13 September 2020 @ 01:46 pm
Hi everyone. I know we just got newcomers, so I apologize if any of this seems new to you. I recently updated our Arrival Guide, so take a look at that. If you have any questions, I'm sure one of us can help you out.

Before we get started, I'm Clarke Griffin and my partner in this is Stephen Strange. We've been running the Displaced-owned bar, Red Wings, since February. We're two members of the small handful of Displaced who have been here since the very beginning.

I've mentioned this in a few places, but Stephen and I are working on a proposal for our group. It's one that we hope that works for everyone, and it also doesn't expect anyone to adhere to any codes or guidelines. I don't think we can set up rules, bylaws, or committees for our group when we have turnover like we do. It would be unfair to anyone coming in. I've stood by this position from the very beginning, and I do think it helps us.

As for our proposal, there are a few parts, so bear with us.

What do we tell the world about us?
The general consensus is "very little," but we're unique and we stand together more times than not. It helps that we have a private means of communication. Even if we might not have a single mindset or goal, we are a unique group.

So, what are we going to say? Stephen and I want to tell the world that … as far as we know, we may have gotten our powers from some kind of gift from "god," as that's the only explanation we've gotten so far. Our ties to the gates will help us explain that, though we don't need to go into detail there. We also don't need to believe in these being gods, so much as that being what we've heard from the people who build the shrines.

When we talked about putting this proposal together, Stephen pointed out that while it's better that we don't say we're not of this world, it's important that we don't say we are from it, either. I'm sorry if that's confusing, but we don't want to get caught in a lie. Nobody's going to assume we're from another world, so it's better if we don't mention it at all. Anyone who might have proof one way or another would need to expose themselves to us. Down the line, leaving that open-ended may prove useful in knowing why we're here and how to get off this world.

We do intend to announce ourselves publicly soon as two people from our group, but we wanted to let everyone know about it first. If you're new, let me make it clear: people know about us. They know we glow. They know we run Red Wings. This is more of a formality than anything. It's a matter of taking control of the narrative. If you're employed with us at Red Wings, I understand if you want out. We can do our best to help you find other employment.

Red Wings as a Base
Moving forward, Stephen and I want to help the community with Red Wings. We've gotten the place mostly back in working order, but there are a few more concerns about the safehouse and the tunnels built in that I'll cover below.

As a base, we want:

  • To help grow a sense of community outside of times of crisis, encouraging connections between local people in the city.
  • To provide food and shelter to people in need, especially during crises
  • To work with PRESERVE to have a spot for people to rest up during these crises, as well as provide medical care if hospital workers are overworked.
  • Offer people a place to stay temporarily, especially if they're helping with the above causes.

  • We'll expand from there. The goal is to continue what we started during our recent monster crisis.

    Protecting Ourselves
    One major concern that @adora.weaver brought up during that crisis is that we're not learning self defense or preparing for a situation that is, quite honestly, only getting worse here. While we will not be instituting obligatory self defense, we've spoken to El about setting up the abandoned hoverbike garage as a training range. This will include any and all soundproofing that would be necessary, as well as other facilities on site. We feel that it's a good space for it.

    As for weapons and combat training, we'd leave that up to anyone who wants to do it within that space. I know that having a space for it has been hard, so having one dedicated to it moving forward will help. If you're interested in helping with construction on this project, let us know.

    The big thing is that Adora was concerned that we aren't approaching our situation with the seriousness that it needs. I've updated the guide to better reflect where we stand.

    In addition:

    One of the concerns with "outing" ourselves is how we'd be able to protect ourselves if people turned on us. I see the tunnels under the city as a means of working this to our advantage. However, we need a way to conceal these from the common people. If we can't, we'll need to abandon this plan, but does anyone have any ideas?

    Protecting the Citizens
    Stephen procured a warehouse that we believe will help us provide similar training to New Amsterdam citizens. We believe that we can look for local sponsorship for this activity. Weapons training will need to be off the table because of the legality of it, but any other training will be allowed.

    My hope is that we can have Red Wings security help train the people of this city in how to fight. In time, we'd like to be able to make a secondary Displaced business out of this service, one that can outlast Stephen and I. We'd also be happy to let someone take this off our hands, but we'd likely help oversee getting it up and running, as well as procure sponsors.

    I saw that someone wants to help release information that we learn, as well. I don't know how we can do this or how we can get it setup, but if you have an idea, I'm all ears. I'm still hesitant to assume that everything we experience is relevant to the world as a whole, so we may need to come to some decision on that.

    Welcoming Newcomers
    I'm happy to keep up the Arrival Guide for as long as I'm here, especially since its original creator was my friend. But we do want to look at putting together a group that handles helping newcomers get situated, especially one that can be handed off between Displaced when turnover happens in our group. Does anyone have any proposals for how to manage this?

    Powers and Skills Listing
    The Arrival Guide has a short listing of people with skills that may be immediately needed during a crisis. Feel free to add yourself there if you think you can do some good. It's been out of date for a while.

    However, we've been throwing around the idea of an official database for skills and powers, but it's not something that any of you would need to be obligated to be a part of. I'm wondering if anyone would like to take this up. Personally, I'm happy to list my skill set, but when it comes to powers, I won't be included. Just to give people an idea of where this stands.

    Final Thoughts
    Obviously, this isn't something that we can do ourselves, but we think this speaks to a lot of the concerns that people have had. Our hope is that we can hand most of these projects off to people.

    If you have any ideas for changes, we welcome them. But we'd like to start moving forward on them as soon as we can.

    Thanks for reading, and we look forward to what you have to add.


    [ooc: Clarke and Stephen have been crowdsourcing and listening to What to Do for a while, so this is a proposal they came up with together! It's the result of months of IC discussion among the Displaced and between one another, especially after the last two events really putting the Displaced to the forefront of public attention. Both Stephen and Clarke are open to listening, but also want to move forward after a lot of discussion. However, we don't have the ability to run ahead with most of these projects ourselves (and have little interest in doing so because it's A Lot), so we were hoping something like this could be delegated via a post like this, with revisions made by characters along the way. The only thing they'll definitely be spearheading is anything to do with the Red Wings HQ (as in the bar itself), as well as using their Displaced-gained fame to get sponsorship for the self-defense center Both Stephen and Clarke are willing to delegate and put people in contact with one another as needed, so just let us know.

    We'll also be submitting a plot engagement with the information about "coming out" once the discussion around this post ends. We'll mostly be focusing on that + the HQ, and we're happy to provide starting details for the other projects (since some have been run by the mods already) to get you moving in that direction.

    Thanks!!]
     
     
    06 September 2020 @ 03:17 pm
    So, I know there's a lot going on right now which seems like the perfect time to throw more fuel on the fire.

    First off, I hope everyone's doing okay after what happened. I haven't heard about casualties or anything so hope everyone's okay.

    Now, getting to the reason why I'm here, some of you may have heard about my hopes to set up a soup kitchen slash safe place for the residents of New Amsterdam. We're oftentimes well protected when things happen but a lot of them are not. They lose their homes, their livelihoods, and sometimes more when things like this happen.

    The purpose of this communication is for a few reasons:

    1. ideas and suggestions on how to raise the money that might be needed for this
    2. ideas on what else might be needed for a place like this
    3. possible volunteers to help build, gather resources, and then staff this when it gets off the ground
    4. possible problems that I might not be seeing

    I'm not a fighter. You guys have that covered. This is more my forte here and it's a way I can help for what I hope is a longer period of time than just being nomadic and going from place to place. Thanks for any input you have.
     
     
    05 September 2020 @ 01:44 pm
    so everyone knows shit sucks right now
    since i've been here i've seen a lot of talk about what we should do, but it seems like everyone has a different idea
    some people want to start superhero teams and some people want to require training for everyone new who shows up
    some of us want to go public, some don't, some people trust morningstar and some people think they're shady
    some people are just saying "fuck it" and think we should worry about ourselves
    you know, all that shit

    so i guess i just wanted to crowdsource
    get everyone's thoughts in one place or whatever
    because it seems like fucked up shit keeps happening and since i got here, it's getting worse

    this is probably going to start a whole argument about how much responsibility we even have when we've just been dragged here without a choice
    or people saying no one should expect us to act as a group but
    idk
    here's your chance to be all opinionated
    go
     
     
    19 July 2020 @ 08:59 pm
    [ The morning of May 26th: ]

    Not sure if it's the same for anyone else, but me and at least one other person I know of had some odd dreams a few days back. Right after the earthquake.

    A lab in the ice, soldiers with gold glowing eyes, things crawling out of the ground.

    I'm new here but I've been told a few of those things might sound familiar to folks here and not in a good way.


    [ He wasn't exactly a big believer in premonition before coming here, but he's trusting that the advice he was given and the people who've been here longer'll know better if this means something as ominous as it sounds. Or at least confirm if it wasn't just the two of them sharing the same nightmare. ]
     
     
    27 October 2019 @ 06:04 pm
    [ short and sweet and to the point: ]

    so who else is all aboard the hype train to bad decisions in new beijing?
     
     
    20 October 2019 @ 02:19 pm
    A few of you haven't had a proper introduction with me. Hi. I'm Gaby. From day one with the Displaced, I've been your handler. I was asked to stick around despite the fact that, legally speaking, the safehouse is owned by the Displaced proper. But I am part of Morningstar.

    Which is why I'm writing.

    Morningstar needs more numbers here. Back in September, our numbers were severely depleted. Aside from me, we had to clear out. The UNA moved in. Undid every part of life that they had here. Thanks to the Displaced, most people were saved before the UNA soldiers got them. The rest were recovered at the end of November on a rescue operation.

    In order to try to get back on our feet, we looked to the Displaced for help. First, as a give and take situation. And then, with them leading. And they did. But you don't know this world as well as Morningstar's natives do. It led to some mistakes. I don't fault any of you for that.

    Unfortunately, it meant that the beginning foundations of Morningstar promptly came apart at the seams. So, now El and I are bringing in some new people. That's why I'm writing.

    We're transferring operatives from other cities to help out. The problem is, they can't know about El. Can't know that El is more than IT. It's an open secret among the Displaced now, but it can't reach the rest of Morningstar. This world isn't ready to have its only opposition come in the form of an altruistic AI seeking redemption.

    But for anyone who's here, who's interested in Morningstar's mission—I won't turn you away. I've been reminded countless times over that you all have the chops and the training. You just lack the know-how of this world. But I'm here to help. To make sure you don't go in blind. I need to do that. I need to be less hands off. But you're the ones with the skills to take point. To look forward. I welcome it. Even if you're new.

    This is not a dubious recruiting message. I only want you if you want to help this world. El does, too. No one wants you to feel obligated or to make you think you owe us. You don't. But we could use some experienced personnel in New Amsterdam, to match the experienced people coming in. Someone who can understand the discretion of what comes next.

    Anyway.

    Go ahead.

    Ask questions.
     
     
    09 October 2019 @ 09:01 am
    [ she hasn't been on the network much. a lot has happened, a lot has changed — both in the world around them and in daisy herself. she's been trying to figure out how to talk about it, or even if she should.

    this is what she goes with. ]


    our abilities are changing. mine is, anyway. and not just the "you get better the more you use it" kind of change.

    we can't use the caves anymore, but i'm still happy to help people figure out what they can do. we just have to be smart about it.

    let me know.
     
     
    20 September 2019 @ 01:43 pm
    Hey.

    I need volunteers for power practice. I'll be tweaking your senses. Nothing permanent, I'll stop when you say so, and I'll owe you a beer or a favor. The favor can be food.

    Let me know.
     
     
    20 August 2019 @ 12:24 pm
    with everything that's gone on lately, i had a question.

    if given the choice, how many people would stay here and how many people would leave? i get that it's a pretty personal question and don't feel like you've gotta answer. i'm just curious considering the way the place has changed lately and the people that have been lost.

    could you live your life here? or would you leave and take your chances?