villagelogs | 065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 065-071
WHAT: The residents of Mathias reunite under unnerving conditions.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross "Outside"

DAY 065-071
ASSIGN TO OBLIVION
“No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes
place in the interim, there are some things we can never
assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.”
— Haruki Murakami

Only two days have passed since the town was fractured, leaving residents cut off from those they'd come to know and even care for. A mere two days of wandering the new streets, uncovering more secrets that continue to make little sense of this strange place. Two days with sunrises, sunsets, and nights that seem like any other.

And yet.

When residents wake on this third day, they will find that much has changed. All around them, wherever they may be, there are signs that time has passed without them. Dust covers everything, indoors and out, even areas that were spotlessly clean seemingly hours ago. The residents themselves are covered as well, dust clinging to their hair, skin, and clothing—

Clothing that they may not have been wearing when they went to sleep. Each resident, regardless of the state they were in previously, is now clad in a pair of white pajamas, with long pants and button-up shirts. Those who thoroughly explored Baneberry Hall will easily recognize these articles as identical to those well-stocked in the decaying great house. On top of this, the clothes they wore from home have disappeared, along with anything else they may have brought with them when they arrived or items from home that have been found within the borders of Mathias.

There is no sign that anyone has entered their place of shelter, nor is there any sign of what may have been done with these items or how they came to be wearing these clothes. The dust all around them is undisturbed, almost as if they had been sleeping there for quite some time, though it seems impossible for such a thing to have occurred naturally.

THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the lawn of Town Hall, at the center of the little town square. They, too, are bereft of any items from home and clothed in the identical white pajamas. There are shops all around them, with houses just beyond, and at first glance, everything seems almost picturesque. Except for the silence that is at times so complete as to be maddening... Welcome to Mathias.

SUMMERTIME
— When summer arrives, so too does an outdoor stand in front of the General Store. Sporting a handpainted sign proclaiming Whateley Farm, the stand is overflowing with a variety of produce: berries, plums, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, green beans, leeks, onions, peppers, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic bulbs. These do not replace the produce offerings normally found inside the market, but they do behave strangely. The stand replenishes sporadically, sometimes every other day or every five days. There is no discernible pattern to when it replenishes, nor is there any sign of how it came to be there at all.

— With the now-complete reverse change of season, much of the autumn debris has cleared from around town. Only a few stray leaves and fallen branches remain, their crisp colors at odds with the warm summer days. The forest has also cleared of much of the fall detritus, making it easier to both follow the paths and potentially spy things that might be out of the ordinary.

CONDITIONS UPDATE
— THE WEATHER Summer has arrived in Mathias, bringing with it warm days that average 70°F and comfortably cool nights. The skies are clear throughout the week save for Day 68 when a light rain falls from a grey sky throughout the day.

— THE FOG has maintained its new boundaries.
— Residents may now wander the southern stretch of the forest surrounding Mathias Township — it is possible to leave the paths but potentially unwise to do so.
— The fog has also retreated from the western section of town entirely.
— Access to the northern section of the forest is still blocked beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline; this section of fog will urge residents to stay huddled within the town proper by inducing a physical reaction of panic and fear.

— DISAPPEARANCES AND DEATHS continue! Max Guevara and Liz Brundy have disappeared, and now that everyone is back together, residents will notice that Yennefer, Number Five, and Tony Stark have also vanished.

— ALCOHOL supplies have run dry, save for any dregs that have been squirreled away by individual residents. Moonshine can still be acquired by those in desperate need.

OOC NOTES
— UPDATES Don't forget to report updates as they come up! Changes to locations (like toppling a few bookshelves in the library), big plots you have coming up that will affect the game (parties, major property destruction, etc), or exciting discoveries that may tie into the game's mythology (even the things provided by the mod) are very helpful to have in one place so relevant page updates can be made. IC events are also helpful to know about in advance so they can be included in the log write-ups.

— MOD STATUS My non-RP life is busy and chaotic and I continue to ask for your forgiveness and understanding as game things continue to be slower, as I cannot promise timely mod responses beyond weekends and even that is not wholly guaranteed.

— ITEMS FROM HOME All items from home that characters would normally possess have vanished for this log and will return in the next. This includes clothing and possessions they had when they arrived in Mathias, items that were found in the rain, and items that were found in Baneberry Hall and removed from the property. Items from home that were left behind by other characters no longer in the game have also vanished. (All other items and clothing still remain, it is only items from characters' homes that have disappeared.)

— BANEBERRY ITEMS The items from home that were not removed from Baneberry Hall in the last log have vanished from the property. These items will not reappear in the next log. (Please be sure to comment in the appropriate spot on those logs about the state of your character's item for inventory purposes, ie whether they were removed from the property or left behind.)

— ACTIVITY CHECK Beginning with June's AC (posted at the start of July), all tags that consist of only dialogue will count as 0.5 points, not just those that occur in an inbox thread — this applies to both AC and AP totals. This adjustment is an extension of what has been in place since the start of the game: that all dialogue-only inbox tags counted for a half-point. Since such tags have occurred regularly in log threads as well, the half-point status is simply being extended to all tags regardless of location in order to be fairer in point distribution. (Examples will be provided in the AC post to assist with proper counting.)

navigation | faq | locations | report updates

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Suddenly, Raylan was very happy that he'd asked this question while he was on the date with Malcolm. It stepped them right over any of the normal platitudes that Malcolm had no doubt heard before. No matter how earnestly meant, Raylan knew how they could sting.

His face stayed steady and studious, pinching faintly in sympathy until the end. Raylan had spent all his time hiding where he'd come from, what kind of people he was related to. Here was, of course, different, but the lack of relation stood. He couldn't imagine what that must be like. But at the end of Malcolm's story, the faint pinch furrowed further and he nodded a bit as he stared down at his sandwich for a second.

"I wish I had somethin' reassurin' to say but I can see why she might not reply." Accidental murder attempts tended to put people off. That wasn't second date material and fear was a powerful thing.

"I will say that you won't be havin' to worry about that with me at least," he offered with a soft, hesitant smile over. "Unless you've got someone locked in an attic I don't know about. Then we might have a problem." He was teasing, he swears!

That makes him laugh. “I promise the only person I’d ever lock in an attic is me,” he shoots back lightly. He takes a sip of the broth and looks over. “I knew you were different,” he says more soberly. “You’ve never been… I mean, if you were put off by this particular brand of disturbing, you could have left me on the floor in the library.”

Raylan smirked softly, but he knew that Malcolm might lock himself away, if he thought he had to. It made his heart hurt a little.

He ducked his head with a little bob of his shoulder as he looked over again.

"Ain't no way that was gonna happen. Even if I was put off by it. I don't leave people in the shit if I can help them out of it somehow. Hand them to someone who can help them better." He didn't tend to keep the people he saved. Malcolm was just an exception to the rule.

"No decent person woulda left you there, Malcolm. You give me far too much credit for that."

"No I don't. I met a bunch of people before we ended up in the lighthouse. You and Doc are the only ones that tried to rescue me from myself. You're a good person. I fell for you hard when I realized that," he admits, practically blushing down into his broth.

The Marshal's face pinched as he ran through all the faces, all the people he knew. They left Malcolm to himself? It didn't quite process, in such a conflict with what he thought he knew, but he wasn't going to doubt what Malcolm was saying.

"It's what everyone oughta be, even though not everyone lives up to that. And Shame on them for not," he said commandingly. Malcolm's love was not lightly taken, but Raylan did feel a little bad for that being the height of the bar.

"Community, especially when it comes to survivalism, means includin' everyone. No matter what other people think of them." There were Convictions here, clearly.

“You’ve certainly set that example,” Malcolm informed him. “That’s why our house is so full.” He smiled faintly. “When I met Dean Winchester, he asked where I lived. I told him I lived with The Cowboys. He told me that he noticed the Cowboys are beloved.”

Raylan huffed a smile and shook his head faintly. "We really shoulda taken over the boardin' house. I can't argue with general consensus, but General Consensus hasn't really crossed onto my shit list so of course they think we're nice. But all that matters is what you think."

And even that was a stretch, from a purely objective point of view and only because Raylan was going to do what Raylan does, regardless of if Malcolm disapproved.

"You're worth all of it. In case you didn't know."

Malcolm smiled at that, ducking his head for a moment, then he looked at Raylan.

"I think the Boarding House had quite a few residents when I arrived. I don't know that there was room for us there." Until - eventually - Klaus was left there alone. "But it would have been more practical. Too far from the still, though," he teased.

"If I'da gotten to it first, that mighta been different. Seems I'm polarizing; some people are happy to pool around me, others avoid me on sight for reasons I don't know."

He saw the other people in town. The other people that had no name and no interest in him. That was fine. The way of the world and all, but that didn't stop him from seeing them.

"But I'm pleased with what we got goin' on here, our little community. And we coulda moved that still anywhere; don't underestimate the power of redneck willpower," he said, grinning. Between him and Doc, they could more than well manage the still just about anywhere. "Moonshine's the only thing keepin' us drinkers sane."

“Moonshine and love,” Malcolm suggested, and he didn’t mean only this thing going on here between them. All the love in their house. On their block. There was a lot.

But Malcolm was willing to contribute any quantity Raylan needed to get through the rough patches.

"Moonshine and love," Raylan echoed with a nod and a smile. "And soup. And big loud messy dinners. It sounds crazy but I'm sorta lookin' forward to the next time we do that. Maybe I'll be able to make some cornbread."

He needed Malcolm. He needed all of them and it was unfair, really, to put that weight on them, but that didn't make it any less true.

"First time I've ever felt like I had some kinda real family that wasn't Arlo or Aunt Helen," he admitted with a glance down at his sandwich before taking a big bite to keep his mouth busy.

Malcolm’s little smile broadened at the last sentiment and he put his soup down for a moment to lean over and press a kiss to Raylan’s cheekbone.

“It’s been a while since our last dinner party. Maybe we should do a potluck. Everyone brings one dish.”

He picks up his soup and takes a sip. “I’d like to try your cornbread.”

"Still need to make fried chicken. Might have to work on that in a few days. Before Mathis decides we need to go vegan or something," he said with a pull of a grin, eyes dancing warmly at Malcolm's kiss. Malcolm had promised, at one point, to try it.

"We should talk to everyone else once I make sure I can follow through. See what we can't do, huh?"

He nods. Something to look forward to. He likes it.

And maybe more of these to look forward to. He’d like that too.

[ Sounds good! ]

065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

/end?

Re: /end?