[OPEN] October Information Meeting

[light_mischief]

Who: CALLING ALL PASSENGERS
What: It's a family meeting Information Sharing Event!
When: October 1st, from the afternoon on.
Where: The Library!
Warnings: None? (Will add if necessary)
Notes: The information learned here can be osmosed by any character on the ship, regardless of whether or not they actively tag into the event. Consider this a game lore catch-up! Top-level comments don't have to be exclusive to the library,; if your character is likely to run off to the bar for a drink, or contemplate jumping off the bow, then you can include that prompt here as well! Basically a catch-all post for any "reacting to our existential crisis" posts you want!

The Setup:
A few nights beforehand, everyone Skulduggery's ever texted will receive a simple message:

A long overdue information-sharing session will be held all day in the library. It's time we all get on the same page regarding our situation. 1st of the month (is it October already?), attendance is encouraged. Please forward to interested parties.

That's how word spreads for the most part; but there are also some neatly printed notes pinned up in heavily traversed areas with the same simple news: Discussion of Our Situation: 10/1, Library.

The Library:
There are too many people to comfortably fit in one room, which will make it difficult for people to discuss the information that's been gathered. The library, thankfully, has a nebulously existing front desk area that is... currently unattended by any ghosts? Weird.

Everything is mostly the same as you'd expect it, except the majority of the chairs have been pulled towards the front. A low table is settled there as well, with every copy of Battle Royale and Gil's Diner set out to read.

The front desk has an array of memo notebooks and flimsy Eterna branded notepads strewn across it, along with a variety of writing implements. As the day goes on, these notebooks and pads will be filled with more and more insights from other passengers.

There's a black binder sitting there too; this is full of the information Skulduggery specifically has to offer.

The Meeting:
"Meeting" may be an overstatement, when all's said and done. There's a bunch of information available to read, and a place to discuss and process with others. Some people may choose to try comforting those who are visibly upset. Others may want to read some of the books that inspired their previous ordeals.

At some point, the realization that the buffet is the only working restaurant will spread, and food may be brought down for an awkward potluck. Still others may begin to bring liquor into the library. It's really dealer's choice here, as far as coping mechanisms go.

One thing that can be taken away from the atmosphere of the room: be very certain you want to learn whatever's in that black binder.

Comments

ota

[pinballer]

[ All things considered, Vance is alright. Steve already broke the biggest existential news to him earlier and he's...fine with it. Happy, if anything, even if he's still upset about being kidnapped here.

The real ghost of Vance Hopper probably moved on after all. Or at least, his presence here doesn't mean he failed to move on back home. That opens up new possibilities he'd previously dismissed, like maybe he does have some choices about who he wants to be here and wasn't just doomed to be a dead teenager stuck on hatred and revenge forever. It's kind of scary to think about; Vance has always been that type of kid that would rather die than get old (until death was actually staring him in the face). But if he gets the chance to grow a little bit more, maybe that's alright. He'll make sure he doesn't turn into a loser.

Some of the other points worry him, though, and he's really not happy about not being allowed to kill the captain. Ugh. But he lingers around, and he's not freaking out, so that's something. ]

[midnightroads]

[Bash makes a quiet approach when he notices Vance, literally coalescing out of a nearby shadow.]

Where's your head at with all this, lil bro?

[pinballer]

I'm alright.

[ He crosses his arms, leaning back against the wall. ] I mean, the part that's bad news for a lot of you is kinda good news for me.

[midnightroads]

It's not horrible for me. This is actually my second world-napping. I already sorta did the emotional work of accepting I'm never going back to my Earth. And this is...better than the last place I was, in a lot of ways. I can cope.

[He shrugs, sticking his hands in his pockets.]

Some people are gonna break down over this, though. Betcha anything.

[pinballer]

I figured I'd just go back to being dead when I escaped from here, so this is...better.

[ Not that he was really scared of the afterlife at this point, but now that he was somewhat alive he didn't want to think he just had to go home and die again. ]

I guess it'd fucking suck if you had a life you really wanted to go back to.

[midnightroads]

Yeah. It’s gonna fuck a lot of people up, I think. People like us who aren’t as knocked off our feet, we got an opportunity to help everyone else while they wrap their minds around this shit.

[pinballer]

We do?

[ Vance hasn't really helped other people like that before. Talking to him is a way to be put in a worse mood, not a better one. ]

Like, how?

[midnightroads]

People are going to lose their faith in the world, the sense that anything they do matters, because they can't go home. We need to be able to help them realize that what they do here doesn't count for nothing. That this is still a life, even if it's not the one they belong in.

[pinballer]

So, what? We tell 'em to man up and stop blubbering?

[ He's a jerk from 1978, that's the best he's got. ]

[midnightroads]

What? Dude, what the fuck, no. We listen to them and validate their feelings. Are you okay, seriously?

[pinballer]

Adults aren't supposed to cry. 'Specially the guys. You just shove it all down and keep going.

[ In other words, no, he isn't okay. ]

[midnightroads]

Huh. That's not how it goes in the world I'm from. A man who cries is one who's in touch with his emotions. You know, sensitive. Someone who you can trust.

[pinballer]

Yeah, sensitive's not a good thing where I'm from. Unless you're a rock star or something. Then you can sneak in one emotional song per album as long as you still look badass.

[sabigoe]

[ By now, she's skimmed through the notes and binder. Mainly read through what she was able to understand and read. At the moment, she's just standing with her back against the wall, watching everyone else still in the room.

While she isn't freaking out either, she does wear a small frown, heart aching for those unable to handle the news. Fio looks over as Vance wanders nearby. ]

Um... how are you feeling?

[pinballer]

I'm fine. I didn't have nothing to go back to, anyway.

[ Vance is still Vance and he's not all that concerned for anyone else's feelings, but it seems like the right thing to do to at least ask. ]

You doing alright?

[sabigoe]

...Uh-huh, I'm fine. [ A beat. ] It's the same for me too.

[ Nothing to go back to, that is. The only thing she wants is for her only friend to show up and he'd probably not really care about the "copies" thing... ]

I hope we can find somewhere nice to live, off the ship.

[pinballer]

Hm.

[ He's not surprised. Some of the other ghost kids back home were only a few years older than Fio. Shit happens, even if you're that young. ]

Where would you wanna go? I'd want to live in, like, a castle. Or a mall.

[sabigoe]

...What's a mall?

[ She is from some sort of fantasy medieval Europe. She has no idea what that is. A castle sounds nice though! Just like royalty, but... she'd like to have freedom to do what she wants and not like, get into an arranged marriage or something. ]

I think I'd wanna live in a castle too, as long as I get the freedom to do what I want.

[pinballer]

You didn't have malls? Damn.

[ His end of town only had the mini mart, but sometimes he got to drive out to a real mall. Would've been a total mallrat if he lived closer. ]

You know where all the stores and bars and the arcade are here? Malls are like that, except they have way better places to hang out because the captain's taste sucks. It's like a castle but with ice cream and neon lights.

[sabigoe]

[ A bit like a marketplace? But nicer, way nicer than what she's familiar with back home. In her earlier days as a passenger, she would often feel nearly every area on the ship was a place that she didn't really belong in. ]

Oh, I think I understand. That does sound like a really nice place to live in.

[ There's no way for her to make comparisons to be able to say that the Captain's taste "sucks"... she already thinks the current state of the promenade is fancy enough. ]

But where would you sleep?

[ It would be pretty noisy... ]

[pinballer]

There's stores that sell beds. You can sleep there. It shuts down at night so you have it all to yourself.

[ Vance is making a lot of assumptions about whether or not any given mall would simply allow him to live there and freeload off of all the food and products.

But hey, they're on a cursed cruise ship, why can't they find a mall that lets random kids live there? ]

[sabigoe]

[ So it would be kind of like staying in an inn, maybe. If they're allowed to sleep in a store selling beds, then that would mean that they would have to get a job, right? ]

I'd need money then. [ A pause. There hasn't been any reason to use any currency in a long time, not on this ship. ] I guess I'd have to work... I can do that.

[pinballer]

I didn't think about that. [ He's imagined a fantasy world in which he owns the mall and thus gets to do everything there for free, but he never worked for the money he would need to buy it. ]

I'd work at the arcade, I guess.

[sabigoe]

Then I'd...

[ Trailing off, then a long pause as she considers taking up a job at the mall like someone would actually hire a seven-year-old child. ]

I'd work at a bakery! Then I can come over and bring you cookies when I'm not busy.

[pinballer]

Yeah? I haven't had cookies in forever.

[ Not too many people bring you cookies when you're mean and scary. ]

You ever had brownies?