entrancelogs | + The Time Has Come, the Time Is Now +

Who: Everyone in Wonderland!
Where: The chessboard hills
When: Monday, June 11, all day starting at 10:00 AM
Rating: R for (sometimes excessive) violence
Summary: The Queen of Hearts has declared war and the time for battle has come.
The Story:
♥ ICly, the Real Things who will act as pieces volunteered and are led by the Red Queen. The Mirrors were chosen by the Queen of Hearts without being given a choice. The Queen of Hearts announced her choices to her Mirrors very directly, with an order to show up at 10:00 AM on the chessboard, ready to fight. The Red Queen announced her choices more politely, but just as firmly, with a text message sent out over the network listing her pieces and requesting their assistance to protect their fellow Real Things. Characters were not ICly able to respond to this message.

♥ Those pieces who choose to obey the summons will have time to gather any items or weapons they might want to have with them, within reason. Those who don't heed the summons will find themselves suddenly and instantly transported to their square on the chessboard when 10:00 AM rolls around. They will arrive with anything that was on their person at the time, as well as one weapon (whatever it would be normal for them to use). Likewise, any spectators who are not in or around the stands by 10:00 AM will find themselves transported there.

♥ Each player sports an armband, white for the Real Things and Black for the Mirrors, with the shape of their assigned chess piece embroidered in the opposite color. Royalty pieces wear crowns indicative of their status. Should a pawn be promoted to queen, a crown will appear on their head.

♥ Pieces will find that they can't leave their assigned spots until they're told what square to move to by either the Queen of Hearts or the Red Queen. And if they refuse to move, after a couple of moments, an unseen force will scoot them along to their new space.

♥ When threading moves on the board, please find the appropriate top-level under which to comment! It might be helpful to label your thread with which move/encounter you're playing out.

♥ Players on the board can not communicate with those in the stands and vice versa (other than by jumping around and flailing, I guess). However, players on the board can communicate directly with those in squares adjacent to them or with any challenger whose square they share. Since some pieces have a lot of down time, feel free to have them chat with others on the board while they're waiting around.

♥ Directions from the Queens can be assumed. Go ahead and play out moves without waiting for a comment to officially announce them.

♥ The plotting and info post for this log is here.

♥ For your convenience, here are links to the thread headers:

Have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Minato smiled a little and had to think about that. He held onto her hands as a way to keep them both anchored here.]

It took time. It should.

[Love did happen sometimes suddenly, but it took time to grow and bloom, blossom into something more than just a passing affection.]

You spend time with them and learn everything about them. And you accept them as they are, no matter what. And the other way around, too.

[There was some level of trust there, letting someone see one at their most vulnerable or see one's true self without it getting hurt.]

[ She blinks rapidly, taking this all in. She was getting an intense crash course in relationships today. How the hell did people normally learn this stuff?!

If there was any consolation prize to her short rendezvous with being a fighter, it'd be having plenty to think about when she was back in her usual home. ]

Time, huh? I've got the accepting part down, at least. But time...

[ Does this mean she'd been rushing things back at home, too? She was immediately ready to start her relationship with her chosen one the moment they'd hit game over. Hmm, then again, they were going to have endless time to get to know one another, so that hurdle wouldn't have been too bad. That situation probably didn't count!

Now, though, she's wondering if she told Ryuji she loved him too soon. That was even more to think about. ]

This is all so overwhelming. How am I supposed to understand all this?

Time. You slowly have to learn about making a connection to someone, something that only the two of you share. It doesn't even have to be love like how you think of it normally. Love can be a deep friendship too. Or like family.

[Though family is a bit of a subject to him, but he imagined that his close friends were like family. Or some of his friends as close friends, not quite family yet, but still close. There were varying levels, but what remained the same was the connection.]

When you learn about someone else, you learn about yourself, too. It takes time.

[ Time. It all seemed to keep circling back to that. ]

But I--I never feel like I have any. I barely even have any concept of time.

[ She looks extremely troubled. When she was in the network, it felt like time was all she had. How was she to use it, though, when there was always that barrier between her and the outside world? How much more could she get to know a person beyond words and images on a screen?

Monika swallows hard, wondering if her mind will ever be able to handle all this. ]

A-And I don't know any other kind of love. I don't even know if my family exists and I see everyone as someone to love romantically, no matter what. I'm starting to wonder if I even know what love is.

[Minato could understand that too even if time was such an important factor in his life; it ruled him almost tyrannically, life and death, opening a door and closing all of the others.]

I'm hoping that when you're here, even if you're not human out here, you can learn about time and relationships, all of that.

[She had time now, that's what being here was about, having the time away from home to just be. To live. Like him, really. The problem was that with saying all of this, he probably sounded too idealistic since that's how he wanted to live his life here if he could.]

You do know what love is. But maybe just one aspect of it. If you have friendship, you could call that a kind of love, too. You're just adding to the definition of love.

[ Monika glances at him for a moment, then stares down at her lap. This all seemed so difficult. Almost too difficult. Throw in the added bonus of not having a permanent body and it all may as well be impossible.

She doesn't want to say that, though. He's trying to make her feel better, so why ruin it? She pushes past the usual strain that comes with putting on a happy face and smiles for him. ]

Thanks, Minato. I'll do my best.

[ She's quiet for a bit. ]

Do you...think we could just sit here like this and not talk? Just, um...spend time together like it doesn't exist. I want to know what it feels like before I have to go.

Okay. I'm here.

[Minato sat next to her and wasn't going anywhere. He scooted a little closer and patted his shoulder. If she needed just to be here with someone, lean her head on his shoulder, he'd be here for her, like he said.

But it was nice that she could stay: He liked that she was here since he did realize that he needed someone here too after all of that out there. So it was a win-win in that case, even if a little bit of a melancholy or bittersweet win-win.]

Thank you.

[He held his hand out to her too if she wanted to take it while they sat quietly together.]

+ The Time Has Come, the Time Is Now +

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