tushanshu_logs | [Open Log] Don't you Worry 'bout a thing

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[Open Log] Don't you Worry 'bout a thing

Characters: Members of the Foreigners' Guild
Date: Beginning of May
Location: Welcome Center
Situation: Trying to figure out just how this thing is going to work
Warnings/Rating: none to start; will update if needed

Today, the Center is...not quite closed, because it was never closed, but the sign out front was a little more specific than usual: indicating that those who had chosen to align themselves with the Foreigners' Guild to stop by at their convenience for a group discussion. Word of mouth was the primary means of getting the information out, but just in case, Zatanna was nearby with a checklist making sure to get names of not only who showed up, but of any known members who did not. So that they could be contacted at a later time and kept in the loop.

For her part, the 19-year-old was sitting casually in her favorite armchair by the fireplace (though currently lit, was emitting very little heat, indicating a more magical nature. For ambiance, mainly) and not-quite-facilitating the entire process. Her body language gave little indication of wanting to step forward as official leader, although she was ready with answers for any who may have had relevant questions.

[[ooc: Characters are encouraged to make their own top levels for open-ended discussion of the state of the Guild; if any of them want to talk to Zatanna specifically, indicate in the subject level and she'll come around.]]

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Penny teleported into the Center itself, not wanting to bother with greetings and false smiles. He wasn't much in the mood with all the shit going down with his roommates and the city in general. His alignment with the Foreigner's Guild felt more like a default than a choice and he was already considering moving on. But, for now, he was a part of it and wanted, at the very least, to hear what people had to say. Mostly because Sonja was asking and she was one of the few he respected enough to show up for.

The sudden presence of another was enough to startle Zatanna, but only for a moment. When she looked up and recognized it was Penny, things made a lot more sense to her. They had enough of a magically-focused relationship that she didn't even question why he wouldn't use the front door like most people.

"What, miss me already?" she called out to him jokingly.

Penny looked around the room, gaining his bearings before he returned his attention to Zatanna. He offered her a light smile, crossing his arms and looking generally as annoyed and uncomfortable as he felt. "Cute. No. I'm in your dumb club for the moment and there was supposed to be a girl scout meeting.

Taking in the fairly obvious body language cues, she sat up a little straighter and offered a faint look of sympathy. Did it surprise her in the least that not everybody was on board with the new Guild System? Nope. Was she remotely offended by the fact that he was calling it a 'dumb club'? Hardly. If anything, she would have been more surprised if everybody had showed up with smiles and acceptance from the start.

It was one of the reasons why she knew the meeting (which, magic or no, even she couldn't force everyone to attend) was optional. Important, but there still had to be some semblance of choice.

"Would it help if I said we have cookies? Maybe not thin mints, but if you give me a few, I might be able to fudge something."

Sorry, Penny; her boyfriend was back and the puns were worse than ever.

Valdis really didn't need to be here, she wasn't in the Foreigner's Guild, but she still felt some amount of responsibility for it. The kedan were taking notice of the lack of unity of the Foreigners, and while that wasn't exactly new, it was still a problem. They didn't have five dead, baby turtles to unify them this time and she greatly hoped it wouldn't take another such tragedy for them to get their act in order.

She lingered near the back wall, quiet, not really having much to say anyway.

After their last conversation, Zatanna wasn't too surprised to see Valdis in attendance.

While she was fairly certain the young woman still wasn't intending to join, she'd meant what she said previously about everyone offering their opinions, regardless of Guild affiliation. To her, the camaraderie and emphasis on individual importance was key to making this whole thing work, so when she got up and approached, it was with a friendly smile and an open mind to whatever conversation was about to ensue.

"Glad you could make it."

Valdis didn't look at Zatanna as she came over, not out of any sense of disdain or dislike, but because it seemed that, once again, the Foreigners were failing to come together.

"Well," she replied, finally turning her gaze to the magic user, "The Foreigners are the only family I can remember, I want to see this work."

Despite having chosen to not be one of their guild, they were still family.

She nodded her agreement of the sentiment. (Well, most of it; it had been years since she'd seen her father, but he would never not be family and she would never forget him. Especially with the continued knowledge of what, if she ever went back home, she'd be going back to.)

"It would be nice if it did, yeah. Although...call it a hunch...I'm not sure it will the way some people want it to."

"As long as coming together doesn't involve world devouring demons, I think we'll be ok."

That was a joke, or at least so she hoped. From what she had learned from Sherlock, the idea might not be so far off as she would like.

"Are you going to lead them?"

Zatanna had been here much longer than anyone else, she seemed the natural choice, but even more than that, the right one.

[ As she'd mentioned on Network, Sonja was holding a specific vote on who was going to represent the Foreiger's Guild at the High Crimes meeting in the Court of Public Opinion on the 10th. The Kedan were expecting some form of leadership to have coalesced by then, but at this point, Sonja was content with the appearance of it. ]

{{ OOC: This is a top post. The first Comment will be the Top Post for all Nominations. I'll throw up a vote post later after it looks like everyone has gotten their word in!}}

Hello, thank you all for coming.

So without further ado, I now henceforth open the floor forethwidth et cetera for nominations.

I'll start off by Nominating Zatanna to be the Foreigner's Guild spokesman.

[ She was pretty calm about the decision. She'd been thinking about it for a few days now and well... this made the most sense. If she was destined to lead anything in Keeliai, it didn't look like this was it. ]

Zatanna has been here since before the destruction of Malicant, and has been a steady source of support for Forigeners, including her continued support of this very Welcome Center. I think she's the obvious choice to represent the Foreigners to the city.

If not a joke, then a statement that came with enough...sarcasm? Irony? Whatever it was, Zatanna had been around long enough to get the dark humor behind Valdis' words.

"I'm...not sure." The hesitant was audible in her voice. Lips pressed together, she folded her arms across her chest in a reflexively defensive manner, shifting her weight to one side as she though about it. "That's honestly one of my biggest questions about this whole thing. I know they expect us to have a leader or representative or whatever...but...well, you've been here a while. What are the chance you think everyone who joins up would agree to be led like that?"

Not just by her--though she did have lingering doubts about her own ability to be designated leader--but by anyone. This was different than the Merchants or Sciences or even the KPD. The Foreigners' Guild...it was supposed to be about the Foreigners. And they were all different. Different backgrounds, different life experiences, different abilities. Not to mention, vastly different personalities.

Valdis pushed off the wall, crossing her arms and cocking a hip, but without the defensiveness of Zatanna's position. In contrast, her eyes were hard, lacking sympathy for the young woman.

"The foreigners are a varied, independent group of outcasts. We all look at the world differently, the same words, visions, acts, all interpreted based upon what we come here knowing. You know Keeliai better than any of us, and more importantly, the kedan know you better than any of us. That's important too."

She sighed, relaxing, her stance softening as she did so, "I think you can do it and I think the rest of the Foreigners will see that too."

Penny was halfway through shaking his head before he did a double take in response to the pun. Then he made a face of scorn and judgment and his head shake was even more deliberate. It was mostly joking. He actually liked Zatanna and respected her competency as a magician.

He wasn't even against the formation of the Guilds in general, so much as that none of them directly suited him and now he had to go forge alliances where he didn't entirely enjoy tying himself down.

"Hell no," he replied almost immediately, specifically to the use of the pun. "I'm literally becoming dumber with every pun you speak."

Five years ago, she would have been looking for sympathy. Now, all she'd really needed was an answer. One which Valdis had just given her, in no uncertain terms, with such a hard stance that they could only be the Truth as she saw it. Not mere flattery for the sake of feelings or ego.

Somehow, that made them all the more meaningful.

"Thanks." Whether or not it was intended as compliment, she accepted it graciously. "It's not that I don't agree with you, either. I just think this is a little different than something like heading off to battle. If a voice for the group or representative is what they need at the time...then, yeah, if they want me, I'd do it. But for the most part, I was thinking of this Guild being more like a Team effort. Where everyone's voice and opinions are heard, you know?"

She resisted the urge to laugh at his reaction, and settled for a pleased grin.

"Well, that can only work to my advantage." All joking aside, however, she paused long enough to allow a shift in tone so he would know her next question was meant to be taken more seriously. "How's the Dreaming going? Any developments since our last get-together?"

He made a face for her benefit, for the sake of amusing her with his disdain of forced puns, and then shifted as she did to something more serious. Penny considered for a moment -- all the things he had seen in peoples' dreams, some he knew were an invasion that he never intended and didn't like -- and shook his head. In the matter of their intended pursuit, he was still coming up empty.

"People are fucking weird." Not that that was anything new. Nor was the fact that they all seemed to have secrets to hide. "I might have a lead on one of the teenage mutant pain-in-my-ass turtles. Can you come by tomorrow night again?"

The first part, she was inclined to agree with.

The second...of all the responses she had considered, that one still caught her off-guard. Her lips parted in visible surprise for a moment before she remembered herself and nodded.

"Yeah. Sure. Absolutely." Though Zatanna had never been a Turtle Parent and shared the same bond as those who has raised the babies, she had nothing but fond memories of the ones who'd survived. "Same time?"

"Just because there is a leader doesn't mean that the voices and opinions of others can't be heard," Valdis pointed out, "But you can't rely on absolute agreement. In the end, someone will have to make a decision."

As a warrior, Valdis knew battle, but she also knew just where to press to bring something down and those same places could be shored up to prevent a collapse. Chaos was so much easier than peace.

"The more voices with great power, the less can actually get done."

Jack had managed to settle admirably back into the routine of the Welcome Center, despite having been gone for over a year. Sometimes things still caught him by surprise, being corrected on things that had been one way when he was here last but had since changed, but by and large things were going smoothly.

The choice to stay with the Foreigners Guild had been both easy and expected, considering the WC and also Zatanna's choice. He wasn't sure the whole Guilds thing was actually a great idea, but then he hadn't been present for the Families' way of doing things, so he was missing some comparisons.

Most of the time, he's in the front part of the Center, and ready to offer greeting to anyone who comes in.

Seconded.

[ Obviously. But only if she wanted to do it. ]

[ While he'd seconded Zatanna's nomination, Sonja had definitely seemed one of their most organized, and that was something that wouldn't go amiss either. ]

One for Sonja.

"I know it's tempting to try and hold that wall up all by yourself, but I promise this place is actually pretty sturdy," Jack grinned, coming up next to her.

"Kind of a too many cooks in the kitchen ordeal?" (Says the girl with a less than glowing history of kitchen incidents. "I guess as long as we can still rely on the majority whenever possible, it could work."

You know, if they ever made it that far.

"We'll have to wait and see how the meeting goes. I'm hoping the fact that it's here will help ease some minds, but I'm not even sure who signed up and who went elsewhere. That might be a good list to compile at some point."

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[Open Log] Don't you Worry 'bout a thing

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May 5th: Spokesperson Vote

Nominations - Open to All Foreigners Guild Members

Nomination: Zatanna

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OPEN

Re: Nomination: Zatanna

Nomination: Sonja

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