Lunch, and GOSSIP!

[applesaucemod]

Hello, fritterlings. Carrie here, sans lunch, because the lunch was a lie. I just wanted to quote MST3K. Ten points to anyone who knows which episode that line is from!

Anyway. Two orders of business.

Order the First: There is still quite a bit of backdating going on as we approach this crossover event, and I know several of us are getting pretty overwhelmed. In the interest of mitigating that, the other mods and I are fully on board with the idea of another calendar freeze while we try and get caught up. Since we don't want to bork the crossover or ask another community to cool their collective heels while we play catch-up, we'd keep the Dreaming chugging along until our party post goes up at the end of the month, but the waking world calendar could halt anytime.

What are your thoughts on this? How much time do you anticipate needing? Personally, given our general propensity for backdating into infinity and the busy holiday season, I don't think it would be at all unreasonable to keep things in stasis into January, but I also don't want those of us who aren't struggling to get bored.

Order the Second: Given how much is going on, this seems like a great opportunity for an OOC gossip post. What have your characters been up to? What, if anything, do you have planned for their near futures? Let's all get caught up on everyone else's business! This could also be used for some future plotting; we can throw our non-busy characters at one another while we let the busy ones get back up to speed.

So! This is a lot to respond to, so to keep things tidy, there will be two mod header comments below, one for the freeze and one for gossip. Reply to either one as needed.

Comments

[applesaucemod]

Comment here regarding the proposed calendar freeze.

[bibliophale]

TEAM CALENDAR FREEZE

I'm enormously flexible and I am all for holding until the new year. I can ALWAYS find things to backdate about, for people who might get bored, if that helps!

[powerdealer]

Team calendar freeze!

I am a bit behind on things myself, and easily find a bunch of things to do if I run out.

[anguiform]

SO VERY TEAM CALENDAR FREEZE

Because Cully needs to catch the hell up is what Cully needs to do. I am about taking it into January. I am also at work at the moment, but I will later update everyone further down the post about my wicked plans

[bluesuit_handy]

As a mod I've already given the calendar freeze my blessing.

As a player, I need reassurance that I really am the only one who cares if I handwave Andrew's pregnancy stuff to happen ahead of IC schedule; I'm already kind of going to need to do that due to the date ratio change but with Moar Calendar Freeze it's going to jump ahead even more if I don't want to wait half another OOC year for him to have his kids already.

[applesaucemod]

Gossip here.

Obscure Heroine Brigade Checking In! Private Funguszombie, Report!

[all_the_gifts]

Melanie has been rescued from ROMAC by Aziraphale, her new favorite person in the whole wide world, and is living in his flat and reading all of his books. Most recently, she accidentally stumbled into one of the angel's nightmares and shanked his subconscious projection of Lucifer. It was gross. But this forced Aziraphale to explain the whole Lucifer Thing, which forced Melanie to suggest that maybe Crowley wasn't the safest person for her to be around, and everything was terrible and everything hurt.

Also, I have made her some new icons. WHAT A CUTIE.

Her upcoming shenanigans include meeting Gabriel, because Aziraphale told him about her and nobody can resist this adorable zombie child. No one.

Captain Bakesalot, Report!

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine has just been having all of the relationship drama in the world. All of it. Who knew dating a vampire lite would be this frigging complicated? She and Spike survived Eliot's hilarious drunken canon puncture and that weird rain thing intact, but everything is about to get terrible and it's going to be just a downhill slide from there. This poor woman.

Her upcoming shenanigans include DEEP HURTING. But don't worry, she and Spike will work things out eventually because this weirdass ship is UNSINKABLE. In the meantime, maybe I can get up an open bakery post so more people can sample her delicious wares and get side-eyed by her colorful cast of coworkers.

[peacefulexplorer]

Daniel has been rehashing past traumas with his boyfriend between his efforts to look for a more permanent residence and a job. Squatting in Lucy's apartment will only hold him until the Rebels find out and possibly get grumpy, after all. Also he may have inadvertently attracted the attention of the resident Devil by virtue of resembling a certain Sam Winchester personality-wise whilst engaging in dream roadtripping shenanigans. Will this possibly involve Satan-stalking? That sounds terrifying and therefore fun.

Illyria has been chilling in Aziraphale's bookshop (oh those happy customers!) while she contemplates her existence or whatever it is God-Kings do to pass the long hours. She'll need to find a more permanent living space as well, as I don't think poor Aziraphale wants to put up with her indefinitely. It'll be in her best interest to be discreet but seeing as she is vibrant blue I'm not sure that's possible.

Rush has just arrived and is eager to engage in Much Science with the Rift. More official involvement with Team Science is anticipated. He's living in the ROMAC apartments and probably also using his apartment walls as impromptu whiteboards because he's just like that I guess.

This lone wolf reports to NO ONE.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine has been keeping her head down since Lucifer's arrival and repairing her relationship with Peeta. Most recently, she met the new Doctor and took him to the TARDIS. They totally hit it off and she certainly did not threaten to turn into a bear and sit on him. And even if she did, I'm sure that's not a threat she will repeatedly invoke, much less something that will actually happen, because that would be absurd and undignified and the Doctor wouldn't stand for it. Because he'd have a bear sitting on him.

In the 'future' of backdating, she'll probably be fetching Andrew his nifty body pillow and retroactively giving Seth and his new snake a proper introduction. Other than that, she doesn't have a whole lot on her plate. Does your character want a pet? She will facilitate the shit out of that.

[bibliophale]

Aziraphale is having many wonderful backdated adventures which I'm going to try to compile for my own sanity and probably everyone else's here.

A Bajillion Years Ago, era of the last great calendar freeze, he met the TARDIS, and they hit it off because they're gigantic nerds and also he is getting better at being not the worst. Plans to have them meet in person and have tea parties and cause Gabriel great disgruntlement were tragically waylaid by life, the universe, and everything. Look, he's been busy. Hopefully we can resurrect this soon.

Some other things happened, most of it having been threaded to completion or close-enough, he moved his bookshop in next to Sunshine's bakery, hired Spike, antagonized Rashad, baffled Eliot, had a lot of sex with Crowley, and managed to piss off Literal Satan. Literal Satan then used him as collateral incentive to get Crowley on his team, with the tried and true "I won't kill him if you do everything I say," ha ha, oh Satan. This definitely damaged Aziraphale's delicate pride HE DOES NOT HAVE PRIDE feefees and he's been moping about it ever since.

Sunshine discovered him post-torture and it was awful and she put aside her weird Gabriel feelings so Gabriel could heal him, which was less awful. Then Crowley came over and so they could drink everything in the world and pretend nothing happened and eventually that's going to be absurdly cute.

Consequences of Aziraphale's subsequent mid-life-crisis:

-He decided to adopt a bioweapon. She's really cute and makes him tea! Also he's learning familial love which is really confusing for him, but it also means he will literally do anything for her including locking his boyfriend oldest acquaintance out of his flat, as linked above.

-He befriended Illyria the Merciless God-King of the Primordium and she's sort of squatting in his shop now. Look, she tried to kill him, twice, but it's COMPLICATED okay. There are backdating plans for Spike to meet Illyria in the bookshop which haven't yet happened but it's going to be great and also awful.

-He's dreaming! Against his will! Also his powers occasionally get nerfed in group dreams. The Rift likes to pick on him. And/or this is foreshadowing for an upcoming thing I have planned, but that's not going to happen for a while.

[etherthief]

Almost immediately after arriving Iman befriended Literal Satan, MISTAKES WERE MADE, though she did get a video of him drunk off his ass lying in a pile of rubble and singing Wrecking Ball, which is pretty important. She still has it and WILL break it out if he tries to intimidate her ever. Mostly though he just pops in on her without asking to talk about science. How embarrassing.

After having a really stellar hilarious adventure sneaking through ROMAC while rain-invisible with Rashad, Iman decides "Fuck principles, I like well-stocked labs better" and has decided to join ROMAC. While there she will meet Rush and they are going to form Team Science. Gus Fring came out of retirement long enough to facilitate this and he's highly suspicious. ROMAC shenanigans highly likley to follow.

Of course it wouldn't be Team Science without the Doctor. Iman sort of dumped an adorable alien child on him and is now interrogating him about how the TARDIS works. Team Science is Iman and two Scottish asshole nerds who like to write on things, all trying really hard to figure out what the deal is with the Rift. It's gonna be great.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny.

Things have been going pretty well for Johnny HA HA NOT. He and Gabe are maintaining an adorable status quo for the time being, and he's soooort of dating Eliot, and he thought it would be a great idea to introduce them! Which, HAH, but it'll be fine. On the surface things are fine.

That doesn't account for Lucifer dressing up as Gabe just to mess with him and Spike HUNTING AND EATING HIM and also there's kind of a thing happening with Zagreus. When isn't there, amirite. It hasn't been completely threaded but the basic rundown so far is:

-Zagreus gets into his head again and tinkers around
-Zagreus messes with him some more and Johnny finds he is unable or unwilling to call for help for SOME REASON

This is going to get worse. There'll be a slow boil of Johnny being gradually overtaken without realizing it, including a progressive inability to talk to anyone about it. Mostly this won't involve anyone else until it really comes to a head. Concurrently Johnny and Gabe are going to fuck their relationship up for a bit because they're failures. Gdi boys. So things are going to suck for a while, though maybe not for a while yet.

Get it together Johnny. Seriously.

[apidae]

Bee is just hangin out right now. She met Rush and helped him get to ROMAC, but otherwise she's not been super active. Which makes her a prime subject for anyone's backdating needs during any potential calendar freeze!

At some point I'd like her to meet the TARDIS, though she's really going to have to get in a queue for that... and she and Spike were also going to start sparring for fun and profit. Beyond that's fair game. She'd love to be your friend! Unless you're a JERK.

[i_jones]

Ianto has done nothing of note and will hopefully get his shit together soon. :( HE'S GONNA WAKE UP. I'M GONNA DO IT. JUST WATCH ME. SWARE ON ME MUM.

[interndana]

Dana has mainly been busy with work (oh no art imitating life the struggle is so real) but she did get turned invisible during the rain and bumped into a very outgoing science lady and later met Saddest Seth. The most unlikely of friendships will ensue? stay tuned.

In the future we have plans for her and Crowley to meet while buying plants and they will be such geeks, wow. Dana might start associating with Team Science if only to be like "uh hello wow you guys where are you going with all those Erlenmeyer flasks? can I watch?" Does this sound fun???

Eliot meanwhile has had so much fun throwing his inaugural Drunk Brunch, he's gonna have to make this a recurring event because hilarious miscommunication and getting wasted and talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer with disastrous results!

Also he and Johnny are now sort of...weird friends with kinky benefits, idk are they boyfriends? feelings, pah, who needs them, but somebody thought it was a good idea for his drinking buddy to meet his sugar daddy, good going Johnny. He was also briefly introduced to a very confused Seth but hey, Eliot's just got one of those faces, although privately he might be a little intrigued by the existence of a double from a different universe because dang, he's always sort of wanted to make out with himself.

Upcoming Eliot plans include: Eventually getting off his ass and Engaging Hero Mode but that won't happen for a while. In the nearer future, who wants to enable Eliot's alcoholism? He might have to start hanging out at Wilmot's to meet people and make bad decisions and get wasted and talk about magic. LET'S DO IT. If so you will probably get invited to brunch. Scones and catty gossip! who doesn't love that.

Also also I am working on an application for Desire, can someone please make it be not Retail Hell Season so I have time to do these things? Gosh I want to play this trashlord.

Team Pregnant Hand!

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew is still pregnant! In the wake of James being captured by ROMAC, the two of them have been cooped up in a makeshift flat at the ROMAC base (hey, it's an upgrade from the initial prison cell). With James unable to leave the suppression field rigged up for his benefit without splitting into three people (one of whom is terrible), they're kind of stuck playing along and pretending they're not affiiated with the rebels at all, nope, no way. Soon after that went down Andrew snuck out to have lunch with Daine and it looks like she'll be helping him get his body pillow back. Just don't look in that box under the bed that smells like leather and latex, Daine, there are many things he will not want to explain (omg Daine look in the box it will be hilarious except you're underage whoooops).

The plan is to handwave him having his babies ahead of IC schedule because at this point I'd have to wait until June or something ridiculous like that. At some point ROMAC will discover that he's been registered with the rebels this whole time, and once the kids are born they'll have not one, not two, but three hostages with whom to pressure Andrew into acting as a double agent for them and going on a search for certain escapees. The finding out thing might happen in the next month, before the arrival of the twins, which would likely mean he'd continue to be scarce due to, y'know, ending up a proper prisoner. So there's that.

[omnomnom_feels]

Rashad doubts your commitment to Sparkle Motion is still working for ROMAC doing all kinds of data entry and data management using modern computers he understands only by dint of being unable to get frustrated and give up on memorizing the various functions by rote. For a while he'd been trying to smite Crowley on principle, but after he found out Lucifer has an interest in Aziraphale and Crowley he decided to put some distance between himself and them and hasn't been back to harass either of them since. He had a rain adventure with Iman in which he learned things about ROMAC that have made him doubt their viability as a source of even temporary authority (someone just tell him what to do please; the last time he made his own decisions he fell from heaven ;__;). He's still not too sure about Iman in general even though they sort of work for the same people now.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter finally acted a little bit like a good friend to Gabe aaages back when the two of them actually talked about that whole suicide thing (admittedly while drinking). And then Johnny walked in on them cuddling and Gabe found out who Rabbit Man is and it was pretty great. That thread also had Gabe and Peter laying down plans for Peter to return to the stage with a new magic show sometime in IC September, which whoops is relatively soon now and I have written nothing about it. He's got a flat that's very thoroughly warded against that rascally Satan and he's recently made a hobby of hating Daniel, but sooner or later he needs to at least more or less make amends with Lucy and lose some of that anger.

[theoldgirl]

The TARDIS has been up to her usual tricks of sitting in Central Park and feeling highly uncomfortable with the entire universe. Also she's having to put up with a new Doctor and the over-enthusiastic strays he's in the process of collecting. For quality chill-time she hangs out with Ianto and will be going on a dream date IN SPACE with Gabriel.

Apparently there's a queue for people wanting to meet the TARDIS and be righteously judged by her. THE QUEUE STARTS HERE.

[bibliophale]

Ooh me! Mememe! I'LL TAKE YOU TO MY FRIEND'S BAKERY FOR SWEETS

[starlightcalliope]

This adorable alien child has just arrived and has already been adopted by the Doctor. Their adorable domestic shenanigans will be so sweet your teeth will fall out, be warned. The first shenanigan has been kicked off already, at the end of her first day.

Once that's properly underway, I shall make an open post so that others can meet her as well. She needs all the friends to draw fanart of.

[wildmage_daine]

Just imagine Calliope's face when Daine trots in all casual in some weird shape or other so she can change. They can both do comical double-takes!

[brink]

Topher has been doing like literally nothing. He met Daniel. That's the one thing he's done in a whole in-game month. I need to do something with him. Because he's basically just sitting by himself in the dark.

[lottawork]

Topher can team up with Rush in his Not-So-Secretly Fucking With ROMAC projects if that's something he's interested. This sneaky scientist is definitely looking to (a) consolidate some sort of power in that political chain and (b) consequently screw everyone else over so he can achieve the PRIME OBJECTIVE (C) which is to do a lot of Science

[essentiallyharmless]

Lucy gave her rebel apartment away to Daniel, and started working for ROMAC.

She's probably going to eventually work on her problems with Peter and get on speaking terms with him again, but besides that she's very free. She needs to make some ROMAC-friendly friends! Or at least some that don't actively hate them.

[has_a_horn]

LETS SEE. Everything's gonna go to shit, basically. And then be nice again! Hopefully.

Gabe has been doing a GREAT JOB at avoiding the fact that his brother is causing all sorts of havoc in the city (minus setting up helpful sigils and healing Aziraphale). Eveeeentually the avoiding will become more of a pain than not avoiding, though, so stay tuned. In the meantime, he's been cuddling up with the TARDIS and Johnny, trying to be something of an older brother figure to Aziraphale, and keeping a loose eye on Seth. Once things blow out for a bit with Johnny there will be some grande-scale fuckery (though slightly less ill-advised than the Godzilla thing).

Spike is still on schedule for his blood thing and all the horrible things that entails. The real-time dates in the doc will be off because of the freeze, but the in-game dates should still be about right :3 Lately, he's not been doing much besides being adorable with Sunshine, but he did conscript Daniel to translate some texts for him, and he's scheduled to meet Illyria in a back-dated thread. Oh, and the dream where he's eating people. Awkward.

[fucking_ebay]

Okay, so are they going to be smart and not call attention to Gabriel's bosom buddies while his brother is around, or are they still going to put Peter back on the stage because that sounds like a great idea.