Mask or Menace | MODERATORS (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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maskormenacelogs2019-10-17 02:16 pm
maskormods) wrote in maskormenacelogs2019-10-17 02:16 pm
Entry tags:
- allison hargreeves | the rumor,
- anders | n/a,
- barbara gordon | oracle,
- bart allen | kid flash,
- ben hargreeves | the horror,
- cayde-6 | n/a,
- harry dresden | the magician,
- joker | n/a,
- jonathan walsh | snake man,
- julian delphiki | bean,
- martin darkov | darkov,
- noah czerny | n/a,
- tim drake | robin,
- † angus mcdonald | n/a,
- † derek hale | n/a,
- † dick grayson | nightwing,
- † jean grey | the phoenix,
- † klaus hargreeves | the seance,
- † lester papadopoulos | apollo,
- † vanya hargreeves | the white violin
[SPOOKY TRAIN HONK]
There is a mysterious quality to the air tonight...perhaps due in part to the reprieve from the zombies and strange monsters rampaging about? Indeed, the space you've wandered into seems to exude a kind of serenity that's been lacking of late...it's as soothing as it is suspicious, and it only gets stranger from there.
Whatever you were up to, wherever you were going...it doesn't really seem to matter much the moment you spot them — someone you never expected to see here, even in this weird world. Maybe they're a long-lost family member, lover, or cherished friend...someone you cared for deeply, someone who made you who you are today, someone whose absence leaves a hole in your heart to this day. There they are...and there they go.
No matter how fast you give chase (yes, even you most speedy of speedsters), they seem to be just barely out of reach, even though they seem to be walking a natural pace! And soon, they'll lead you to the platform of a train...
ARRIVAL
It might not sink in right away, but this quaintly-crafted locomotive is very unlike the subways and trains of the city you've been living in. Neither are its passengers — all of them somewhat transparent, somewhat glowing...and all of them quite content to be there, eager to greet and welcome you along for the ride.
While you search for the specter of your loved one, you will definitely encounter others who were charmed into climbing aboard as well; perhaps that'll be enough to shake you out of the stupor? Or maybe it'll take a bit more time to realize something's really amiss. No worries — there's nothing but time here; you'll find clocks have stopped, even if the Network is still accessible. Who knows how long it's been since you boarded, and when?
The train passes along to each of the cities in its own time at its own pace — even phasing through other vehicles in its path. As it collects its new passengers, there's a chance to finally, finally sit down and speak to that special lost loved one again! How many people can say they have that chance?!
ASCENT
When all the cities have been touched, finishing with that spooky city of Jeopardy (where more than a few spectral passengers are picked up, as well!), the train closes its doors and begins to accelerate. Faster, faster...then up...and up...to the stars! You have a plain view from any window to see the colors of the sky shift, the atmosphere part, and the blanket of stars overtake the view, leaving the Earth behind. It's quite beautiful...but also, perhaps, bad? You live down there, after all! Maybe it's time to call for help, or find a way off this mystery train...
ADIEU
Whether you've found a way into the escape pods or gotten the passenger cars decoupled from the engine, it means farewell to this ghostly train on its destination to the unknown. Or, maybe...you've just had enough of that life down below, and just want to stay with the one you've missed so much. It's not your place to decide, however, but at least...at least you'll finally be able to give a goodbye (or another one).
Those who don't escape will find their eyes fluttering open, as if waking from deep sleep, standing before the platform they'd boarded. And in their heart? The last few parting words with the ghosts of loved ones from another realm...
What a strange gift.
Details and questions here!
Whatever you were up to, wherever you were going...it doesn't really seem to matter much the moment you spot them — someone you never expected to see here, even in this weird world. Maybe they're a long-lost family member, lover, or cherished friend...someone you cared for deeply, someone who made you who you are today, someone whose absence leaves a hole in your heart to this day. There they are...and there they go.
No matter how fast you give chase (yes, even you most speedy of speedsters), they seem to be just barely out of reach, even though they seem to be walking a natural pace! And soon, they'll lead you to the platform of a train...
ARRIVAL
It might not sink in right away, but this quaintly-crafted locomotive is very unlike the subways and trains of the city you've been living in. Neither are its passengers — all of them somewhat transparent, somewhat glowing...and all of them quite content to be there, eager to greet and welcome you along for the ride.
While you search for the specter of your loved one, you will definitely encounter others who were charmed into climbing aboard as well; perhaps that'll be enough to shake you out of the stupor? Or maybe it'll take a bit more time to realize something's really amiss. No worries — there's nothing but time here; you'll find clocks have stopped, even if the Network is still accessible. Who knows how long it's been since you boarded, and when?
The train passes along to each of the cities in its own time at its own pace — even phasing through other vehicles in its path. As it collects its new passengers, there's a chance to finally, finally sit down and speak to that special lost loved one again! How many people can say they have that chance?!
ASCENT
When all the cities have been touched, finishing with that spooky city of Jeopardy (where more than a few spectral passengers are picked up, as well!), the train closes its doors and begins to accelerate. Faster, faster...then up...and up...to the stars! You have a plain view from any window to see the colors of the sky shift, the atmosphere part, and the blanket of stars overtake the view, leaving the Earth behind. It's quite beautiful...but also, perhaps, bad? You live down there, after all! Maybe it's time to call for help, or find a way off this mystery train...
ADIEU
Whether you've found a way into the escape pods or gotten the passenger cars decoupled from the engine, it means farewell to this ghostly train on its destination to the unknown. Or, maybe...you've just had enough of that life down below, and just want to stay with the one you've missed so much. It's not your place to decide, however, but at least...at least you'll finally be able to give a goodbye (or another one).
Those who don't escape will find their eyes fluttering open, as if waking from deep sleep, standing before the platform they'd boarded. And in their heart? The last few parting words with the ghosts of loved ones from another realm...
What a strange gift.
Details and questions here!
no subject
Better has always struck him as meaningless. It's just a position on an arbitrary scale of morality, a way for people to feel good about themselves without ever needing to ask any of the bigger and more interesting questions. Like lab rats priding themselves on dashing from one end of a maze to the other a little faster today than they did yesterday, without pausing to consider if the maze is worth racing in the first place.
He doesn't want to be better. Better means trapped. Obedient. Small, and content to stay that way.
But then his gaze shifts to Barbara, and she is none of those things. She is, however, unquestionably better than he is. Next to her, he seems no more substantial than a funhouse facade: all flash and pop on the surface, rotting particle board underneath.
Maybe better doesn't mean compliant. Maybe it means real.
Jack looks at Jeannie. Remembers meeting her the first time, the way she'd filled the whole room with energy and life. Remembers the certainty with which she'd always argued with him, the firmness of her convictions of what was right. The strength of her belief in him. She was real, too. Substantial...
He's not sure he's capable of being like that. God knows he never was before.
He closes his eyes and leans his cheek into her touch. Commits the sensation of it to memory, so that he can draw upon it later. Then opens his eyes, straightens his posture, and looks once more at Sarah Essen.
"I'd like to be," he manages. "And I'm..."
He has to pause. If she matters, then did they all matter? All his dead, all his mistakes... And if they all mattered, what then? Slowly, painfully, he gets the words out: "I'm sorry."
He licks his lips again. Looks back at Barbara. And in a rare moment of total lucidity, says, sadly, "But you know I won't stop."
Because he knows his mind. He'll get off of this train, and Jeannie will begin to fade again, and those handy sanity bulkheads will seal themselves all the more securely thanks to this breach. And then he'll go right back to killing, right back to the dance, because that's who he is. That's what he's become. The Joker in him has been pushed down for the moment, but that won't last. It never lasts.
no subject
Of course, the moment crashes right down to Earth as he confirms the inevitable, and at first all she can say is, "I know." It's not something she's even questioned, for so very long, but now the knowledge is painful.
She remembers thinking, under the kryptonite's influence, about the good he could do if he chose. The way Cass did, and before this moment it's never a comparison she would have made.
"And I'll still kill you if I have to." It's not a threat; it's too tired and sad for that, even with the knowledge that she'd probably still enjoy it while it happened.
"But you'd come back, here." For the first time, it doesn't feel like a grim inevitability; it feels like an opportunity. "Whole new world."
She won't let hope make her soft, not with him. She won't let the possibility be more important than the lives he'll take, the lives he's already taken. But it's something to keep in mind.
no subject
Murder is the only reasonable solution; the insane choice is, in this case, the only sensible one. And death is never really the end. Not just here in this world, but, as Sarah and Jeannie's presence attests, anywhere. Such seemingly simple things, to spend so long fighting over...
Nor is Barbara looking at him like she particularly wants to kill him, though how could she not? There's none of that fuck you, clown rage he's come to expect from people. No attempt at antagonizing him. No sloppy intimidation or self-serving moralizing. She's just saying what is obviously true: if she has to, she will kill him. And they'll keep dancing for as long as it takes. Forever, if need be.
Something loosens in his chest, and Jack takes a deeper breath. He feels lighter. Freer. Better.
It won't last. But it's nice while it does.
He nods, accepting her words as the perfect truth that they are, and smiles. Not a Joker smile this time, but a human one. A grateful one.
"I'll look forward to that," he says, and he actually means it. "Now... If you two would be kind enough to excuse us." He looks at Jeannie. Drops a hand to the small of her back, so that he can lead her away. There are things he needs to say to her, too, while he still has the chance. "I'd like a moment with my wife."