barely visible during the day, just a thin iridescent sheen encompassing the trees and thick-growing vegetation of the mountains, sweeping ever-closer and closer still to the boundaries of the compound you've been living in but are greatly unlikely to have come to call home. It cascades heavily down the face of the mountain, nestling into the tops of trees before it swallows them whole, arcing up into the sky so far that it hurts your eyes to try to find the crest. It seems almost ravenous in its grace; whatever it touches, it seems to consume.
At night, it's a different matter; it glows and dances in defiance of the bright lights of the compound, glistening bright like the Northern lights - a bit too low to the ground, a bit too far south, a bit too warm this time of year, but the effect is breathtaking. All the colors of the borealis seem to blink lazily at you as they twist in and out of view, sparkling scattershot among the remnants of a town about two miles off that has long since gone dark with abandonment and disuse.
Your mission begins tomorrow.
Your mission begins tomorrow and maybe you're ready for it, maybe you aren't; maybe you're trying not to think about it too much. But the fact of the matter is that there's a rooftop observation deck, open-air and about five stories off the ground, and it's granting you an optimal view of the surroundings and the Shimmer and that darkened town not too far off, and there are no other buildings around for miles. The air is balmy and humid, a little too warm to be pleasant but lacking the roiling heat of the day, a light breeze rendering the entire thing an acceptable respite from the training grounds within the building itself. The only sound this high up and this close to the Shimmer are those made by the people who are here with you – some you know, some you don't. Some are more recent arrivals than others; some have been here for just as long as you. You've all had information taken down about you, the results of which have been provided to you on a small device you found in your room, so perhaps it feels as though you know these people already.
Either way, the night is young, the sun having dipped below the horizon less than half an hour ago, leaving you with perimeter lights that are too bright and the ever-present, watchful glow of the Shimmer; there are tables set up around the balcony for you to use, to eat or socialize or just...sit. You haven't been deprived by any means, but the food that's been provided out here for you tonight is noticeably better than usual; perhaps they know it's the last time you'll eat well for a while. Perhaps it's an apology. Perhaps it's nothing to look into too deeply.
Feel free to stay out here for as long as you like; enjoy each other's company. Or don't let yourself enjoy it too much; it's up to you.
However you choose to do it, perhaps it's best to make sure you have no regrets.
no subject
[Yeager presses a button, and the whole thing shifts and unfolds in his hand, he moves to properly support the absolutely massive scythe this tiny briefcase somehow unfolds into. It's larger than he is tall and he is not a short man. Don't ask how this works.]
I have access to this form, as well as a rifle form. The final form is a shield, which isn't precisely the most useful, but the scythe and rifle are my preferred weapons anyway.
[Aside from it being a tremendously weird weapon that probably shouldn't work at all, Heinwald can probably tell that it's definitely been taken care of despite having some problems here.]
no subject
[Heinwald instinctively takes a step back as Yeager's briefcase turns into a fucking scythe right in front of his eyes. You'd think he'd just witnessed witchcraft for something.]
I...I am not quite sure what I expected, but it was not that. [He's never seen anything like it? How the fuck does it even work? There's no magic present!] A very covert weapon to be sure, but a scythe... I very rarely see anyone wielding one.
[Let alone one that can also be a rifle.
And a briefcase.
He's never going to be over the briefcase.]
no subject
Anyway, Yeager looks pleased with the reaction, and he swings the scythe around so he can rest it against his shoulder. He's definitely familiar with it and how to swing it without risk of hurting anyone (including himself, somehow).]
They aren't particularly common weapons where I'm from either. But that's part of what makes wielding them so fun - no one ever expects it!
[And also most people don't know how to deal with the madman with a scythe, which is also a plus. Well, it is when he bothers to put in effort. Will that happen in the Shimmer??? Who knows. Yeager is an enigma.]
no subject
[Probably stuff that they'll want to say far away from them if they're the aggressive sort.
Now that he has calmed down from the initial shock that is the scythegun...]
You have me very curious now, I hope you know. How does one come to wield such a weapon?
no subject
[...That's a very generous way of looking at "I sell blastia bombs and blastia paraphernalia" but okay, sure.]
This weapon is one I had custom made. There are transform bows that the Imperial Knights use in battle which is where I got the idea, and the craftsman was able to create something that perfectly fit what I was looking for! Of course, it did take some getting used to; it's a very unique weapon and not one most people could wield!
[It's the least intuitive thing and prioritizes looking cool over being effective, but you know what he's found a way to make it work and that's what matters, right??]
no subject
[Just having "Leader of Leviathan's Claw" for a listed occupation doesn't reveal much when you don't know what Leviathan's Claw is in the first place.
He nods along to Yeager's explanation for the scythegun.]
I see the merit in that. If you are the only one capable of wielding it, then there is a low chance of someone using it against you.
[He's not even considering the possibility of "looking cool" being part of the equation...]