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metaverses2022-08-12 08:01 pm
metamods) wrote in 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.
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.
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.
‘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.
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.
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.
B
Others look just as confused and disoriented, but it's the sound of gun fire that draws his attention. There's a figure he recognizes, but it just raises more questions. Reyes jogs over, calling to him, hand reaching out to touch his arm in a way that's far too familiar as he gets to his side.]
Balthier!
[His free hand reaches for his pistol, seeing that they seem to have some unfriendly company to deal with.]
This was not exactly what I meant when I said we should get into trouble more often.
[Reyes jokes, pulling away only to aim at some mechanical menace and help Balthier take it down.]
no subject
He’s focused on making sure his aim is precise and gets a shot off before someone is touching his arm. For a moment he assumes it’s David, except David is out working today, and he rarely touches Balthier like that when he’s in uniform.
He turns, not recognizing the man, but he has his name, and the joke he makes feels like someone who knows him. Had he met him at a former Confluence? Had he had his face obscured perhaps? Neither of those explain the familiarity of that touch on his arm.
It’s been a weird few days. Maybe the man’s just losing it. ]
My thanks for the assistance. Forgive me, but I don’t recall making your acquaintance.
no subject
Aha, right yes. Never seen you before in my life.
[He'll joke along, still standing close, probably a little too close. Personal space and all, but that was something the both of them shared so frequently there was rarely a moment they weren't in the same little bubble together.]
Any idea what's going on? Fran here too?
[His head swivels a bit, as if expecting her to show up with the low down on what the hell is happening.]
no subject
Fran here too?
Balthier is extremely good at keeping himself unreadable to those who don't know him, so he thinks he's done that now, but unbeknownst to him Reyes probably notices the momentary stiffness in his posture, and the way he uses a voice he normally reserves for business -- or cons. ]
You've met Fran?
[ There's also the chance this man is fucking with him; Balthier mentions her often enough. But if he's met her then maybe she's here, maybe... ]
no subject
You've met Fran?
It's such a simple question, but it makes no sense. His tone and the way he asks it also makes Reyes think that Balthier genuinely means it. That confuses the hell out of him, because if Balthier genuinely means it when he asks if Reyes has met Fran means he meant it when he said he'd never made his acquaintance.
Or he's just a really good actor. Reyes liked to think he knew him well enough now to know if he was pulling his leg and...]
Of course I have... we're friends. I've been on your ship, we've flown together.
[Reyes is touching him now, checking to see that he's not hurt, a hand cupping his face for the brief moment the sky pirate will probably allow it.]
What's happened- have you hit your head or something?
[It's not asked in jest, there's concern there, because Balthier talks like he doesn't know him and that can't be true.]
no subject
The way the other touches him is distinctly too familiar and for a moment he's startled enough to freeze. Then there's a hand cupping his face -- not just cupping, fitting around it like it knows exactly where to hold, so much concern in that question, like someone who cares deeply for him, and he feels himself wince against it.
Oh, Scions. He thinks he knows what's going on. He's met three Lokis and four Spider-Men. David has mentioned fears of other universe versions of himself. Hells, David has been to other versions of his own world, has had issues with people he grew up with being on different timelines than his own.
He turns his head free of the touch, stepping back slightly. ]
You must know a different version of me -- one that still has a ship, and Fran. I don't know you. [ And judging by how familiar the other man is being with him, that can't be easy to hear. ] I'm sorry.
no subject
It feels like miles in this instance.
Taking his hand back his fingers fidget at his side, uncomfortable in the unfamiliarity suddenly. What comes next feels like a punch to the gut, even if Balthier hasn't hit him at all. A different version...? Trying to insist Balthier knows him clearly hadn't worked, so even as his eyes beg for recognition from the man he loves, he'll try to figure out what the hell is going on.]
... then do you at least know this place? Do you have any idea what's going on?
[Let's start at square one then. Perhaps whatever this place is has done something to Balthier, messed with his memories.]
no subject
And it's strange, unsettling even, to have someone look at him like that when he doesn't know them, because he can tell how genuine it is, can tell it fits against the shape of him, and yet it's utterly wrong.
And Scions, how close must they be if Reyes is this distraught? There's not much he can do to make this situation easier for the man, but he can at least offer what he knows. ]
We're on Earth, or an Earth. This version is some sort of nexus. It pulls people from other worlds, other version of other worlds. I've been here eight months. [ And since this man seems to know his history-- ] Last thing I remember before that, I was with Fran, on the Bahamut, and it had been hit. I woke up here. She didn't. [ His voice goes tight. For all he knows, for all he suspects, she's dead. Why else would it pull him and not her? ]
Typically only a few people come through at a time, but it's been increasing. Since yesterday there have been dozens. Oh and the tech is rogue. That's new. [ Said with all the disdain he has for bad dressers and Blasto, not that this one knows the latter. ]
no subject
Still, his eyes betray the rest of his face, watching this Balthier, listening to him. Everything looks and sounds right, but there's zero recognition on his end. Of course alternate universes had always been a theory and used in plenty of fiction, but actually having it be real? It's a lot to take him. As much as he seems to stare off a bit, he is paying attention, nodding a little, arms crossed.]
Earth? I... suspected that might be the case, but couldn't figure out how. So some how it's working like a mass relay and transporting people here from all over? Times, places... amazing.
[Amazing, while that's true he sounds more sad about that than anything.]
It may not mean anything to you here, but Fran was well last I saw her.
[Some kind of reassurance he hopes. Even if it's true that this Balthier isn't... his Balthier. He's still not sold on that yet. Clearing his throat he looks around, hands shifting to rest on his hips.]
So we're dealing with AI here then?
no subject
Which he isn't going to tell Reyes; the rules have changed this week. There are cracks in the sky. Whose to say there won't a way to send him back?
Except that would mean Balthier could go back. Which is an entire mess of decisions he never thought he'd have to deal with.
He's formulating something calculated but not technically false to say when the other man brings Fran back up. The words shrivel up in his throat, his voice going tight and his eyes searching the other man's gaze like he could someone stare through him and see her. ]
I -- you're all friends, then? Good. That she's well.
[ He looks away, pressing his lips together just a little too tightly. His knuckles go white where they clutch the hilt of his gun.
Fran bought him this pistol. ]
Seems to be AI. It exists here, but was previously more limited. The Confluences -- the energy surges like that one that brought you here -- have a habit of instigating nonsense.
[ Which he punctuates with lifting his gun and firing off two quick shots to sink whatever rogue drone was barreling toward Reyes. ]
no subject
He'll try to be more observant, but it's a little hard to concentrate on anything else when well... this.]
No wonder things are a mess, AI tends to get that way. Though it has it's uses.
[Depends on the AI and depends on how many of them. This is insane.]
I think after all this time, she would call me a friend. I know I would call her the same.
[And it's his turn to pay back Balthier, moving to step closer to him, brushing just past his shoulder and lifting his pistol to shoot at a couple drones with their eyes on the sky pirate. Reyes breathes out, a little smile trying to push onto his lips as he glances back at the pirate.]
She never tried to kill me for getting close to you, I think that's a friend.
no subject
[ He grins, trying to lighten the mood, but even as it comes out he wonders if that wasn't a mistake. Because hearing about a Fran he can't reach isn't exactly soothing.
And it's strange, the way the other man speaks in a way that suggests knowing Balthier's tendencies, that he knows what he might be thinking under his mask. Strange, too, how he steps so close, falls into combat formation with him, has his back and drops drones Balthier didn't even notice yet.
Like they've spent countless time together. ]
You must be good people if Fran likes you. [ If Fran approved of Reyes as a partner for Balthier, though he isn't going to say that. He certainly means it though, and honestly, nothing could make him trust a stranger faster. ] You sure she didn't thank you for keeping my fool heart occupied and stemming my sigh-riddled melancholy? [ Whoops. It's so easy to slip into banter, but it's not harmless, he knows that, and it's so disorienting to feel familiar and know nothing about this man. ]