Event Log: Fourth Wall, Part One

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone in the city + Fourth Wall visitors!
What: Part one of the fourth wall event, hosted by Fear, Confusion, and Delight!
Where: All around the city
When: October 24th-November 1st
Warnings: Visitors from other worlds!

If you're not from around here, you may be wondering what's going on. You've woken up out of the blue in the colosseum, or near a temple, or in one of the numerous other locations in the city. You're somewhere underground and it's dark, cold, and maybe a little unnerving.

Luckily, shortly after your arrival, the road below your feet begins to light up in a gentle, warm glow. The light points you in a set direction and, if you choose to travel that way, will lead you toward the center of the city, where there is a large gathering of others who are lost here like you, people who might know their way around a bit more, and even some of the gods who rule this place.

There are lights strung up on poles throughout the large clearing, casting a comforting glow onto the tables beneath them. The tables are abundant with lots of food that looks simply delicious- though, none of it tastes quite like it should. The tarts taste like green beans, the mashed potatoes like cheesecake, and the chocolate seems oddly reminiscent of steak. In addition, there are decorations artfully placed around the meeting point. If you see them moving, don't worry- that's probably just your imagination.

Also distributed along the tables are shot glasses, filled with a sludgy, yellow substance. If you're brave enough to consume them, they taste strongly of mint and will give you a much needed energy boost, circumventing the need to eat or sleep for a full 24 hours! After that, however, everything hits you all at once, so use them wisely. Some of you may remember these shots from our How Delightful event earlier this year!

In addition to all of the above, there are also party poppers strewn around the area. Each popper can jet out some strange objects- glitter bombs, seashells, plastic dinosaurs, maybe a live lizard or two- so be careful! Feel free to use your discretion on these, but remember to keep it small!
_

Of course, you can always not travel that way. The rest of the city has plenty of places to explore- maybe you'd like to stumble in our Silent Hill zone, have a quick look around the alien orchard, or check out any of the god temples that can inspire their chosen emotion. Be careful not to get lost in the tunnels leading away from the cave- none of them can actually move you above ground, but you may run into a few monsters on the way.

For those of you who have been with us awhile, please bear with the gods while they try to adjust around these new folks! Join in on the festivities if you like, or try to orient as many of the others as you can. Start a community outreach program, start a fight club, introduce your parents to your weird cave girlfriend- nobody's judging!

Well. Some of us might be.
_

Enjoy the fourth wall event at Hadriel! Once you're settled in feel free to explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies.

Fourth wall characters do not enter with phones so they cannot reach the network- however, if you'd like to handwave that they somehow got ahold of Mello's Newcomer guide to avoid the 'where am I/what is this' sort of questions, then feel free!

Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers October 24th-November 1st.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well! Fourth wall characters will not have posting access, so grab an in-game friend if you wanted to do anything separate from the main log.
► Fourth wall characters will be in the city for at least one week, though they can stay for longer. The party will go on throughout the entire week, thanks to Delight's boundless energy!
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

[larrecin]

'In an entirely different place'. In more than one way. Richie was left at the Titty Twister while Seth left with Kate, off to continue living his life of crime like nothing has changed and taking the preacher's daughter along for the ride. Richie was apparently here while Seth was back in Mexico (which, according to what he'd heard, doesn't mean that Richie wasn't still back there somewhere too. He's still trying to wrap his head about how that works).

The biggest thing that puts them in different places is that Richie is a blood-sucking monster and Seth is lunch. The circular scars beneath the still fresh tattoo on his neck are a constant reminder of that. They're in different places now. They're in whole different worlds.

Seth stops further from his brother than he would have normally. It's for a few reasons, actually. First, he's a little wary of Richie. Sure, distance means little if Richie decides it's Seth's time to go. Richie also had the opportunity to kill Seth back at the Twister and didn't. But that was three months ago. This is now. Now, things might be different. Second, Seth has gotten a little more... twitchy lately. Certainly about culebras and those he suspects of it. Richie is one of them, but Seth doesn't know if he could cope with being the one to turn him into a pile of ash.

He's already doing a pretty shit job of coping with everything else. He's not yet willing to risk adding that to the pile.

"You went your way and I went mine. Not seeing each other again is usually the take away from that whole idea." Over a month. It was only recently that the Gecko brothers died when their car went over a cliff. Richie's doing, he knows. Because Seth sure as hell didn't do it and they're the only ones who benefit from it. He knows what he was told about time not working the same here as it does there, and that Richie has been here for a bit, but being confronted with the reality of it is something else entirely.

He thought he believed them up until he actually saw Richie standing there. That's when he realized that, despite things that were said about Richie being accurate, he didn't.

[hornrims]

Richie too has heard about time being different here, and not only time but reality itself. Seth wouldn't lie to him, but he can't imagine a time where he and Seth would deliberately go their separate ways. Maybe Seth came from some kind of other world in which this was a possibility. The venomous words strike Richie harder than any culebra back at the bar and he feels his stomach sink. Maybe he really is alone.

"I thought you were lost," he says slowly. "That I was pulled from the Twister and you were still there, left to fend for yourself. Or maybe you got thrown somewhere else entirely, there was no way to know."

The shakiness in his voice begins to even as sadness turns to anger. "I've looked for you every goddamn day. I've asked everyone I've come across if they've seen you. I needed to be sure you were safe, and not knowing if my brother was alive or dead was the worst fucking thing I've felt in my life. Don't you dare pull that bullshit on me right now."

[larrecin]

Just a few months back, Seth would have thought the same thing. He would have thought there was no way that they'd allow themselves to be separated so easily. A crazier thought is that Seth would choose to leave his brother behind. He looked Richie in the eye and told him not to bother looking for him. Everything changed that night at the Twister. Horror movie monsters came to life, Seth got to relive some of his worst and lowest moments. Things that shouldn't have been able to happen, happened. Including his own brother becoming one of those horror movie monsters and Seth simply walking away.

Said like that, it sounds like it was an easy thing to do. It wasn't.

"I wasn't lost, Richard. I left. There's a difference." It doesn't even occur to Seth that they could be talking about two different things entirely. The way Richie says things don't always make sense to him. This happens to be one of the times when that's the case. But he usually manages to get what (he thinks) the meaning is. They're brothers, after all.

Used to be brothers.

"Well I guess I wasn't here, was I?" There's a harsh laugh as he shakes his head. "I'm here now though, because despite the fact that 'here' is apparently at the ass end of fucking no where, you managed to pull me back into your bullshit. So thanks for that."

[hornrims]

None of this makes any sense. Richie's hands curl tightly into fists and his breath turns shaky once again. He steps closer to Seth, forcing his brother to look up for continued eye contact. "That's not what I'm saying and you're not listening to me. You can't tell me that you don't remember getting attacked by bloodsuckers at the Twister. They retreated, we were picking up the pieces, making bombs and shit. That's when I got pulled here, without you. And if that makes me some kind of monster you'd better sit your ass down and reassess real damn quick."

He jabs a finger at Seth, a family reflex that his brother is much more prone to, though Richie isn't without his moments. "And now you're holding me wanting to see you again against me. I didn't pull you to Hadriel but I'm not going to leave you. Though apparently you can't wait to do the same to me."

[larrecin]

Seth raises his eyebrows and looks down at Richie's balled up fists, half expecting his brother to lash out and hit him. It wouldn't be the first time things came to blows with them and it certainly wouldn't be the last. He braces for what he expects to come next. But it never does, so he looks up at his brother, meeting his eye again. He opens his mouth to say something, call Richie on his bullshit but whatever he was going to say gets caught in his throat. It doesn't take him long to switch gears though. "Of course I remember that." Maybe not the details that Richie remembers, but Seth remembers that night as a whole. It's a night he'll never forget, though lord knows he's tried.

It was one of the worst nights of his life. Seth has been through a lot of shit in his life, and yet that one night was still one of the worst.

"But it's been months since then. Long enough that I thought you and I had an understanding that us? We're not doing this anymore. You don't look for me and I stay away from you so you can play with your new little friends in the dark. So I guess I am holding that against you."

...wait, when did Richie say he came here?

[hornrims]

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Part of Richie's anger comes from not being able to pinpoint the action that has Seth so upset. They've been through everything together. Even when Seth was in prison and they couldn't directly communicate, Seth sent people to find Richie and messages were relayed. It was an imperfect system but they made it work. They always had.

"I wouldn't leave you, you know that. And if I ever did I would have to have a damn good reason."

He tilts his head, examining Seth closely. The extension of the tattoo is new, and Richie touches his fingers to his own neck, running his hand up to his ear.

"I can't explain something I've never done or seen. But I know us. And this shit isn't it."

remember when i wasn't the worst? good times :c

[larrecin]

Slowly, one by one, things are starting to click but things just aren't adding up. It's like trying to make one puzzle out of many. He can make the pieces fit together but the big picture just isn't making a whole lot of sense. He doesn't care what he was told about different timelines and shit, he still can't wrap his head around it. Is that what's happening here though? Is Richie just from Seth's past? Even if that's the case, it's not like Seth can simply forget the things that have happened between him and his brother.

Besides, the whole thing sounds like some bullshit cop-out reason for whatever this is, anyway.

"I don't know you're serious or if you're completely full of shit, but no. No, Richard, you knew us. That isn't us anymore."

And he's not sure if it ever can be again. So much has happened and so much has changed that he can't just go back. He walked away from his brother for a reason.

shhhh you are perfect

[hornrims]

When Richie said he wouldn't leave Seth he meant it. They don't have their same dynamic. Things have changed, he doesn't know why, and he's not sure how to get it back. What he is sure of is that he will try. The anger and confusion turns something in his stomach and tightens his throat.

"Fine." His voice is rough, unused to confronting anything like this. "If you don't want to see me anymore then go away. But I'm not going to be the one to turn my back on us."