#drp:openpost

[whydontyoudoright-original]

Run-Ins || [Open Starter]

Jessica shifted the weight of her purse from one arm to the other, leaning in to examine the flower cart with a warm, satisfied sigh. If only her blooms had blossomed so nicely-- But when you plant snap-dragons in Toon Town, they tend to burn everything else around them. Her sigh turned to a frown of irritation at the memory, and she tucked her hair behind her left ear with a wrinkle of her nose. Turning to the shop-keep, she turned on her brightest smile and purred, “So how much are the pri-”

She was spun suddenly with a sharp gasp, turning hard and involuntarily on her heel as her purse was dragged- No! Snatched! - From her shoulder. She clung to it for a moment out of pure shock, but the figure shoving past sneered, and the glint of something stomach-churningly gun-shaped on his hip caught her eye faster. Before she could call for help, the shop-keep had dived down away from the scene and-- There it went, her purse wrenched from her grasp and her too dizzily dumbstruck to do anything about it. Her fists clenched, and she moved forward, “Hey! Stop! Stop-”

But he had turned a quick corner, and she let out a cry of frustration. Turning on her heel, she snapped to the closest person not hiding beneath a cart,

“Did you see them?!”

[spring-sprite]

Then Be Not Coy || //Open//

Green and fleeting: One thing into another, quick on her heels and quicker than her wits, that was certain. Titania had wandered onto a pathway crossing an edge of her woods, and had been following it for some time-- The day was growing long and she had yet to encounter any caravans or travelers, and now the dusted road had begun to turn stone. It looked as if they had been working on building a long path from the village out into the woods, and stopped at some distant edge for some reason. When she turned back to see the distance, the trees were vague, blurry shapes rising up a slow slope into the mountains--

“I really should have paid more attention.”  Sprite frowned to herself. Landing splay-toed among the wild grass and weeds, she tossed her hair and exhaled: Alright! Look less like a giant leaf person. Look a little less alarming-- Try to look, what’s the word?

                 Human.

Sprite’s hands curled and she exhaled. As a rule, exhaling and breathing wasn’t a necessity but it was quite enjoyable, like shouting or using thumbs! Blinking her eyes open, Sprite relaxed: She was still fairly green, but she’d shortened her hair, her height, and the floating-thing. She had this! She could totally pass for a people!

Curiosity edged her, and she bit back a grin: What did lay in the village beyond? Did they have sheep, and people, and dogs? Did they do that curious thing where everyone gathered under a large group of cut-up trees and sang songs? Maybe these people had songs they’d teach her!

Withholding an excited giggle, and just barely so, Sprite stepped back onto the path with a sense of purpose. Bubbling with excitement, she put one foot onto the cobbles and stepped forward, announcing,

“Look out, fellow humans! I come in peace!”

[prayerinyourpocket-blog]

A Sunny Afternoon | [Open]

[Slight panic warning below cut.]

Penny was dressed in her best, which, if she was being very, very honest, wasn’t much better than her usual: A little purple jumper and a yellow button up with fraying sleeves was over her usual lilac leggings and mary-janes. Miss Duffy had dug the outfit out special, and even let her wear her easter hat to walk down the park and do as she did every mother's day.

One balloon, wound tight around her palm and tied, was to be released skyward with the same note she'd written for as long as she could remember, for as long as Miss Duffy had carefully printed it, or as of this year, helped her to print in looping, bold letters:

"Dear Mama,

I miss you, and I hope you're someplace better.

I love you still.

Penny."

Penny arrived at the park at half-past eleven, and the day was bright and warm. It was better than last year, when she'd been--

The thought slammed shut like an iron gate. She would not dwell on where she had been that last year. Her hand tightened around the string and she took a deep, shaking breath.

She'd missed a year. She'd missed doing it, and that meant maybe her mother had moved even further away, gone off somewhere else, and would have a harder time finding this one--

Penny found herself sitting on a bench and looking up at the balloon miserably. What if that were true?

What if she never got it, or she had left so far away that balloons didn't reach, or she hadn't put enough on the card, or if- Or if--

Penny's hands were shaking now and her breath was hard to catch and she kept having to swallow. Everything felt larger around her and she felt pressed in, made smaller and smaller by each turn of laughter in the park or each murmur of wind, pulling the string and the balloon further and further away--

She had to fix the letter, at least. It was clear it wasn't good enough, it wasn't smart enough or pretty enough--

Penny fumbled with the string and reached up to snag the letter, and in her haste the balloon escaped her palm.

There was a moment of horror, before she cried out, "No! Wait! Come back, please--"

But the wind had picked up and the wind had changed, and the balloon was out of reach.

[esmeraldance]

The Court of Miracles || OPEN STARTER

It had been a long, tiring day of dancing, and Esmeralda's face was lined with weariness as she trod down the murky catacombs towards her home in the Court of Miracles, Djali at her side. The only good thing about that day was that she'd gotten more tips than normal, and her tip hat was full to brimming, much to the woman's satisfaction.

What was not to her satisfaction, however, were the footsteps she suddenly heard behind her, and she turned to see someone she'd never met before. A stranger -- and an intruder.

Surely Clopin would arrive soon to capture this intruder, but just to be safe, Esmeralda strode up to the stranger, a hand on her hips. "And what exactly do you think you're doing down here?" she asked.

[whydontyoudoright-original]

After Hours || Open Post

ooc - as this is set in the ink & paint, adult character responses only please! It'd be awkward to be explain why there's so much gin and glitter everywhere otherwise.

Jessica adjusted the mic stand and let it fall with a soft thump of rising dust. The last of the patrons hurdled out the door, with or without assistance, and the last of the drinks and glasses cleared away, the night was finally over. Sure, it was sometime around four in the morning, and she'd be walking out to sunset over LA and Toontown after getting her makeup off and her dress packed away for something easier to get home in, but it'd been a long night, even without the burst of patrons she'd been hoping for.

Things were slowing down on the bad side of town-- Even though Doom's highway plans had been moved around town, it still meant less traffic was coming through the bad side of the tracks-- And less traffic meant fewer seats were taken, and word was spreading of a new club uptown--

All humans, no toons. Typical. They'd had auditions up in the papers, little tiny print ads seeking "only girls!" and "only humanoid" toons-- Betty didn't qualify for proportional reasons, and has come back to work in stony silence until Jessica had asked what was wrong-- "Same thing as always. They don't want us--" And it had been painfully clear from the inflection that Betty hadn't meant Jessica, so she'd left well enough alone.

It wasn't that she hadn't thought of it-- More business, better money, maybe a more secure contract-- But she couldn't leave these people, these Toons. They were family; they were home. Ducks, octopuses, penguins, all-- No matter how she was drawn or how well she could 'blend.' She couldn't just leave them.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Jess could feel a headache coming on. It'll be better once I get home-- I'll snuggle up to Roget before he's off to his day, sleep in, do some housework, pay some bills-- She had stop thinking there. Bills were an issue. A /presently/ rising issue. No-- Just have to focus on getting home. Going on to the next day.

It'd help if the Ink and Paint had some fresh blood or some word of mouth, though- She she cringed to think of it fading into obscurity. Maybe she'd scout for some people, bring them in, show them the "help wanted" signs outside the door--

She heard the door at the end of the hall opening on it's heavy hinges, and looked up in surprise. She was alone onstage now, as everyone was moving things to the back or the sub basement, and she lifted her voice to call to whomever was entering,

"Hey! Can't you see we're closed?"

[prayerinyourpocket-blog]

A Little Princess Tea Party || Open Thread

The small circular table was set on the small grassy hill by the park, a small book of math questions propping up one leg and a spotted tablecloth with ragged lace edges draped across the sunken top. It'd been a donation several years ago to the orphanage, and had been... Well loved, in the time it had been there.

Today, Penny had dragged it out in a little wagon with a thermos of Lemonade, two plastic, chipped and mismatching cups from a play teaset, and a small box of cookies which were all displayed on a cracked and re-glued platter. There were crackers, cheese, and ham slices in the little lunchbox to the side- Enough for two. Or, one little girl dressed in a play viking helmet and cape, and a little bear in a princess hat and some poor doll's discarded dress.

No one ever said she had to be the princess, after all! Penny plopped Teddy on the grass on the discarded cookie box, and sat across from him in the grass. She announced,

"Tea time has begun, Princess Bear! I am the VIKING QUEEN, MOLGRATH!" There was a pause for giggles, and she smiled, "Would you like a cookie?"

The Princess Bear did not respond, but the shadow passing over the table caused Penny to look up in surprise. She blinked up at the person in confusion, their face and form blocked out by the light. Perhaps it was someone else from the Orphanage? They usually didn't try to join her, so it was a nice surprise. She supposed she ought to invite them...

"Oh! Hello. Are you here to join us? We got extra."

[an-urchin]

Things Under-Fin || Open Post [Young Urchin]

He was going to do it-- Urchin was going to learn more about the human world! He'd figure it out, a way to keep Ariel happy and himself okay. There had to be more than what everyone said...Right?

Urchin broke the surface with a gasp. He hadn't been out this way before-- He'd just been swimming until a light had caught his eye and drawn him upward. Now in the open he squinted the water from his eyes, muttering,

"How do they see in all this air? Everything's so dry..." Frowning to himself, Urchin scanned the sealine for any sign of life as things began to focus...

[whydontyoudoright-original]

Ranging || Jessica -- OPEN POST

Adjusting her grip on a curved walking stick, Jessica paused a moment beneath the trees, catching her breath. She hadn't been out in the wilderness for a while, but with wildfire season upon them, all hands had been called to be sure the woods were at least safe bordering Toon Town. 

The lush greenery was a relief in and of itself, even if the magic of the Toon world tended to leak and produce things like, say, fully decorated Christmas trees or trees full of Jack O'Lanterns appear seasonally throughout the woods. She'd already passed a tree in a binkini and sunglasses, however, so perhaps the worst of it's influences were behind her. Pulling at her glove, Jessica maneuvered her walking stick closer as she looked uphill. It was all rocks and heavy shadows, the greenery lush here-- No sign of wildfires yet, to her relief.

Something else caught her eye, however, as she turned and called out, startled by the sudden movement:

"Hello? This is a restricted area-- Come on out, please!"