Aftermath of Issue 54 Harry bails pretty quick. Adam ... Charlotte's looking not great about stuff. (Alycia's chatting with her.) They withdraw (see below) ... Pietro fades pretty quickly. Summer ... Then ... Love Letters ... over the first 24 hours ... ADAM As - let's face it - the most well-known and consistently well-liked member of the Menagerie (who also wasn't on any of the destruction footage caught on camera), the last 24 hours hasn't been too bad. All the press has just been a good excuse to spend some time with your family. [Danger: 5] On a 6-, pick a teammate who's already forgetting the "problem with Adam." Name them. They then choose: either continue to remember you used to be someone - something - else (and take a condition), or they let go of that annoying 'fact' and make potential. ===> Charlotte. She lets go of that annoying fact. +Potential. ALYCIA It's only one grainy bit of video footage, but it's gotten a LOT of play: you, in Mercury's face in the midst of the worst of the destruction, screaming something at him. Your lips are easy enough to read that all the mainstream news outlets pixelate your mouth at key points. Given the flak Mercury and the team are taking, opinion of this footage is... mixed. Some see you as the Yoko in a thus-far beloved team, screwing up the symmetry and ultimately causing all the problems. Others are painting you as the lone voice of (frustrated) reason. Many just want to know who the hell you are. You've got options: **Make a Statement to the Cameras** or **Refuse to Speak to the Press.** Editorial has the moves ready. Refuse to speak to sensationalistic worthless press. Mundane = 8! Some regular person doing the best in a bad situation? +Mundane, -Danger ... (Parker +Respect) CHARLOTTE You've made great progress against the World Wounds, but the cost has been high; to you, to the team, and to the spirits in the areas surrounding each wound. Also, you're... kind of homeless now? What are the most pressing issues right now? (Roll +Superior. On a 10+, two. On a 7-9, one.) * The Spirit Realm does not demand atonement for your actions. The Ghosts are fine. * The people of Halcyon are Angry / Frightened / Confused. You must make amends. (Editorial has a move ready.) * You're "crashing" in the Twilight Grove for a few days - and took the opportunity to get some much-needed answers. [Savior = 6!]] Admitting her mistakes damns her further in their eyes. ... Alycia says she's sensitive to homelessness. Charlotte - don't need a place. Want to just go to the Grove and hang as a team. But cut off from media. A is being clueless [Pierce the Mask = 9!] What do you want me to do? HANG IN THE GROVE, DAMMIT. Small park, off the beaten path, to get in. Comfort food. C - Chicken nuggets. Sweet tea. A - Shishito peppers. Turkish coffee. We are able to get texts. SUMMER The news copters captured the footage, and it's been looping on what seems like every channel for the last 24 hours. A flying figure, wreathed in light; streams of butterflies wielded in the face of an eldritch horror. A beacon of safety floating over chaos and destruction below. Some people say it's an angelic new hero. Some say it's some kind of twee post-ironic commentary. Twitter trolls (and Troll himself) have dubbed the unnamed hero "Fail-or Moon" - doing nothing or 'hovering there and looking pretty' while the Menagerie trashed a neighborhood. Roll +Savior, and let's see how you deal with all the slings and arrows coming your way. [Savior = 8!] * Keep a low profile and hope your actions speak for you. [Mundane= 9!] Largely ignored, +Mundane -Danger. Not feeding trolls. A few folk give benefit of the doubt (butterflies!) THE GROVE Summer pings Alycia. Sure, C wants to hang with the team. Summer hasn't been to the Grove since her dream. Ice cream! Slowly sitting there, noshing snacks, recovering. S being quietly present. C - You know what I really don't understand ... how everything we've done doesn't matter compared to what we just did in the last five minutes. A - Human individuals are cool. Human mobs are flighty and irritating. Reasons for it ... but it *sucks*. C - Continuum. Individuals who are good and thoughtful. Is it like the Internet, anonymity letting people be awful? A - Mob mentality shrugging off responsibility. Find it better to focus on one person, not on the mass of humanity. Great counter-example from Father. C - That's wiser than you know. Best way to show yourself to the populace is to how yourself to an individual. In the end - who we are with an individual is who we are with the group as a whole. Rather than worrying what they're thinking of me, talk with someone about what they're worried about. S - So, what is on your mind, Charlotte? C - ... too easy to take the weight of the world on your shoulders. Don't want to try and change the mob, it will just come back. It's the individuals you have a better chance of understanding. Need to spend more time with people. Normal people. Ponies. Wanting to spend more time with Grail Knights, too. [GKs take action, get things done, avoid the public eye, thus backlash. Go talk with Lucius?] Something already on C's to-do list. How to do good in a way that fits personality better? S offers to go with. [Alycia adds 1 Team to C's roll, making it a Hit, so no pitchfork-wielding mobs.] HARRY You know those stories about the kid who decided to drop in at a party at a friend's house, just for a few minutes, and ended up staying all night, trashing the friend's house, and seeing it all going viral on YouTube the next day? Yeah. That's kind of what happened... except your friend's house is - was - an entire neighborhood. ... and the neighborhood was a big cemetery. So. The city's mad. People are mad. The Internet either thinks the team has lost it, or (and this seems like the majority) think it's all your fault. And, to be fair... it might even feel like they're right? THE INTERNET has influence over you, and the current OPINION ON MERCURY wants to shift your Labels: +Danger ("he's out of control") -Superior ("he didn't plan it, because he doesn't plan ANYTHING"). If you **use an advance to permanently remove Influence** the Internet has on you, forever, that's HUGE. Take the advance as written, raise a stat. make a statement to the public, and make the Time Passes Legacy move. Deals with a day at school of sidelong looks and tweets and reports. Andi is both supportive and whoa, dude, the Menagerie's never stepped in it like this. There are reporters waiting outside. GROVE [The previous night still] Alycia heads home. Shooting the breeze with Summer and Charlotte. What do you want me to do? Hang. So Summer stays the night in the Grove with Charlotte, chatting. ALYCIA The black Escalade across the street from the house. Door opens. Sitting in the back with Parker. [Notes are sketchy since Dave was talking for a lot of it.] Debriefs Parker on goings-on. Questions about the others, how they are doing. Alycia generally deflects, expresses confidence that they will be able to deal with any trauma (focus on Charlotte, Harry) (but not Adam, of course: "He's Adam" -- Alycia leaves that alone), esp. since they have the group. However, concern about the team. Not cohering. Lack of leader. Alycia shifts conversation away from Parker trying to get her to be the leader. Alycia has concerns about one member -- herself. Not so much still mind control from Father (Parker reassures her she's as clean as they can detect - ha!), but training, indoctrination, reactions, reflexes -> bad judgment calls and errors. Clearly AEGIS has concern. Needs Parker's help to reinforce the right decisions, point out problems. [Riffing off of conversation with Leo .] Parker: You're three things: (1) AC's daughter. (2) AEGIS asset. (3) Member of the Menagerie. (ridiculous name). Have broken away from the 1st; the 2nd and 3rd are parallel, but won't always be completely in alignment. Her advice to Alycia on best thing to do will only speak to one. Will try to advise, but might not be able to. She's no Ted Waters: "not able to have completely separate path to my wards, as it were." If worried what to do, "go out and do things as profoundly as you can. Make it as clear and difficult to misinterpret as possible. And the good and the bad of it will sort itself out. This life doesn't call for the oblique or the subtle, esp. if you have doubts. Sometimes you simply have to jump in. A - Appreciate advice, and that you were willing to give it. Any thoughts on damage control over controlling panic in the city? Team was beloved, and failure taken as a personal affront. Not accurate and how it happened, but how they are reacting to it. Sometimes have to focus on the individual, rather than the mob. Ah, someone was just commenting about that tonight. Were they also wise and respected for sage counsel? Don't know -- nobody gave me that feedback. Ha. Late. School night. Living arrangements? Fine. Planted marigolds. Hope they do well. Watering, good climate. They look like a sky full of flak. Hmmm. Good air coverage, that. Anything else for publicity Not much else to do. Public is basically carrying pitchforks, looking for a castle to storm. After School End of school. Charlotte and Summer and Alycia heading for Lucius'. Harry's walking to front gate where the cameras are already rolling. Alycia wants to intercept, but chooses not to -- stays out of camera, but wants to hear. Summer - staying back. Adam - It's Harry's thing. Charlotte - has been at study hall. Flits over to him. C - Harry, you need some support? H - This is something I need to do. Charlotte goes over to Adam (who's also out). Everyone is there. Reporters, cameras clicking. Will Menagerie will be doing damage control? Will the monster be back? Allegations about ... H looks to the one being not obnoxious. Addressing her. I know there's been a lot of talk about my actions in the cemetery. I know a lot of people feel the Menagerie, esp me, are out of control and are losing it. I just want to address the public's concerns. Pause, while everyone waits for it. "Go on." Has there ever been a time where Golem has not caused public damage, hasn't seemed to have gone off her rocker? Public damage happens. I'll be working with crews to make sure of the proper cleanup of the cemetery, as we do after fights have occurred. I feel like the public is focusing a lot on one aspect, where the damage could have been much greater had the Menagerie not worked to stop the creature. So to suddenly be looking at us like we have grown extra limbs and rampaged throughout the cemetery with no purpose would be a disservice to the members of the Menagerie, when the damage could have been much worse. "Are you saying that it's unavoidable? Or that we should just -- it sounds like you;re putting yourselves on the same operational plateau as the HHL." I messed up yesterday. I'll be the first to admit. However, for that to overshadow the hard work of my team mates would be doing a disservice to them. Flurry of questions. Shoos them off. Then runs off. Do we think Harry is ... - upholding the tradition of the legacy? Yup! - maintained the image of the legacy? Yes. - made the other members of the legacy proud? Certainly should. [Savior: 10!] Generally made the family happy. Advantage -> comp Harry to take care of the reconstruction. Wrap-Up Alycia - Closer to the Team (Charlotte - wanted to hang) -> +Superior -Freak ... Superior maxed, so Angry Summer - Closer to the Team (Alycia - cutscene) -> +Mundane -Freak ... Mundane maxed, so Insecure Charlotte - Closer to the Team (Summer - hanging all night) -> +Mundane, -Freak Adam - Closer to the Team (Harry - spoke out for us) -> +Mundane, -Danger ... Mundane locked Harry - Image of Self
