04 - week four

[afflictionmods]

WEEK FOUR

Saturday comes to a close, and it’s time for some rest and recovery. Perhaps the TLC you deserve will come this week, or perhaps the nightmare will continue. It’s hard to say with things being so strange around you, from Wei Wuxian’s disappearance to the sudden addition of objects and places and creatures from your homes. Who knows what this week will bring? Nothing ordinary, that’s for sure.

You wake up on Sunday to an increase in those little glimpses you saw yesterday. What were snippets of songs, locations that might’ve seemed familiar, and creatures that were dormant, are now all alive and whole. When you go to the karaoke bar, the songs you once knew are there. Monsters and animals are alive and sentient. New business are abound. Vehicles are operable, and perhaps some of your old belongings are back, too.

However, some of these things aren’t even things that should exist outside of your dreams. They may be far too strange and unusual to be real, or just things you don't remember ever seeing. The only thing you remember about these things in particular is that they were, quite literally, in your dreams this week.

That being said, every few hours, all of these things from your homes and dreams fade out and get replaced by new sounds, places, beasts….only to maybe come back again at another time.

Well. At least there's one constant here: You’ve got a handful of new locations to look at, with the fog having spread once more, and they aren't going anywhere. There aren’t as many new places that are native to Estelline this time around, but that may be for the best, considering everything going on.


SETTING TRACKER

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

NEWSPAPER SUBMISSIONS + EDITION #1

SAGE / FLORENCE / LORELEI

MEM SHARE DETAILS

OOC NOTE

OOC: Details on this week can be found here!

Also, we have a lot of participants for the news activity from last week. Neat! Everyone who participated in some capacity will have a small polaroid camera delivered to their doorstep. There's limited film, though - 10 photos per camera. It doesn't seem like there's any extra film at this time, either.

Finally, there will not be any weekly tasks this week. You guys are going to be busy with memshare and dreamscape stuff; instead, enjoy the Estelline University Newspaper!

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

julius + rideaux

[pr159]

1.

[ Rideaux (with all-black hair in a neat shoulder length bob) and Julius (with no glasses) are both here in this memory, and look to be somewhere around the age of 13. They're sitting at a table in the company cafeteria, wearing black and red uniforms, with their lunch trays and a couple of papers on the table in front of them.

Rideaux seems surprisingly bright and playful, excitedly rambling on about some gossip he heard to Julius, who appears to be working on writing a report and could not possibly look less interested in whatever is being said to him. Every so often Rideaux takes one of the cherry tomatoes out of his side salad and drops it onto Julius’s plate as encouragement to keep working on that report for the both of them, like he’s giving a treat to a pet for positive reinforcement. ]

2.

[ In that same Spirius Corp cafeteria's kitchen many years later, Rideaux and Julius in their mid-twenties along with a handful of other coworkers are having the world's worst hot pot party. A large soup pot filled with eggplants and tomatoes (featuring some meat and a daikon) smokes ominously as Rideaux watches in amusement and everyone else stares in horror.

Suddenly the imposing company CEO steps inside, and everyone turns to look at him. ]

Well. How goes the company hot pot night? [ With a glance to the clearly toxic concoction bubbling in the pot. ] Looks like you've all been having an awfully good time.

[ He turns to look at Julius. ]

What's wrong, Julius? As the host, you should be first at bat to give it a taste, don't you think?

[ Rideaux stands behind him, smirking. ]

It does look like it's about time, Director Kresnik.

[ The CEO turns to look at him. ]

Of course, you'll be next after him, Rideaux.

[ And Rideaux immediately goes pale. ]

W-what?!

[ He and Julius both glance at each other before turning to stare into the bubbling pot. f u c k . ]

3. [ cw: graphic violence/murder ]

[ In a seedy-looking town with narrow roads, the two teenage boys can be found bickering with each other over something — apparently one of Julius’s twin blades, which he eventually rips out of Rideaux’s hands and takes back. It seems to take way too long for them to finally address the man lying on the ground in front of them, with a severe stomach wound oozing blood. When they do, it’s not the wound they’re interested in, but a pin in the shape of an orange gear attached to the man’s outfit. ]

Heh, is that badge a sign of the terrorist group?

Look at those fools taking pride in being treated as cogs in a machine.

[ When Julius kneels down to take the badge, the man comes alive and sits up, trying to grab him. Without even saying a word, Julius takes his blade and rams it through the man’s throat, stopping him before he can even start to do anything.

He looks at the orange gear, smiling as he plays with it in his hand, with the man’s blood still on his cheek. ]

I used to collect things like this as a child, from the assemblymen and directors that came to my house...

[ There’s a noticeable shift in the air around Julius that Rideaux seems to be a little taken aback by — but with the other members of the terrorist group ready to descend on them, there’s not much time to dwell on that. ]

4. [ cw: graphic violence/murder ]

[ The location turns into what seems like a run-down apartment building, complete with busted in windows leading outside, but what immediately becomes the main focus is a group of people in front of an open door into one of the units.

On the ground is a silver-haired woman in her early thirties, clutching her abdomen and clearly in pain. Lying protectively over her is a seven-year old boy with the same silver hair (did he just emanate a dark aura? It’s probably fine), in an apparent desperate attempt to shield her from the two teenagers standing over them.

Rideaux, in a word, looks different. He’s brandishing a scalpel, clearly ready to attack the two in front of him, if not for the sword being pointed at his throat. ]

Stop it, Rideaux.

[ Julius stands behind him, his tone cold and clearly not messing around. Rideaux seems more annoyed than threatened, though. ]

...Stealing my win, noble son?

[ Julius doesn’t respond, but this momentary distraction gives the child in front of them a chance to get moving, frantically telling his mother to ‘hold on!’ as he tries to get her inside the apartment.

Rideaux sneers at the kid as he works on getting his mother up, something about this particular scene clearly grating on him… and then, in an instant, he turns and slams his elbow into his “partner”’s face, with no regard for the blood that sprays from his own neck as the tip of the sword slices the skin. Julius’s glasses fly off as he gets knocked back, and Rideaux points his scalpel at the woman on the floor. ]

[ both characters will reply to threads for any of these memories! ]