[OPEN EVENT] Weekend Winter Wonderland

[wintershepherd]

Characters: All?
Date: March 8th-11th
Location: All of Keeliai
Situation: It's been a stressful month thus far for a lot of people, but Jack is determined to Make All The Happy and decides he needs to get back to his wintery roots by giving the city a proper snowing.
Warnings/Rating: People high on snow glitter?
NOTES: Actionspam OR prose, whatever is preferred! (Settings were just easier to prose.) Make your own thread headers if none of these suit! ♥



Jack had spent the last three hours balanced motionlessly on the top of a flagpole, head tilted back as he listened to the wind and the sound of the city below. Where is Winter? it asked. I'm here! the spirit replied, but he knew it didn't mean his physical presence. He'd had too much on his mind and too much in his heart and in that sense he had indeed been absent these last few weeks.

Eyes closed and thoughtlessly trusting, he tipped forward into open air, letting the wind catch him and hurl him upward into the misty cloud cover that scudded across the stars tonight. At his touch they thickened, fat and pale grey against the indigo backdrop and Jack swirled them up, the motions so ingrained in him they felt just like breathing. In the small hours of the morning snowflakes began to fall on the sleeping city, specks at first but then quickly becoming heavier.

Now with a fresh canvas to work with, Jack was really in his element. He could never have done something like this back home, not anywhere in his world. It would have been too strange, too inexplicable, drawn too much attention. But here on the turtle, things were different. There wasn't really a semblance of normal and Jack poured his imagination and heart into the things he wanted most to share, and from the snow rose gleaming swirls of snow and blue light, forming things of exceptional detail and delight.

By the time the sun rose, a solid three feet of the snow had blanketed the city, glistening and crisp and Jack went rocketing down the streets, rapping on doors and windows to leave spirals of frost on every surface.

"Whooohoo! Snow day! Get up sleepyheads, everyone come out and play!"


THREAD STARTERS
Ice Skating | Snowball Battle | Sledding Hill | Ice Cityscapes | Kids Playground | OOC Plot Post

Comments

WOW I THOUGHT I DID THIS ALREADY WHOOPS IT WAS OPEN IN A TAB

[onefouroneseven]

[ Soranik doesn't recognize anything - simply assumes it's all Earth-based but finds herself walking amongst the replicas anyway. There's a sense of contentment that hums at the back of her head, the first time since her arrival that she's felt at ease. For a moment she can take a step back, take a deep breath, and gain a little perspective without being troubled by her thoughts.

But then she notices Annabeth, and the look of recognition on her face spurs her into falling into step a polite distance away. ]

You know it?

WAY TO GO COMRADE

[sophos]

[The voice takes a second to break through, another second for the recognition of both the person and question. Annabeth looks over.]

It's the Acropolis. Well, acropolis as a term is a settlement on elevated ground - usually some kind of citadel, but not necessarily, though building them with an eye for defense is definitely part of it - and in antiquity, they tended to be the nuclei of cities that would grow around them. It translates into English more or less as "city on the extremity."

But this one is the Acropolis at Athens, in Greece, known well enough that simply saying "The Acropolis" conveys it as being this.

[...look, she knows Soranik is an alien, so the exposition kind of comes out. Because lbr, too, it's both architecture and Greek, two of her favorite and best subjects in the world and she can't help it.]

SHUT UP COMRADE

[onefouroneseven]

And are you from there?

[ HER GRASP OF EARTH GEOGRAPHY IS PRETTY TERRIBLE SHE KNOWS OF THREE PLACES - COAST CITY, MOUNT RUSHMORE, AND NEW YORK CITY. ]

NO

[sophos]

Never been, actually. [She half glances over at it, a mix of enthusiasm and ruefulness in her gaze.] I spent most of my time in New York. In a different country and continent from Greece entirely.

R U D E

[onefouroneseven]

I'm familiar with New York City, at least knowing it exists. [ WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT A STATE CALLED NEW YORK? ] One of Earth's Lanterns lived there for years - you hear the stories eventually.

[ THE ONE SHE SLEPT WITH. ]

NO U

[sophos]

New York City is in the state of New York, in the United States - it's the most populous in the country. I was going to school there, in Manhattan specifically, but I'd dropped out a few months before getting pulled to this place. So I was mostly on Long Island. [...not that that probably means anything to her, so: she expands!] Long Island is part of New York, too, and some of New York City is on the west end of it - I was on the opposite end, closer to Montauk. It's about a two to three hour trip by vehicle between them, depending on traffic.

[...accidental expositions are basically Annabeth's middle name.] Greece is in Europe, across the Atlantic Ocean.

[onefouroneseven]

[ Soranik has to shove down the instinctual reaction to call up a map on her ring to show that she understood what Annabeth was talking about, but instead nodded. The general gist of it was appreciated nonetheless. ]

I see. [ She moves around the model - stepping carefully. It wouldn't hurt to offer some information about her planet back in exchange, would it? ] Korugar is one unified planet, the capital being Korugar City. At least in theory - the peace is fragile and the government does not take kindly to anything it perceives as a threat to the stability they've managed to achieve in the wake of a totalitarian dictator.

[ Wait but hang on. ]

You dropped out?

[sophos]

[She nods, too, both in understanding what was explained and appreciation of Soranik's share-back. Though she doesn't have all the details of the history, it's not hard to agree.] Can't say I'd blame them wanting to be cautious after something like that.

[Oh. Right. Annabeth didn't really think about any implications when she mentioned it, and her face turns a little awkward. She steals a glance at the Parthenon.] Not... for the first time. But yeah.

[onefouroneseven]

[ Cautious is one thing - opening fire on a protest that dissolved into panic and fear the moment Sinestro appeared was an entirely different matter in Soranik's mind. ] It is a precarious situation, one that I hope will be resolved with effort and time.

[ It's better, Soranik thinks, even though they still cry for Sinestro's death. ]

Are you planning on going back?

[sophos]

[Hey, she doesn't know that's the extent of the caution. But she knows what a paranoid god can do.] Was it the first time suffering under a dictator?

[O-oh. Her face falls a bit at the question. Planning on going back is a little hard right now, given she kind of has to get through hell first. She grins a little weakly.] I'd like to. [If she can, is sort of unintentionally implied.]

[onefouroneseven]

[ She doesn't reply for the longest time, but the words come easier when she speaks again. And while she's never hidden the history of planet to those who asked, it's still strange to say it now. ]

Yes. His name is [ Is, because he's still living. ] Thaal Sinestro and he was a Green Lantern. The greatest Green Lantern.

[ Her fingers itch to touch the triangles under her eye, but she resists. Whatever hatred she has for him still burns in her veins - every morning she looks into a mirror and is reminded of how much she despises him. How much she fears becoming like him.

But she won't. She will never be like him. ]

And yet you think you might not be able to?

[ Curious, though she doesn't expect a full answer. ]

[sophos]

[She frowns, from her own recollections of dictatorships in world history.] If he's still alive, then I can only imagine it's even more difficult and worrisome to get back to normal.

[There's something else there, but Annabeth's not quite sure what. Just an itch in her body language, but she doesn't remark on it. It's none of her business.]

I don't really know, honestly. [Her smile is wry.] There's... some stuff going on back home, things that are waiting. Depends on how that goes.

[onefouroneseven]

My people need justice, not more bloodshed. We have had enough of that to last us centuries.

[ As strange as it may sound. Soranik doesn't believe that killing Sinestro will solve her planet's problems - they need to move forward, not be bound by the chains of the past. ]

Then I wish you well, and hope that you return.

[sophos]

[She can't help the somewhat bitter snort that comes out. She's a little sick of bloodshed herself, so she gets it.] I hope it works out. It's a tough road. Hopefully the justice is fair, too.

[Annabeth's dealt with gods whose idea of "justice" wasn't all that just.]

[She sort of smiles again at Soranik's well wishes, gratitude in the expression even if it's still something wry. She's still sort of doubting a return to school any time soon, but it's appreciated regardless.] Thanks.

[onefouroneseven]

I will do my utmost to ensure it. Sinestro is a galactic class criminal, therefore it falls to the Green Lanterns to be responsible for him.

[ And they lost him in an ambush between the Sinestro Corps and the Red Lanterns. Everyone expected his own Corps to show, but not Atrocitus'. And then she couldn't even bring herself to shoot him down. ]

Is there anything in particular you wish to study?

[sophos]

Makes sense. [Given what she's heard about the Green Lanterns so far.] I guess he managed to flee after the whole dictatorship thing?

[Her face gets a little lighter. Like actually lights up a bit when she talks about this in particular.] Architecture. Definitely. I mean, I'm already studying it, but there's no such thing as too much learning.

[onefouroneseven]

Banished to the anti-matter universe by the Guardians of the Universe. It hasn't stopped him from returning, and recently he's managed to create his own Corps to oppose the Green Lantern Corps. They have power rings as well, except that they're yellow and instead of being fueled by willpower, use the wielder's ability to instill fear.

[ But that makes her smile slightly too, and she gestures to the model. ]

That explains your interest in this building.

[sophos]

[Blinks.] Can't seem to catch a break, huh? [There's a surprising amount of understanding in her tone.]

[She grins, glancing over at it again, too.] There's some familial history involved, too, to be honest. That one in particular is called the Parthenon.

[onefouroneseven]

I'm a Green Lantern - catching breaks isn't in the job description. [ An eyebrow at her tone and the understanding she can sense within it - she almost wants to ask but thinks better of it. ]

The Parthenon?

[ The way she says it is strange - if there's ever more of an obvious sign that something is translating the word back and forth, it's that. ]

[sophos]

[She snorts. Again in understanding, but maybe a little jadedness is in there, too.] Props when they're due.

[Well ok Soranik you asked for it] It's a temple to the goddess Athena, the patron deity of Athens. Well, that's what it was built for, over two thousand years ago. To most people now, it's just the ruins of the temple. There are several theories on the origin of the term and how it came to be the catch all name for it, but it mostly stems around "Athena Parthenos," one of the titles for the goddess. "Virgin Athena," essentially. [Pause.] And inside, there used to be a giant statue of her, also called the Athena Parthenos.

[onefouroneseven]

[ She takes it all in, beginning to walk around it and try to take it in. ]

I see. And what happened to the people who used to worship here - did their city fall? Or their civilization?

[sophos]

The Greek city-state system is considered to be part of antiquity and the cradle of western civilization on Earth; the ancient Greeks lost power as other empires - particularly the Romans - rose around them. The cities were sacked and conquered, Athens included. The Romans adapted many of the Greek gods into their own pantheon, but Ancient Greek civilization did essentially fall upon the Roman rise to power. The people remained, of course, and continued living in these cities, but the Greek status as a powerhouse was no longer considered.

Athens as a place still exists today, but it's a modern city, and the same goes for Greece as a country. Modern Greeks differ from their antique counterparts, but that's how time and world evolution works - cities change. The gods aren't really worshipped as they once were. Most people consider them only stories and myths.

[Look, Soranik, you keep asking ok.]

[onefouroneseven]

[ There's something about the most that catches her attention, but she's too busy absorbing the information to say much. ]

I see. [ A beat. ] I wonder if it would not have been best for my planet if we had been broken up into smaller countries rather than cling to the idea of a unified planet even after civil war.

[ It's not her call to make, however. She refuses to touch politics with a ten foot pole. ]

[sophos]

It depends. Smaller sovereign states can have conflict between them on their own, and there are plenty of cases where civil war has broken out even in those.

It's tricky business, picking up after a war. [She sure sounds like she's speaking from experience.] But it's all circumstantial. Sometimes a return to normalcy - a unified planet - could be a comfort.

[onefouroneseven]

I am not sure anyone on my planet knows what constitutes as 'normal' anymore. [ Soranik thought she did, but life quickly informed her she was wrong. ] But you sound as if you know this firsthand as well.

[ OKAY FINE SHE HAS TO ASK. ]