maskormenacelogs | (no subject)

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: Jeopardy -> Heropa
WHEN: Nov. 19
WHAT: A resolution and a swear-in
WARNINGS: Please label threads

Somewhere, in a place that is and is not Jeopardy, time has passed. To some, it may have felt like mere hours; to others, days. For time doesn't truly touch this place. Only fate exists here, for imPorts to change or allow to proceed as it will.

Somewhere, the sisters look into the hearts of those with the power to decide the fate of this entire world and know their choice. A blinding light grows, forcing even the strongest to close their eyes, and as they do so, a vision of what could have happened appears in their minds. A world wreathed in flames, fire and screams echoing ceaselessly as they depart; a peaceful world, healed and whole and well—and a certainty that another world has paid a heavy price.

And then there's the sensation of three powerful forces leaving, two taking an unwilling third with them to wherever they are going. This world will be left as it is now, and its future will be whatever the people here make of it.

MEANWHILE, IN HEROPA

One week into the mysterious storm that has enveloped much of Jeopardy, citizens across the nation are losing hope. The government continues to monitor the situation at a safe distance, but cannot enter the affected part of the city, though one SEAL team did make an attempt, only to become lost in the wind for hours before emerging without ever making it through. While the storm hasn't grown, neither has it shown any sign of changing.

The heroes who bravely charged into the storm have not officially been given up for lost, but with no news coming from Jeopardy, few believe they will emerge unscathed. To honor their sacrifice (?) and offer sorrowful natives a means of coping, a candlelight vigil kicks off outside Heropa City Hall at 4:30 PM EST.

Speeches are given. Commemorative t-shirts are sold. It is at this point that a large portal of light opens up in front of the building and deposits all imPorts who entered the storm, as well as a confused but unharmed Layla and Sally Clapp. A stunned silence falls over the crowd — followed shortly by an eruption of cheers.

Organized chaos quickly reigns over the occasion. Medical personnel are quickly called in to aid any imPorts who might need it, and government officials quickly descend, one thing on their mind: what the heck happened, heroes?! ImPorts are asked to state, for the record, exactly what they experienced — which leaves a lot of room open for the more creative among them. Just what each imPorts is willing to confess to or lie about is up to them, but there are other imPorts at hand to refute or support all statements.

While imPorts are technically free to go, all are encouraged to enter the building for a debriefing with government officials. Those who care to share their story begin to paint a picture of what happened, and a flurry of transportation begins to move between City Hall and the local porter outpost, as Jeopardy will certainly require some aid now that it is fully accessible. Reports begin to filter back that while there have been some casualties and collateral damage to the city, it is far less of a disaster than the government anticipated during the storm, no doubt due to imPorts' efforts. Additionally, news from other porter cities begins to arrive; with the dissipation of the Jeopardy storm, all dimensional anomalies elsewhere have ceased.

Following the briefings, ImPorts may go home and get some rest, although they may have trouble shaking off the crowds — which are largely ecstatic that the people who apparently saved the world are in front of them.

While imPorts were occupied with the post-disaster debriefings, locals have used the time to launch an impromptu celebration of their defense of this world. Local restaurants, breweries and nanas have hustled their finest wares over, and free food and drink are flowing for the homecoming heroes. A local party & events organizing company has strung up some lights and tents in the park across the street from City Hall, lending a festive atmosphere to the area. T-shirts being sold to honor the assumed-fallen heroes have been 'edited' with permanent marker, going from 'FALLED HEROES' (there was an error in the print run, given the notice of less than a week) to 'RISEN HEROES' and are, regretfully, being given away for free.

For those who stay, an impromptu party breaks out, and the occasion quickly becomes the latest swear-in, albeit with a more casual emphasis on the actual swearing-in than usual; a card table is set up with the usual seals and documents, but it's a bit haphazard.

Along with tasty libations, local musicians start jamming on acoustic guitars in the park's gazebo, setting up some cheerful background music—or maybe you're not too tired to dance? A local physical therapy school has rolled in multiple portable massage tables, with free sessions for sore heroes!

The locals who haven't dispersed yet are also around, likely to seek autographs from the world savers, while podcasters, BlueTubers and regular nosy nellies might lean in with a recording device, asking for the real story of what happened. For imPorts who become too intoxicated or exhausted to porter home, many locals are offering couches to crash on — although the pillows they use may later show up on ePay.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Instead of apologising, Ruby rolls up one of her sleeves to the elbow and holds it out. "Time to see if I'm alive, too."

This was not, in fact, her plan from the beginning, but even she could tell that he'd not been quite prepared for that strong of a pinch. It was only fair to give him the same option.

Finn probably shouldn't, since he's an adult and she's a teen, even if he's just in his mid-twenties. But he's also not one to turn down payback when it's staring him in the face, even if it's just playful payback and she's completely willing.

He pinches her, though not as hard as she did with him. Hard enough to be felt, certainly.

She doesn't flinch, and she's clearly surprised it isn't harder. She then pauses a moment and laughs. "Oh no. I'm a ghost? Well. That's alright."

There's then another small pause and she laughs even harder. For some reason this has struck her as insanely funny.

(The reason is she really needs a nap.)

Finn would make a quip about how his own teacher is a ghost in his time, but that would be giving away too much information to someone who isn't a Dark Sibling.

"And here I thought one had to be a necromancer to interact with ghosts."

Leaning back on the bench with a small sigh, he looks up at the sky.

That earned a smile. "Maybe I'm just a particularly spooky ghost?"

She then watched him sit back, and looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds before speaking. "How are you doing? For real."

"Truthfully, that whole thing was an ordeal, physically and emotionally, and I'm looking forward to spending a few days just resting." After he rocks Jonathan's scaly green world like he said he would. He's getting his boyfriend something special for Saturnalia this year.

"I gave up some memories to save this world."

She's silent for a moment before nodding. "I did too. I don't remember what they were about, and I think that bothers me more than giving them up." There's another moment where she's trying to figure out what to say and just settles for something that seems right. "I'm sorry you had to sacrifice things that were important to you."

"I know it was important, or it wouldn't have been a sacrifice, but not knowing what it was that I gave up... that just stings on top of it." He wasn't willing to forget about the Dark Brotherhood, his homeland, or any of the friends he made here, obviously. Nor was he going to forget about Lucien or Jonathan. But trying to remember what he forgot is enough to make him go cross-eyed.

"I'm sorry too. But, I nearly died to prevent one apocalypse, so what kind of Dragonborn would I be if I didn't help to prevent another?"

She nodded as she looked at him. She felt similarly, after all. She eventually followed his gaze to the stars.

"Trying to prevent the apocalypse just lined up with my ideals and core beliefs." to her that feels so very small, compared to the people who had deep, emotional reasons for saving the world. She felt shallow somehow for all of this. "It had nothing to do with how I saw myself. It's just..." She fell silent for a while. "Well it's just what made sense. Not being willing to help when I could just wouldn't make sense."

"I hear you. I felt that way too. I mean, I don't know if I could live with myself just sitting back while others risked their lives to save this world." Especially since people he knew and loved had gone into Jeopardy. He'd taken out as many monsters and bad guys as he could, hoping that somewhere, Lucien was watching and feeling proud.

That actually got a small laugh, but it was somehow sad. "I could. It's easy for me to just say 'I did the wrong thing. I'll do better next time' and then, well. Do better next time. It's just that the value exchange was one that made the choice obvious. I don't value my life more than the world, not by a long shot. While depending on the situation I would save myself before I saved a hundred people if my death was guaranteed in the process of saving them - and I know, that makes me awful on some level - but at the same time that's just a hundred people. You can fit a hundred people into a lot of restaurants here with ease. That's not nearly as many people as I could potentially save in the future if I survived, either, so I can't even make the equation make sense to me in that regard.

"That said? Even if I were guaranteed to survive the apocalypse and be sent to my ideal world afterward, I'd sooner risk my life to stop it even if my death was guaranteed in the process. It's... It's just really a simple equation for me."

"I hear you. I would give my life a million times over if I had to." Even if it broke Jonathan's heart, or left his friends without him. Even if it meant he didn't go to Sithis' side if he dies in this world instead of Tamriel. It would be worth it. He once put his very soul on the line to save Tamriel, so why would he do otherwise for his new home?

She smiled a little at that. Even if his seemed to be a heroic desire, rather than just a case of crunching the numbers, it was nice that he didn't act like she was weird. "Let's hope you never have to, right? Because a million is a lot."