As Jes Pointed Out, I Was Appropriately Dressed For The Heist.

[rionaleonhart]

necrophilia was visiting the UK, so we met up yesterday for a day out in London! Wandered around the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, looked at some cool rocks (there was a gemstone exhibit that made it very hard not to contemplate a museum heist), talked about Oxenfree and Ace Attorney and Severance and Ben Starr, ate some delicious pasta, tried to navigate a marathon that was directly in our path, had ice cream by the river. I had a great time!

My favourite moment: Jes paused briefly among the crowds on the South Bank. She was standing under the London Eye, the London Dungeon on her left side, Big Ben visible across the Thames to her right. She asked me whether this was a touristy area. You know, I think it might just be.

At one point I dragged Jes into a shop full of anime figurines and the like, so I could see whether they had anything featuring Light Yagami. They had figurines of Misa, L and Rem, but there was no sign of Light.

A shop assistant approached and asked whether we were looking for any franchise in particular. I asked whether they had anything else for Death Note.

'No,' he said, 'but we have Joker over here, if you're interested,' and he pointed me to a figurine of Persona 5's protagonist.

For an absolutely bewildered instant, I had no idea how this stranger could know that I'm a Persona fan.

And then I remembered that, for ease of meeting up, I'd dressed in such a way that Jes would be able to see me and go 'yeah, there's no way that's not Riona.' I was wearing a Persona 5 hoodie open over my Final Fantasy XV T-shirt and Final Fantasy VIII Griever necklace. I felt like an absolute parody of myself, standing there in a nerd shop while dressed like the huge nerd I am.

As we left the shop, BABYMETAL's 'Megitsune' started playing, and the final indignity was the fact that I recognised it.

Comments

[trepkos]

Nerd Power!

[rionaleonhart]

Absolutely!

[vriddy]

You won the nerd game :D I didn't realise this kind of outfit was heist-appropriate though, I must take notes in haste!

[rionaleonhart]

I don't think the Final Fantasy aspects would have added to my heist readiness, but the Persona 5 Phantom Thieves hoodie was definitely apt!

[necrophilia]

Aww, what a sweet entry about me. ☺️

Thank you for paying for lunch! I had intended to treat you, but finally finding a "no cash" restaurant on my last full day felt very passive aggressive of London.

[rionaleonhart]

It occurred to me only afterwards that I could have paid and you could have given me the cash! I am very smart. But I'm very glad you enjoyed lunch, and it was great to hang out with you!

(EDIT: To be clear, I'm happy to have paid for lunch! I really appreciated the paid time, and I'm glad I was able to do something in return at last. I just think it's very funny that I'm so used to going around without cash, as a Londoner, that I'd completely forgotten cash was theoretically something I could use. What am I supposed to do with these silly bits of paper? A mystery that will never be solved.)

[necrophilia]

Girl, no worries! I'll get you back next time, whenever that is. I don't normally dance with cash either—shiz is dirty, and I like to think I learned something from Covid—but I dreaded dealing with the fluctuating exchange rate on my credit card.

[rionaleonhart]

Also, I thought you might like to know that I showed my housemates your triceratops photograph and they really enjoyed it.

[necrophilia]

I am happy to know that! You house with true connoisseurs of art.

[wolfy_writing]

Oh, that sounds like a fun day, and a perfect heist outfit!

[rionaleonhart]

It was a good time! Beautifully sunny, too.

[marginaliana]

That sounds like a really nice day!

Yo dawg, I heard you like nerd...

[rionaleonhart]

It was!

I found myself desperately going 'JUST SO YOU KNOW, I DON'T USUALLY DRESS LIKE THIS' to Jes afterwards. Obviously I own the nerd clothing and sometimes wear the nerd clothing! But I would not usually triple up on nerdwear.

[kissed]

Aww, so glad you two had fun!! Your outfit sounds so cute too!

(And yeah, everywhere is starting to forgo cash, so I totally understand bewildered necrophilia) 😷

[rionaleonhart]

Thank you! (I've got so out of the habit of using cash for anything! It's a struggle to remember to take cash out when I'm travelling outside London and won't necessarily be able to use my card for everything.)

[scytale]

What a beautiful story ;D

[rionaleonhart]

It was a moment of suddenly seeing myself with troubling clarity.

[scytale]

Seeing... And hearing, it sounds like? ;)

[dancesontrains]

Awww :D I don't know your friend but I had a Moment when reading her DW handle for the first time :)

I've noticed the cashless trend up here too! Don't think American partner will like it much; sey try to avoid such places.

[rionaleonhart]

It's definitely a striking handle! 'Of course you have a friend called "necrophilia",' Rei once commented, looking at my journal.

[corvidology]

My brain just lurched when reading 'necrophilia was visiting the UK'... ;D

The advantage of wearing an outfit like that if had pulled off a heist is that they'd probably describe your clothing more accurately than you!

[apiphile]

That gemstone vault makes me think about a heist every time, I think they do it on purpose!

My favourite moment: Jes paused briefly among the crowds on the South Bank. She was standing under the London Eye, the London Dungeon on her left side, Big Ben visible across the Thames to her right. She asked me whether this was a touristy area. You know, I think it might just be.

MEAN, RIONA.

I was wearing a Persona 5 hoodie open over my Final Fantasy XV T-shirt and Final Fantasy VIII Griever necklace.

So what you're saying is you fitted right in

[ms_katonic]

Is the area with the view of the best-known landmark in the city the touristy bit? Yeah, just a bit. XD

The Natural History Museum's gemstone exhibit does have that effect. Ironically, a lot of is valuable only in scientific terms rather than monetary value, but the Vault does make it look very stealworthy.

[night_owl_9]

I'm so glad you had a lovely time in London!

[lassarina]

That sounds like a great time! I'm glad y'all had fun.