03.2023 | WELCOME BACK! Hello friends old and new! I'm so excited to welcome you all back to SITW! I've made some changes to the plot and added the ability to play supernatural charcaters! So come and check it out! I can't wait to jump back into this little town with all of you!
A strange history surrounds the town, it is a place where mysterious and supernatural things have been known to happen. The reputation of the town reguarly draws in visitors and newcomers alike. While some residents avidly believe in the supernatural, others are far more skeptical. What do you believe?
The Tribune had got word that there was going to be a protest at the library. Something about books that some people felt shouldn't be in the children and teen sections, Tate wasn't totally sure, but he been told do go and get some shots. By the time he got there nothing was going on, but in the last twenty minutes some people had started to gather by the front doors.
Tate, aiming for more of a 'spy' shot, got out of his car and moved over to behind some bushes where he kept watching the group, mostly from behind his camera lens, and waiting for things to actually get started. From what he could guess based on their body language that he could see more up close in his camera, they seemed to be waiting for more people, likely even the leader who had organized this whole thing as no one seemed to know what they were supposed to be doing.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 28, 2023 22:00:04 GMT
The public library wasn't a place the man visited often. Too many books, too many words, too much flammable material. No, decided not high on his list of places to visit in Sweetwater. But, as he was currently in a philosophy course, he was always being tasked with readings and always had a paper to write. Luckily, sometimes he managed to borrow audiobook copies, even if he fell a bit behind waiting for some of the more obscure volumes to ship in from another part of the network.
He hadn't heard about the protest, stumbling upon it as he exited the building. Ferris had barely slid his library card into his wallet when a woman planted herself in the middle of his path and accosted him. "You, sir, what do you think of outlandish works like [insert book title he had never heard of] and [insert another title he barely understood to be words, let alone English] being part of our children's public reading collection?" She reached out to take his arm, as if to tug him into the group even before he answered.
"Don't mind, don't have kids, don't like reading," he rattled off, flashing the audiobook at her and pulling himself away easily in the wake of the woman's flabbergasted face. He was pretty sure he had seen her before. Probably at the high school PTO or the like when he had to present to them first what he would present to the students. The rest of the milling pack parted, and he stepped off the curb into the lot and toward his truck. He opened the door of his F250 to toss the audio book into the passenger seat and as he did, caught a wink of a strange reflection from the mirror. Ferris looked into his side mirror, seeing a rather suspicious figure hunched over a bush. His instincts flared as he turned to look directly at the figure.
To realize it was a slender young man with a camera. Not...any other strange monsters around town. Which made him a much more approachable sort of sketchy. He closed his truck door and walked through the side of the lot to the figure who ended up being a lot more familiar than he first thought. "I dunno what's creepier. The Fahrenheit 451 re-enactors or you, Tate."
Tate had been observant enough of the situation to see Ferris leaving the library and walking past the group without joining them. It would have be weird if he had joined them. One he was out of his line of sight though, Tate paid him no more attention. He wasn't why he was here after all. However, he was soon approached by the man anyway.
He looked up from his camera and over to the Chief. "People re-enact Fahrenheit 451?" he asked, focusing on the wrong part of Ferris' statement. "What the fuck, that's so weird." He looked back to the group of people at the sound of some louder, excited voices. It seemed their leader had arrived. "And I'm not creepy," he said without looking back at Ferris, his brain finally registering all of what the man had said. "I'm working."
Objectively he took a look at what exactly he was doing right now and then looked back up at Ferris with a shrug. "Alright fine, I guess I'm creepy too."
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 29, 2023 23:15:14 GMT
Ferris was rather proud of the wordplay of a classic fiction, one of the few he had actually read. Even if re-enact was probably the wrong word for a work of fiction that had never happened unless in reference to the film. Fahrenheit 451 actors? Players? LARPers? Honestly, he wasn't sure, but either way, Tate didn't seem to get that he was referring to the protesters. Or maybe he did, and the 'weird' comment was for Ferris saying dumb shit. He shrugged.
"Tate, you're standing in shrubs," Ferris pointed out, folding his arms loosely as he eyed the man up and down. Maybe it was less creepy than just plain strange, but even still, sometimes he wondered about the guy. The Fire Chief knew the guy well enough to not push. He also knew the camera was an extension of Tate's body and him looking through that while they spoke didn't bother him as much as it used to. Tate's spry, black polished fingertips handled the camera chassis and controls with a delicate expertise.
He opened his mouth to suggest those two things were not mutually exclusive when Tate resigned himself to the same point. "So, what's with the mob?" he asked, hands in his pockets as he shifted their attention and the conversation topic to the group at the front of the library. With the verbal confirmation that the photographer was working and not poorly spying on someone, Ferris felt he must have had some information from the newspaper on a story. "Should we be worried bout pitchforks? Or torches?" His tone was always serious.
A little smile quirked up half of Tate's lips at the idea of pitchforks and torches. "That would certainly make things interesting. Might make the front page if they did that." He half considered going and getting some to provide them himself but he didn't actually want to escalate the situation, even if it would make for an eye catching shot. "Nah, they are protesting some kids books or something," he said with a shrug. "I dunno, too much talk about puberty or a character who is gay or something? How dare they?" he said with sarcasm, rolling his eyes. "People need to chill the fuck out, but I guess this keeps things interesting." he shrugged again. Interesting was good. Interesting was why he still had a job.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 19, 2023 1:03:48 GMT
The Fire Chief frowned. He'd said it, but he didn't seriously condone the use of either, with or without the angry parental mob. "I'd prefer my day off stay a day off and we avoid the burning of the public library, Tate," he admonished. Not to mention that the more Tate explained what was going on, the less interested he was in giving these people the front page.
Ferris snorted at his heavy sarcasm. He supposed if he had kids, he might care more about books, but even then, he doubted it. He was a big proponent of people 'chilling the fuck out' as it were. "'Interesting' is...one way to put it," he said, still not entirely sure why the guy was in the shrubberies. Must be the angle or something. Ferris wasn't much of a visual artist. "Not much else worth photographing going on around town this afternoon, I take it?" Admittedly, they didn't get very many angry mobs in Sweetwater.
Tate glanced up from his camera as Ferris mentioned the library burning down and gave a nod and shrug of acknowledgement. "Fair point." He was imagining people holding the torches and hadn't exactly got to the part where they might use them to burn the very books they were trying to get rid of. He gave a sigh when the gathering crowd still hadn't really done much. Apparently more chatter and organization were important. He lowered his camera and moved out of the bush on the sidewalk by Ferris. He'd been there because he wanted to get the shot without being seen and pulled into the argument somehow but with Ferris standing there giving him away it was no longer an effective method to avoid confrontation.
"Unfortunately not that I've heard...you haven't heard anything interesting have you?" he asked, a whisper of hope in his tone.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 21, 2023 20:43:12 GMT
Ferris remained entirely oblivious to Tate's goals and that he had ruined them. From the sigh and the dejected way he stepped back onto the sidewalk however, he gathered whatever the man had been attempting to accomplish in the bush had not been as successful as he had hoped.
A few of those gathered spared the two of them snide glances, but Ferris returned one of disinterest, which didn't seem to be the effect they wanted. They left the pair alone for the moment.
"Depends what you call interesting at the newspaper," he said with a shrug. Oh, had he heard some interesting things this week. There were at least two moments that came to mind as newsworthy without having to try. three if he included his 'fight' with the construction crew captain, but since he'd allowed himself to get manhandled rather than hit back he was too embarrassed to say it. And because he wasn't looking to get the man arrested for assault. As for Darcy's true nature and Elijah's family problems...those weren't his business. Ferris settled for some 'less than newsworthy' tidbits as he continued to watch the mob. Ferris reached up to tug his collar closer against the cold. "There was the false alarm at the school last week. More kids smoking in the bathroom. Mrs. Castor was stuck in her basement overnight claiming it was a ghost. I met the owner of Los Diablos for the first time. The guy's...French?" He didn't say it because to him, the strangeness of that last pair of sentences was obvious.
In a town as small as Sweetwater, sometimes the things that bigger cities would consider uninteresting were big news around here so Tate never thought that any detail was too small to share. He took in all the little stories that Ferris offered. The school thing could be interesting but it wasn't the first time. Teenagers got bored around here, that wasn't news.
The ghost was more interesting. Tate loved ghost stories and supernatural theories and there were definitely plenty of those in Sweetwater. He took a mental note of the name, Mrs. Castor, and planned to go and chat with her some time soon about her experience. The last one that made Tate let out a laugh. "Wait, what!?" Trust Sweetwater to not care about authenticity. "Did this guy start the restaurant or did he take it over from someone else?" he asked, a clear look of amusement and curiosity on his face. "Does he have an accent?" he added as an afterthought.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Jan 15, 2024 3:16:18 GMT
The Fire Chief saw the way Tate's eyes lit up at the mention of a ghost and then was pleased he understood the unexplained humor of his last words. He didn't expect the man to show quite so much interest though. He'd thought for sure he would shrug him off. Sure, as someone in emergency services he dealt with a lot of dramatic moments and encountered a lot of news. But most of the time he would just send a few words to some reporter or other. Or more often, Cisco would handle that, conveniently enough.
"No idea. I'd never met him before." Ferris wasn't a local, but he certainly would have recognized Dukane. "I know, I know, anyone can like Mexican food, and he's probably not the chef," he added with a chuckle, folding his arms to keep his hands warm. "But yeah, had an accent. Lot of tattoos, something with a 'D,' I think?" Still terrible with names. "Walked into Harland's and handed out some coupons. Was a bit...tense," he said, digging through his pockets after a moment since this was the same jacket. "Here," Ferris said, pulling out two and handing one over to Tate. Tense was one word for the Mexican standoff he'd felt had happened around him in the bar that evening.
"Oh yeah, I guess that's a good point," he replied with a nod. It was highly unlikely actually that the owner would also be the chef, even in this little town. It wasn't as interesting as the ghost story in his opinion but was certainly a funny little anecdote and when in Sweetwater Tate tended to sink his teeth into anything remotely interesting, usually in different ways than most other people did. "Well I hope he has a D, would be a shame if he didn't." Tate said with a chuckle and his lame attempt at a joke.
He took the offered coupon and skimmed it briefly. "Cool, thanks man." He pocketed the coupon as something came to his mind. "Oh, hey, while I have you here. The stories about the increase in fires have been in the paper a couple times. Do you have any idea what the cause is?" No harm in asking the Fire Chief directly, was there?
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Jan 16, 2024 4:14:49 GMT
Ferris grinned at the lame joke. So maybe he had walked into that one. "Reminds me, he had a literal harem following him around. Er, female biker gang led by one dude? Same thing, eh?" Definitely not the same thing. It was only a little weird, and the fact that they probably weren't all sucking his dick only made it slightly less weird. Because none of them looked like they actually worked at the Mexican restaurant. Unless it had a...what was that place the States had...Hooters vibe. Honestly the whole moment had felt...surreal, to the fire chief.
Ferris nodded at the man's thanks. He hadn't figured out a good time to use one coupon, let alone two. He wasn't the type to use a coupon on a first couple dates and if he ate out alone, he'd just go to the bar.
The direct question about the fires he wasn't so prepared for. Which was laughable considering he knew Tate was always looking for something. He'd talked to Darcy a bit about the strange scent in the woods, but beyond that... He was still really hoping it was some teenagers, but he knew that was wrong. He was tempted to repeat the same thing he'd said weeks ago, when they didn't know anything, no one had been mauled, and he hadn't met a werewolf in the woods who could smell something out there. He had an idea, but 'vague supernatural fire beast' in the woods was...not much to go on. Or something he could even begin to explain. "Having been to all of the sites, I can tell you what it isn't," he said instead with a sigh, looking over at the much less energized mob at the library doors. "It's not lightning or electrical or chemical. It's not teenagers or any other people starting purposeful fires. And with the exception of one that's probably not connected, they aren't from campers failing to put out campfires." He looked back at Tate, expecting he'd have more questions.
Tate's brows lifted at the mention of a harem. Good for him? Tate honestly didn't know how to feel or what to think about that. He had to admit that it wasn't an appealing thought for himself personally. Not that he didn't like beautiful women but that he would miss out on the variety of other kinds of people. It did however make him even more curious about the man who owned the restaurant. Perhaps he'd have to go check it out himself sometime soon.
He listened with a frown as Ferris gave him what information he could, or couldn't. "That's quite the list of what it isn't...doesn't leave a lot of room for what it could be." He was about to ask more questions when it seemed the protesters had finally got themselves organized and some chant started to be yelled from the front doors. "I guess I should probably get back to work."
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Jan 23, 2024 20:24:30 GMT
Ferris noticed his joke didn't land, but that was perhaps only more amusing. And he supposed he had been rather serious. He wasn't really sure what else to call the group following the man around.
The Fire Chief nodded. "It's quite impressive, I know," he said, this time with a bit more noticeable sarcasm. He was just as disappointed in the lack of anything specific. Not that he wasn't proud of his team keeping things mostly in check and covering their bases. But it was more or less useless to know all the ways someone had not lit a fire in the forest. It was like knowing all the years a team had never made it to the Stanley Cup, or that silly Edison quote about all the ways not to make a lightbulb, but less motivational.
He looked up at the protestors as Tate mentioned getting back to work. Right, he had interrupted, even if things were only starting to get going. Ferris nodded. "Good to see you, Tate. Stay out of the bushes," he teased seriously, turning back to his truck. "And if they light anything on fire, call me." He left it purposefully vague. Torches, a sign, actual book burning, the library. He didn't want to encourage anything.