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meta moderators ([personal profile] metamods) wrote in [community profile] metaverses2022-08-12 08:01 pm

CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS




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.





planetary_bonds: (a wistful worried glance)

central city

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-08-21 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Looking around, there's at least one familiar face in this hostile crowd. Vaguely familiar, at least, since she's only ever seen him once in that broadcast of hers, but he's wearing the same goggles that he was during the stream. Still, even with his eyes covered, and the thin line his mouth is set in, the concern is visible on his face as he leans in.]

...Are you alright?

[...well, this is feeling somewhat familiar.]
determinationtofist: (Oh no...)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-08-21 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Eh? You're...

[ She clutches her head again, still dealing with the headache caused by the overflow of emotions separate from her own... which probably means that she's not alright. ]

I-I'm fine... just... a lot of people...
planetary_bonds: (Default)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-08-21 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yusei misunderstands her words, unaware of the empathy powers. Instead, he assumes that she's been overwhelmed by the absurd amount of protesters spewing vitrol at her - which, anyone would.]

We should go where it's less crowded. Can you walk?

[Whether she can or not, he's offering an arm to support her.]
determinationtofist: (Hnnnn)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-08-22 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Well, it's not like Yusei is completely wrong about that, but she's just used to this kind of thing enough that it doesn't bother her nearly as much as the emotions being beamed directly into her head.

She takes the arm gratefully, though, which already makes it feel a lot easier to stay standing. ]


Y-Yeah, I'll be fine...
planetary_bonds: (polished by me) (side eying you so hard rn)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-08-22 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Mmm.

[Yusei makes a gesture once she grabs his hand, a non-verbal question asking which way she wants to go.]

...Fear makes people do stupid things. Even if it's understandable, it's hard, isn't it?

[he speaks like someone who understands.]
determinationtofist: (Please no more)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-08-23 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
M-Mm...

[ Fear, misunderstanding, anger... Hibiki is intimately familiar what the result of those things can do to people. Moreso now, what with what's happening to her. She's not sure how to respond, her head still pounding, she just waves her hand vaguely. Anywhere but here. ]
planetary_bonds: (Deep in thought)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-08-23 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[A sharp nod is Yusei's answer, and he helps her out to one of the more deserted areas he can think of. Which is an alley.

You know. Pleasant places, alleys.]


...I know they're scared. Worried about losing their loved ones. That doesn't justify this.

[Taking it out on people who are just as lost and confused rarely ends well. Yusei knows that these people don't know what else to do. But...even if he understands, it's hard to forgive. Not when he's had to deal with this kind of prejudice at home as well. Not when he already knows the lasting scars such prejudice can bring.]

...I'm not sure how we can stop this.
determinationtofist: (Hnnnn)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-08-26 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ Pleasant is... not the word that Hibiki would use, but it is quiet. Quiet in the sense that she finally has less emotions from outsiders flowing in and overwhelming her here. Plus, since it is away from the rioting crowd, it means that there's less around to dredge up old memories.

Old memories of being one of the few to survive a tragedy. The harassment here isn't unlike the harassment Hibiki herself faced as a survivor of the Zwei Wing incident. ]


A-Ah... hah... [ She doesn't respond just yet, instead opting to take a deep breath now that her head is pounding less. ] Yeah... it's worse out there than I thought...

[ She holds her hand to her forehead. ]

I... I could feel all of it. All of their fear... their anger...
planetary_bonds: (Deep in thought)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-09-02 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
...Feel it? Not just figuratively, but...you felt their emotions?

[Yusei purses his lips, frowning as he watches her hold her head.]

Having all that resentment aimed at you...and also experiencing it at the same time...

[Yusei remembers, that moment when he had fallen into the Underworld. The victims of Zero Reverse, directing all their resentment at him, the son of the man who had created their downfall. With his father dead, there had been no one else to turn to...

He'd only felt their emotions for a half-hour at best. But their fear, their terror and their sorrow, the resentment at lives torn apart too early...it had terrified him. Had brought all his fears that had been entrenched in his heart from a young age to reality. The vague suspicions that people harbored resentment against him and his father being proven true, shoved in his face...it was almost more than he can bear.

He can't imagine having to experience it without pause.]


...You should take something. I can get you painkillers, or at least a drink...
determinationtofist: (Bashful)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-09-05 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ She just nods... the empathy at least is a comforting feeling to feel from Yusei, amongst everything else that is. ]

E-Ehehe... I'm fine now, don't worry... plus I'm not sure painkillers can really stop this? I was just... having a tough time filtering it all for a second.

[ She doesn't look fine, if only because of how her ears and tail are clearly drooping, but she insists anyway. ]
planetary_bonds: (a wistful worried glance)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-09-05 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
...I have a friend, back home. She has similar powers - she can feel the emotions and hear the voices of Duel Spirits. But she had that ability from a young age, and the mental strain of it all..it made her physically ill as well. When I met her and her brother, I was told that she was often too weak to leave the house.

[He shakes his head, and Hibiki might just feel a mix of melancholy, nostalgia, and affection at bringing up such a memory. Whomever he's talking about, he's clearly fond of them.

He misses home.]


You'd be surprised at how much matters of the heart affect the body. Even just eating something would be a relief right now, I think.

[Good advice, Yusei! Would be nice if you took it yourself!]
determinationtofist: (Bashful)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-09-06 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
Duel... Spirits?

[ She asks simply because she doesn't know, but she can still sympathize with everything else... and at such a young age, too. Guess Hibiki should consider herself fortunate that she ended up with this when she's 17 rather than having it from an even younger age. ]

Ehe... maybe one day I'll get to meet her, then! Maybe she can give me some tips...

[ She can feel the melancholy, nostalgia, and affection. She understands that too, feeling the same way whenever she talks about home herself. ]

Nn... I guess I can't really say no to eating something...

[ Underestimate not Hibiki's appetite, after all. ]
planetary_bonds: (Almost a smile. Not quite.)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-09-06 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
...Think of them as spirits from another world.

[He smiles sympathetically. The concept of the Spirit World boggled him when he first heard about it himself, no matter how much he believed that the cards responded to their holders.]

...I'll be back. Hold tight, okay?
determinationtofist: (Waku Waku)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-09-11 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Spirits from another world... whoa...

[ That sounds... super cool! There really are all kinds of people and all kinds of different worlds, huh? ]

Mm, thanks... don't worry about me, I should be fine on my own for a bit!
planetary_bonds: (Almost a smile. Not quite.)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-09-16 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
[The clear interest draws a soft, amused chuckle from him, briefly relaxing the concerned look on his face. If it helps distract her from the mess outside, even for a little while, he wouldn't mind telling her about them.

But first, food.]


I'll be back.

[With his eyes covered up by goggles, and him not being all that well-known anyway...well, it's not hard to get past aggressive protesters without much issue. Stopping by a small grocery store and picking up some painkillers and snacks doesn't take too long either. Bottled drinks, snack bags, pastries...there's a little bit of everything, all in those small, bite-sized packages.

Hopefully, Hibiki will still be fine when he comes back.]
determinationtofist: (Me!?)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-09-17 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hibiki is, fortunately, still there. Though she usually isn't very good about staying in one place for too long, she's still shaking off the icky feeling that all of that empath feedback had given her.

She looks up though when she notices him come back, her nose twitching as she can smell the snacks from here, certainly thanks to her new abilities. It immediately has her tail wagging. ]


You're back!!
planetary_bonds: (polished by me) (small quirk of the lips)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2022-09-20 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
[Yusei doesn't need to be an empath to see how excited she is for the food. Maybe she needed it more than either of them realized.]

Anything bad happen while I was gone? [He reaches into the bag as he walks forward, grabbing a random bottled drink from the collection and tossing it casually over. Hopefully, she'll catch it.]
determinationtofist: (on the phone with the gf)

[personal profile] determinationtofist 2022-09-30 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ She does manage to catch it! Though she does fumble it for a little while before eventually catching it properly. ]

Mm, no... I've mostly just been trying to turn down the empathy. It's mostly off now, but I can still feel things faintly...