nexus_sages | Entries tagged with dupes: yes

Loki can always appreciate the little nooks and crannies of existence, the in-between appealing to certain facets of his nature. How he found himself there wasn't so important as what he did there, and now he's sprawled in a comfortable lounge chair in the Forum. The shabby, shoeless god doesn't take long before he decides to put his own contribution out there.

"Let's set the stage, shall we?" he calls just before he leaps abruptly to his feet on the chair.

"Congratulations, you've won! You return from a great quest with the glory and the girl or boy or whatever you sought as yours. Hear the cheers of the crowd. Yay, you!" People near him might even hear that hypothetical jubilation briefly, an echoing illusion that fades as he waves it away. "Or maybe none of that, and you came out of it with a bit of personal satisfaction and a friend." (If one misplaced momentarily. Problematic, that.) "Things were going so well, and yet, right now, right now, you're waiting around for what comes after."

"You're as free as a bird, so..." He's made a switch to a more conversational tone as he drops back down into his seat. "What d'you reckon you'd do next? What story would you spin?"

red_room

Hello Nexus, there is a new face in your forum today.

Not confused about where she is--she knows exactly where she is or at least looks like she does. A confident redhead leaning against one of the many welcome signs, chewing a piece of gum and people watching. Not looking for anyone or anything in particular.

Once enough people have taken notice of her she'll come forward though, arms still folded across her chest.

"Do you like what you do for a living? Is it your dream job?" A question at random, or a question with purpose. This stranger doesn't seem too keen on explaining herself.

Current Mood: curious

juststeverogers

Steve Rogers is back in the forum proper today, looking much less panicked than he did upon his arrival. Being stuck in the Nexus hasn't dissuaded him from wandering around where he'd come in now and again, hoping a door would have come back.

Since it hasn't, today Steve has commandeered one of the many forum tables. He's got a comfy chair set up across from the table (moving it there took a lot of work you guys) and an empty coffee can set up on the corner. He sits down at the table and pulls out a worn sketchbook, nearly full of empty pages, and a few pencils.

Okay. All set.

"Would anyone like a drawing?"

If he's going to survive he's going to have to work somehow, might as well start with what he's good at!

prototype_infiltraitor

An old school police cruiser rolls into the Nexus, screeching to a halt, almost crashing into the Sign. The officer at the wheel calmly gets out, head swiveling, looking around on his way to the gaudy billboard. The man seems chipper; youthful. He grabs a brochure. Seemingly unconcerned with the running car (door still ajar), he glances at the brochure for a moment before once again looking around the Nexus. If he is astonished, he is handling it very coolly.

One question in particular occurs to him. He produces a Polaroid photograph of a young teenage boy, showing it freely to whomever will look. As with many police officers, his symmetrical appearance and amicable demeanor probably inspire trust in the average person.

"Have you seen this boy?"

sumarusfinest

The resident Nexus police officer looks a lot less formal than he usually is. He's missing the usual suit and tie, dressed in all black--button up and slacks.

He sets a vase of lilies down on a table gently.

"Has anyone been able to determine the full extent of the damage and...casualties here in the Nexus?"

He's been cleaning up in Sumaru since the attack, and feels bad he's only now checking in.

Current Mood: gloomy

dembonyhips

"So here's one for you." This comes from a shortish, pale woman who for all points and purposes, one among the living dead at least, once you give her more than a passing glance, anyways. "What the hell would you ask of Death?"

Really, she's a really pale woman. If anyone just glanced at her, they'd probably guess that she'd been sick or something. As it was, she was one of the luckier ex-Scourge in that she was largely intact. She wore a long, floor length robe, and had long black hair. Her eyes had a distinct, bright yellow glow to them. "It's a fucking saying among my 'people', and I'm fucking curious."

((As a fair warning, Fortyskey is indeed among the undead in the Warcraft sense of it. She's also a warlock, specializing in fel-tainted, destructive fire magic and demon summoning-slash-controlling. Though no demons are with her at present. Because of this, to those that sense magic, her powers probably don't really feel right at all, to say nothing about the fact that her soul's trapped in a living-dead body that's stuck the way it is.

Also: She cusses. A lot. Frequently using the F-word and many of its vulgar four letter friends. If you want me to dial it back some when I reply to you, just lemme know. I'm more than okay with being accommodating in that sense, as I know all folks are different.))

brave_heart_verity

Verity in the forum? Not a strange sight. Verity without coffee? Rather less common. Verity slumping, exhausted, into a couch? Unusual. Verity covered in scrapes, bruises, and dust? Definitely strange.

"Help isn't if it's forced on someone. This is true. Someone not in possession of all of the facts cannot give fully informed consent. This is also true. But nobody can be forced to listen." Of course Verity has things on her mind. Who here doesn't? "How do you reconcile that? Is ignorance truly bliss? Or do you do what's needed to save someone despite their choices?"

((A note before you come to play with Verity: she's got a magic spell stuck in her that lets her always know when someone is lying to her. This includes sarcasm and knowing when someone believes something to be true when it isn't. This doesn't include lies of omission. She can also see through illusions. Please respect this; if your character is trying to lie to her, please make that known so she can react appropriately. [I completely understand this isn't going to be everyone's idea of fun.] Thanks.))

bestdadinamestris

There's nothing Hughes loves more than his family.

There's nothing Hughes loves more than anything other than his family than information.

The Nexus was a strange cross-section of a universe that the Intelligence officer simply didn't understand. He was doing his best to accommodate all of the strange goings on in his mind by learning about and understanding them a little at a time.

The fact that there was a portal to and from the Nexus in his world was growing on him. The grand scale of technology beyond what was available in his world was daunting, but didn't come up as much since he avoided most of the shops in the Forum. And some of the characters that had appeared in the Nexus? Well, if they were human, it was understandable. Weird, but understandable. Everything else? Well... he was just going to have to take some more time for everything else.

He liked being in the Forum, picking up bits and pieces as he simply listened. That's how he got onto this whole thing about some people being "better" than others, in some rather unscientific sounding ways. He'd spent a while trying to glean more information about it and failed quite spectacularly. People simply accepted that's the way things were. Not Maes Hughes. He needs to know, and if listening isn't enough, then, well... Sometimes, it's just easier to reach out and gather information the old fashioned way - by asking.

"There's been a lot of talk in the forum lately about super heroes and people doing super human things. It's all a little too vague for my taste. If I don't know how to define something, I can't know it when I see it. So, my question to you is this: How do you define the term 'super hero?' Or, rather, what makes a person a 'super hero?'"

smartass_captain

Jim doesn't want to be here. His ears are ringing, everything is too bright, and he is crazy sore. There are slightly more immediate matters at hand, however. Kirk clears his throat before facing the forum.

"Is there a proper flower or card to express 'Sorry I passed out and drooled on you before puking on the floor'? Because I really need that right now." Jim rubs at his face slowly, scrubbing it over his eyes and down his cheeks.

And no, giving him a bucket isn't necessary. He's more or less fine now, just feeling really awful right this second. In more than one way.

Current Mood: guilty

silentasthe_glaive

[Well that’s one way to make an entrance. Or at least, the aftermath of an entrance. There’s a small, perfectly spherical crater in the ground, tinged at the edges with what looks like purple energy. If someone scans the damage, there appear to be trace amounts of something that could be magic-based energies. Also, ringed around that crater are the tattered remains of a poor and unfortunate couch in the wrong place at the wrong time.]

Added to all that, there’s a young girl perched on another couch nearby. (And this one doesn’t carry any grudges for the untimely destruction of its kin.) She looks just shy this side of dazed and out of it, and the brochure is being held in shaky hands.]

“This is really interesting but… how do I go home? CAN I get home? I’m not sure if-“

[She cuts off on that. Things are still blurry and out of focus, and she can feel a headache building if she focuses too hard. So instead Hotaru rubs at her forehead, and switches tracks.]

"…Maybe I should ask a different question? If that’s okay, um… actually I don’t know what else I should ask. What should I ask about?”

icebearforpresident

[The Nexus has a funny way of pulling people in, and today is no exception, when a 6 foot polar bear emerges from a white fridge door. Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the Nexus, a portal appeared in someone's fridge. The bear attempts to re-open the fridge door, and after finding it stuck, he begins walking around the Nexus randomly. After picking up one of the brochures and reading over it silently, the bi-pedal bear addresses the travelers of the Nexus.]

...Ice bear would like to know what your favorite food is.

[That counts as a question, right? For a stoic polar bear, it's the best thing he could come up with.]

Current Mood: blank

loose_cannon

"Hey, uh . . . anyone here ever had to, you know . . . reconnect with anyone before?"

The question comes from a man seated at the edge of the forum. A heavy, fringed overcoat is draped over the back of the speaker's chair, and he's kicked his pair of dusty boots up on a nearby tabletop. Overall, it looks like the man would be more at home in the American west: he wears a bolo tie and bandana around his neck, embroidered denim shirt, heavy belt buckle holding up crossed gun holsters and reinforced jeans. The tanned, scarred skin of his face contrasts starkly with his shaggy white hair. At a glance, he appears to be (at least) in his late 40's, but his eyes have a youthful, fiery spark to them.

The gunslinger swings his boots down off the table so he can sit forward and pour himself another shot from a brown-bagged bottle.

"Family in particular?" He adds before taking a swig.

cruor_lilium

The most recent door into the Nexus was, well, a literal door. A rather fancy door, actually: deep mahogany, a brass handle and hinges, and intricate detailing all over. It hovers there, a few feet off the floor, and for a few moments, nothing happens. Just as suddenly as it appeared though, it opened, a yelp heard as a blonde teenager falls through it. "Ow..." Lily Jordan sat up, rubbing her back and adjusting her glasses. "Didn't expect to find that in the manor." She looked up at the floating door before looking back to her surroundings, the brochures catching her eye.

Picking one up, Lily read it over, blue eyes taking in everything before widening some. "Oh dear..." She bit her lip, a fang showing briefly before she walked back to her door. Before she could get within arm's reach, it suddenly, inexplicably slammed shut. Her eyes widened yet again, this time in slight panic as she ran to it, running her hands along the bottom edge, but no dice. "No... No, no, no!" She jumped, but even with her vampiric abilities, she couldn't quite reach the doorknob. She huffed some after a third failed attempt, shaking her head and pulling hair behind her ears. She looked around, patted over her body, but didn't find what she was looking for. Keeping a hand on the bottom of the door, she looked up again. "Hey, um... Does anyone have a knife I can borrow?"

precisioninpink

A new, yet slightly familiar looking rift had opened to the Nexus. Evidently the place couldn't get enough of it's shorter, anthropomorphic inhabitants as another one came flying out, rolling to a halt and stood. Looking around, she was apparently completely at ease with dimensional travel and quickly found the nearby brochure, plucking it up and flipping through it.

She was a small, pink hedgehog, clad in a pair of white cargo pants, a brown jumper with a jagged blue stripe around the chest and a red hairband. Amy flicked through the brochure, humming. It seemed that this wasn't so much a realm of it's own; more a 'hub' to various other worlds and places. Maybe there were routes to other realms she'd visited? Although she wasn't keen to go back to certain ones. The pamphlet covered a lot of things she and her friends had collectively experienced; mirror realities, time travel, fictional worlds believing that she was the fictional being and so on. All standard nowadays. Until she reached the bottom.

"Hey! How come whoever wrote this had to put in a warning about Anthropomorphic Animals?"

bestdadinamestris

The Nexus didn't have much of a use for things like phone booths, but they could still be found intermittently throughout the place. It was from one of these that a tall man dressed in a navy blue military uniform with dark hair, rectangular glasses, and a rather scruffy beard appeared. With a sigh, he closed the door to the booth behind him.

Maes Hughes didn't normally place calls from a phone booth, but the call had been urgent enough to warrant stopping at the booth rather than making the few block trek back to his office to make it. Of course after stepping out into the Forum of the Nexus, Hughes wasn't so sure about that. He looked up and down the streets, noting the large number of sofas and tables sitting there. Immediately realizing he was definitely not in Amestris anymore, he whirled around and tried to pry open the door of the booth. But no matter what he tried, the damn thing wouldn't open.

After a few minutes of trying everything he could think of - short of using his standard issue sidearm, that is - he gave up. He stood back and regarded the booth, his shoulders slumping forward. "Just great," he muttered to himself. "How am I supposed to explain this one to Gracia when I get home? She was making my favorite dinner and everything." With another sigh, he righted himself and stepped further into the street.

He took the pamphlet off a table in front of the large, glowing sign and flipped through it quickly. Alternate realities, portals to places all over those realities, people with super powers... It made him feel small and insignificant, much like hanging around a group of alchemists did. He stuffed the brochure in his coat pocket and exchanged it for a small photograph. He smiled brightly at it before turning to the broad street with an almost mad grin on his face.

"Well," he said in the cheeriest tone imaginable, "if I'm gonna be stuck here for a while and I'm supposed to ask a question of anyone within earshot, there's only one that could possibly fit the bill." He flipped the photograph around and thrust it out in front of his chest proudly. "Who wants to see a picture of the two most beautiful angels in the world? I got 'em right here!"

brave_heart_verity

Verity's in her favorite seat in the forum, drinking coffee and trying to read a book that's frustrating her. It isn't long before she puts it down with a scowl aimed at the cover (or possibly the concept of books). "Does anyone understand Norse mythology? Is that a thing? Because I do not get it."

"Alternately, any suggestions for hobbies for someone with lots of time and few skills? Preferably things that aren't group activities."

((A note about Verity: she's got a magic spell stuck in her that lets her always know when someone is lying to her. Please respect this; if your character is trying to lie to her, please make that known so she can react appropriately.))

Current Mood: bored

eumenis

There's a woman at the edge of the Parklands, knee-deep in grass. She looks like a soldier, one arm a metal prosthetic, a skull-shaped brand marking the nape of her neck, a machete in a sheath at her hip, and possibly other weapons hidden on her person. She's dirty, stained with dust and oil, and tension sings along the lines of her back and shoulders. Like she's waiting to be attacked.

At the same time, though, there's a distinctly misty look in her eyes as she stares out over the field before her. Flowers. Insects. Streams and lakes. Maybe she's hallucinating. Maybe she's dead.

She has one question, though, because beauty is so often a trap: "Is this water safe?"

phoenix_descendants

Though they managed to hit a bit of a bare spot in the Nexus when first they came in, the white-haired twins have since done a bit of their own research, and have split up to explore the Nexus in general more quickly than they'd be able to do it if they stuck together. Therefore, the male twin is nowhere to be seen, while the female stands in the midst of the forum, lacing her fingers tightly together and looking awkward.

"...It would seem I may have gotten off to a bit of an unacceptable start." At least, she's just going to keep telling herself it's her fault. She can't bring herself to blame her brother, at least when he isn't around to hear it. "My...apologies. I would have information from anyone who cares to provide it, if you'd be so kind."

Well...she's trying.

"How does one leave this place?" And if that isn't good enough... "What do you do when you feel you can't do anything alone, but you're tired of needing to rely on others?"

damn_yourself_early

There is a stone pylon standing in the Nexus, a waist-high obelisk with an iron ring set in its tip. To the ring is tied a rope, blackened with weather and age, that rises ramrod-straight into the uncertain distance above. Etched into the faces of the pylon are cryptic glyphs--utter nonsense, right-side-up, but upside-down, these runes read, "Here, above Ymir's cloven brow, do I set my anchor. Let him who cuts the rope have vipers in place of blood."

Normally, the rope is still, but today it sways faintly, twisting slowly this way and that, emitting the occasional creak. In time, the reason becomes clear, as a young boy in green and black and gold is climbing down it. Or up it, perhaps. He is upside-down, and closer to the pylon and the ground with every length he climbs, yet he seems to be straining against some strange gravity that would pull him away from the ground he seeks.

Hand over hand he descends, grasping at last the ring and flipping lightly to stand on the ground and crow in triumph. "I knew there was something up here!" Digging out a Starkphone, he holds it at arm's length. "Selfie!"

Having recorded his triumph, he turns his attention outward, balancing on one foot with his arms out to his sides, turning slowly around. "Advisers, counselors, sages, and oracles! What more could a soul in want of answers wish? But that isn't my question, don't count it. Do we have a set limit? Don't count that either."

"Sages! If you needed to learn, and learn quickly... what would you try to learn first?"

phoenix_descendants

Nexus, there are twins in you.

A pair of rather elven-looking twins, in fact, clad in dark blue and white, the only visible differences between them being the color of their hair ties and collar ornaments and the position of their single earrings. They are inspecting their surroundings with exasperation (red-tie twin) and alarm (blue-tie twin), neither one saying anything just yet. Just taking it in.

Finally, red twin puts hands on hips, looking rather annoyed, and speaks. Female, it seems, from the sound of her voice. "What did you do."

"I didn't do anything!" Blue twin is male, though with a rather feminine tone to his voice anyway, and quite defensive. "It shouldn't have gone wrong like that. We've done that a thousand times..."

"But obviously it did," she sighs, folds her arms instead and takes another disdainful look around her. "Where in the world...?"

He has found a brochure on a Convenient Nexus Table, and is flipping through it. "This might help, look."

She turns to peer over his shoulder, makes an irritated noise and throws her hands into the air as she reads it. "What kind of terrible place have you got us into now--"

"I told you it wasn't me," he says, all too reasonably, and looks up to the Nexus in general. "Excuse me. What exactly is this place?"

Well, it...is a valid question. Even if it makes his sister facepalm at the politeness.

(These two are from FFXIV, and from the same Eorzea as C'taqa. I will try very hard not to drop any spoilers concerning them, for anyone who hasn't got through the main story and sidequests.)