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ph_logs2024-09-06 05:56 pm
pumpkinhollow) wrote in ph_logs2024-09-06 05:56 pm
September Mini - Ghost of the Past
The Visitor's Center
Just where the sands of Tawny Beach begin to fade into soil, grass, and cobbled roads, there is a new building. Much like the House of Cards, it seems to have appeared from nowhere overnight. A large and round structure of tastefully stacked stone, it seems to fit perfectly in between the town and the marina, with an exterior door facing each side and at both entrances. It reads, "VISITOR'S CENTER," in bold letters.
In mailboxes throughout town, there are flyers, advertising "offworlder visitation" running from September 6th to 19th. "Make appointment today!" it advertises cheerfully.
Regardless of which side you enter, the same receptionist sits at the desk on either side--- a pretty-faced young man with braided black hair, wearing dozens of pieces of delicate golden jewelry. He is working hard on some sort of paperwork or taking some phone call when you come in, but he quickly sets it aside to welcome you. "Hello! Welcome to the visitor's center! Would you like to make an appointment?"
Your host artfully dances around questions regarding the place, its abrupt construction, its purpose, and what your appointment actually entails, assuring you it's "self-explanatory." He'll gladly inform you that "people you know" are here for a visit, but won't say who or why or for how long. But you'll sign up for your appointment anyway, for one reason or another. Perhaps you don't even really know.
At the time of your appointment, you are sat down in a tasteful meeting space of your choosing (the options are listed below) and your guest is brought in. But it is not who you expect. In fact, in all likelihood, you do not know this person at all. But don't worry, they've been briefed, and they'll pass the information along to you if asked.
You see, you are not here to meet someone from your own past, at least not at first---- you're here to meet someone close to one of your friends or neighbors. And they're here to speak about that person to you.
Take as long as you need. The Visitor's Center does not close.
In mailboxes throughout town, there are flyers, advertising "offworlder visitation" running from September 6th to 19th. "Make appointment today!" it advertises cheerfully.
Regardless of which side you enter, the same receptionist sits at the desk on either side--- a pretty-faced young man with braided black hair, wearing dozens of pieces of delicate golden jewelry. He is working hard on some sort of paperwork or taking some phone call when you come in, but he quickly sets it aside to welcome you. "Hello! Welcome to the visitor's center! Would you like to make an appointment?"
Your host artfully dances around questions regarding the place, its abrupt construction, its purpose, and what your appointment actually entails, assuring you it's "self-explanatory." He'll gladly inform you that "people you know" are here for a visit, but won't say who or why or for how long. But you'll sign up for your appointment anyway, for one reason or another. Perhaps you don't even really know.
At the time of your appointment, you are sat down in a tasteful meeting space of your choosing (the options are listed below) and your guest is brought in. But it is not who you expect. In fact, in all likelihood, you do not know this person at all. But don't worry, they've been briefed, and they'll pass the information along to you if asked.
You see, you are not here to meet someone from your own past, at least not at first---- you're here to meet someone close to one of your friends or neighbors. And they're here to speak about that person to you.
Take as long as you need. The Visitor's Center does not close.
How It Works
Visitors.
Each offworlder on the island can have up to 2 "ghosts of their past." This is not meant to be literal, as these so-called ghosts will generally be no more dead than any other offworlder. Your ghost can be anyone who "haunts" you in some way, which can mean whatever makes sense to you. It does not necessarily need to be someone with a negative opinion of you--- it can be someone who loves you very much! This person can be from any point in your timeline, including after the incident that brought you to Pumpkin Hollow. It can also be a past version of yourself. Regardless, your own visitor is not actually the person you are here to meet. Your visitor will be meeting with one of your friends or loved ones from the island, and you will be meeting with someone else's "ghost."
When speaking to a "ghost", you will notice a few things about them. The first is that they do have a sense of where they are and what they're doing---- they know that they're here temporarily, and that they've been asked to speak about or on behalf of someone they know. They're aware of who the person is that they've come to speak about as well, and they seem to have all of their memories intact aside from being a little fuzzy on the actual process of getting here. The second is that in most cases, they seem to have regular needs like any living person. The upper floors of the visitor's center have hostel-like sleeping areas, bathrooms, a cafe, everything a person might need. The third is that they seem to be weirdly forthcoming when asked questions. Perhaps you're not familiar enough with the individual to notice such things at first, but it becomes evident that they're pretty open about the person they're there to speak about even when they don't seem to want to be.
Want to speak to your own visitor? That can be arranged--- but your ghost must speak to someone else first. But not to worry, there's plenty of time. (Despite the IC dates, OOCly this can be backtagged as long as desired!)
Each offworlder on the island can have up to 2 "ghosts of their past." This is not meant to be literal, as these so-called ghosts will generally be no more dead than any other offworlder. Your ghost can be anyone who "haunts" you in some way, which can mean whatever makes sense to you. It does not necessarily need to be someone with a negative opinion of you--- it can be someone who loves you very much! This person can be from any point in your timeline, including after the incident that brought you to Pumpkin Hollow. It can also be a past version of yourself. Regardless, your own visitor is not actually the person you are here to meet. Your visitor will be meeting with one of your friends or loved ones from the island, and you will be meeting with someone else's "ghost."
When speaking to a "ghost", you will notice a few things about them. The first is that they do have a sense of where they are and what they're doing---- they know that they're here temporarily, and that they've been asked to speak about or on behalf of someone they know. They're aware of who the person is that they've come to speak about as well, and they seem to have all of their memories intact aside from being a little fuzzy on the actual process of getting here. The second is that in most cases, they seem to have regular needs like any living person. The upper floors of the visitor's center have hostel-like sleeping areas, bathrooms, a cafe, everything a person might need. The third is that they seem to be weirdly forthcoming when asked questions. Perhaps you're not familiar enough with the individual to notice such things at first, but it becomes evident that they're pretty open about the person they're there to speak about even when they don't seem to want to be.
Want to speak to your own visitor? That can be arranged--- but your ghost must speak to someone else first. But not to worry, there's plenty of time. (Despite the IC dates, OOCly this can be backtagged as long as desired!)
Locations.
There are plenty of places to meet with visitors within the Visitor's Center. If you'd prefer a more public meeting space, some lounge areas have been set up on the beach, or the cafe or recreation area within the center are all available. The beach meeting spaces consist of clusters of folding beach chairs or picnic blankets, and while swimming season is largely over, the view from the beach continues to be stunning this month. The cafe is a quaint bistro on the rooftop of the center with a round serving station in the middle and outdoor tables around the outer walls, which feels both spacious and intimate at the same time somehow. And the recreation room is an interior space on the second floor full of spaces for communal games, some of which are too modern to be there. (Not electronics, but definitely Cards Against Humanity.)
If you'd prefer a more private space, there are a number of tasteful meeting rooms, including those with tables as if for a more formal meeting or those with couches or chairs. One of the latter sort even has a fireplace!
However, visitors are not able to go further afield than the beach. If they attempt to go into town, their feet will plant themselves firmly to the ground outside. They will not be able to be pushed or lifted to get around this, and anyone who attempts to force it will be summarily accosted by the staff and their appointment will end immediately. They may not be eligible for another.
There are plenty of places to meet with visitors within the Visitor's Center. If you'd prefer a more public meeting space, some lounge areas have been set up on the beach, or the cafe or recreation area within the center are all available. The beach meeting spaces consist of clusters of folding beach chairs or picnic blankets, and while swimming season is largely over, the view from the beach continues to be stunning this month. The cafe is a quaint bistro on the rooftop of the center with a round serving station in the middle and outdoor tables around the outer walls, which feels both spacious and intimate at the same time somehow. And the recreation room is an interior space on the second floor full of spaces for communal games, some of which are too modern to be there. (Not electronics, but definitely Cards Against Humanity.)
If you'd prefer a more private space, there are a number of tasteful meeting rooms, including those with tables as if for a more formal meeting or those with couches or chairs. One of the latter sort even has a fireplace!
However, visitors are not able to go further afield than the beach. If they attempt to go into town, their feet will plant themselves firmly to the ground outside. They will not be able to be pushed or lifted to get around this, and anyone who attempts to force it will be summarily accosted by the staff and their appointment will end immediately. They may not be eligible for another.
Rules.
As far as OOC rules go, there are a few perks and limitations worth knowing. Any "ghosts" that you write are eligible for AC bonuses for the characters they are attached to. If you are writing a ghost for another player's character, you may decide where the AC bonus goes, but please make a note on your activity check indicating what you're doing. You may write your ghost from your existing journal (with or without a unique icon for that ghost, just as long as you make it clear), or create an independent journal for the character. As mentioned before, you can absolutely play a ghost for someone else. If you would like to have a non-member friend drop by to play your ghost, you may absolutely do so if you clear it with a mod, preferably by having said friend send the mod journal a PM. Be aware that if you recruit an outside player to write a ghost for you, you are responsible for their behavior, and any AC-length threads on their end will not be eligible for transfer because that will just kill Drake probably.
Characters appearing from Ghosts of the Past can also appear in the Villain's Lounge or be apped in later as permanent characters (but not both, as the two are mutually exclusive) and will have some unique lore from entering the game this way!
Ghosts are not capable of lying and will generally feel more compelled to be forthcoming when speaking to anyone OTHER than the person they're here to represent. However, they cannot be forced to meet with anyone they do not want to see or to answer questions they adamantly do not wish to answer. The compulsions are relatively subtle. They also do not have to volunteer information they weren't asked for if they don't want to. None of these compulsions are present if they speak to the person they are there to see. Their memories are generally accurate to whatever point you bring them from, meaning that they can be whatever you want.
If you're visiting with your own ghost, please be aware that threads between two characters played by the same person are never eligible for AC and this is still the case in this instance.
As far as OOC rules go, there are a few perks and limitations worth knowing. Any "ghosts" that you write are eligible for AC bonuses for the characters they are attached to. If you are writing a ghost for another player's character, you may decide where the AC bonus goes, but please make a note on your activity check indicating what you're doing. You may write your ghost from your existing journal (with or without a unique icon for that ghost, just as long as you make it clear), or create an independent journal for the character. As mentioned before, you can absolutely play a ghost for someone else. If you would like to have a non-member friend drop by to play your ghost, you may absolutely do so if you clear it with a mod, preferably by having said friend send the mod journal a PM. Be aware that if you recruit an outside player to write a ghost for you, you are responsible for their behavior, and any AC-length threads on their end will not be eligible for transfer because that will just kill Drake probably.
Characters appearing from Ghosts of the Past can also appear in the Villain's Lounge or be apped in later as permanent characters (but not both, as the two are mutually exclusive) and will have some unique lore from entering the game this way!
Ghosts are not capable of lying and will generally feel more compelled to be forthcoming when speaking to anyone OTHER than the person they're here to represent. However, they cannot be forced to meet with anyone they do not want to see or to answer questions they adamantly do not wish to answer. The compulsions are relatively subtle. They also do not have to volunteer information they weren't asked for if they don't want to. None of these compulsions are present if they speak to the person they are there to see. Their memories are generally accurate to whatever point you bring them from, meaning that they can be whatever you want.
If you're visiting with your own ghost, please be aware that threads between two characters played by the same person are never eligible for AC and this is still the case in this instance.
Staff.
Last but not least, there's a chance that you may encounter the staff of the Visitor's Center around. There are two men and two women--- Daanon, Caspian, Reyelle, and Nephera, respectively. Those here in February may recognize them from Merrymeet. They look fairly normal, generally appearing as humans (or an elf, in Nephera's case), but in reality they are the members of the Court of Betrayal. Whenever they speak about their "Manager," they are referring to Eligos. However, this is not immediately obvious, especially to those not familiar with these particular demons. If you know, you know! [ I will be keeping my demon thread load super light, so please feel free to handwave interactions with them as you see fit! If you want a demon thread, please reach out to me for plotting. -Rose ]
Last but not least, there's a chance that you may encounter the staff of the Visitor's Center around. There are two men and two women--- Daanon, Caspian, Reyelle, and Nephera, respectively. Those here in February may recognize them from Merrymeet. They look fairly normal, generally appearing as humans (or an elf, in Nephera's case), but in reality they are the members of the Court of Betrayal. Whenever they speak about their "Manager," they are referring to Eligos. However, this is not immediately obvious, especially to those not familiar with these particular demons. If you know, you know! [ I will be keeping my demon thread load super light, so please feel free to handwave interactions with them as you see fit! If you want a demon thread, please reach out to me for plotting. -Rose ]
CODE BY MARWOOD
no subject
"...there's— well, um, there's a lot of them. And you're not really meant to know about them in advance, because then you might try and prevent them, but my case was always... weird. They had like, no choice but to tell me about a couple and one of those is..."
She makes a noise, drops her arms away from her face.
"Every Spider has a police captain or something similar that they're close to, somehow. Mine's, well, my dad, obviously, and um— that Captain... dies. That's the canon event. They die in a battle with one of the Spider's villains, trying to save a kid from rubble."
no subject
He freezes in horror when she finally drops that last crucial piece of information. Her dad has to die. The man he just spoke to is... on borrowed time. This changes everything. And Gwen... had to leave, knowing that?
"Gwen, I'm so sorry. No one should have to bear the weight of that on their shoulders." Especially not a kid. She's still very much a kid in his eyes, superhero or not.
"You really should go see him. Tell him you love him. I know you still do. If you can't stop what has to happen, you can at least have a few less regrets."
no subject
"Miguel was still trying to calculate if I'd eventually need to go back to trigger it, or if it would— play out on its own if I stayed away long enough, meaning I could go back after." She almost laughs bitterly at that. What would she have to go back to? More canon events that did need her to be present, she supposes.
Going back home has become less and less appealing with time. Even as she tries to tell herself that maybe canon events aren't as real as Miguel made them out to be.
"...maybe I should, I just— I don't know if I can trust it not to turn into just another fresh argument to have as a final memory."
no subject
It chills him to the bone to think she not only is contemplating her own father's death, but that she might have had to be the one to set in motion personally. Who asks that of another person? What kind of monster would ever?
"None of this should be happening," he says in frustration. "You shouldn't have to feel like his death is on your hands. Who is Miguel and why would he make you do that?"
no subject
Gwen needs to chew on the question of talking to George a little longer, so she just answers the question for now: "Miguel was in charge of the Spider Society. He designed the watches that let us travel around safely to track down people who'd slipped between universes. And he's the one that first discovered the consequences of disrupting the canon."
She pushes herself back up to sitting, propped on her hands. "A version of himself from another universe died, leaving behind a daughter. He stepped in, took over that version of himself's life, raised the kid. Then... the universe fell apart. Completely collapsed, killing everyone in it but himself. It was after that he figured out what canon events were and mapped them out, and started bringing in other Spiders to help clean up things falling between universes that might disrupt them and collapse another universe."
"If dad doesn't die, then my universe unravels."
no subject
The more people who go hopping from universe to universe, the more chances they have to screw it up. Right? That seems like a serious problem. All it takes is someone not being willing to fall in line with the inevitable.
"I'm... so sorry about your dad. But he's a true blue cop, so I have a hard time thinking he wouldn't agree his sacrifice is worthy. If that's really what it will take. I just... I don't get why you had to know ahead of time. Why do you have to spend the rest of your life thinking it's on you? Who does that really help?"
no subject
"When Miguel first recruited me, the Society was a lot smaller and they didn't even have enough people to keep up with anomalies. But since then he might have... over-corrected, maybe, I don't know. People usually get looped in because an anomaly got spat out into their universe and they helped capture them."
That was how she got Hobie involved, much to the surprise of everyone who met him afterwards. She went to his dimension to chase down an anomaly, stuck around after to hang and play music, and he decided to follow her in. Miguel rather came to regret that one.
"It's— like I said, they don't usually tell you in advance. The standard spiel just includes the events you've already experienced and that usually makes the point well enough, y'know? But because they didn't know if I'd have to go home to make it happen, they— had to tell me. And another one they told me for— other. Reasons. It's complicated."
Because being Gwen Stacy is complicated when you're surrounded by Peter Parkers.
no subject
"If it's a canon event that's destined to happen, why would you need to trigger it? The way I've experienced it, things that are set in stone, if you will, tend to bend events around them to make it happen. As long as you keep the ripples small enough it usually doesn't cause that big of an issue."
He sighs, frustrated in his own way. "Frell, I can't tell if fundamental rules of time and reality are even consistent across universes so maybe that's true for mine and not yours. The more I learn, the less it all makes sense."
no subject
"That was the thing, we didn't know for sure. No Spider had left their home universe for as long as I planned to—not besides Miguel. We just... had to wait and see."
She sighs, drops her head back to stare up at the sky. "I don't understand how it all works now I've been stuck in places like this, though, that's for sure. Sometimes it feels like I've escaped them. Sometimes it just feels like they're waiting to catch up to me."
This is definitely one of those times.
no subject
He lays back to mirror her, looking up at the unfamiliar stars with a sigh.
"I feel that way too, sometimes. First the ship, now here? Hard to know anymore if I'm even the same version of me that left Earth. Doesn't feel like it. But I still wake up some nights so sure the hounds on my heels are going to be barking at my door."
no subject
"Ha, yeah, I feel that. I want— I want to think I haven't changed that much, but everything that's happened... I don't think my friends back home knew who I was then. Let alone now."
She's been thinking about the Mary Janes recently, after talking to one of Darcy's friends at the ghost centre. How much she didn't let them in, what they must have thought. About Peter, how things may have been different if she didn't hide.
And of course her dad never really knew all of her.
no subject
no subject
"I have, a bit. With people here. But the people I left behind... well unless I get to start hopping around again, it's too late for most of them."
But not Peter, she's already planning to talk to him. And... then there's Dad.
no subject
"I won't tell you what to do, but I've been estranged from my home going on maybe... eight years now. Some regrets never stop gnawing at you. Like I said already, just don't isolate yourself when that happens."
no subject
"...maybe I'll go," she says finally, after another long beat of silence. "But if he keeps acting like he did before, I— I can't just stand there and listen to it again. I can't."
no subject
He turns to look at her with big soft eyes, "But it really did look like what I said got through to him, Gwen. I wouldn't be encouraging you to go if I thought it was going to end the way you're afraid it might. I wouldn't do that to you. Or anyone."
no subject
"...okay." She believes him, even if she can't help but imagine the worst case scenarios. She presses her lips together hard and breathes out through her nose. "I want to talk to Peter, first. Then— then I'll see dad. And— and I'd feel better if you and Gerry were nearby, I think. Not in the room, just... nearby."
good place to wrap and handwave you think?
"You got it. I'll be wherever you need me. You can always count on that."
yes!
"...thanks," she says, quietly, and flops back to stare at the sky again for just a bit longer. Just to let this all settle in.