for all the world's a stage - LIBRARY LOG

[libraryassistants]

Who: The Editors
What: The Library changes once again...
When: January 9- January 22
Where: The Library
Content warnings: Please put them in the comment headers!

The Assistants have vanished into their backroom once again, leaving only the increasingly unbelievable “Back In 5” sign on the Help Desk, but at least they have attempted to impart some knowledge on the Editors before departing (or… attempted to do anything but, depending who you ask). The customary tea cart with drinks and increasingly stale biscuits is parked in its usual spot, though it seems that the quality of the tea at least has improved some. (Still waiting on coffee improvement.)

There’s a new crafting setup in the Maker Space, a table with an iron and machine for making vinyl designs, along with the instructions on how to use it, and a stack of t-shirts in various sizes. Usually there’s something in the correct size, but, well, mistakes happen. While this addition to clothing is a boon, there is the problem that the t-shirts can’t be taken out of the room until some sort of design is put on them. Get creative! Show off your style! Or maybe just steal one of the shirts that are there for display purposes. It’s fine, the Library can make more.

In the second week as the Library begins to change once more, the Lobby’s wooden floor shines with extra polish. The walls make an odd creaking sound as they shift, warping into brick covered with velvet drapings in a rich, dark red. Gold thread twinkles in the stitches, a sense of opulence woven through. The sound of ballroom music drifts by and, while in the Lobby, characters will be taken by the unusual impulse to dance.

Outside, in the Garden, the day/night cycle has paused firmly on a cloudless night. A full moon hangs in the air - literally. About the size of a basketball, it follows the first person who enters the Garden; hovering a couple of meters above their head. A white aura spreads from them, powered by the moon, and those who are caught in its light will find themselves unable to speak anything but the truth.

When the person to whom the moon is attached leaves the garden, the moon and its aura will leave them; and the moon will attach to the next person to enter instead.

On the circulation desk, there is a sign: “This Week’s Recommended Reading: Twilight!” The accompanying sign up sheet waits next to it for those wishing to check it out- though some will receive the movie instead of the book, with no particular rhyme or reason to it. Periodically someone might also receive something else entirely. Whoops? The Assistants at least will fix that quickly. Richard will be embarrassed, while Phillip will be trying not to cackle.

While not advertised, various iterations of different stories will be available throughout the Library. In particular, someone seems to have left the projector in one of the meeting rooms running, with a variety of different recorded plays. These range from professional productions, to parodies, to what appear to be high schoolers (of which one production features a sixteen year old version of Phillip running around being an absolutely nuisance.

Comments

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

The... same dog who ended up as rank 8 or whatever...?

[ He's not surprised about what Shang De asked of Nice. Realty is often scummy. ]

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

During that whole failure... I had.... fear attach to me.... or... at least I thought I did.... and I panicked.... I went to find Shang De.... because I knew he had a way to counter it.... and thats when he told me... the Dog that saved the day.... made it to rank 8, completely ruining my chances...

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

[ He has no less than five comments to make, and it's difficult to keep his mouth shut. Why was Nice even in a situation where Fear was involved? ]

Maybe Shang De shouldn't have run ads before he had permission to build.

[ . . . ]

Sorry.

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

[ Nice gives a weak little head shake. He doesn't think Wreck needs to apologize for anything. What did he do wrong other than get paired up with Nice and have his life ruined because of Nice. ]

That's when I went to the roof.... I don't know when I did though.... everything blurred together... before that.... Shang De wanted me to lay low... because of my last failure before that.... The death of Hero Smile..... [ His voice gets very shaky when he mentions smile. ] and how my actions boosted MG's Dragon Boy to the top ten.

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

Yeah, I... I only saw what was reported on the news. I didn't... know anything more than that, other than... that's when you stopped making public appearances. And... I can't really blame you for that.

[ Smile was Nice's idol, the whole reason Nice became a hero in the first place. ]

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

He died.... because of me. I tried to help.... despite Shang De's orders.... and I still got him killed....

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

The... news reported otherwise. They didn't really mention you. Just that... Dragon Boy went overboard and was unnecessarily violent. And I guess the people who were streaming on the bridge... didn't know that "monster" he was fighting was Smile to begin with.

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

Treeman has amazing PR, don't they? I bet you haven't heard much of my failures, because Shang De gets them all covered up just like that. How pathetic is that....

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

Okay, but--but I don't... understand. At this point, you're basically the face of his company. Aside from Firm Man, who basically belongs to the Commission, all he has is you. And maybe Blankster....

Why... would he send you to do that kind of stuff? He has people for that. Why would he send the face of his company to do shady work like that when he's supposed to be building up your image positively?

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

He didn't hire me to smile, to make others smile. He hired me to be a tool. To be his personal tool... and I can't even do that right.

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

Because you're... not that kind of person. Even if you try to be... I don't think you can really do it. No matter how much Shang De tries to cover it up, at your core, you're a hero.

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

If I were a real hero, I'd have done something good in my career. One single act that wasn't faked or made on false pretenses.

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

You're not just a brand. You're a real person. Shang De was always packing your schedule and managing your PR, but... I don't think he let you do the things you wanted to do. And I know I... didn't help with that. But, once you were popular enough to live in Hero Tower, he should have let you just be yourself....

lCW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

[Nice was silent as he listened to Wreck, only making a sound to let out a shuddered gasp. How could Wreck be so calm about this and not agree how awful he was? It doesn't matter if Shang De ordered him to do it. He still made the decision to do it... ]

You remember the ruins incident?

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

I do. It's the reason the bulk of the Top 10 list is what it is today.

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

That whole mess was partially my doing as well..... Shang De heard that the commission were close to finding a way to get rid of fear and trust... and the scientists that were there were the ones doing the research... I was... to make sure no one made it out... and the "fear monsters" that I defeated there? Shang De's creations... Every time in the news you heard about me defeating some kind of creature... even when I "saved moon" they were all Shang De's creations...

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

[ . . . ]

Did you kill them? The scientists?

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

I tried. But then that Louli girl interrupted me.

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

Geeze. No wonder why I'm the one who got the villain contract; you suck at it.

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

[ Nice elbows him a little, but it wasn't an actual effort to hurt him. ]

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

And what about that fat old dog? He got popular because he said he handled all those Phobiaclones or whatever and got the deeds back and saved that girl. All his own.

I'm not saying what you did was good, but it doesn't sound like you even hurt anyone. Honestly, it's like you're a good luck charm for everyone around you.

I mean, the news said you "saved the day" in the Ruins, but you only moved from rank 18 to rank 15. No one even knew who that robot girl was, but FOMO got her to rank 6 from that incident. That dog is with FOMO, too, and ended up rank 8 overnight.

Shang De is upset you haven't made it to the Top 10, but it sounds to me like he doesn't know how to advertise in general. Even people like the old E-Soul and Smile had solid advertisements.

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

So basically my failure brings good fortune for everyone else....

[ Except smile, where he died because Nice failed to save him. ]

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

It's a shitty industry. We...

[ . . . ]

...it really is just one big popularity contest. The public sucks. The CEOs suck. The heroes who do good work end up with a target on their back, and they die.

[ . . . ]

Nice. Do you want to be in the top ten? Did you ever really care about rankings? Because for as long as I've known you, what you've wanted to do is be a hero whose smile was infectious. Did that change?

CW: implied suicide

[dovedive]

[ Nice curls up a little more even though Wreck was still stubbornly holding onto him. ]

I don't.... even know what I want anymore...

CW: implied suicide

[awreck]

It's okay if you don't know. You're away from Shang De now. You can take the time you need to rediscover what you want. To relearn who you are and the type of hero you want to be.

You're gonna hate hearing this, but even if you don't believe in yourself anymore, I do. I always will. And I know that without people like Shang De around, you can be a great hero. You can... act however you want, and you don't have to walk on egg shells.

I still have questions, but I... I don't want to push you any more than I already have. And... um... well, thanks for answering me. I know it wasn't easy, and I... I hope that means you trust me a little again.