TEXT. | un: parkour

[webdesigned]

yo, okay, so: hear me out

maybe i am going way too west side story with this, but i've really been thinking about it and does anyone think we could make a good show of family loyalty by some kind of stand against an opposing one???

obviously we don't have to REALLY hurt each other or anything, just, kinda, make it look like it. like a flash mob only with less dancing. unless you wanna dance and i guess then i wouldn't stop you i am just not sure how many points you'd get with the big guns with dance moves. unless they're really good dance moves. or the other families seem more into that sort of thing but lionetta is kinda not that vibe just saying wait what was i saying

right. flash mob. that's like, more of an actual mob. only with fake fighting. like wwe. just maybe don't hit anybody with chairs. or maybe you can, just ask first?

y/n/peter that is a seriously terrible idea? i dunno it was just a thought and i guess now that i thought it with my earpiece in all of you have to hear it sorry about that

oh yeah my name is peter, so, uh, hi i guess.

( and with that, Peter either physically took out his ear piece or spontaneously managed to stop thinking. I don't know about you, but I'm really guessing it wasn't the second one. )

Comments

Text | un: Star-Lord

[spacedisaster]

Oh boy west wide story I loved that musical as a kid yes flash mob flash mob ohhh I don't think I've been in one of those yet hmmm the Guardians never were really much into dancing and most of them have the coordination skills of a drunk penguin at least I got them singing along when we play songs now that I think about it Rocket wasn't so bad at it that time I got him to try dancing to the Bee Gees Stayin' Alive might be the tail he has better balance than others Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive Oh great now I have the song stuck in my head GREAT eeeeh oh well so this could cause a distraction and be fun at the same time but what if Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin' And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive damn it WHAT IF other members of the families decide to join because no one of these people seems to have any sense of humor or chill but they are all very trigger happy Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive OH man Drax would have had a blast here...he would also have gotten killed after 15 minutes by Bianca for refusing to wear a shirt gods I miss them so muc---

...

Oh this thing is always on?

[ This is why creating a mental link to Quill's brain is a terrible idea. The next time, he's really focusing on what he wants the text to say, as opposed to letting his train of thought run wild. ]

It really writes down everything, uh?

While I like your enthusiasm, Peter, I see a few drawbacks.

[webdesigned]

yeah it really does. and west side story is the best, i completely agree, and i don't just say that cuz it's set in my city. and it is a shame i didn't get to meet the whole squad because they sound like characters. and i mean that in the best way i promise

( Peter is glad he is not the only one spitting a stream of consciousness on the network any time he tries to communicate. as stream of consciousness goes, though, a long diatribe about how much you miss and love your friends is more or less really endearing, so it's fine. )

okay i can take constructive criticism. probably. i don't get it much but i am assuming i can. anyway hit me with it

audio; un: rep.cya

[lionize]

Oh my god does your brain never stop?

[Totally disregarding the main point here, sup fellow lionetta bro.]

[webdesigned]

you might think i sound crazy but i really think i'm getting better at this brain communication thing this was like the cliffs notes version

( which is to say: no it does not. his sincerest apologies. )

text; un: stark

[arc_reactor]

Not great yet; not terrible either. Gangs like displays of loyalty, however:

What's your plan if actual fam get involved?

An overt display of violence might snowball into something bigger than we want right now. Lionetta's angling toward expansion, right? People are gonna be cagier than usual.

[webdesigned]

good q. throw down in a place they can't easily access was my thinking. or have really good ways to get them out of the fray

( like. for example. spider webs. just a thought. weird left field suggestion!!! )

they might yeah, or it might shake some things loose. besides, we don't have to make it a big thing, just enough to win brownie points

text; un: Sabriel.Jule

[bindsthedead]

[Might as well update her username to go with her new cover story.]

Well, I certainly know some spells with unpleasant but relatively short and harmless side effects. How do you feel about being magically silenced and blinded? I can even bring my 'brother' along, he could use the practice.

[webdesigned]

when you say magically silenced, does that just mean i won't be able to talk? depends on who you ask but that might be a net positive

blind might be a wild one but um, for a little while maybe?? ykw sure ok i'm game

( Peter you talked yourself into that one fast... )

text | un: wangji

[taciturnly]

Deceit, then. Prudence is advised, lest it backfires.

[webdesigned]

( this sounds slightly like a Shakespearean audiobook, playing out in his brain. Peter is impressed. )

right. gotta be careful. but i think if we organize it right it might be able to help with a few brownie points

text, un: silent

[callada]

Interesting idea, but loyalty here doesn't gain you all that much other than not getting shot in the night. Which is important, but if this mission is anything like the last one, building a large amount of trust enough to access secret information isn't something we're likely to have time for.

Not saying you shouldn't, just not sure of the utility.

But, your question made me wonder: what would it take to start a major conflict between the families? If we could keep our own people out of harm's way, we might see how the Lionettas use the orb. Who has it, where it is, if they have to bring it out and put it at risk.

Not saying I like the idea of starting a war, but sometimes people get sloppy with their secrets once they have to actually put them to use.

[webdesigned]

if there's any history of violence between the gangs it's probably in the lionetta archives somewhere, that might give a clue on what kind of hostilities make things go badly

so you think they're actually aware enough of the orb's capacity to use it offensively? i guess i wasn't sure just from the debrief, but you're right if we can catch them using it we'd get valuable information

text / un: damesill (private)

[krazed]

you've got pep, i'll give you that but mob stories with fake fights only end in real bloodshed.
you'd think after hundreds of years and plenty of cash the killing would get old but it's all wrapped in a nice tortilla of "family responsibility," and the skewed moral-compass of it all makes it more complicated.

[ PERMA PRIVATE ]

[webdesigned]

i'm not looking to get anybody really hurt. that's really not my thing.

i just figured it might help us get rep without actually trying too hard, yk? we don't have long here and we need a lot of tight-knit info

you sound kinda like you know how this stuff works, though. do you think there's a way to do it safely? or better just to forget about it?

text: fullmetal

[chrysology]

hey, Pete. Ed here. But uh, yeah I wouldn't want this fake fight escalating if the locals get involved and actually start hurting or killing us. Would be my concern in figuring a way to stop that from happening. We're not here for too long anyway so I'm not sure there's as much as can do in proving ourselves other than doing our job. As long as we get that orb, that's the important thing.

[webdesigned]

hey ed

i don't wanna get locals involved either, i promise. the whole point is we aren't here for long, tho. we are a team outside of our families, i just figured we could use that to our advantage?

un: shen.qingqiu

[peerlesscucumber]

Greetings, Peter. This is Shen Qingqiu.

I appreciate you sharing this thought. Please do not act on it. Unless you are attempting to inform us your family requested a broad-scale confrontation with another family, over any other possible assignment on hand, this invites unpredictable danger and a likely chance of true mob mentality takeover.

[webdesigned]

no no no, nothing like that

i'm not trying to start family on family bloodshed, just getting some clout for people that doesn't involve any actual gang violence

text; un: p.derolo

[whitestonelives]

A full-blown fake gang war seems a tad too ambitious. And if it's only between the new recruits, it may backfire on us and place us under more suspicion. You also can't guarantee that we won't accidentally involve senior members of our families, and that's going to spin out of our control quickly.

A one-on-one fight on the other hand seems more manageable to me. You could very easily make it out to be a personal vendetta against someone who happens to have joined a different family.

[webdesigned]

one on one, huh? probably less impressive to superiors but you've got a point in it not changing the existing tensions much

text; un: trashmouth

[longoverdue]

depends on if we get to snap in sync.

if we’re gonna do West Side Story flash mobs we’re going all the way. synchronized snapping and tap dancing and tragic love story and all.

[webdesigned]

if this is a west side story schtick then 100% we have to snap

but who is gonna be the tragic love story, i can't sing so please don't expect me to belt maria from a rooftop

text; un: alenko

[majorbiotic]

This sounds like such a bad idea. The families already feel like they're just barely getting along, why stir things up? Unless this is used as some kind of distraction technique while another group goes to steal the orb? That might work: get the real mafia's attention on something else so they won't have as much manpower to watch the orb. We could try it, but it's pretty risky for those who are doing the distraction. They could get seriously hurt. No one's really got body armor or shields to protect them from bullets.

It's such a crazy idea. I can see Wrex and Grunt getting into it, which may lean it back into a bad idea.

What is West Side Story, anyway? Do people really dance in mobs? And what does WWE stand for? I feel like there's a lot here I'm not getting.

[This is obviously the post where everyone just lets their brains go off on tangents]

[webdesigned]

( oh no his texting style is infecting everyone this is hilarious and also terrible someone take Peter's responder away )

i feel like there's an angel and devil on my shoulder only it sounds like the ai assistant from a smartphone

it probably isn't a great idea but sometimes bad ideas work better than you thought they would

( which is 100% not a good reason to try a bad idea Peter!!! )

west side story is a musical about the sharks and the jets and instead of really actually fighting they like dance and sing and snap in unison so not super intimidating. wwe is world wrestling... something??? now that you ask i'm not totally sure. and sure they do. it's pretty cool, bc bystanders don't have any idea what is happening and it all unfolds like it happened spontaneously

audio; un: mafioso

[essenceofdeadlybeasts]

I mean, I can breakdance someone into a concussion if you want a demonstration on how that would work in a real fight. It's rather conductive for it, actually.

But on a more serious note, and not to repeat the thousand warnings you've already heard--but they're right, unfortunately. Trust me when I say it's very hard to deescalate a situation once it's come to physical retaliation. And I don't have enough sway here (yet) to talk anyone down if it comes to it, even if I am pretty good at it if I say so myself. It would be easier if you had someone up high to keep things calm. We don't have anyone like that in our pocket though, do we?

The only way I see it having any merit is if you have both sides say they won when they report back so that they don't have to retaliate if they're the ones that won. Unfortunately then the problem becomes boasting on the street and if both sides think they won... well, they could start another fight over it. That's just how the underworld works.

[webdesigned]

can we stop for a second on how you breakdance someone into a concussion though

( apparently Peter's brain is very stuck on that, because he doesn't have 8000 other things to say to go with it. )