@junpei | video

[coolerjunpei]

[Good day city-zens, it's User Name Junpei here with another paranoid rant about god only knows what. Just kidding, he's laser focused his paranoia these days, so, ahem:]

Hi, uh, I'm Junpei, if you didn't know. [A brief pause, while he internally laments that he will never get his goddamn codename, but okay. He's made peace with it. He holds up two fingers.] Two things.

[He leans forward and his head and shoulders go out of frame for a moment, while the rustling of papers can be heard somewhere beyond the camera. Should he have gathered his materials beforehand? Yes, for sure, but such is life. Enjoy this view of his t-shirt while he swears and drops something back there...

When he leans back into frame he doesn't hold anything up just yet.]

First, since it looks like people are going missing now, do you guys think we should have... I don't know, a system? To keep track of each other? I don't mean something like the buddy system— [Although he doesn't NOT mean the buddy system, always investigate mysterious liminal cities with a friend!!--] —But... something. Besides running around looking for signs every time. We need to figure out where they're going.

[He's convinced they're still in the city but Taken Somewhere, you see. Where, though... mmm. Workshopping that. He sits there looking grim for a beat, then sighs himself out of it and lifts up one of his papers.

It has beautiful birds drawn on it. Some people may recall his canary symbol idea from Setsuna's meeting, ahem...]

Second is... this. Somebody out there's gotta be better at drawing a bird than me. If you see these hung up anywhere... be careful of whatever's around. [Another beat.] And, uh, if anyone wants to contribute to the cause, I'll pay you in beer and gummies? Normal gummies.

[sorry, he has no edibles. also never mind that one can get beer and gummies without joining his danger birds cause. sign up for art club!!!]

Comments

voice. @kaveh

[fussiest]

[ oh no dear lord. kaveh looks, with some measure of horror, at the masterpieces on display. a part of his heart sinks to the bottom of his shoes. ]

Those birds are... [ wait, quick, before your mouth gets you into trouble! kaveh, say something nice!!! ] Well, they... they certainly have shape.

[ #nailed it.

... anyway, he's rushing ahead: ] The idea is an excellent one, however. I think we ought to have warnings of some kind up, and a list of individuals too. I've tested leaving a few of my drafts here and there in the city to see if the writing gets erased, or if details are changed from what I remember, but they seem to remain intact. Of course, if both the changes are happening in reality and in my memory, that would invalidate my tests - but, well, by then we'd have bigger issues, do we not?

[coolerjunpei]

That's what they tell me. [The tennis ball bird is the most popular, but surely there are some deflated bean bird fans out there too...! Anyway, he knows an artiste he is not, so it's fine. Judge his birds. It is fine.

Moving on.]

Slow down though, one thing at a time. Don't get me wrong, I definitely want to hear about the memory theory, but drafts? Of what? You've been hanging stuff up out there?

[Mission: Danger Birds is possible??]

[fussiest]

[ tennis ballrd... ]

Ah, drafts and schematics. I've been leaving them inside buildings, behind racks of brochures and items of clothing and such. I wanted to see if the writing changed if I went back for it weeks later. As far as I can tell, they haven't. Neither have the schematics I'd drawn.

You're thinking of hanging the birds outside, then.

[coolerjunpei]

Schematics...? [of what?? not the point, stay on topic-] So if we put something up out there, it sticks and we don't get cuffed...? That's—huh.

[The implications!! He's theorycrafting, oh boy....]

But yeah—that's the idea behind the birds. Kind of like our own street signs, but for things like "be careful here" and "this place is safe."

[fussiest]

I think this idea has merit. But have there been many places like that in this city that needs that sort of forewarning? [ a beat. ] Oh, I suppose... the bank.

[ ugh, the bank. ] A single bird may have difficulty conveying the dangers of that particular scenario, however.

[coolerjunpei]

[the bank......]

Yeah, getting locked in a vault was the last straw for me. [hm, but, his birds,] D'you think we need more birds? I was thinking it should be less in-your-face than a big "uh oh, stay out of here" banner or something.

[fussiest]

Or different species of birds. In nature, birds take on plumage of different colours; couldn't colour be used here as various types of warnings?

[coolerjunpei]

Well, mine are supposed to be canaries. You know, like in coal mines? Uh, I'm not really sure if canaries in coal mines are a thing in every... world.

But we could do colors, sure. Don suggested different animals, too.

[fussiest]

[ wait. hang on. critiques on possibly oversized or sausage-shaped canaries aside - a delicate, brittle beat. ]

... she, ah, wouldn't have suggested anything called a headchicken, would she?

[coolerjunpei]

Uh, a what? No, she was drawing frogs...

[Well, toads. But does he want to know... yeah,] What's a headchicken?

[fussiest]

[ knowing don, kaveh thinks, with some measure of very real (fond) despair, the frogs probably have, he doesn't know, rocket launchers growing out of their eyes. ]

I asked that too. [ grimly. ] It's supposedly some sort of delicacy in her world. And the picture she drew - I'm sure, well, the likeness is there no doubt. But if I were to see it on the side of a building, I wouldn't be entirely sure if I ought to be more traumatised by the building or by the picture.

[coolerjunpei]

[He's picturing a chicken with a human head now, because that sounds horrifyingly City enough for Don to cheerfully draw it??]

Ohhh-kay... Well, pretend we can only make stencils for normal-looking birds. What kind of birds do you want?

[fussiest]

There's an idea. I believe we ought to back up a little, however - if the purpose of these birds is to be universally recognisable, some initial parameters need to be set. For example, what constitutes as an universal 'bird'?

[coolerjunpei]

[what a question]

Feathers, wings and a beak? I guess.

[fussiest]

I'd think the same. But if we take the example of the headchicken, which... I'm still not entirely sure if it ought to be classified as a bird - but the creature has the word 'chicken' in its name, and it lacked a beak. It did have something resembling wings. It also had [ a sigh, ] teeth.

Say that Don Quixote comes from a world where headchickens are the representative bird - she would have a different schema for what constitutes as a bird-like creature, wouldn't she?

[coolerjunpei]

Okay, but that doesn't really matter. The point is a symbol people can see and recognize is the thing we're using for danger, right? It doesn't matter if it's a ball with legs or a big red X as long as people know this means danger.

[fussiest]

True. However, I'd argue that in order for the symbol picked to remind individuals of danger and not, say, a decoration, it needs to not only be recognisable at a glance, but fundamentally it needs to make sense for the message trying to be conveyed. For example, if red is chosen to be the universal colour for danger, not all cultures present will see it that way - either the project will need to put out a colour guide, or that document with everyone's theories being circulated around should not only have colour definitions, but also have each heading done in red so that it reinforces the danger.

[ a beat. and then, clear rue coming through in the tone of voice: ] Sorry. I might be overthinking things. Here's maybe something more practical and on topic: if the choice of animals is birds, then I'd suggest for the wings to be spread and outside of the body. A symbol of a fish has its fin tucked along the body, and triangles within a body may bring to mind scales. A spread wing is clearer, and offers a unique silhouette that someone can easily see from afar.

[coolerjunpei]

I think you're definitely getting lost in the weeds. We're just not going to be able to come up with the best symbol that perfectly says what it means to say to everyone here without having to tell some people first—that's too complicated. If we come up with a best guesstimate on average, we're doing good. People can learn new things; it's way less time-consuming than surveying everyone on what color they think is the most dangerous.

[So, anyway,] Can you draw a bird with its wings out, because I can only draw balls with beaks.

[fussiest]

[ sorry junpei he's just Like This. but also: ]

Fair enough. We can shelve that discussion. But don't disparage your birds. And your balls with beaks are... distinctive. It's... [ it's!! ] I think I can see emotions in their eyes? The little beady ones.

In my mind, if we're going to design something with wings outstretched... hm. How about something like this?

[ the picture comes over in a moment. ]



[ was this all an elaborate set-up to drop the twitter bird in as a two-bit joke danger warning for the game.... maybe. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[torturous: having to decide if junpei ever had a twitter account]

I dunno, there's something weird about it. Maybe it's the no legs?