metaverses | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Knock me out if I don't remember those. You're probably the only one that can. [ which is a weird thought, honestly.

he sighs and gives steve one quick scritch behind the ear before they start forward, toward people. eddie feels uneasy but then again that's somewhat a state of normal for him now; has been since chrissy came to his trailer.

the square is full of people, milling about and looking out at the edges with suspicion. no one has weapons, though, and when they're spotted everything breaks out into screaming. eddie pretty sure someone says 'get the flamethrower!' and what the fuck??? what the fuck is that????! he is tiny compared to steve but snarls at that. ] We're here to fucking help! Jesus!

[ You'd think people used to living on the Hellmouth would have more patience with monsters but hey, nothing changes whether it's Hawkins or not. At first Steve's tail is between his legs and he backs off a bit with Eddie, but then he hears flamethrower and he stands up to get a better look: yeah, okay. That's a fucking flamethrower. He's trying to plan a way to back up the way they came when someone fires a gun, and that's when his demeanour shifts to that of the furious snarling wolf, darting forward with the intent of smacking the gun out of the guy's hand.

He accidentally shreds that arm off from the elbow with a single powerful swipe, screams of terror from the shooter quickly silenced as all of the wolf's instincts go for the man's throat and with savage jaws he rips it out, roaring at the scattering townsfolk as blood drips from his muzzle.

Turns out Eddie isn't the only one fighting a new kind of hunger, he's just excluded from it as Steve's mate. ]

[ this was a monumentally bad idea of epic proportions, behemoth proportion. neither of them are in control enough not to be stupid and while he's growling, fangs growing and the desire to strike out is there steve's already moving.

and eddie screams. ] Steve-- No!

[ because steve's pulled off a guy's arm and is snapping forward, snarling.

eddie moves then, not to stop the fucking mob but to grab at what he can reach of steve's fur to pull him back as a roar tumbles out of the werewolf and people scatter. he snarls at anyone close too, snaps his teeth even as he tries to hold steve back with arms around his waist and he fucking isn't sure that'll actually do anything even with super human strength. there's a cacophony of heartbeats, of steve's loudest of all, but the sheer amount of fear and panic in the air makes eddie fucking sick. ] Steve. Come on, we need-- Calm down. [ he doesn't know if actually makes that a command but it's the only thing he can think of because now they're alone in the fucking square, standing over a dead body. ]

[ Eddie does, in fact, have the supernatural strength required to get Steve to stand still by force. He's panting and snapping at the retreating forms of terrified humans, settling a little only when he registers Eddie's scent and hears his tone. He sags in place, breathing harshly, then almost startles as he eyes the corpse he made, yipping in alarm. ]

[ eddie keeps hold of him, steady and tight until he feels steve sag. ] Okay.

Okay. [ he repeats that to settle them both, this time for sure. he wonders if steve can feel that he's not breathing right now, hasn't been for a bit and makes himself take a breath. ] Okay, we're going to step back and you're going to turn around. Yeah?

[ as he says it, he guides steve back away from the remnants of the man. ]

[ He follows Eddie's directions, turning around with wide eyes. All the rage of the wolf has drained away now it's quiet and no one is attacking them, it's easier to think.

He wriggles to get lower, wanting to wipe his blood-soaked mouth off on the grass. ]

[ eddie kneels down with him, uses the front of his shirt to wipe off whatever other blood is on his muzzle because the shirt's already a lost cause. ] Doing okay?

[ stupid question, he knows. ] How about we put this whole exploring thing on hold and maybe, maybe head back to the apartment? Where neither of us is tempted to go for anyone's neck?

[ Having rubbed his muzzle and hand as clean as he can while the dead man's hot stink is filling the air behind them, he lowers his ears and gives Eddie a sad, soft Awoo of agreement. The front of the backpack is patted where the device is and he stands back up, miming where to press it. His tail rests between his legs. ]

Edited 2022-08-21 21:36 (UTC)

[ all in all, eddie is pretty okay at reading the soft sounds that steve's making. he's learning, slowly becoming a fuck expert in werewolves of the steve harrington flavour.

this is not how he pictured his day going but here he is, about to take steve back to an apartment steve made it sound like they share because they've been together and eddie doesn't remember. except, unless this vampire bite loaded him up with new fucking memories, then one of them is really fucking wrong here. ]

I'm not upset with you. [ he has to say because that did sound a bit frantic and a little, well, scolding but fuck. fuck. steve tore that guys arm off and at least he dropped it somewhere. he digs through the backpack and pulls out the device, doesn't know what to do with it so thank christ steve mimics what needs to be done. he holds out his hand and motions steve closer. ] We need to hold on to each other, yeah?

[ Steve is glancing around to make sure no one is running over or about to cause a fuss when Eddie calms his nerves further, glad he isn't in the proverbial doghouse. He nods and wraps his long arms around him, clean clawed hand brushing through Eddie's hair to keep his head safe during the teleportation.

With a wuff, he closes his eyes against what's to come. He always hates travelling this way. ]

[ eddie goes with it, rattled and shaken, but soothed at the same time. the vampire purrs and that's a fucking embarrassing sound they are not addressing right now. ] Do I have to do anything else?

[ like how does this thing know where to go? eddie doesn't think on that too hard because they're about to be teleporting. he leans in, hits that button and suddenly realizes that yep. this is his least favorite way of travel and he might fucking puke. ]

[ It bears a close resemblance to being hurtled down an elevator shaft only instead of it lasting thirty seconds it only lasts three. Still mightily unpleasant, however.

When they arrive with a loud thump of shoes and paws hitting the hardwood, Steve draws back to shake his head and reorientate his bearings in the open plan lounge of the apartment, Eddie still covered in some of Steve's blood and Steve covered in some poor guy's leftovers hastily rubbed off on a lawn. Yikes. ]

[Chrissy and Billy are chilling on the couch, Chrissy showing him the bite marks a certain vampire left on her neck. The loud and sudden arrival in the middle of the common area has her practically leaping to dive and hide behind Billy like he might be kind enough to protect her.

But there's no sound of Vecna's voice. None of her mother's screams. No ticking clock. No spiders. That's enough to get her to peek over the back of the couch. And seeing Eddie and a dog there covered in blood and gore is...a lot to try and process.]

What did you do?

[There are similar ones on Billy's throat: a funny little pattern of totally Normal and Friend Like behaviour that he absolutely is avoiding their Eddie over. It's all so fine, so normal -

and then Chrissy is jumping behind him and there's a giant fucking dog in their living room.]

What the fuck - [never mind the blood!]

[ The sound of keys turning in a lock comes from the entryway, as Robin gets back to the apartment from her eventful day out. She starts talking as soon as the door is open, looking down to toe off her shoes. ]

You guys, I ran into Eddie in Sunset Falls earlier, has he called you? Something really weird... happened...

[ It is at this point that she looks up and discovers the Scene™ she has just walked into. A moment passes in silent befuddlement, before she squints and asks, ] Why the fuck is there a dog wearing Steve's jeans in our apartment?

[ and jesus christ that trip, quick as it is, is awful. eddie's really pretty sure he's going to lose his lunch over it and add a fucking puddle of blood to the floor. he stumbles back, out of steve's hold to try to take a deep breath he doesn't need to calm down but doesn't manage part two of the plan because there is A Lot suddenly going on in what he thought would be a relatively quiet space where they could maybe recover from the fact steve just tore a dude apart. nope, more punches ahead.

it's a lot to take in. everyone in one place. he snaps his head from chrissy, to billy, to robin as she stands near the door. there's a lot he could say from 'jesus christ' to 'what the fuck is today' but he lands on-- ] Fuck. Uh, this is Steve. [ he motions to him, feels a headache coming on and why the fuck is that still a thing when he's dead and a vampire? ]

[ There are a lot of people, too far away for him to pick up their scents, and his ears go back as he growls, starting to snarl, still anxious from the situation they left in the town square. ]

[Jesus Christ, this is a lot. Chrissy gives Billy a look that clearly says fuck before she moves to hop over the back of the couch, cautiously approaching the giant dog that is Steve.]

Is he hurt?

[She asks Eddie first, before stopping a safe distance away and extending her hand. Maybe he'll want to sniff it??]

We can help you. Calm down.

For fucks sake Cunningham, [is all he gets out before he's clambering around the couch to tug her back, eyeing Steve warily. Steve, who is a giant fucking dog, covered in blood, who is growling.

He's got a headache, never mind Eddie. ] I don't care if it's Scooby Doo, maybe we don't let him try to eat your hand?

[ Billy's holding Chrissy back, but there's no one to hold Robin back. She's not an idiot, and she's not blind. She sees the blood stains on Steve's... muzzle? But still. That's her best friend in there, somewhere. And if Eddie is still Eddie even after becoming a vampire, then Steve has to still be Steve even after becoming a... ]

...Werewolf? [ She asks Eddie, for clarification, figuring he would probably be the person who would know.

She approaches, slowly. She's not reaching out her hand like Chrissy did but she has her hands open in front of her, showing Steve she isn't armed. ]

Steve... Look at me. It's me. It's Robin.

No, not hurt. [ relatively? don't ask about the blood right now. ]

Yes, werewolf. [ jesus christ, it's too much going on. eddie puts himself between steve and everyone else, feels the incessant need to manage this whole fucking mess because he's gotten his own fucking fangs into everyone in this room but buckley and yet somehow it's steve that tore someone's neck open.

steve who's snarling. ] Everyone just needs to calm the fuck down right now and not make any sudden movements! [ the anxiety he feels in the room, smells and hears in the thrumming of four heartbeats isn't good. then he looks at steve. tries for calm and soothing, reaches out to touch a clawed arm because that grounded him before and it puts eddie in a good position to grab him if steve lunges at anyone. ] Hey, we're okay. Yo-- We're home and these are our friends. We're safe. I'm safe. [ there's no one steve needs to protect him from here. the hero complex can step aside. ]

[ He follows Chrissy's arm, then Billy's shouting, and eyes Robin for a long moment where his snarl melts away. His ears slowly come back up as he stares at Eddie, the growl shifting into a whine as Steve slouches and looks at the floor, rubbing the back of his neck; ew, he thinks, the blood.

Casting a doggy side-eye at them all, he whuffs twice at Eddie and backs off to the sink where everyone can see what it looks like when a nine-foot tall werewolf is trying to rinse off his muzzle. ]

[Chrissy lets Billy pull her back, and she's pressed back up against him as she watches the chaos continue to unfold. No one stops Robin, and she momentarily looks over to her in concern. She doesn't move from Billy's hold on her though, figuring any further sudden movements might set him off.

Then Eddie's stepping forward and she sees those claws. This is the vampire that bit her and ran. Her eyes narrow as she watches him, pointing his direction. What an asshole.]

You bit me and ran. You don't get to tell me what to do.

[Look at who's finding her voice. ]

[god fucking help him, he's snorting at Chrissy Cunningham telling a vampire off. he might be about to full on laugh. ]

Chris, this is maybe not the time to drag the vampire over the coals.

[he's so proud of her. ]

[ Robin watches Steve pad over to the sink and thinks about following him, but stops in her tracks when Chrissy speaks, whirling around on Eddie instead. ]

Hang on— you bit her?! What the hell, Eddie? What were you thinking?

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