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

[It helps. All of it helps. Josuke hadn't known where to start -- and he knows it just happened, nobody is expecting him to know how to deal with this. But any sort of help for a place to start is appreciated.]

...Yeah. Yeah, you're right. And if I'm not alright now, I will be. That's the important thing.

[...And now he knows that he needs to learn how to defend himself against guns. Invisible bubbles that double as bombs? Sure, no problem. A sentient photograph that can cause all kinds of shit? Easy. But a fucking gun? What does he do.]

It just feels wrong. Like I should be a ghost or something. [A beat.] Guess meeting an actual ghost makes you expect a few things.

[She nods, a little grin on her face.]

Yeah, trust me, I know the feeling. I actually died and came back to life back home, and uh... was a little bit different than it happens here.

[Also took a LOT more time.]

If you ever want some practice against firearms, or even with 'em, let me know. That's where I'm trained best. Though most things don't stop a bullet unless you've got heavy armor or a nice shield.

[The subtle shift in mood eases more of the tension out of Josuke's shoulders. ..At least until Shepard says that.]

Really? How'd that happen? [A beat.] ... You can ignore that if it's not something you wanna talk about.

[Which he knows she knows, but he was raised to be polite.]

Yeah. Yeah! That'd be great. [He scratches the back of his head.] Crazy Diamond is fast, but anything that happens to it happens to me, so he can't do much against bullets.

[She chuckles.]

It's alright, it's been a couple of years. I got shot out of the sky and, uh, put back together with science and tech. Lost two years.

[Y'know, Shepard, some people are more bothered by this. Maybe you should be one of them.]

Can you add to that projection of yours? Maybe some armor or something? Or even extra magic?

[And this is the part where Josuke gets to act like the teenage boy he is, instead of the Jojo protag he also is.]

Wait. Wait. Does this mean you're part robot? [He definitely sounds way too excited about that, and then the end of what she said sinks in and he gives a sheepish smile.] ... Sorry, kind of a bad time to get so excited.

[He shakes his head.]

No, I don't think so. Maybe with something from another world? But on my own, I think it can only get better at what it can already do.

[Shepard outright laughs at the enthusiasm, trying not to double over but absolutely leaning back against the nearest wall. That's absolutely beautiful.]

Oh, kid, love that.

[It's nice to be able to laugh about this. Anything not to make it feel sad.]

But yeah, I'm like 50% metal or something like that. I used to have some of it show through on my face. Teammates swear I get the red terminator eyes when I get pissed.

[Which, y'know, can all be seen on her Mirror... not that Shepard or basically any others know, seeing as she never comes out.]

Either or, happy to teach you how to deal with guns. Maybe I can ask a friend about some shielding upgrades.

[Josuke relaxes when Shepard starts laughing. It had come out before he could stop it, so he's really glad he didn't hit a nerve.

Which is a good thing, because once Shepard explains, he just looks so awed. He's done some really cool things, seen some really cool things. Even met an alien once. Maybe. It's complicated.]

That is so cool. Not that it happened, but... All of that.

[She's basically his hero now??]

That'd be great! I don't really know how it works, but it'd still be a good idea to learn how to make up for what it can't do.

[She's a lot of people's heroes at this point, but it's still pretty great to see the look on his face.]

It is pretty fuckin' cool, huh. But yeah. We'll meet up after all this.

[She claps a hand on his shoulder.]

Happy to see you feeling better, kid.

Yeah! I'll let you know when I'm free.

[He's probably going to throw himself even harder into volunteering at the clinic after this. Josuke takes in a breath and gives a nod.]

Thanks. What you said, it helped a lot. [He nods again, with firmer resolve.] I'll try to keep it in mind.

Good.

[Her smile widens as she lets go, gesturing to the screens.]

Better get a good seat for the rest. Still plenty of match to go.

[And she'll lean back against the wall, cross her arms, and keep watching.]

+ The Time Has Come, the Time Is Now +

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