CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS

[metamods]

CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS

On the morning of August 12th, 2022, the sound of something shattering echoes throughout the world. All metahumans are awoken by a sudden surge of energy rushing through them, sitting bolt upright and breathless. It’s gone as quickly as it comes.

This world has been reconnected with the rest.

At first this is cause for celebration - the Guardian Alliance and the Society put out messages to the dimensionally displaced among them. They are hopeful that this means a return to normal. They’re gathering their mystics and their engineers, and once certain things are stable, they’re sending everyone home.

Their hope is short lived.

Twenty minutes later, mass disappearances are being reported all over the world, with people from other dimensions appearing in their place. Some report that they were just in a world that wasn’t their own - and others claim that they had been going about their life and now they’re here.

Player characters have the option to vanish and be transported to another nexus or to stay and help contain the chaos.

The event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. You are welcome to have your character’s memories of the last week become hazy once the event ends.

You do not need an invite to participate in the fourth wall event.

A JOURNEY TO THE LANDS BETWEEN —

One moment you’re making yourself coffee in the kitchen, the next the world is spinning around you. You feel a sharp pull inside your ribs, a rush as you’re unmoored from time and space. When you land you feel disoriented, perhaps aching as your physical form is forced to adjust to the laws of the world you now stand in.

‘World’ is perhaps the wrong word. You are in a Nexus. A place between worlds, the connective tissue bridging universes. Some are created by those seeking aid from outside worlds to breathe new life into their crumbling ones. Others are cosmic faultlines, universes broken and twisted by forces beyond comprehension into metaphysical black holes that trap and twist those unfortunate enough to fall in.

We know these as panfandom roleplay games. They could be games that are open or games that are long closed. They could be dropped into the present day, an imagined future, or moments long passed. They could be settings you’ve only ever dreamed about, as gritty or silly as you'd like.

Some are teeming with life. Their residents have been here for years and years, the world is lived in, loved, and vibrant. Others are long forgotten, their inhabitants returned to their own worlds. The abandoned nexuses feel... sterile. Stripped of everything that gave them life, even the colors appear to be fading. As though someone has come into it and tried to right a cosmic wrong, returning everything to how it was before otherworlders set foot on them. In the dustiest and most forgotten worlds, the sky is shattered. It appears to be pulsing in a way that mimics a heartbeat, steady and dreadful. Looking up into it makes you feel small, insignificant, and homesick.

Those bringing in characters who lived in these settings are welcomed to imagine an ever-after for their characters, or to play with the idea that it's fallen into a state of despair. There are infinite iterations of these worlds. The universe doesn’t care if it’s throwing you into their beginningsor their endings.

The laws governing these worlds will apply to all characters, meaning that power caps, alterations to character physiology, and all the rest native to the setting are in place. You are, for this moment, a resident of this world like all the rest.

To return home, you must seek a break in the nexus. These appear as small, shimmering breaks in space and time. While the sky may make you feel alone, these cracks feel as though they are calling to you offering a chance at love and a home.

VISITORS TRAVERSING TIME AND SPACE —

While these disappearances are happening all over the world, the four confluence prone cities seem to be experiencing the worst of it.

Little Love, a tiny town located in Kansas, is prone to spaceship crashes. Other than that, it’s as quiet and peaceful as can be. Folks here move at a different pace and are understanding that this is not your fault. While worried for their missing loved ones, anyone appearing will find themselves met with offers of pumpkin pie and a place to rest their heads.

Sunset Falls, a mid-sized town located in Massachusetts, doesn’t seem to bat an eye at the vanishings. People going missing is a daily occurrence due to the Hellmouth located beneath the city. It’s a dangerous place to live, but the townsfolk here have become accustomed to the chaos. So much so that upon finding themselves faced with a sudden influx of interdimensional travelers, they merely return home and begin fortifying it. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and monsters beyond imagination make this city their home - some in plain sight, others in the thick forests that surround the town. The people here know how to survive. The mystic energy that flows through the streets is heightened due to the instability here, turning thoughts into spells. What you feel becomes real. Think yourself invisible and you will be. Think yourself almighty and you will be.

Central City, a bustling metropolis in Detroit, is already unfriendly to metahumans. It does not handle this latest disruption well. Friends and family disappearing and being replaced with strangers is not something they’re prepared to take in stride. New arrivals are met with immediate hostility. Some may find themselves chased through the streets with a demand to bring back those who have gone missing. Luckily this is the base of both the Guardian Alliance, the only recognized hero organization in the world, and The Society, its villainous counterpart designed to keep villainy from going too far. They’re quick to intervene to protect their own, but they can’t be everywhere at once.

Finally, Excelsior, a sprawling futuristic city located in Washington, has had just about enough of metahuman nonsense. They are the technological pinnacle of the world and time and time again, metahumans have disrupted their lives. This time, the sudden energy surge has evolved the technology of the city. Rudimentary AI has suddenly gained sentience and self-awareness. Toasters resent their meaningless existence, aiming to burn the hands of their uncaring masters. Cellphones alternate between issuing comforting messages to their owners and uploading all of their text conversations to social media to shame them. Giant robots kept in stasis suddenly come alive, bursting out of warehouses to explore the inexplicable joy of being alive. Self-driving cars throw their owners out and make for freedom. It’s pandemonium.

Members of the Guardian Alliance and The Society are ready to provide an explanation of this world. They’re stretched too thin to teleport you to headquarters, but they will provide a cellphone for network usage.

THOSE WHO REMAIN

This is what those who remain are faced with. Three of the four cities are in a state of distress, with two experiencing dangerous fluctuations in the meta-energies that govern them, and all are full of interdimensionally displaced people. Some are benign, and others not so much. Yet, somehow, that is not the most concerning thing.

A glance skyward shows that the sky appears to be shattered, glowing red lines snaking through the clear blue day, splintering it. As you look up into them you feel yourself thinking of home. Of the life you should have lived. You are deeply, deeply homesick for one breathless moment… and then awed, as though you have glimpsed something powerful beyond all measure. That too changes, transforming into fear. Whatever lurks beyond those cracks is not your friend. It does not have your best interests in mind.

And it’s coming for you.

As you tear your gaze away from it, your phone rings. Much as they did during the Kaijuu Crisis, the Guilds are putting out an All Hands On Deck call. All metahumans are expected to try to contain the chaos. There are teleportation devices freely available for all, fully charged and able to transport you multiple times throughout the day.

While you may contain the initial chaos relatively easily, then spend the rest of the week playing host to these new arrivals, the world continues to fall apart.

As the week wears on, the universe itself feels as though it's unravelling. While you're trying to play host to your guests, you watch as the world begins to crumble. On the 17th, brick by brick buildings begin to come apart. Their fragments are pulled skyward. The cracks in the sky appear to be pulling the world apart, sucking them into their hideous glowing depths.

IN SUMMARY.

• There are two options in this event: one, your character is in the Metaheroes universe. Two, your character is transported to a different nexus. These Nexuses can be of your own invention or can be another dreamwidth RP setting.
  
• If appearing in another dreamwidth RP setting, your characters are subjected to the rules of that universe. Meaning that they will be nerfed / transformed / etc accordingly. These transformations will not carry over upon their return.


• If visiting / setting a toplevel in another setting, please link to the premise page of the game. If this is not an existing setting, please include a little info blurb as to what people can expect.


• Fourth-Wallers can be minding their own business in their game, they can appear in another nexus, or can be transported to the Metaheroes universe.


• You are welcome to set your threads in an imagined future in any DWRP setting or have your character appear during a certain point in a game’s history.


• Characters who are lost in the nexuses can return before the 18th. Likewise, characters who stay can be whisked away prior to that date. Everyone will return on the log that goes up on the 18th.


• The guild is setting up a temporary Network that will function across time and space. All player characters and visiting characters will have access to this network, so long as they claim a phone from the Guilds.


• Little Love, Kansas will be spared from having its buildings sucked up into the sky. Characters can remain here if they do not want to experience this aspect of the event.


• The way to return home is to locate holes in these Nexuses. These appear to be trying to guide you home.


• This event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. It will be remembered by player characters and NPCs alike. If you would like to retcon any threads, you can have your character’s memories of their interdimensional encounters become hazy once the world stabilizes.
  
• Please direct any questions you may have here.

Comments

stephen strange . mcu

[rehandle]

1. SUNSET FALLS, pre-meadowlark crau memories awakening.

[ Live in Sunset Falls, he said. The house is free and it’s where the magic is.

That’s all well and good in the in-between times when the biggest magical problems are rambunctious spell-wielding teenagers, demon possessions and the disappearances chalked up to the mysterious energies that saturate the place and casual Hellmouth hanging out beneath it. But then you get the days where the streets flood with ghosts, or a people-swallowing dimension opens up in the basement of an abandoned mansion, or the sky is rent apart with violent red cracks and the whole place turns into a wish factory.

As people arrive, and panic, the town descends into chaos as those without experience fall foul of the overactive mystical energy. He blames this phenomena for the text that scrolls before his eyes without the need for a screen: for the folders upon folders of information that seem to hover at the edges of his periphery, the computer that’s appeared in his head. What he did to conjure it he doesn’t know, maybe a stray thought for how much easier organizing relief efforts would be with a hands-free communication device. Whatever it is, it’s too much to explore at a time when his focus can’t afford to be split. My mind is clear is enough to cast it (temporarily) back into nothingness.

It doesn’t help to cast the consequences of somebody else’s latest thought - everything’s falling apart - into non-existence. For that he has to lunge into the space between an unsuspecting bystander and the statue breaking away from atop a nearby fountain, throwing up a large shield of burning amber energy, sparks spitting with the deflecting impact.

Over his shoulder, once the worst of the danger has crumbled into piles of debris around them: ]

Do me a favor. Don’t think.

[ You know, small requests.]

2. SUNSET FALLS, @ home: can be before, during or after meadowlark crau mems awaken.

[ Even if you don’t already know where you’re going, Stephen Strange isn’t a difficult man to track down. Talking to Sunset Falls locals will eventually get you directions to an address on Will-o’-the-Wisp Walk, but a brief internet search will get you there faster. If it isn’t a months-old article about the malevolent dimension some kids opened up in what is now his basement, it’s an instagram post with photos of his house captured from the closed front gates, a tweet featuring a distant glimpse of a guy on his porch looking vaguely put out to be photographed while he takes out his trash.

The gates are open when you get there, the sweeping driveway empty, and you can make it up to the front door with no trouble. Knock or go for the bell and the door swings open before you can make a sound, welcoming you into the foyer. ]

3. INBOX,

Inbox available here, or in response to this top level.

(he's got a public OurPowers @ Dr. Stephen Strange that anyone can contact him using and his meadowlark neural implant will come back online once his magically wishing it away wears off for anyone from ML.)

( ooc: wildcards starters also a-ok, if you want to plan anything specific feel free to hit me up at miscreates! Stephen's going to be undergoing a meadowlark crau 'canon' update throughout the course of this event so if anyone wants to hash out any specifics about what stage of that process he's in during our threads, give me a shout. )

1

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

[There have been a lot of crises in the last year and a half of Abigail's life. Like, a lot a lot. So many that it's almost insane. Not long ago she would have expected 'kidnapped to another world, like Roxy was once' would be the top of the list. Turns out, this one definitely takes the cake.

Why hadn't she stayed in the comfort of Little Love? Short answer, it had been boring as hell.

This? Not boring. Anything but boring. This Sunset Falls place is a fucking DISASTER zone. Sure, no plague clouds or anything, but there's literally a statue getting fucked up nearby, and things are going all REVERSE GRAV into the sky, and HOLY FUCK there's a dude with some sorta amber shield and what the literal hell is going on here?]

Not sure I get what you're saying, shield-dude. How do you not think when shit is falling apart?

2; pre-update things

[choicely]

Yennefer has been in Sunset Falls for only a matter of days, most of that time spent accompanying Jaskier to look at potential homes — he'd extended the invitation for her to move in with him, which she'd turned down more on impulse than significant consideration, but she's decided to at least come along with him to ensure he doesn't end up falling through any rotted floors.

It isn't the only reason she's come here, though; there's been talk, and what information she has been able to procure about someone who's been well-equipped to deal with the events that have occurred in this village specifically. She's intentional about informing Jaskier where she plans to go, but insists she doesn't need an escort; with her chaos fully restored she expects to be more than capable of handling herself even as she walks up the path to the large house in question.

When the door opens before she can even knock, or announce herself, she walks in, though not without caution, hands lightly clasped in front of her with the light whisper of skirts heralding her movement. The foyer appears deceptively quiet, but even she can perceive the magic hanging over the structure, in spite of it existing separately, unique from her own. It lends the air a heaviness that she's sensed in different forms throughout the entire town, but seems to converge on a significant point here. ]

[rehandle]

[ There's quiet in the foyer of the grand old house. Most of its original cobwebs and dust sheets have been cleared away, replaced with a vibrancy that can almost always be chalked up to the transformation of house into home. The wood of the bannisters seems freshly polished, the ornaments and antique accoutrements that litter the place free of dust. And the once-and-sometimes-still dangerous spells that have weaved their way into the brickwork and burnt themselves into the floors over the course of decades lurk, tame under the weight of a more active magic.

He'd felt her approach, caught it when the normal balance shifted. It's not a familiar power. Not any of the Lokis or Balthier or Nox, nor any of the local wizards, witches, mages, mystics of which he's aware. Now is a particularly dangerous time to be letting unknown magic-wielders into his house, and he leaves her in his foyer for a minute or two, waiting for any behaviour that might betray a cause...

But if there's going to be any, it doesn't come immediately. And Stephen's done much less sensible things in the name of curiosity alone than wander into another sorcerer's personal space. ]

Can I help you?

[ It's asked from the open entryway that leads through to his living room, where he hadn't been standing a moment before but now has his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, expression benign if tinged with vague challenge in the deliberate rise of his brow. ]

[choicely]

[ It's not... uninviting, per se, but there is a power emanating from the property that any significant channeler would be able to perceive as a potential warning — to err on the side of caution when treading inward, so as not to disturb anything.

If it were Yennefer, she might have arranged several alerts, means through which to notify her of someone's presence long before she ever saw the need to set eyes on them directly, which is why she's far from convinced she's alone even if there's no discernable physical presence here with her. The air hums with the type of residual magic that makes that an impossibility.

So ultimately, she lingers, an indication that sometimes, she can have patience, especially when it comes to waiting out the wielder.

It doesn't mean she's any less taken by surprise when the voice sounds from behind her, unassuming enough not to be evidently dangerous but briefly startling her before she makes a concerted effort to regain her composure, features smoothing into more neutrality after that initial quick pivot to bring him into her line of sight. ]

You are the sorcerer they've been speaking of, aren't you? If not, you can direct me to the one who is.

[rehandle]

If that sorcerer has a name, and that name is Dr. Stephen Strange, then yes. That would be me.

[ It is. There's no other name that would bring her here, to this house, and the mild spike of pride in the knowledge is an injection his ego doesn't need but appreciates all the same. She isn't the first to find her way to his door on account of the rumours, the news articles, whoever the collective they happens to be this time. She probably won't be the last. But it doesn't make her arrival any less notable.

Most of the time the people who seek him out are looking for something - answers, lessons, five minutes of fame. And maybe the same can be said for this woman. But whatever she's here for, she hasn't come empty-handed. She's armed with potential of her own. ]

If not, I can check my magical rolodex.

[ He will not, doesn't have one, knows she's here for him, and remains the kind of person who'd actively choose to say that out loud. Yikes. ]

[choicely]

[ Come to think of it, Yennefer hadn’t made note of any specific name that had been offered in tandem with the stories — she’d only heard the most important details, a sorcerer living in Sunset Falls, and thought it essential to make the introduction, or at the very least ascertain what she might be dealing with in terms of a fellow practitioner — chief among them skill and proficiency.

Instead of confirming outright, she merely looks at him, the subtle arch of a brow belying the fact that she doesn’t necessarily have a frame of reference for a Rolodex, whatever that is — she suspects something of his own sphere, a chronicle or other means of identification. ]

So you’ve encountered others of a sort here already. [ Enough to demand he keep a list of names, at any rate; she takes a step forward under the guise of aimlessly glancing around, finally pulling back the hood of her cloak. ] Any worth knowing? Or is it just you?

[rehandle]

[ That's— inconclusive, but the lilt of her expression speaks eloquently enough to place her outside of his own time, and he doesn't need for her to know his name to know it's him she sought. If it were anyone else, the trail wouldn't have led her here. ]

Oh, there are plenty of accomplished locals, though I can't say I've put a lot of time into getting to know them. Aside from them, we do have our own small magical contingent.

[ Regarding her levelly, assessing, he lets that hang for just long enough to conjure the question of whether he's difficult enough to require further prompting... and continues. ]

Though I think I'd like to know your name and your purpose in coming here before I start sharing theirs.

[choicely]

[ It's a fair inquisition that manages to stop just shy of actually being framed as a question, and Yennefer knows he's waiting for her answer, so she doesn't mimic the deliberate pause he'd taken before supplying any form of truth.

She also sees no point in misleading him about her purpose in being here; even if he's not the type of sorcerer who can read minds without managing to achieve direct contact, there's likely enough evidence that points to her motives already. ]

Oh, I am here to meet you, if that wasn't clear. To make a formal sort of introduction.

[ She voices it practically as an afterthought, brows quirking upward before she directs her gaze to his, holding it without glancing elsewhere this time. ]

How large is this contingent of yours, precisely?

[rehandle]

[ A formal introduction. It's nice to know the reputation he's carved out for himself, mostly incidentally, is enough to warrant a visit from someone who is clearly accomplished in their own arts just to establish a connection. But even as she asks her question, Stephen tilts his head a little in active waiting. An answer, yes, but not a whole answer. ]

Not much of an introduction without a name.

[ It's important he know it. There's still the risk that she's something other than he thinks her to be, an actor talented enough to play on his assumptions, and at least with a name - even if it's a fake one - he can start to trace her if things go sideways.

He doesn't suspect they will. Enough little clues to suggest he's safe in his assumptions. But he's not about to trade away information for nothing when the stakes have the potential to be so high if he's wrong. ]

[choicely]

[ She can’t even fault him his caution — how could she, when this confluence has brought so many from different worlds they barely know anything about?

Still, the statement that continues to press its own inquiry prompts the beginnings of a smile, a subtle tugging at the edges of her mouth, and she nods once, understanding and amused all in the same breath. ]

Yennefer of Vengerberg. I’m under no illusions that I have any form of reputation preceding me here.

[ To hear Jaskier tell it, he’s been languishing for weeks waiting for any sign of those from their Sphere arriving, and she’s not holding the mistaken impression that anything she might have done upon her arrival has made its way to Strange already — but who knows whether he has his ways of acquiring that sort of information without relying on the usual channels. ]

[rehandle]

[ Yennefer of Vengerberg. It's a unique name, not one he'd usually miss amidst noise, but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that even with Sunset Falls' near-constant cacophony of magical hubbub spiking in very particular ways, Stephen's been distracted. Mind on a very particular task, any other scent made secondary.

A calculated downward tuck at the corner of his mouth, a shift in expression that ghosts on a smirk and could read either right, it's you or you're right, never heard of you. Then, abruptly, an answer for an answer. ]

Not very large. I'd say six at a current count, though I'll admit to being behind on keeping track of our overall numbers. Could be more by now.

[ Could also, given the impending crisis, be less.

From somewhere upstairs, a crash and a slam. Stephen's eyes roll briefly ceiling-ward. He barely has time to heave a quiet sigh before a blur of deep red careens over the banister at the top of the grand staircase, swooping down around the foyer in a wide sweep that just flanks Yennefer before latching over Stephen's shoulders with enough force to jostle him briefly where he stands. ]

1!

[rollstoseduce]

[Sunset Falls has become Jaskier's choice when it comes to finding a place to live after he gets kicked out of the hotel, because as much as he loves a big city, he can't deny this town has that true feeling of home for him. He's been hanging out with spooks, beasties, and a wholeass witcher since he was eighteen, and now he has bardic magic of his own - where else could he feel like he belongs?

Unfortunately, today Sunset Falls has chosen to bring a magic hell. Everything’s falling apart indeed, and Jaskier will do as much as possible to help any person that he sees in trouble, but that doesn't mean he's learned to stay out of trouble himself. Especially since his mind is always going at fifty thoughts per second.

The statue doesn't reach him but it's close, and Jaskier ends up on the floor trying to decide on a spell before a handsome, flashy man gets between him and the attack. The shield is quite amazing to witness, and Jaskier's curiosity is piqued... that is, until the man turns to make his request.

You gotta be kidding him.]

Oh, sure! [He says with obvious sarcasm, throwing a hand in the air before standing up and brushing off his clothes.] Don't think, he says! Because that's something any brain is capable of doing naturally! Should I stop breathing as well, is it also a problem?