Peace and Unity March

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It's a glorious hot and sunny evening in London when a ragtag group of supernatural misfits turn up at Leicester Square to wave their placards and begin their march for peace and unity among the city's supernatural communities.

Organised by students at the Redbright Institute, the march begins at 6.30pm and ends at 8.30pm outside the Night Council Headquarters in Whitehall. While the march is open to all, the timing is not vampire-friendly which is not a coincidence; there's a noticeable anti-vampire sentiment amongst the crowd.

The human media pay no attention: they've had the far larger Pride march earlier in the day to report on and this event has been billed as a marine environmental awareness campaign to the outside world. No one cares. But the Night Council do, of course, and accordingly the march is policed by Guardians who are dressed as police community officers. They will intervene if the protest appears to get out of hand and stop anyone who attempts to enter the Night Council HQ.

What's the march about?
The official objective of the Peace and Unity March as posted by the Redbright student organiser is to demonstrate support for a unified supernatural community. Despite the name, it attracts a variety of protesters who all want different things. Those attending or observing the march will see and hear support for the following, in rough order of prominence:

• PEACE AND LOVE. We just want everyone to get along.
• STOP THE FIGHTING. Not just pacifism, there's also a general sense of being sick of losing loved ones and driven out of parts of the city due to fights between factions. Some of the more extreme stances also blame the "monstrous" species for inciting violence i.e. vampires, werewolves, fae.
• WE STAND TOGETHER. A stronger message of solidarity and defiance against the Night Council and its perceived biases.
• REPRESENTATION FOR ALL. Also anti-Night Council. This bleeds into discontent against both vampires and witches.
• VAMPIRES SUCK. The vampires are taking over! This is a disaster for everyone and should be stopped.
• WITCHES SUCK. The witches have been controlling London for years! Down with the witches.

There are likely to be some rather heated debates between the protesters themselves as these varying sentiments contradict each other. Some protesters feel that Sylvia Redbright was unfairly ousted from the Night Council and are vocal in supporting her. Others are just cynical about the Night Council in general.

Route
6.30-6.45pm: Leicester Square
The crowd gathers at Leicester Square where the first fifteen minutes are spent gathering everyone together, waving some placards and generally getting everyone ready to begin the march. At this point the Guardian presence is hardly noticeable, though they are watching as soon as the march begins.

6.45-7.15pm: Victoria Embankment via Trafalgar Square
The crowd walks from Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square, then takes a diversion along the Strand before crossing over to Victoria Embankment. They pause at the Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges to look out across the Thames to Waterloo, which is in Lambeth, a territory controlled by the Islington Nest. A few protesters spit in the river.

7.15-7.30pm: March from Victoria Embankment to Whitehall
From Victoria Embankment it's only a short walk to Whitehall, where the protesters march along the street before eventually coming to a halt outside the Night Council Headquarters.

7.30-8.30pm: Outside Night Council HQ
The remaining hour is spent as a sit-in protest outside the Night Council HQ. There are chants about standing together as one community, about the perceived lack of representation in the Night Council, and about peace not war. A few use loudspeakers to make speeches which are received with varying levels of enthusiasm. A small group even attempt to enter the Night Council HQ but are quickly rebuffed by Guardians who look increasingly menacing as the evening draws on.

At 8.30pm the protesters are ordered to disperse. Anyone who refuses to leave will be swiftly marched off, or even arrested, though for the most part the Guardians are trying to keep the peace.

Late evening: Off to the pub
There's no official gathering after the protest is over, but various groups do disperse to pubs around the central London area to continue the debate and generally have a good time and/or cause trouble. Some of these – the ones that are identified as potential political troublemakers – are quietly followed by undercover Guardians.

Comments

[outofthemanor]

Wednesday is able to join the march from Trafalgar Square, having made sure Cousin What was safely locked in the apartment and unlikely to wander too far without their phone as a means of contact. (They could attempt telepathic communication, but What did suffer terrible headaches with them.) She does not spit in the river - she doesn't want to offend any unknown water spirits, it's much more fun to offend when you know them - but she does join the middle of the crowd.

The sit in is ... desperately mind-numbingly dull. It's almost impressive, really, how mind numbing it is. She watches with dark eyes, wondering if letting loose some of the vials What had brought her from Pubert would be worth it. She wasn't particularly scared of the Guardians - but then again, she wasn't particularly scared of anything.

She lingers. Long enough to be noticed, before going to the pub. A pint of hot water, with a red substance added, and she sits in the corner to enjoy her solitude and her drink.

[hurtcomfort]

"Do you like being alone?" asks the soft voice next to Wednesday, as Cole materializes right next to her. Some people liked being alone. He could tell that much, he knew that much. But some people were alone by circumstance, things beyond their control keeping them alone, keeping them by themselves. Those people didn't deserve to be lonely.

He didn't know which Wednesday was, sitting in the corner of the pub by herself. But he could at least ask.

"I can tell you what they're talking about, if you want."

[outofthemanor]

"Why would I be curious?" Wednesday replies. "The conversations of the masses always follow the same type of pattern. Following an evening like the one we just had, they will discuss the march, the possible outcomes, and the potential great future they all see."

[hurtcomfort]

"They do?" Well huh. Cole didn't realize that. He had been listening, watching. He knew enough to know that some people would be talking about the march, but he didn't know enough people would be talking about the march to the point where this witch wasn't interested.

He really needed to get better at figuring out people.

"Do you want to discuss the march? I wasn't there, it was too far, but I've been listening."

[outofthemanor]

"Not particularly," Wednesday replied. "It was an attempt to make a change among a governmental body that has proven resistant to such things."

[hurtcomfort]

"But at least it's an attempt. Things can't happen if steps aren't taken." Cole shrugs slightly as he talks, as if he's pointing out the obvious.

[outofthemanor]

"I suppose there's logic in your statement."

[hurtcomfort]

Cole looks a bit surprised at that. There is? Well. That's a first. Most people thought he was confusing. Maybe he was getting better at this!

"That's good to hear."

[outofthemanor]

"How long have you been in spirit form?" She'd forgotten her manners - it was always important to establish how long a ghost had existed. At least, it was in her family, but then they had their quirks

[hurtcomfort]

"Not too long, but long enough. Short for spirits, long for humans." Cole doesn't entirely know how long he's been in spirit form. He's dancing around the topic not out of wariness, but because he simply has no idea.

"How long have you been in human form?"

[outofthemanor]

"22 this December," Wednesday answers. His question had been fair enough, considering her own and frankly she can understand the dancing around a topic. Which is why she won't say anything about his doing so.

[hurtcomfort]

"I think I'm older than you," Cole responds, with a small little smile. "Technically, of course."

Cole doesn't remember how old he is. At least, not right now. But there's something in the back of his head that points out he was younger when he died and it's been at least three years so surely he must be older now, right? That is, if the years one was dead actually counted.

[outofthemanor]

"Of course." Well, that would depend entirely on the person's point of view. Due to dying at a young age, Wednesday would theorise that it was entirely possible that emotional maturation had possibly halted, but then again she was not dead and thus could on theorise.

[hurtcomfort]

There's a small pause before Cole continues with, "I'm Cole."

She seems nice. She seems...easy to understand. People use words for the sake of using words, Wednesday doesn't seem to be one of those sorts of people.

[outofthemanor]

She nods in greeting.

"Wednesday Addams," is how she introduces herself. She would need to agree with his assessment. It's not that she can't run away with the words, it's just that she prefers not to.

[hurtcomfort]

"It's nice to meet you, Wednesday." And the two sit in silence for a moment, Cole looking out at the people in the pub.

"I wish I could have gone to the rally. Even if nothing happened, at least it would be something new."

[outofthemanor]

"Are you confined to this area?" She's curious.

[hurtcomfort]

"Sort of? I can go far, go further than expected, but rivers stop me and it hurts if I leave for too long." It's best if he stays in this area. It's safe, it's familiar. But Cole can leave and can explore somewhere else if needed.

[outofthemanor]

"Unfortunate." He has to be a young spirit, she thinks. Though her experiences have been with family members, and it's likely that connection can allow for greater movement.