middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Start

So Familiar a Gleam: Start

JINNJAR CITY

"Welcome to Jinnjar City! A city famed as the central power of all of Diagad, and where the magic happens. It has a big history: the birthplace of the first Heroes Association that led to the creation of the Interstellar Justice Alliance, the protectors of the universe. Compared to other places, Diagad's what many people call a superheroes world, but that isn't true. A lot of us don't have the crazy powers that some of the popular folks have! And people like me? We don't care about saving the world! I'm just trying to make it through school, hang out with friends. Live my life!

People tell thousands of stories about us though, and that I can be proud of. When other planets call for help, it's us that comes running to their aid. Our heroes put their lives on the line for anyone who needs a hand, and sure, I don't count myself one of them... but I want to share their story anyway.

Well, I don't need to be telling you about this city, do I? You're a part of it! Always have been, just like me. So I should talk about some funny stuff that's been going on lately instead…”

A TL;DR notes version of days/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS: Un-apped AU characters were taken 1 week before the event from their own worlds, their minds altered to believe they were always from Jinnjar, Diagad. They have a superpower because of this and a new life either living alone or with family (other NPCs or PCs). Go to the OOC post for more info.

DAYS ONE-TWO:

Strange streams of colour in the sky have appeared, and looking at them for too long causes strange headaches. At this point you’re not sure what they’re about, but you can investigate them. However, trying to get right close to them is impossible. You will never get high enough. Regardless, let us know if characters will be investigating anything!
Voidtreckers arrive, be on the lookout. People are excited about finding these infamous criminals, and may be bothering those wearing peculiar watches, or the colours of Blue, Red, Purple, or Orange. You might be one of them: the bothered, or botheree. Many games or movie criminals are some adaptation of these Voidtreckers. A lot of people are worried they’re behind the phoenonem in the sky.
Nevertheless, people will still have their own lives to deal with, regardless of worrying events. Play around with what job your character has, if they’re in school, what work they do; if they’re drawn to a night life or just hanging around wherever they like. Characters not used to technology in-canon may find themselves having trouble with this world (despite believing they’ve always lived here).
Some of the Voidtreckers who are most resistant to illusions and mind control will be breaking out by the end of the first day. They will have to lay low and plot in secret, figure out how to make contact with others. The SCA comms do not work.
Other Voidtreckers might begin having dreams about their past by day 2-3.

DAYS THREE-FOUR:

Those who have been brought to the world begin to dream of their real and past lives, if just in very small and confusing snippets. Some of those dreams may bleed into reality, and people may start to recognise absolute strangers, but don't quite always know why. This is stronger for Voidtreckers than 4th wallers.
Random electronics seem to be glitching in odd ways, particularly the training centres, which lock people in together, even random strangers. Mostly it's harmless and more of a pain. People also swear they think they see the tops of buildings 'glitching' or colouring out. People have been speaking about pets going missing on walks, though the zoos and such are mostly fine, save for some of the higher up bird sanctuaries.
More of the Voidtreckers and some of the more resilient guests will begin realising the reality of the place they find themselves in. That this is not their own world at all.
The propaganda of the city starts to escalate, warnings about the dangerous voidtreckers and reminding people of how great the city is.

DAYS ONE & TWO: SLICES OF LIFE

"This is an emergency broadcast to everyone in Jinnjar City. At 08:00 today, a breach into the city was attempted by the invading force known as the Voidtreckers, who have tried countless times before to take over Diagad for themselves.

While it's believed the group was resisted, citizen are advised to watch out for anyone acting suspiciously in the city, and to watch out for this emblem. Please call the D-F-O-R-C-E hotline if you see anyone you suspect of being an intruder!

Remember to keep low altitudes while we deal with the phenomenon above."

[ RAINBOW SKIES. ] "Everyone's been speculating about what's been going on up above. About a week ago, these long streams of twisting colours suddenly spread through the purple skies of Diagad, rainbow colours inking the clouds. They've been growing out, like merging with the sky itself, and news broadcasts have been telling people not to worry. But what even are they? They say that looking at them for too long causes headaches, while some swear up and down they've seen things in them! I've heard a couple of friends talking about investigating them, but I dunno..."

▷ Twisting streams of colour are becoming exposed in the sky, and indeed, those who look too long high up will find themselves receiving headaches and dizziness. They’ll fade once you look away, but those who do decide to investigate by getting close will experience a tug, as if something yearns to take them somewhere. There will be patrolling Heroes - this world's equivalent of police - keeping an eye on things. Maybe your character is one of them, or posing as one. Maybe your character wants to learn more about what these are. Regardless, they won’t be able to get significantly close to the streams no matter how high they aim.

[ THE VOIDTRECKERS. ] "Gossip is HOT about these Voidtreckers. I remember seeing a movie about them once, based on something that happened years ago. They tried hacking their way into taking over a dyson sphere being built - like a giant structure around a star. There's other stories about them too, but are they really the ones behind this? Who are we even meant to be on the lookout for? I don't know... I'm kinda spooked. But do they seriously ride around in a flying train?"

▷ You've heard about the Voidtreckers, whether you remember stories about them or not. Are you bothered about them? The news broadcasts say they got rid of them - then why are they asking people to look out? And what are you supposed to look out for? On top of the emblem, there's chatter going on about watching out for people wearing strange devices on their wrists, and wearing colours of Blue, Red, Purple, and Orange.

Will you defend your city from these mysterious foes? Be smart about it, or rash? Or maybe you're interested to know more for your own deeds… whether or not they’re the Voidtreckers of tale, they may have resources for furthering your own goals.

[ LIVING YOUR LIFE. ] “But nevermind all that! Life’s about having fun and hanging out with your friends too. I work part time, but I’ve got plans after my shift’s done! Doing some shopping, going to see a movie. I can’t stress out about the funny stuff going on. And I heard the new waiter in my favourite cafe is suuuper cute!”

▷ Despite the few anomalies going on, you still have a life part of Jinnjar City. You have a job filled with devices that you’ve been surrounded by all your life, or certainly longer than a week or, so you know how to work a coffee machine, right? You know how to drive an air taxi!

And where would you take one to? To anywhere: to the gym, one of the training centres, a spa, to the movies - normal things that everyone around the city have always been around. Meet up with some friends for fruit smoothies, or watch one of the shadow displays held by the Georgi’s Gang around every street, putting on shows to mesmerise and delight the kids.

Or how about buying your groceries to take back to your apartment or house? You know what all these fruits are! Right? Right?

… … maybe it’s produce from another planet.

DAYS THREE & FOUR: JUST ANOTHER NORMAL DAY

[ DREAMS. ] “Dreams are just dreams, but a lot of people have been talking about them. Like, really being disturbed by them? Not in a creepy ohhh a monster’s coming for me! way, but like, they say they see worlds they swear they’ve been to before. Or see people? I wouldn’t really think about it except, there’s this guy… not like a super cute guy, but someone I think I knew…”

▷ Talk about dreams have been popular lately, though not everyone has them - or, not right away. Sometimes people may be at work, in school, doing nothing in particular when a name (important to their real self) appears in their mind, a flash of scenery. Coming as quickly as it goes. They don’t know what it means, if it isn’t just a symptom of the latest weird gossip influencing them.

But it sticks with you, something you can’t completely dismiss. But surely it’s nothing - right?

[ ANOMALIES. ] ”Just what we need! My friend’s dog’s gotten lost! She was taking him for a walk, and then she just says he went running ahead, and poof! Disappeared! Maybe he saw a cat? He’s always been a lazy chubby thing, but even dogs can’t help themselves, I guess…”

▷ The colours in the sky seem brighter today, closer...but it’s difficult to say for some, unless you’re actively studying them. Sometimes when you look above, you might catch - if just for a second - the tops of roofs glitching out, corners or streaks erased, colours meshing with the walls. You think it might be the light or your eyes, as it never lasts long, and even standing around waiting to see it happen again won’t give you what you want.

You may have other things to worry about than tricks of the light. Animals have simply been...disappearing, and always the ones owned, or particularly birds that fly around freely. People will ask you for help, and it’s weird they need to. Most owners have a tracker chip and app, and either apps show a blank map, or show them just standing in place...a place that when you get there, is nothing, no one.

[ TRAINING CENTRE. ]
“Really though, other than the weird sky business and how jumpy the news has made everyone about the Voidtreckers, the only odd thing that’s been up is some weird stuff happening at the training gyms. Even I saw it! I was just doing my warm-ups for the day when the field I set it to, the sky...these shapes suddenly appeared, dark and looming. It seriously creeped me out. But it’s just a glitch, right?”

▷ Young or old, the training centres around the central district are a popular spot for everyone to give their powers a safe space to be unleashed. While there’s basic simulations that’s free for everyone to use, people can be personal trainers, or even run group sessions in the bigger rooms.

Sessions aren’t always linked, since getting private training is allowed. However, lately, people keep getting jumped into other’s sessions, and can’t get out until they finish the routine. Sometimes they’re simple, where you need to destroy building block-esque cubes, or superspeed through courses twenty times. But then there’s also story modes, such as…

Castle Defence: Help protect the castle of Erna from the tricky Voidtreckers! They’re trying to storm the castle, and the world needs your power to help keep them away. Difficulty is based on the amount of people present, and speed of the individual. Do you turn things green? Then turning a Voidtrecker green will make them pop! Good job!

Kama Aid: Floating spheres have been lured inside a giant 3-tiered labyrinth ball. You must help the spheres - come in optional people-shaped or even cute animals - be released back outside where the air is fresh. Use telekinesis to tilt the tiers like a ball tilting game, or use super-strength to destroy the different tiers!

Dia Mysteries: A theft, vandalism, maybe even a murder. The crime scene is locked down, and something is afoot. Use your telepathy to gain information from the suspects, sneak into a secure area under invisibility... the solution is yours to find in this investigative simulation.

[ A PSA or Six. ] ”Stay vigilant citizens of Diagad. Please report any suspicious behavior to the DFORCE force.”

Announcements blare from speakers on public transport. Adverts pop up as they scroll through Diagnet. All remind citizens to be on their guard, report strange or disturbing behaviour and keep a look out for any of the symbols or colours of the Voidtreckers.

"Heroes don't keep secrets! If you have suspicions about any dangerous people in our midst, let your local DFORCE force know. Speak the Truth. Save the World."

▷ Billboards are plastered with bold posters reminding citizens to keep an eye out for the Voidtreckers or anyone who they might have tried to sway to their side. For those beginning to glimpse that this city might not be what they once had thought, this could be dangerous especially if their families and friends believe the city truly is under threat.

credits: text box - city banner - city side - coloured sky by benjamin0000

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"Ah, right, the young man with a crush on you."

Wei Wuxian says this with a face that manages to not break into a smile for all of two steps, and then he's laughing.

"It's good," he says after he stops giving in to the outlet of laughter, "That he'll have a list for Purple—that makes it certain for at least two teams, right?" Later, when he talks with Tidus, and Senku's name comes up, there's at least a better chance that one person's ridiculously good memory capacity can make up for the lack otherwise seen.

Edited 2021-07-18 02:15 (UTC)

"He... he has a crush on me?"

He couldn't help but stare in shock when WuXian said that. It was sometimes very hard to tell when WuXian was joking and when he was being serious, his trademark laughter of course making it hard to tell for sure.

"Yes. If we can find the leaders or anyone who regularly assists the team leaders for Orange and Red, they should at least be able to point out their own."

He grins, reaching out to claps Wangji's shoulder for a moment, but otherwise neither confirming nor denying. Tidus deserves a little ribbing by proxy, and he knows that Lan Zhan is not someone who would in turn be offended, right? Right!

"People of good tastes are to be admired." He nods, and he's either complimenting Lan Zhan, or agreeing with Tidus's tastes in crushes, or both, or neither. It's not the important point, and Wei Wuxian's hand falls away again, coming to rest at his hip as he nods while they walk.

"Do you know names that I can try to remember? I admit I'm not great at... that, but! I can at least remember for a few days, ah?"

It was certainly true. WangJi was not one who was easily offended... except by WuXian showing him porn as a teen. So it was more interesting information to know. He would never actually mention anything about it unless Tidus himself admitted it to him. WuXian telling him was certainly not the same.

He nodded his head at the comment about people of good tastes. Even if he also had no idea who WuXian was complimenting there, would at least acknowledge it.

"Of course. I will provide you with a few names. We have a lot of younger members on our team so I'd like to at least check on them first. Like Madoka and Romeo."

Sharing is caring, but sharing is also to provoke, and Wei Wuxian had wanted attention, validation, in ways which were not strictly positive, all his younger life. Attention was attention; you had to matter enough for people to even get angry, right? Plus, then no one had to take you seriously, let alone yourself.

Either way, Lan Wangji was an attractive man, and that'd been true since their youth, so yes. Congratulations, Tidus, on your fictitious tastes.

"I know Madoka," he said with a nod. "She spoke with me about Romeo last platform break—is there anyone younger than them? Whose team is Buttercup on?"

It was certainly true and WuXian had definitely mattered enough for WangJi to get made at clearly. WuXian had meant a lot to him even at the time when he didn't quite understand what that meant. So WuXian teasing him like that had made him frustrated even if he had no idea how to tell him what he really thought.

"I believe there are a few who have no reached the age ten, but I do not believe they are on the Blue Team."

At least those who were physically younger...

Years later, the thought process would catch up. Years later. They'd both eventually learn how to better find their words. These days, they weren't so bad at it, probably.

"So young?" He pauses, shaking his head. He can't say he's actually surprised. He doesn't know how deliberate the process is that selects who shows up on that platform, but he thinks it's not too deliberate—the population as a whole has too many fractured points of contention, are not a coherent enough whole in what they can do, or know. They make it work, and that is as amazing as it sounds.

"The more eyes that can be on the schools the better, in that case. Anyone of the right age can look for them, yeah?"

"It seems so. I don't know why, but it seems there are some rather young ones on the train."

WangJi personally didn't think there was too much thought put into it, given there were multiple versions of the same people, those with abilities and those without, and those very young. He could be wrong, but who knew.

"Agreed. It will help for keeping track of them and we can speak to them when they have broken the illusion."

The young ones are a worry, not for incompetence but simply because the youngest ones were always a worry. He sighs inwardly, lips pressed into a line, then shakes his head, only to nod.

"Hey, this device, the phone here." He digs his out of his pocket, holding it up like a scroll. "Would having its number be helpful, for as long as they work?"

WangJi certainly knew they were capable, but that didn't stop him from worrying after them. Just like he still worried after his grown son. He would always do that.

WangJi watched as he produced the phone and nodded. "I believe so." And he pulled out his own as well.

Neither of them (and none of them, as far as Wei Wuxian knows) are men who fail to worry about others, particularly those in their care. Or in their realm of influence, which had enough overlap in limited and confined spaces to be tantamount the same.

He manages to get the phone on, and finds the number by pointedly not allowing himself to think about it, to only consider this is a phone and what is the number? What it does mean is this is the first and perhaps for a long time the only time he'll make it to the settings where the number is displayed, and he turns his phone around, presenting it on his palms to Lan Zhan.

"Good! Good, and it's not so different, sort of, from the SCA... You know the funny thing? I have no contacts. None. I thought at first I would, and then I looked once I knew what wasn't real, and none!"

WangJi watched as he fiddled around with the phone before beginning to poke around at his as well. He looked back up when WuXian presented him with the phone. He took the phone to look at the number and put it in his contacts.

"I do not have any either."

It was very strange that neither of them did.

It's one of the many puzzling things to Wei Wuxian, but this wholly encompassing landscape is also new. They'd last run into the petulant anger of an illusion-generating entity a month prior, so what could that mean for any realm it established?

These are details neither one of them would imagine, at least not to the natural extent where they were "real" in the illusion. Or he assumes that might be the case, and maybe that's enough?

"Hey, send me a message, add any numbers you also find? I can get Jiang Cheng's," he says, then pauses. "... If you want it?"

It was strange. They had seen illusions before but this was far more all-encompassing. It was confusing to say the least. Painful to say the most.

"I would like his number so that way I have as many of our team as possible."

And he would send WuXian that message.

"Mm! Great, I'll send it your way then!" He holds out his hand, smiling more easily. "I'll keep tracing energies, too, see what I find—ah."

It's a sideway thought that strikes, and he ponders, glancing away for a moment to watch the people down the road. Something he's wondering with the weird juxtaposition of his "power" here, and questions he has about it, that he assumes won't matter before too much longer.

"Lan Zhan, one thing I kind of wondered... the Wei Ying you know, or the ones who share your memories... they all have a core, right?"

"Of course. I will send you ones as well as we know who we can contact and try to collect as many people as possible."

~~Gotta collect 'em all!~~

WangJi watched with curious look as WuXian glanced towards the other people around he too glanced over in their direction as thought he was expecting them to suddenly attack... until WuXian asked that question and he looked back.

"The Wei Ying from my world has a golden core. However, it is not his own."

He will assume that this WuXian will understand and know the reason why.

~~Every Pocket-Voidtrecker!~~

He pauses, having to consider that question. It doesn't... make sense, form his world context. There is no other golden core to fill the one he gave to his martial brother; he'd have to take in someone else's, or finally find a means of regenerating his own. Improbable, some said impossible, but he couldn't choose to believe that, not when there's nothing else pressing him to believe that must be the case.

Mo Xuanyu. The ways he and his other selves look different. The oddities in memories recalled, a number dealing with Lan Zhan, but also these things, these... technicalities.

"I don't have one." He pursues his lips, letting this be academic, nothing else. "I have a feeling... I don't know what it was that happened that kept me from dying, but when Mo Xuanyu summoned me, we exchanged locations. Where he is now, I don't know how to find." He blinks, tucks his phone into a pocket, patting it once so it lays flat. He's more solemn, looking to Lan Zhan now, considering something.

"The Wei Ying from your world, the bodies they're in. That was a soul exchange, wasn't it?"

~~If the qiankun bag could hold living things...~~

WangJi listened to that. It was strange to him given what he knew about his own world that it wouldn't be the same. But maybe the way of calling WuXian back was different than it had been in his world.

"It was. He was summoned by Mo Xuanyu and given his body. He has his golden core though it is not strong."

~~Next science experiment for the cultivators? S-sobs, catch up with other xianxia devices!~~

Wei Wuxian nods, a slow and contemplative motion. He reaches up to run one finger down the side of his nose. He'd died, in the way he hadn't managed, and not through any means of his own actions. His survival, that was. To this day, he didn't know that he'd ever be able to explain why.

"Mo Xuanyu summoned me physical, to exchange places. Left me cursed when he did so," he says, because clearly that had also happened to his other self, "And with parting words related to it, but I woke up in my own body in the Mo Manor, on the floor."

In total confusion, except for knowing it'd been sixteen years. He breathes in, then out, and shakes his head, smile growing wry. "Thanks."

For answering, when he didn't need to. He's more used to Lan Zhan opting against words, most the time, and it's its own surprise each time Lan Zhan here has more to offer, but each world tempers them to different extents. "You were never Chief Cultivator, am I right?"

"I see. I believe that my Wei Ying was cursed as well, but it was not his own body. No one recognized him as Wei Ying, even myself. I did find out though."

He nodded his head in acknowledgement of the thanks before answering. "As of this moment, I have not been Chief Cultivator."

Which would be a consistency, and he can't imagine Mo Xuanyu as desperate as he was without some guarantee built in to handle what he wanted handling. His revenge, as if Wei Wuxian were some avenging devil, meant to destroy families.

It was a side effect, and not one he ever embraced or wanted to revisit again.

"Do you plan to?" If not now, when? And it did beg the question of who, but... some details are less relevant. He's more curious about Lan Zhan's details than the whole form of the world he comes from, each in time.

The simple answer to "who" was technically there was no one at the moment. Everything at the temple had just happened in his world so there had been no discussion of where to go with that next.

He thought about that for a moment. "If it is what the cultivation world wants, then I would not object."

Wei Wuxian would be surprised, given Lan Zhan had basically offered himself at the moment of the temple falling, or had been? Mysteriously asked? He never will know, and hasn't asked himself. Given Lan Zhan hadn't seen fit to talk to him about it beforehand, it clearly wasn't his to know.

But it was nice, knowing someone who cared first for justice, and had learned what it was to compromise instead of unbendingly following rules to their letter and not to their better spirit (or to think outside their bounds to what else might be achieved, by technicality), was sitting head to their section of the cultivation world.

"Mm, I suppose some part of it did. It was more surprising to me that Nie-xiong wasn't interested." After all, it went according to his rather madcap plan.

It hadn't yet been decided in his world, but at the very least, he seemed open to the idea. He knew his brother wasn't in a state to be able to take the responsibility and he doubted the cultivation world would want another Jin disciple so soon after Jin Guangyao. Jiang Wanyin didn't seem like the type so that would be him or Nie HuaiSang.

He looked a bit surprised at that.

"Sect Leader Nie was uninterested?"

"Mm. In our realm, at least. I asked him about it, when he visited Gusu after you'd taken up the mantle." In the last of goodbyes he'd given to both an old friend, and to his soulmate, heading out into the world alone but for the donkey that walked by him. He would come back, eventually. With the stars overhead, and the seas breaking against the sea on the far side of Gusu's mountains, he would return.

He was in process, when he'd been brought here.

Wei Wuxian shakes his head however, clasping his other-world soulmate's shoulder and flashing him a grin. "Best get going for now, Lan Zhan. I'll be in touch, ah?" A squeeze, and he releases, heading up the road with a wave back over his shoulder as he turned away. "As long as the stars shine overhead, and waves break against the shores of the sea...!"

He'd find his way back to all of them, the people who shape his world.

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achickenformylove - 2021-08-04 02:16 (UTC) - Expand

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So Familiar a Gleam: Start

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good with this possibly as a wrap?

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