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Priority Log - Part 2
Log 06 Priority (Part II)
Still the Big Screen Car
The last two weeks have been a busy time at FONY Records! Maybe you've been working diligently on your upcoming projects — or maybe you've been fighting the sense that something is wrong. That this life, whether it's better or worse than before, is not your own.
Either way, passengers will finally receive a new objective on their phones...
From here on out, characters can regain their real memories. They can do so randomly, but the most reliable way is to work with another passenger: they will know that by touching foreheads (yes, headbutting counts) for pairs, or huddling very closely for groups, they will unlock some memories for one or all of them — of course, it also allows the other person to see and feel everything play out, as though they lived it themselves.
It's memshare time!
As passengers regain their memories, their AU lives will start to fade. Production crews disappear, texts from your parents delete themselves, your favorite coffee shop is suddenly empty... Because you can't have both.
At least one character will need to reject the AU in order for everyone to progress; there is no minimum comment count. Characters may go both routes, but should ultimately prioritize one for the AC Poll.
Remembering
As characters regain the memories of their real lives, all semblance of their fake ones will rapidly disappear. And choosing to remember comes with side effects: passengers are overtaken by a fierce chill as the source of the cold finally presents itself. The shadows in the empty buildings around them start to stretch out. These shades collect in huge swathes — and shape themselves into sharp, spindly arms and fingers. They'll grab at whoever passes, leaving them cold and constricted, making it hard to remember what's happened and trying to drag them back into the illusions of the AU. However, when these shadows have manifested, they're also vulnerable: they can be dissolved by using a strong light, like a fire, flashlight, or stage light. Even sunlight will do the trick, but physically resisting the shadows will grow more and more difficult as they sap warmth from everything they touch.
For those less physically inclined, the shades have one more weakness: real, happy memories. By focusing on something that brought them past comfort, however small, characters can drive off the shades little by little.
This force controlling the AU clearly lives in shadows. Characters can weaken it by confronting these shades, in which case they will find themselves alone with their memories and a ghostly, empty city of Danaca.
Resisting
But maybe you don't want to remember—maybe your life in Danaca is too good to give up, and you'd rather have this even if it's not real. Unfortunately, once the illusion starts to shatter, there's no stopping the cracks from spreading.Characters that don't regain their memories through contact with other passengers (whether intentionally or unintentionally), will still find their fake identities starting to fade away, but their real identities won't be able to fill the gaps. Instead, they'll find themselves... hollow. Devoid of personality, hopes and dreams. Empty.
...And in that empty space, something else might slip in. The steady collapsing of Danaca has left plenty of strong emotions and ghosts hovering in the air, and passengers might find themselves embodying a powerful current of despair or anger. Or perhaps one of the false denizens might inhabit them (Chadsef, anyone?). Contact with another passenger might also ignite enough memory to return their personality, but it might also give them the wrong one; they might start acting like someone from their memories instead, such as a childhood friend (or enemy).
Regardless of the scenario, there is one common thread: an innate desire for contact with other passengers. Though they won't remember why, passengers will eventually be driven to reclaim their original selves through memshare with other characters. Whether they get everything back before they leave is up to you!
OOC Notes
AC Check is up! The deadline to submit AC is December 1st, 11:59 p.m. EST. Please note this is a day extended as we've pushed the log back a day, AC schedule overall will remain as normal.
Memshare: To add a little spice, memories do not need to be limited by your character's canon point. That is to say, sharing scenes from your character's future will also count as memshare.
Continuing Memloss: Characters may or may not regain all their memories prior to leaving the car, player's choice. The memshare mechanic will no longer be in effect, however players are free to naturally regain memories over time.
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locomo e2 traincationFAQ & Game Info / Calendar / Taken
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2/2, Danganrona spoilers, CW: death of a minor, if you match word count i'll murder you
Rex finds himself bent over papers and enshrined by the sickly scent of ink. His pen has frozen above the next stroke. A bead of sweat pearls at his brow. The clothing is familiar but better preserved, no tatters or insidious rips, and even the wild hair has been tamed into two thick braids of a punishing weight. He has none of the muscle, none of the finesse, none of the nerves of a bona fide superhero. Pity. He could have used them.
He'll turn to face a monitor mounted on the ceiling, cozy next to the surveillance camera. The screen winks and suddenly, he's watching a stuffed bear lean cool in a highbacked chair, swishing wine in one paw like a Bond villain. It's split down the middle, half white and half black. All creep.
"A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!"
His breath will quicken. The pen slips from his fingers. Again? Horror takes a cold hold and the sweat intensifies. His thumb is at the mercy of gnawing teeth. These people are animals. Appalling. How can they allow this to carry on? He's better off never associating with them again. If he locks the door and sits very quietly, maybe he'll get to skip the trial.
Still, should he see who it was? They're all strangers and potential assailants, and his disgust for them is certainly mutual, but there's a chance the victim is...
No. He can't allow that. Heart thudding, he leaps from his seat and scurries to the door. He peers through a thin slit first, making certain the coast is clear, then slithers into the hall.
It's a school, but it's an odd one for sure. As he dashes through the labyrinth and pries open doors, checking for signs of life (or perhaps not, in this case), he's being cast under harsh coloured filters. One hall glows red, another green, then blue and purple. Everywhere there should be window, there's only sheet metal and immovable bolts. And everywhere there should be people, there isn't.
By the time he catches the first squawks of life by the locker rooms, he doesn't even clock the gatling gun guarding the ladies' side. The door's already open and he's a girl to begin with, there'll be no punishment if he slips in now.
"...can't imagine a worse situation than dealing with a stupid murderer..."
And he freezes on the spot. All the air evaporates and sound turns to a blank buzz. "Aah...Aaah!"
That swollen-uddered sea cow is pointing right at him, but he barely notices. All the world has shrunk to a petite girl strung in the air. Blood streaks from her temple. Her arms are splayed and tied between metal poles, leaving her to dangle like a martyr on a cross. Someone's dipped their fingers in her wound and drawn kanji on the wall behind her, supersized for effect. BLOODLUST.
"No...Wh-why? Why?!" If possible, his vision shrinks further. Enhances and blackens at the edges. The body comes at him and splits five ways like a foul turn in a kaleidoscope. A scream rips out, the same question again at double the decibels, and gravity tugs him backwards—
And there's nothing.
But only for a teensy tiny moment. Just a blip in time. "...hear me? Hey, you gotta wake up!"
And he does. He blows off the floor, leaping straight to his feet. His tongue slops out of his mouth and his vision's still blurred, his arms hang loose and his hips list to one side, but the wooziness is fading fast. God, it's always such a pain to come to like this.
"Sorry about that. I was just so shocked, ya know? It happens, right? Was I the only one?" No one answers. They just gape at him like a bunch of brain-dead guppies. Sheesh guys, who died?
Oh! Oh WAIT!
"Whoa! Is that a dead body?! Hey! Are you dead?! Kyahahaha!"
The burnout with the half-assed scruff winces, muttering to the rest. "She musta hit her head real hard when she fainted..."
Ha. What a moron. His limbs may jerk and jolt and his posture may scream Big Screen Fiend, but his mind's as sharp as a tack! "The world has a front and a back, a top inning and a bottom, a sea of truth and web of lies!"
It's hardly his fault the rest of this clown car can't keep up.
The vision spikes. Then fades, like a dizzy spell washing away. Toko's hand has drawn free of his, and she's teetering on her feet.
The tears are streaking down her face. It's an old wound for Rex, but a fresh cut for her. Too fresh, and far too close to home. When she meets his eyes, this time she already knows his name.]
You...R-Rex?
((Watch here: From 6:14:55-6:16:30))
no subject
His mouth moves faster than his head, spitting out inconsequential words as usual.]
SWOLLEN-UDDERED SEA-COW? Where the fuck do you come up with this stuff? Is it just 'cause she's a swimmer? Jesus... Okay, yeah, so she does have those big mommy milkers, b-but...
[It's so strange how he knows them now, the identities of her "classmates," and also how she feels about them. What felt most visceral to him, other than the reveal that she is in fact not one person but two, was her self loathing. How loudly it screamed, only once or twice waning in fear, vanishing entirely when the other voice made itself known. It, or she, the other... Took hold of Fukawa like a wild animal, clutching its fangs around her grip on reality. Fukawa, too, is a powder-keg of emotional outbursts dialed up to eleven, only she has yet to squash some of the most painful ones.]
Sea-cows don't even have udders! They've got armpit nipples. Look it up, it's a real thing.
[He only knows this after literally being thrown into the sea once and bumping into one. Ironically, the Teen Team had been deployed to help protect the endangered wildlife from an onslaught of villainous super-poachers.]
Are you... Crying?
[Sensing something wet trickle down his cheek, Rex touches a finger to the corner of an eye.]
Shit! So am I. Okay...
Um. So, I was in your body? Just now. And you were in mine?
no subject
[Just when she was finally feeling tender over you, smh.
Toko, who has called Asahina any number of vicious names in her head, on paper, and out loud, can't place this particular curse. Her head is still swimming with his sorrow, his love for Eve, the shock and loathing and intimacies of a life not her own, while at the same time being pommeled by the realities of her real life. She gawks at him for a full two seconds before it makes sense. "Because she's a swimmer."]
Ghh — ugh, n-nevermind her! Of course you'd immediately take her side. [That's the power of a double d-cup. Asahina plays stupid but she can't possibly be ignorant of her power over men. And if she is, that's even more despicable. There ought to be a moratorium on idiocy.]
Y-yes, we were in each other's...w-well, I think memories is more accurate, if it were just bodies it would have b-been just us living this moment. And you — [Were in the shower. Her face flushes and she blunders ahead.] It was your b-birthday?
no subject
[Lot. Little too mean. Whatever.
Oof, where has he heard that before. It is a horrifying realization, worse than the potential notion that Fukawa of all people would be moved to tears by a somewhat humiliating memory that he will now have to explain. If she's crying, then he knows it's bad. How sad does his life have to be to make this girl feel empathy so openly. It's so strange, to watch a (*significantly less sexy) version of himself play out in real time. Rex, however, for all his bark and bluster, has the tendency to warm up to people over time. He just needs a minute to get used to them.]
An awful lot of energy to put into hating someone. Like, is shitting on her gonna make you hotter? No!
[Rex's number goes down.
He does understand, though. Outright hatred is more active than just jealousy, as there seems to be a hint of agency to it. It also sucks to watch people outclass you, especially when they are beautiful, too. What is it like to walk around in bodies like that, to be likeable and lovely?
Rex almost asks if the name-calling helps Toko feel better.]
Yeah, it was... Yeah.
It was my birthday.
[He has more than one question about her memory, that's for sure.]
Why're you blushing?
no subject
[He's making a salient point. And it is something she ought to meditate on, truly, especially if she were to bear witness to the way his number ticked down just now.
It's too bad she's still fighting the grip of his grief, and could not be assed one iota to think nicely of Asahina. His dogged focus on her is infuriating. All she can think of is that leaden weight that had sunk him to the floor, the shame of self-awareness, all those worrisome eyes on him as he loses his hard-earned cool. The memory of his parents — or lack thereof.
In light of all that, what Toko thinks of that swimming idiot is not the issue. So far from the issue that she wants to shake the notion out of him by force.
And when he does change the subject, it's inevitably for the worse.
Toko balks and reddens further.]
NOTHING!
[Shit that doesn't match his question.]
I'm n-not blushing! You're blushing!
i forgot they were in danaca
So, just to be a little shit, he first rubs either side of his face with both hands, massaging beneath the eyes, trying to check for a rise in temperature. When Rex senses nothing, he moves on to pull a compact mirror from his pocket, a handy tool for the former "YouTuber," one he'll probably steal and take into the next car. He pauses for a moment to examine his own complexion- Not a flush or a flutter of extra color can be seen on his own face.]
Nope! No, uh-uh.
[Still maintaining a relatively blank expression, he turns the reflective surface in Toko's direction so that it catches her reddening visage.]
That would just be you.
no subject
Guugh!! Why are you always s-so difficult?! Sh-shut up about my face! It doesn't matter! You're — you're just mad that I saw you crying! [That's it. Pay no attention to the p*nis behind the curtain.] That's way worse than coming out of the show—
[
FUCK]
1/2
[This is all said in response to her hissing and scuttling backwards, something something curses, don't look at me I'm from a Hindu family and know nothing about lore tied to Christianity and/or Western curses-]
2/2
She mentions tears, implying how she must know why he felt so miserable, because he felt how she did on a visceral level when they mentally traded places. As much as he hopes it's not the case and that she has learned as little as possible, Rex is bright enough to know better, despite the boorishness he frequently displays. So, he chooses to lean into the other thing.
The inconsequential.]
I was fifteen! And the thing that's got you red in the face-
[Rex barks those last few words through gritted teeth.]
Is much bigger now! Obviously.
[debatable, lmfao]
no subject
Stopitstopitstopit! I d-don't care! I didn't ask for an update!
[She slaps her hands her face, which has by now turned to a ripe tomato, as if she could retroactively block out the sight. Her voice is tightening to a doll-like squeak.]
C-can't we please move along? I'm t-too young to die of an anuerysm!!
no subject
[Some of the hot air from the inside of his over-inflated ego blows out through his nostrils. As long as they aren't discussing his pathetic crocodile tears, they're good.]
You're not gonna like the next question I've got for ya any better, that's for sure!
[He should tread carefully from here on out.]
So. Who's the alter ego? Alternate personality. Demon possessing your ass! Whatever the fuck she is. I just know that when that tongue started hangin' outta your mouth it wasn't you.
no subject
But then she'd have to consider the context, the whos and whats and whys, and she'd be swimming in a ceaseless pool of mortification. She needs to talk to Anakin, and she definitely can't say anything until then. To anyone. Especially Rex. She'd never live it down.
She could almost be grateful that he changes the subject. Again, almost.]
Wh-what?
[Toko's eyes blow wide. She takes a step back, pulse gone from zero to sixty in a dizzying flash. All that red drains out of her face, and with it goes the punch of her protests. She sounds positively feeble as she keeps on.]
What are you...what the h-hell did you see?
[Please, please don't let it be a murder. Please don't have let him seen her at her worst.]
no subject
[At that, Rex's shoulders deflate, if only by a tiny bit. He hasn't the faintest idea what she's actually thinking, but when it comes to re-living horrors of the past, he can understand not wanting to go back to specific points in time.]
So, you were in a school, there were other kids, and there was... A body? God, and this annoying-ass bear? Like, I don't care what the rules were supposed to be, I would've blown up that thing the second it started to cackle. Or at least punched it in the face!
[He minces his words, about to say that it looked like it belonged to a little girl. That thought is disturbing. Chihiro was the name.]
You conked the fuck out, and then ol' Slurpy Sally seemed to get a hold of ya. Y'know how most times, guys are wondering, "Ayyyyy! What that mouth do?" Well, she seemed like the kind of gal where you'd just be like, "Oof! No thanks!"
I mean, who was that? Don't tell me you're haunted! What'd you do, pick up some old, horny book about a dead girl who wanted to sow her wild oats but died before she got the chance? Shit like that's why I'd rather snort kitty litter than read Shakespeare. Sure, it's disgusting! But it's probably not gonna have any ghosts or demons in it, yeesh.
no subject
It's not her worst fear confirmed. But it's pretty damn close.]
You d-don't think we tried that? [Some of the fire has flickered back, curling her hands into their usual clench.] The f-first guy nearly got blown up! And the second girl —
[Toko halts. It's not like she feels bad for that hag. But she was the first to die in full view, and it was a hideously nasty method at that. Her jaw clenches and she shakes her head.]
The whole thing was rigged, all right? N-not everyone has some magic super power to b-bust them out of a bad situation!
[But that doesn't explain anything, and it's not the part that's really tripping him up. He goes, as always, into morbidly sexual detail. She's used to it. She dishes it out herself, in even crueler turns sometimes.
Her skin crawls even so.]
Don't. [Said simply. Said low. Deadly serious, before she even thinks it herself.] D-don't say that stuff right now. Can't you t-talk about anything without making it revolting?
[Pot, kettle. What a complete hypocrite she is. It's just the image itself, of Jill in that position, of her own body contorted and crazed and debased one step further than usual. She can't stand it.
Toko stands in silence for a beat, eyes stuck on his and wide as saucers. She's been forced to confess so many times, it should be easy by now. Rex was crass but he was accepting. A little too much so. He was one of a few people who was happy to see her, god only knows why. So this should be easier than ever.
She wets her lips, parched from inside out. Her hands begin to shake and she has to tuck them into her skirt, bunching the fabric.]
...She's my split personality.
no subject
...Nah, iiiit's pretty much all dick-jokes and bad puns. I've got a few zingers here and there! But those are mostly improvised.
[When she mentions the split personality, he falters. Rex resists the temptation to make a jab about her being crazy, clinically speaking. From the little he has managed to understand about her nature and her past, she has the tendency to take comments like that to heart.]
Split personality, huh?
[Somehow, he wonders- Would a demonic possession be better or worse? At least then, everything the crazy entity did wasn't... Her fault. This situation blurs a few things.]
Are there just the two? It sounds like you really don't wanna talk about it.