un: klapbak

[clussy]

(Eddie had debated on whether or not to share this piece of information. But what the natives had said weighed on him heavily, and he felt like if he didn't and something were to happen...

He wasn't so sure he could live with that guilt.)

I asked one of the natives if bad things from our homes could come to this place. They said it was possible.

maybe some of you will think I'm crazy. Or the adults won't believe it. The adults in our town didn't believe anything and they didn't want to pay attention to what was happening. they didn't care about all the missing kids. I don't care if you believe it or not. some stuff exists whether or not people want to believe it does. me and my friends took care of it before and we'll do it again if we have to. we made that promise.

our town had this fucked up evil in it. and im not talking hellfire church-evil stuff either. I'm talking like...fear. real fear. maybe even the thing that made Fear

IT knew what you were afraid of. no, not your 'kind of' fears like thinking spiders are gross. i mean the kind of fears you dont even tell your best bud about. the kind of fears you don't even tell YOURSELF about cause the shame's so bad. IT knew you and IT fed off those fears. i guess it liked how kids tasted best when they died in terror

IT ate them too. im not saying it like sucked out their soul. no. IT would

(Eddie has to stop here. To breathe. To focus. He touches his own arm, closes his eyes, and counts.)

i cant explain how you'll know when you'll see IT
you'll feel
like you have to go towards something real bad, real scary
you'll know you shouldn't but you HAVE to...and maybe you'll be lucky like we were
like i was. and be able to get away when the fear gets bad enough.

IT takes the shape of a clown the most when ITS just existing normally. IT only changes when its hunting. IT can come through pictures or sinks or anything. i dont know what ITs limits even were

sometimes IT called ITself Pennywise the Dancing Clown. IT told me its name was Bob Gray when IT talked to me. And sometimes you could hear that carnival sorta music.Sometimes it'd lure you in with the smell of popcorn. IT sometimes had balloons. A lot of balloons. I don't know. It lived in the sewers and

I want to say we beat IT for good but we didn't. i'm not sure if IT can BE beaten.

I dont know if IT'll ever show up here
but don't trust things to be what they seem. don't.

and maybe realize the monsters you know might come here too. please be careful.

Comments

[clussy]

(It's okay, really. I really am getting used to it. I'll just pretend like you're always next to me so it won't wig me out.)

(Eddie that's -. Well, never mind. It wasn't wrong that he could be surprised into a sound, but Eddie would do his absolute best. Jake's assurance works well because Jake points out a very simple, obvious fact. Eddie liked that. Jake made things a lot easier to calm down about.

Relief nearly swallows Eddie whole. In that second, he felt a singular desperation to be there with Jake. It was a feeling that often drove him to the arms of his friends- or, embarrassingly enough, the arms of his crushing mother. Like the world wouldn't be okay again unless he was with them. So Eddie tries to sound casual- but it's Eddie, so his voice is shaky on delivery- even through a psychic connection.)

(Yes. Yeah. Sure.)

(He tried his best.)

[iisupergirlii]

If it finds you, hide somewhere and shoot me a message. I'll come running. Or flying, probably. ;)

[clarius]

Really! I think it makes sense strength is drawn from the bonds or connections one has with others. Sometimes that's enough to trump one's fear which, more often than not, makes you feel like you're all alone. [ and lorem likes to think she knows from experience. when you're sixteen and trying to help tehnorganic aliens win their civil war, you're going to need a lot of faith, trust, and pixie dust at that age.

though she has a hard time mustering up excitement when she reads the rest of his message, unsure of how to reply to it. don't get her wrong- it sounds fascinating, the idea of others being pulled from different worlds and placed in a new place they've never been before.

yet worrying.

meaning that there's a chance that if she does leave... she might not go back home. at least not at first.

that's- that's a distressing thought, considering the state the lornful light was in before arriving here. not that she shares that sort of thing with him yet. no need to add more trouble or worries for someone simply because you're having a minor crisis, lore. ]

Since you mentioned 'we' I must assume you're with your friends then. Meaning you're still together or working together to overcome this once more. I want to believe that's a good sign for you and your friends.

[justbeingknife]

[ Majima's gaze turned faraway, like he was remembering something that had happened a lifetime ago. Maybe two. What did he believe in? In the old days, he would have had plenty of answers -- his Family, maybe. Himself. The idea that even those who had been rejected and cast aside by society could find meaning and belonging in the oaths they'd taken. ]

That's a tough question. Feel like that list used to be a lot longer.

[ He turned to lean up against a blank section of the wall, tilting his head upwards with a soundless sigh. Right now more than anything, his fingers itched for a cigarette. ]

The past couple years, they feel kinda like a fever dream. Like everyone's gone nuts. I think it's 'cause of all the cash pouring into Japan -- no one knows where it came from or when it's gonna end, but they've forgotten it was ever different. And it's changed everybody.

Used to think that that the world made sense. Like there were rules. But now...

[ He seemed to come to some decision. When Majima looked back up at Eddie, his gaze was clear. ]

Duty. Honor. The people I care about.

[ Even now, with all that had happened, there were the things he wouldn't compromise on. Even if no one else felt the same. ]

[a2brutus]

I don't think I'd like that for me. Your experiences make you who you are. You change one thing, erase something, and you could be an entirely different person. There's things I'd rather forget that happened, but if it wasn't for that, I'd be a different android all together.

[rockypath]

Yeah, sure. One handed and everything. But depending on how much you weigh, a lot of people could do that I'll bet.

Gee, thanks for your support! How'd you know I was the resident fuck up? ;)

[whists]

[E d d i e. She just. Wants to take you out for ice cream or something.]

You aren't wrong. Most adults are just desperate and desire what they can't have to the point of forgetting everyone else. Everything else. [hahahahahahaha it's not like she has experience with any of that or anything....]

Maybe IT just wasn't trying hard enough with the adults. You take away the right things, and their fear pours out of them.

[this is a child, Emily, get it together.]

There's a large community here, Eddie. Even if IT were to come, I feel some of the adults here are different than the ones you knew.
I don't think IT would have a chance.

[list_maker]

I asked that question my whole life. I just wanted to fight, to learn how to shoot a bow, do what my brothers did. But I wasn't allowed because of 'rules'. So I did it anyway in secret. [The rules were wrong.]

He wasn't a funny guy. He was a shit. But... I liked him. [She hated the Hound. But at the same time she'd come to care for him. He'd taught her a lot. More than just swears]

I am a girl, yes. It's a title. And no, that's not why I left. I don't have any more friends.

I left to go home to complete my list. Of people I'm going to kill. People who killed my family. Or killed my friends...

[skyofreverie]

Maybe it would. [He's willing to admit he has those kinds of fears mentioned, but not say what they are.]

Yeah and it seems like a lot of people here believe you too. So you guys wouldn't have to face it alone here.

[deadboywalking]

but
you're a kid

[????????]

[clussy]

yea
well i was on a space station before coming here and a lot of weird shit happened there and we saw glimpses into our possible futures
and we were adults in them and a lot of it was weird and awful

[clussy]

(There's no rush to an answer. Eddie knows some things aren't so easily answered, after all. Not with how complicated life could be. And Eddie having begun to talk to adults more and more lately had made him realize that life only got more complex as you aged. Adults were more prone to lying and lying made everything tangled up and confusing.

He watches Majima, not looking away even as Majima considers the wall in front of him. Maybe everyone should had their own kinds of walls. It wouldn't be the worst idea, would it?)

What changed? was it just the money?

(Maybe it could have been. What did Eddie know? He didn't pay taxes or worry about paying bills. But Majima's ultimate decision? Eddie smiles.)

I think those are some really good things to care about. I think I care a lot about honesty too. Honesty is the most important thing. I hate when people lie.

you'd like my friend bill. he's got a lot of honor, and a huge sense of duty to his friends. I really admire that about some guys. i do too, but like, i think some people have it in this deeper way, you know?

[clussy]

i guess it's possible if you took away my experiences i'd be such a different person that i wouldn't like that version of myself either.

I dont know if Id want to forget stuff. I have before and it's really scary. And the stuff I forget is too important

Ive changed a lot lately and it's for the best i think. change is good, right?

[a2brutus]

I can't really answer that question. I guess change can be good or bad. It depends on what you learn from it?

I'm not sure. I'm not exactly meant for this philosophy shit. I was just made to kill things.

[clussy]

uhhh yeah probably. i'm only like. 100 pounds.

hehe
takes a fuck up to know a fuck up :P

[clussy]

(God, Eddie would kill for an ice cream cone. Talk about a way to his heart.)

has that happened to you? (Yeah sorry, Emily, Eddie's a little too perceptive for his age to miss how specific that particular statement felt.)

you think so? every adult i meet always seems so brave. or when they're scared it's for dumb, small reasons and it only seems like a selfish fear
i dont know if that makes sense though.

(Eddie could scarcely be counted as a regular child. It's okay, Emily. You're doing fine.

Really, if anything, her tone of blunt honesty worked well with Eddie. He liked when adults were real with him.)

im starting to think so too. maybe not all of them, but a lot of you seem to really give a shit about helping if you can.
I dont know. Id really hope so.
but I guess if a bunch of dumb kids could stop it, then so could a bunch of dumb adults, huh?

[clussy]

yeah thats kind of crazy honestly
im not used to people being so supportive? it's weird


but nice.

[clussy]

i can try. it's hard for me sometimes? i'm from the 50s and i dont always remember to think to use my device cause im just not used to it

and with IT, sometimes it makes you just
zone out so bad you dont think either and when i get really scared, i can get really worked up and my friends normally have to get me out of it to get me calmed down enough

im
kind of a pain in the ass

[clussy]

who knows? maybe for something BIG to happen.

We do. we probably pose as big of a threat as possible enemies. apparently theres already dangerous people here who mean harm to others. so i think it'd be safe to be on guard maybe.

do you know how to fight weird sorts of people?

[clussy]

(Them- though he doesn't realize it. Though he does at least think to mention:)

seven of us, maybe. i think. it always feels important.

we made a blood pact after. that somehow felt part of it maybe. whenever we make blood pacts, it feels really charged, you know?

[clussy]

people should just mind their own business. im sure you're a kickass fighter. especially if you're a faceless man- is that a secret by the way? assassins work in secrecy don't they? (That's what he's read in stories anyway. He's also not really trying to be ahead of his time in idealism here. The girls he has met who have claimed to be fighters are always complete badasses. It's hard to dispute that fact when he literally met Wonder Woman herself.)

people who are shits can be the best. one of my best friends is a total piece of shit.

oh. maybe you can make friends here. it's good having friends. they can become half your strength
sometimes all of it

are any of the people you want to kill here? (Eddie reads the last two parts and he goes a little icy.

Eddie Kaspbrak was not a violent person. Not in the slightest. But the one thing he could say for himself was that he was a completely different person whenever his friends were threatened.)

jesus. i'd go crazy if anyone ever hurt my friends let alone KILL them

im sorry. if you tell me who you're looking for, i can help keep an eye out for them or an ear out for their name at least

[clussy]

(This was precisely why Eddie trusted Teddy almost more than anyone else here (sans the other kids he has met). Dogs were inherently good. It wasn't in their nature to deceive because they were dogs. There was no benefit for them to deceive. Funnily enough, Eddie was the emotional kind of person who would benefit more from touch as well rather than just words.

Whenever his friends were trying to calm him down, it was never just with soothing statements but constant touching to his face, his arms, hugging him, and anything else.)

can you really do that? even if it's a sickness? i didnt think you could protect people from being sick. not sicknesses like that anyway

(It wasn't disbelief that has him asking so much as paranoia. He had to make sure.)

[underachievement]

[ were kids always this intense and she just forgot? ]

How many blood pacts are you making?

[clussy]

(No this is just the Kaspbrak experience honestly.)

ive technically made like three.

although if my other friends show up i need to make some more

promises are important to make. you can't go back on your word with blood pacts.

[underachievement]

[ what a strangely exact metaphor for the direction her life is taking. ]

I'm hoping that's true.

Stay paranoid, kid.