MOD LOG #3

[bequiet]

MOD LOG #3

Arriving in style
Content Warnings: Fighting, death, violence
Themes: Survival, plot

It's early in the day when it happens. The red dust that seems to be everywhere sweeps through the city streets, mixing with the steady patter of rain and making it hard to see and breathe. All red and leaving the taste of copper if inhaled, what could have been an easy day without any trouble quickly becomes anything but. While those in the community are heading for cover or finding ways to continue on through it, the new arrivals begin waking up in different cities all over the world. There won't be anyone to greet them, and leaving the room through the door is their choice - after doing so, they'll immediately step out into the city they were assigned. The streets are empty, houses abandoned, everything crumbling and in ruins. There will be signs noting their location, which they'll catch a glimpse of before a sharp push forward causes darkness to engulf them.

Waking up for the second time, in Reims but not in the Reset Room, they'll come to inside the red dust as it whips through the streets of the community. They won't be alone for long. Another person will be waking up beside them, and after a few moments of disorientation, try to attack. They might have weapons or use their hands, and they will not stop until they've taken a fatal blow. Their blood is dust, and they, along with their weapons, disintegrate after they've died. Can you stop them on your own? Will someone come to your aid?

The Sight of Lightning
Content Warnings: Poison, sex
Themes: Survival, plot

The day after the storm, the same red dust will find its way through Reims and come into contact with every person. Since the dust is everywhere, some might not notice that it's floating through the community and know that something is off. The effects don't begin until night fall, where everyone will feel the desire to seek out companionship of many different kinds. Though it is not always the case, the people that saw each other in color will "want" to be with that person more strongly than they might already, and will be more likely to confess or do something about it. Some might feel an intense need to be around another person, though not necessarily sexually - almost as if they need that person around them to be happy or content. For some, it might be a desire that can only be fulfilled by more than one person.

The effects wear off the next time the person gets wet. This can be a splash of water across the face or fully submerged. Or even drinking something.

OOC
From your mods:

Please be mindful of content - if something triggery comes up or if it goes up a rating to say, something sexy, mark your threads in the subject line. We're very flexible and allow any material; we just want our players to be respectful of each other. If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment to the appropriate post below. Have fun! The OOC Plotting Post.

NAVIGATION

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Comments

[clussy]

(It was funny. Eddie had all sorts of friends did all kinds of things children weren't meant to do. Things like smoke and swear like sailors. Being from the fifties really normalized a lot of that, and yet, as Will asked him how he knew, Eddie felt a moment of embarrassment. Would Will think he was lame or stupid for drinking? Jake hadn't been so impressed, but he had been amused at least.

Eddie bites his lip, but before he can properly answer, Will is grabbing his hand and Eddie goes pink. Majima had been there, but then there had been the time where Will had pulled away from him with the music. He stares at their hands, feeling a burning up sensation in his belly. Right. He had been asked a question.

He digs his device out since signing with one hand was next to impossible. Eddie squeezes back and finally shows him his phone.)

I got some vodka I put into some lemonade and drank it a while back. It was kind of fun. Tastes really gross though.

[deadboywalking]

[Perhaps things are different because of...the dust or the position of the moon or. Something. Will is sure there's something. Either way, something in his chest settles when their fingers tangle together.

The explanation makes him scrunch his nose thoughtfully.] how come you drank it if it tasted gross?

okay i had to reply to this before crashing

[clussy]

(His thumb slides idly over the side of Will's hand, and it feels perfectly natural. Were he of sound mind, he might have just shrugged and said that he wanted to see what it was like. That had been true the first time he ever took a sip of alcohol. That was a couple months back.

This time though it wasn't exactly true. This time....

The effect of whatever the hell is going on makes Eddie feel a whole lot more honest. So he's honest.)

Being around certain types of boys sometimes makes me do really stupid things.

#blessed

[deadboywalking]

[Will's already gently confused expression gets even more confused, brow furrowing deeply. He looks genuinely concerned now.]

you mean like...peer pressure? [William, no.]

Re: #blessed

[clussy]

No.

(His answer is immediate and easy.)

i've always been a loser. there's no point in me giving a shit about peer pressure. besides, he wasn't pressuring me to do anything. I actually am 90% sure he thought i was being a dumbass, but I made him laugh so it was worth it.

(Eddie is getting one of those really stupid, tell-tale smiles on his face. He doesn't really know if that's going to make sense to Will, but...)

[deadboywalking]

[Maybe it does make sense -- more sense than Eddie knows. Even if Will doesn't fully understand it. Even if his chest seizes up oddly, an old, dull ache he's gotten used to ignoring flaring under his ribs at the mention of a "he".]

who?

[clussy]

(Eddie had odd turn-overs for denial himself. One moment he didn't think about it at all, what he was implying, like right now. Then the next, he charged into something without giving a damn, even knowing what he was implying.

After recent conversations he had though, he's feeling more bold, more honest, and with Will's hand locked up in his own, it makes him feel brave. Maybe that's why it's easy for him to answer Will then. He gives Will a look, and then after a second, a smile.)

Jake.

(Of course.)

Making boys laugh is nice. I'm not that good at it, but I like it.

[deadboywalking]

[Will watches Eddie for a long, serious moment, turning the question over and over and over in his mind. He almost doesn't ask it. He wants to. He almost doesn't.

He does.]

do you like him?

[clussy]

(And this is where Eddie rolls back over into denial. Not instinctively. More because he is fairly unfamiliar with what it's like to have feelings for another person. It hardly helps that the thing with Jake is still soft, new. Hardly defined, even to Eddie himself, and so he doesn't feel flustered at the question, because he figures Will isn't asking That Question.

He figures he's asking if he likes Jake as a friend, which, of course he does.)

Of course I like him. He's one of the best friends I've made here.

(And there it goes. Eddie doesn't stop to think about how...he..definitely had been talking about Jake in a not-entirely-platonic way. And with some realization of the fact! And yet....

This kid could be a real dumbo sometimes. But they were twelve, so this was barely shocking development.)

[deadboywalking]

[Will isn't positive whether he's relieved or disappointed at this response. It's the logical response. It makes perfect sense.

But he still lets out an inaudible sigh before nodding.] he's really nice, yeah. i'm glad he didn't make fun of you.

[clussy]

(Eddie wasn't exactly sure why he felt so nervous, truthfully. It was creeping under his skin and he felt guilty for some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint. His hand in Will's grip was a little sweaty.)

He's

Yeah
He's special. I dont think Jake would ever make fun of anyone. He's jsut not that kind of guy. he's something else entirely, you know? he's like.

he's worth it to make him laugh and get him smiling. it's like. (Eddie wiggles his free hand around his device, trying to figure a way to express his feelings without Expressing them.)

some boys are just. really.

they're really something else. i dont know how they do it.

[deadboywalking]

they're frustrating.

[Will isn't thinking about anyone in particular nope, nuh-uh, shut up.]

[clussy]

Yeah they are.

(Though Eddie is now looking at Will, both of his brows raised. Yeah no. Sorry bud.)

who are you talking about?

keywords are relevant

[deadboywalking]

[What who what nobody's talking about anything Will widens his eyes in a desperate attempt to look innocent.]

nobody. i'm just talking in general.

[clussy]

bull.

(Eddie considers Will for a long second before casually looking away. A second later.)

for the record i like making you laugh too.

(W O W.)

[deadboywalking]

[Awww, Eddie. That was cute and awkward. Will is going to very hesitantly smile? Is that the proper response?]

you're good at that.

[clussy]

(It wasn't awkward!! Eddie stares at the hesitant smile and he exhales a long, silent sigh of exasperation.)

boys ARE frustrating.

so who frustrates you. we can play the guessing game but there's only three boys here our age so it isn't gonna take me long.

[deadboywalking]

[Will scrunches up his nose, mulishly, because he wants to be stubborn and secretive, but that's not going to last long. So, finally:]

all of them.

[clussy]

(That, for some reason, makes Eddie smile a little bit.)

So I'm guessing that includes me then?

(That smile becomes a grin as he looks over at Will.)

why?

[deadboywalking]

[Oh dear, Will has miscalculated, he thought this would be easier than the truth WELP. He sort of huddles down in his rainbow scarf, like a grumpy turtle.]

you're just. confusing sometimes.

[clussy]

What about me is confusing?

(This was...not what he had anticipated. He slows to a stop and guess what, buddy, they're still holding hands so he winds up tightening his grip so that Will had to stop too. Or at least that's the intention.)

[deadboywalking]

[Will sort of hop-skips-and-jumps to a stop, not willing to let go of Eddie's hand. The question makes him pause, considering how best to word it.]

you make me think about things. think about things and feel things.

[clussy]

(Again, not what he had anticipated at all. He angles his head to the side and regards Will rather seriously. Surely he didn't mean what Eddie thought he meant...?

That was impossible. It had to be impossible.

Right?)

Care to be a little more specific maybe?

[deadboywalking]

[Will is not making eye contact at all, thank you. It's easier to type the words, to even think the words when he's looking at their fingers entwined instead.]

i think about how
i sometimes want things and i want to do things and say things i'm not supposed to
how i want to act a certain way and feel certain things but it'd make me

it'd make me something i'm scared of being. something i get called a lot, something i don't want to be true but i think it is.
i think it's true because i can't stop it. and i've tried really really hard.

cw: homophobic slur

[clussy]

(Oh....Oh.

Oh man.

Eddie might be a little slow on the uptake at times with certain things, but this was something he could relate to a little too well. Something that was so personal he instinctively wanted to flee from Will. But he doesn't. His feet remain rooted into the ground and he found that his throat had begun to close up. There was a massive, massive difference between talking about this with Clara or Max, with friends from home, and...And this.

This which was...maybe..another boy his own age...And Will. The boy he had snuggled up with the first time they met and felt stupid around more times than he could even remember. What if he was wrong though? He could be wrong. He could be and then he would be brutally mortified. But Eddie wasn't so sure he was wrong. He couldn't exactly explain it, but he and Will had been similar since day one.

His hand squeezes abruptly around Will's, and he types out a quick:)

Come on. Follow me.

(They didn't need to have this discussion out in the open. He walks along the sand path with purposeful strides. He wasn't entirely okay with having it in public either. It's enough to make him wonder if he should drop their hands altogether- but he doesn't. He doesn't go very far. Instead, he turns down an enclosed alley where it at least felt a lot more private. As soon as they were relatively deep into the alley, Eddie was gently letting go of Will's hand so that he could tap away on the device with both hands.)

I think maybe you and I are the same. I think I know what you're talking about because I've been going through the same stuff where it never really feels like I'm in my own skin because I'm always trying hard to focus on everything else EXCEPT for that thing about me.

Ive tried real hard too.

But it's impossible to ignore with people like you around and I never know what to do with myself except mostly feel ashamed and stupid and all sorts of other things i cant. that i shouldnt be feeling.

I want things that I'm
I can't have either.

(Eddie's mouth felt dry, and he thinks, should he just be outright about it? He glances out of the alley, as if expecting to see Henry Bowers sneering in at him, the word 'faggot' spitting out of his ugly mug. But Henry Bowers wasn't there. No one was.

Eddie takes a quiet, deep breath in, and his fingers shake a little as he types out ...out...Something vague but extremely telling:)

boys