tushanshu_logs | Do you wanna build a SNOW FORT?

Entry tags:

Do you wanna build a SNOW FORT?

Characters: Everyone!
Date: February 26
Location: A large park in the Wood Sector
Situation: SNOW FORT
Warnings/Rating: None so far

The temperature in Keeliai is frigid, and anywhere where it hasn't been shoveled or plowed away, snow still lies thickly on the ground. It's not weather well-suited to most outdoor recreation, with the exception of ice skating and... snow fort building. And snowball fights.

With spirits still high from the bonfire, it's time for some snow-related fun and mayhem!

Anyone walking by a large, open park in the Wood Sector might notice that it contains an impressive edifice of snow. If they decide to investigate, they will be welcomed into the fort by Tony and Gene and anyone else who has decided to join in the fun. And if they walk on by... well, I'm sure you can imagine what happens when you turn your back on a snow fort with a fully-stocked arsenal of perfectly-packed snowballs.

Will the residents of the snow fort beleaguer random passerby with snowball barrages all day? Will the fort-building develop into an architectural competition? Or will a challenging snow fort arise, leading to a full-scale snowball war? It's up to you!

[ooc: unless indicated otherwise, all threads in this log are open to everyone! It's a free-for-all, so jump around get snowy with as many people as you want!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Spotting the snow fort already rising, and a few of his friends there, Enjolras considers the moment, seized by an urge he doesn't quite understand to build his own, opposing snow ~~barricade~~ fort. After all, he's defended territory before, and sometimes even done a good job.

He may not be quite used to so MUCH snow before, having grown up in the Midi, but that doesn't mean it's not a situation where his past skills are so far out of use. After all, snowballs and cannons aren't so different, are they?

"Shall we make a challenge?" He suggests, raising his voice as he gets to work on laying out the 'walls' of his snow fort. "Only give me a moment to catch up in the construction, but I believe I can lead anyone who wishes to join me into victory!"

So saying, he's laughing a little, stopping rolling a wall in place to retie his hair, which has come loose, his face already flushed with cold and a bit of glee. To the barricades! Er snow forts.

At first, Callaghan is content to watch people like Enjolras and others making fools of themselves. Sitting off to the side, he's in a position where he's got a good view of the goings-on, and isn't quite an obvious target.

So really it's only a matter of time before he's 'forced' to dive behind Enjolras's barricade, half-covered in snow, and trying to keep from laughing like one of his old students as he crouches behind cover and offers the man a grin somewhere between eager and rueful.

"You mentioned 'victory', before?"

Even the middle-aged can have competitive streaks, after all.

There IS something about the snow that prompts a sort of...perhaps nostalgia for childhood antics? In any case, Enjolras is grinning, his smile wider than usual as the man crashes through to join them.

"Ah yes, I certainly did. I take it you've come to volunteer?"

"You have until we finish making another round of snowballs - then we're gonna annihilate you!" Tony shouts across the field, emphasizing his friendly bravado by hurling one advance snowball before ducking back down behind his own walls.

Enjolras gets a few minutes unmolested to build up his fort. Then Tony notices Callaghan watching from the sidelines. Or what he thinks are the sidelines. There are no sidelines in a snowball war, Callaghan!

Tony whoops and begins the barrage, chasing Callaghan under the cover of Enjolras' hastily constructed defenses. Then he calls out another playful challenge.

"Ready or not... it's on!" SNOWBALLS AWAY!

"A round of snowballs. I agree to your terms. And I wouldn't be QUITE so sure." Enjolras turns around, hoping to gather more recruits to his side, then settles down to what they have to work with.

Admittedly, it isn't much, but there's a lot of HEART on this side, and that makes up for quite a bit of the lack of planning they have done, he's sure it does. And when they're getting started, he's turning to those he's managed to gather here, and, stepping up to a rather solid mound of snow, he's planting a knee on it, and nodding to his recruits, counting the beats and then directing shots.

"FIRE!"

Still grinning, Callaghan rubs his hands together briefly to try and generate a bit more warmth before reaching for some of the snow. It chills his fingers, but he's already forming it in to a ball.

Heart? Well, he has it, but he's mostly putting it to use making ammo. For a period of time he's willing to let take care of the throwing- at least, until one goes down beside him. A sympathetic wince, and then he makes a decision, popping his head up briefly before grabbing another snowball, then-

Incoming, Mister Stark!

Enjolras has been directing traffic right up until one of their men goes down. At that point, he's flashing Callaghan a nod, briefly, and grabbing for more snowballs of his own.

"FIRE AT WILL!"

Now it's ON.

Tony's mostly been watching out for Enjolras, because Callaghan seems to have taken on a support role while Enj does the actual throwing. So Callaghan's snowball takes him by surprise, and hits him squarely in the face.

He takes cover again, spluttering. This indignity will not go unpunished! "You picked the wrong team, Callaghan!" Tony shouts across the field, conveniently ignoring the fact that Callaghan did not so much pick his team as get chased onto it, by Tony. "We're gonna rain snowy hell down on your sad little igloo!"

He doesn't wait for a target to appear before he starts his next volley: instead, he arcs the snowballs over the opposing team's walls, indiscriminately carpet-bombing the smaller fort. Maybe he can't see where they've hidden themselves, but if he throws enough snowballs, something's got to hit.

"Don't get cocky, Stark!"

Said just as Callaghan gets to press against the building for cover, a rain of unaimed snowballs pelting around him. He glances at Enjolras, then makes a quick gesture- two fingers forwards, back, attack from both sides?

Or just provide a distraction, because he's already moving around to take Tony's team from behind.

Arno's been wandering the sector when he spots the large snow fort, and prompted by a few memories of childhood games on the rare occasion families would come to the estate and bring along a boy or two his and Elise's age. It's a nice memory and the reality here will probably be better yet. Or, if not, a way to go down laughing. He could use more laughter in his life, right?

"Tony, isn't it?" Arno asks on his way in. "You helped me settle in. And your friend?" Who seems more than just a friend to HIS eye but Arno won't say THAT out loud just now. Let Tony tell him first and all. For now, here he is to serve at the fort instead.

"I offer you my humble service, by the way."

Aw, c'mon, Arno, it's not like Gene's all over Tony. But he is sticking maybe a little closer than protocol and chill would dictate.

"Gene," he says, by way of introduction. Then, "How's your throwing arm?"

Hey, it's nothing he hasn't done with Elise, just barely crossing that line between friend and something more. And most people wouldn't notice it, anyway. So, they're good if someone else comes by to join on the fun anyway.

"Gene." Arno offers a hand to shake. "Not bad, and my aim's even better." When you spend your time with a miniature crossbow, you do tend to get good at aiming. He might not have the same stamina required for snowballs, or might overshoot it but he's not going to say that just now, too full of confidence already as he is. "It's good to meet you, by the way."

Tony's surprised when Arno appears - and it's not an entirely pleasant surprise. He's still wary of the assassin, so his smile is hesitant. "...Yeah. Hey, Arno."

But this is supposed to be fun, and he tries to put his misgivings aside for the moment. "We could use another good shot. Gene has terrible aim," he says, turning a teasing grin on Gene.

"Good to meet you," Gene says to Arno, shaking the offered hand, and narrows his eyes at Tony. "Excuse me a moment."

Aaaaand that's when he shoves snow down the back of Tony's shirt. Nobody insults his aim with - "Vile lies and slander!" - and gets away with it.

Edited 2015-03-03 12:13 (UTC)

So bad as all of that, Tony? Well, at least he's not actively assassinating yet, right?

He snorts at Tony's comment and the response, quickly sidestepping the two of them.

"Well, I think he's proved that he has other talents."

Tony's actually had a hit put out on him before, so you'll have to forgive him if he's a little leery when he hears "assassin," Arno.

The cold snow down his back makes him squawk and flail frantically as he tries to dislodge it. "You jerk!" he says, laughing, and retaliates by tossing a handful of powdery snow at Gene's face. Well done, Gene. You've successfully distracted him from brooding about Arno.

"Other talents like... eating snow?" he suggests, grinning fiendishly as Gene tries to clear the snow out of his face. And because he is a bad, bad person, he takes advantage of that momentary distraction to pull Gene's hat down over his eyes and stuff a snowball down his shirt.

Discord in the ranks!

Gene yelps when the snowball goes down his shirt, and decides to get even. Pushing his hat back up, he grabs another handful of powdery snow from the ground with his free hand and shoves it into Tony's face.

"Clearly, you can tell we're a well-organized fighting force," he says to Arno in the interval.

Arno, sensing it's better to avoid getting into the situation while the snow tossing and shoving is going around, makes sure to stay out of either of their paths right now, all the while watching, a tiny smirk growing on his face.

"Actually closer than either of you would think." He allows, trying not to sound like he's about to take things over here, especially when this is just about the last thing he's had a lot of experience with.

"You don't want to be too organized." He's pointing out, once he's stopped laughing at the snow stuffing . "That makes snow going up your nose the shock that ends you, instead of the start of chaos yet to come. With the disclaimer that I only know because I've seen them fall before." Arno adds the last bit brightly. lest they think he knows what he's doing either.

Tony wipes the snow off his face, and decides to take the high ground by not retaliating again. And as soon as Gene's distracted, he's going to run back down to the low ground and stuff more snow into his clothes.

Until then, however, there is an opposing snowfort to be defeated.

He's really not sure what Arno's trying to say, but he nods sagely anyway. War councils must always be taken seriously. "So, troops, what should our first offensive measure be?"

Gene is already hard at work packing more snowballs. "I'm a fan of the barrage, myself," he says, rolling one between his gloved hands. "Wait for them to show their faces, then pound them with a terrifying onslaught of force."

That's how he did it, that's how America does it...aaand it's worked out pretty well so far.

Mostly, all that Arno meant was that sometimes it's the sneaky, underhanded sort of tactics that work well with people. When you act as if you don't have a sense of honor in terms of snowball battles, you can shock people. That said, given the circumstances, and their competition, who he's squinting at across the way...

"They're never going to outlast us, true." He allows, adding snowballs to their stock while he's considering and assessing. "Full out trouncing WILL probably take them out."

"All right." Tony nods again. "Full-scale bombardment. Soften them up, then move in for the kill." He rubs his hands together vigorously, which could be to warm them up and could be a cartoonish expression of malevolent glee. Could be both.

He peeks over their wall, and shouts at the opposing fort, "Hey! Your outer wall is collapsing! You might want to send somebody out to patch it!"

This is, obviously, a complete lie, because Tony is a low-down dirty deceiver. He just wants them take the bait and investigate so they'll reveal their positions and open themselves up to fire.

Gene just rolls his eyes - that'll never work unless their opponents are legendarily stupid - and gets to work packing more snowballs. He takes his job as armorer seriously, you know.

"Subtlety is a word you may do well to learn," he says, shaking his head.

Arno snickers at the taunt, giving Tony a little nod. "Ah, Psychological warfare. And it seems to be working."

He adds, pointing out the leader of the other fort creeping around as though he's going to see to the patching himself. "I guess it's true, what they say of knowing your enemy." He comments, readying a snowball in hand, and nodding to Tony.

"What do you say we launch a double attack?"

When their enemy shows his face, Tony grins smugly at Gene. Then he turns to Arno. "You and Gene start the attack from here. I'll move to the other section of the fort and get them from the other side when they try to take cover again."

Tony gives his teammates a thumbs up, and then scampers off to his post. Which is only about a dozen feet away and probably not worthy of being called an entirely different section, but, hey, it's a snowfort. Use your imagination.

Gene rolls his eyes. Everyone's a critic.

Once Tony's scampered off, he glances at Arno, says, "Shall we?" and winds up his arm, beginning the barrage.

"I stand ready." Arno takes a step forward, swinging his own snowball out into the open area of no man's land between their forts. At first, the snowballs are a bit cumbersome to aim, but he's getting the hang of it soon enough, and wildly laughing as their snowballs find targets now.

So far, so good. He hopes Tony will be successful as well. After all, it IS a perfect plan.

Tony waits for a few seconds while Gene and Arno distract the opposing team, and then launches his own attack.

It works brilliantly. So brilliantly, in fact, that the onslaught actually does collapse a small chunk of snow wall - which emboldens Tony to leap out of the fort and perform a drive-by snowballing, complete with battle-cry.

But his armful of snowballs quickly runs out, and he's forced to sprint (or, more accurately, wallow) under heavy fire back to shelter.

"I'm hit!" He exclaims dramatically, sprawling out no the floor of the fort (equally dramatically). "Man down!"

The success of the human siege weapons is emboldening, and as usual Tony takes being emboldened way too far and runs out into the line of fire to do more damage and take a few hits in return.

When he collapses dramatically back in the safety of the snow fort, Gene glances at him, says, "I don't know what you expected," and continues pummeling the wall of snow. There can be time for hot cocoa triage later; there's a war on now, dammit! And it's a war he intends to win.

[Aya had seen snow before. That was not what drew her attention.]

[She was familiar with subzero temperatures. Space was far below what most living beings were capable of surviving in without some form of protectivewear. But she felt neither heat not cold, and was unaffected by the weather. Nor did the wetness of the snowflakes as they melted against her warm construct skin have any affect; she was impervious to liquids. None of this was what drew her attention.]

[No, it was the...unusual structure located right in the center of a recreational area in the Wood Sector. One that seemed to be constructed of tightly-packed frozen crystals.]

[Her head tilted to one side, curious.]

I do not...understand.

[Tony's grinning face pops up from behind the wall of the snow fort.]

It's a common recreational activity among terrestrial, water-based organic species! [he informs Aya.] It encourages social bonding through friendly competition!

[He demonstrates by throwing a snowball at her.]

[Aya had magnificent battle instincts.]

[But she had not been expecting Tony to throw anything at her, let alone a...ball of frozen water. It hit her smack in the face. Sticking to her construct skin for a moment before the head slowly allowed it to melt...sliding down...further and further...and, since she did not need to breathe, there were no desperate struggles to claw it away from her mouth or naval cavities.]

[Essentially, she was too surprised to fight back. Yet.]

Why did you do that?

[He just told you, Aya: to encourage social bonding. By attacking you with frozen projectiles. Duh.]

It's a snowball fight! Now you're supposed to throw one back. Everybody throws snowballs at each other until somebody surrenders or everybody gets too cold and calls a cease-fire for hot chocolate. It's fun!

[There were a few minor flaws with that plan...]

I do not get cold. And I do not consume chocolate, regardless of temperature.

[That being said, she reached down. Balls. That was the necessary shape, correct? So she used a bit of her construct energy to scoop an approximately head-sized mouth of snow, which she then compacted until it formed a tight sphere. Held at shoulder length.]

Like this?

But you can still throw a snowball, and that's all that matters!

[Her gigantic snowball makes him duck reflexively.]

Whoa, [Tony exclaims, laughing.] You might want to start a little smaller than that. [He holds up one of his snowballs to demonstrate the proper size.] And you should probably keep your throwing speed below a hundred kilometers per hour. We're not trying to actually kill anybody.

[She almost looked offended at the suggestion.]

Green Lanterns do not kill, Tony Stark. I have no intentions of causing any permanent harm to any individual. Particularly for a theoretically purely social endeavor such as this.

[That being said, she used the construct to shake some of the excess snow, reducing the snowball by more than 2/3rds]

Better?

Of course not, [he agrees, still grinning.] I just wanted to make sure you had the relevant data on operational tolerances of organic humanoids. We're a lot more breakable than you are.

[He observes Aya's new snowball, and gives her a thumbs up.] That's perfect.

Edited 2015-03-17 22:16 (UTC)

"I am pleased that you approve."

Then, not a moment later, she hurled it directly at his face. Not hard enough to cause any serious damage...but with precise aim.

[Okay, Tony probably could have seen that coming.

But it's all in good fun, and anyway, it seems sportsmanlike to allow Aya the first shot.

Tony falls down on his ass, laughing, blinded and half-smothered by snow.] I think you've got the idea! [he says, a few seconds later, when he's recovered enough to stick his head up over the wall again.]

She had been waiting for him.

Her patience was vast, and her scanners were at peak capacity. The moment his signature reappeared on her radar, she hurled a second snowball.

[Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

Having learned his lesson, Tony stays under cover when he shouts his next instruction.]

Okay, now pick a team, and help them throw snowballs at the other team! Or you can build your own fort and recruit allies when new people show up.

Edited 2015-04-01 01:19 (UTC)

[She was already calculating the precise measurements for an optimally secured snow fort when a thought occurred to her:]

Does this mean we are not compatible as teammates?

No way! You can join my team, if you want. We'll be awesome teammates.

[Do it, Aya. You'll be unstoppable together. The competition will be annihilated. Join his team, and together you shall rule this ~~Middle Earth~~ empty park!]

Edited 2015-04-16 06:03 (UTC)

[One ring-less Green Lantern and a teenaged Stark to rule them all?]

I think I would prefer that, yes.

It is always better to ally oneself with a familiar acquaintance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Do you wanna build a SNOW FORT?

Enjolras| A Challenger Appears! Open!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Arno | Open!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

A VICTIM APPEARS!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject