meadowlarklogs | EVENT #010.1

Entry tags:

EVENT #010.1

WHO: Anyone who signed up to go to Antarctica!
WHERE: The Drake Passage, Adelaide Island, and surrounding areas.
WHEN: In the days leading up to May 21, 2512.
WHAT: Trip to Antarctica, as well as an event prelude!
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Seismic activity, weird biological creatures, and sea sickness. Please look at our additional notes down below!

> EVENT #010.1 PRELUDE

Heading through the gate and into New Magellan is the easy part – it's just a hop, skip and a jump from the New Amsterdam gate. It's early in the morning, and the sun is barely peeking over the horizon when a group of mismatched, highly unlikely, unseasoned scrubs make their way to the lowermost point on the globe. They're led by Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, and they're heading on an expedition to Antarctica in search of abnormal creatures whose existence has almost been lost among passing mentions. The scientific community does seem to remember, though, as do those interested enough to fund this little haphazardly put together expedition.

They're equipped with heavy coats and supplies, dragging what they need between the two gates. There's no need to be particularly punctual, as the research team that's meeting them is already on Deception Island. When they get to New Magellan's southern port, it's cold. The wind, harsh and dry, makes for pink noses and cheeks, biting at any bare skin that's left to its devices. It's only the first leg of the trip, and conditions are about to get worse from there. There's no train through the Drake Passage, and every step further is colder, more treacherous, and more demanding.

> GETTING TO ADELAIDE ISLAND

Getting to this island via boat is going to be treacherous for all of the characters on their way! While scientific enhancements in medication (High Quality Dramamine!) and boats will help, the characters will be taking The Drake Passage over to Adelaide. What does this mean for them? A miserable time ahead, all things considered. They'll have to battle nausea while dealing with terrible currents. This is the most unpleasant body of water in the world. Global warming caused things to change, but not enough to make travel much easier.

Anyone taking the trip will be given dramamine to deal with the motion sickness, but it'll be up to them to take it. Even then, there's a high chance that it won't work. The people navigating the boat across The Passage will be used to their passengers getting violently ill. It's a part of the rite of passage for this kind of trip.

(For some extra info from our science consultant on The Drake Passage, go here!)

> ARRIVAL/RESEARCH TIME

Needless to say, upon arrival it is very cold. Everyone will need to have specific cold weather gear, and anyone who seems ill-equipped to handle it will be kept indoors and forced to bag and record any samples collected. In addition, anyone who doesn't pick up on how to take and handle samples before they're brought indoors will also be relegated to that. There won't be a lot of need for muscle on this trip. Overall, it's largely going to be a peaceful endeavor, albeit with a lot of signs that things could have turned for the worse at some point.

As for research, characters will be working on both Adelaide Island and taking a short boat trip to Deception Island. The team there will explain that there used to be facilities located on Deception Island, but after they got destroyed several times over throughout the centuries, all samples from there were taken back to Adelaide Island for analysis. Field research time.

> WILDLIFE AND SAMPLES

In this region, most of the more "common" creatures that have made it are the following:

◉ Nototheniodei fish
◉ Leopard seals
◉ Antarctic octopuses with sub-zero venom

In addition, the surface area is very spiky and unusual, albeit lacking in any color. It's extremely monochrome.

This research trip will not be focused on these more typical creatures, albeit the researchers and Displaced could still take samples to see if any of them have evolved in unusual ways (especially given the unusual reptilian creatures found here before).

Other than these more common creatures, anything else the Displaced might find will be uniquely mummified due to the lack of humidity in the area (AKA it's extremely dry). Characters will be able to find the following (again, mummified):

◉ Reptilian creatures with exoskeletons like the one we referred to above (some of these are gator-like, while others are snake-like)
◉ Thick-furred walrus-like creatures, taking up massive amounts of real estate (so to speak) in the ice
◉ Featherless birds with retractable claws for talons
◉ Unusual mollusks with thick, spiky shells and legs that extend from them (these in particular are venomous, so they will need to be careful when extracting them—even breathing in their vicinity could be dangerous)

> HACKING INTERLUDE

William's skill set will also be relegated to the indoors, but that means he'll be able to dig into the servers there via the local connection to see what's what. This particular research facility has been around for a long while, with some of its most unusual findings starting around 200 years ago. At the time, thanks to the large amount of ice that was melting, they found (equally mummified) bodies that were buried on Deception Island. Most of the clothing would be carbon-dated to the early 1800s. No one really knows how these people got here, but several of them had scarification and tattoos of various geometric symbols. Otherwise, these samples were passed off to labs elsewhere, as human remains aren't really in their wheelhouse. For what it's worth, none of these humans came up as unique in any way (in terms of biology) in the findings by those other labs.

Otherwise, William will learn that the laboratory is doing its best to publish its findings there, especially as they've found more and more unique creatures in the past year. Despite its best efforts, they've been running into roadblock after roadblock. There have been questions of integrity around their findings, and several attempts to pull funding from the area. None of these attempts seem as if they're intended to go through. On the contrary, they're clearly meant as scare tactics to keep the researchers there working but never getting any information out. They'll see this current expedition as an opportunity to bypass that process to get their news about these weird evolutionary formations out into the world.

> TROUBLE LURKS (EARTHQUAKE AND MORE)

After a few days of research, the ground will begin to rumble right before a massive earthquake occurs, causing massive damage in the area and sending shocks through the world. Knowing about the risk of the volcanic activity, the researchers will advise everyone to get moving. While the volcano won't be erupting yet, there will be a risk of a tsunami on the horizon, so they will need to move. The Richter scale of this earthquake will be around an 8.2, causing a great deal of damage and likely costing the lives of a few valuable NPCs (as they won't make it back to a mediunit in time).

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Elsewhere, this will have an impact on the megacities, as there will be rolling brownouts. The mods will be detailing this in the Arrival Log (which goes up on July 11, 2020), so please don't post about this earthquake until then! As an equally important note, anyone who's on the Antarctica trip will not be present for the arrival log. We promise there will be cool stuff in New Amsterdam for the Arrival Log, however!

In addition, we suggest that the characters have at least four glowing relics on hand so they can make a makeshift gate to get out of there. This gate will probably be destroyed due to the damage in Antarctica following their escape.

Please see this link for the full player plot here!

> NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Despite growing up in California, Ian Fowler has never learned how to surf. He was born in NorCal, thank you all very much, very far away from the beach and the ocean. In his tiny town of Weaverville, the closest thing he had was a lake. Lakes are fine. Lakes are still. Lakes don't move around or throw you against the wall.

Later, when he moved down to Berkeley, trips to the beach were more of the weed smoking grilling burgers kind than the put on a wet suit and try not to drown kind. They were so poor growing up that owning a boat was a laughable prospect, and once he started making steady income he never had the patience or the interest.

He has been on one.

It was, like, a ferry. Took him from Staten Island to Manhattan and back again. It was great.

This is not great. As well-prepared as he'd made himself for the cold, he was not ready for the seasickness. Took the Dramamine, sure, but that's like spitting on a forest fire. Will, bless him, tried his hardest to distract Ian from the churning and the god-awful vertigo back-and-forth, but he only makes it about an hour before he breaks off toward the starboard side railing.

...to puke up everything he ever ate over the side of the boat.

Cool.

Even when it stops it doesn't really stop, and he pulls back only far enough to rest his forehead on the arms still gripping onto the rail, bent at the waist, staring down at the deck and trying not to go for round tw—

—fuck.

Nope.

Trying not to go for round three.

Eloquently: ]

Fuck boats.

( It's Ian's pale face that clues Will into Ian not kidding about his nausea. Instead of making a joke or offering a second dramamine (and instead of acknowledging he's not doing great himself, better than Ian of course, but not great), Will tries distracting him. Will is a good listener, but Ian isn't a talker. So, Will takes the reins, spinning a tale of his own trip on the choppy seas to the island of Lian-Yu, an island his father had been shipwrecked on (yes, Ian, like Castaway). He'd paid a fisherman to take him and he had to swim the rest of the way. it was an ordeal.

Of course, midway through talking about Roy Harper, Ian goes flying.

William doesn't know what to do. He's not the friend or ... friend with benefits that does the comforting. He doesn't see this part. He knows it exists. He's had food poisoning before.

This feels worse than food poisoning.

Coming closer, he lets himself put a hand on Ian's back. Without thinking, he begins to rub, circling his palm. )

And if I promise not all boats are like this?

( True, Ian is currently throwing up. Although, he seems to be between right this second. But, still, William leans close. His hand moves from his back to his side and then rests in Ian's backpocket. It's the familiarity and comfort he feels - even like this. )

Think that's the last of it?

[ For what it's worth, Ian caught most of the story about Will's father. Like, a solid seventy percent retention that he'll circle back around on and ask about later when he... can think. In the meantime, the only place his mind is concentrating is the churning in his stomach. The nausea at the back of his throat. That on the cusp feeling that doesn't abate even after the second round.

The back rub is nice.

Actually, it's a little sweet and also maybe a little uncomfortable — not because of the touch, but because of the intimacy Ian's gleaning from it. He hasn't puked in front of someone since before grad school. Vulnerability is something he keeps firmly to himself, locked away in his apartment or behind a bathroom door.

He is not a fan of this exposure.

Not really at the top of mind right now, but it will be later.

He shakes his head, which is more like... rolling it back and forth on his forearm. His center of gravity sways with the rocking of the ship no matter how hard he holds onto the rails. ]

Everything feels left.

[ He answers with a low groan, not even sure if that's understandable. If it makes sense. Can't really clarify. Head, stomach, everything going a little left inside of his body. ]

Still fuck boats.

( If he caught it, he'd know it was more a story of a beeping hozen, coordinates, and an island. But, that he knows it's connected to his father matters. Only Ian and Drake have heard that part of Will's history. He doesn't freely give it. Like Ian doesn't freely give his time or energy. Or affection. It's earned in both cases. Like now. William wouldn't be here. But, their friendship or whatever? It's worth the smell of vomit. It's a real moment. William's real moments have been too life or death before coming here. Or, over the top soap opera level real.

This? Feels real real. )

You're - do you think you're going to fall?

( He sighs.

He's not going anywhere, even with the groan that elicits. )

Okay. We'll add it to the minutes. Fuck. Boats. Added. Do you want to try and get inside to a cabin? You feel less of the sway toward the middle of the boat.

( In truth, the middle of the boat still holds the sway. It still rocks. And maybe it is better Ian stays to aim at the ocean than a toilet or a small waste bin. )

Whatever you want, Ian. I'm here for you.

[The boat isn't really that big, which means that everyone is kind of on top of everyone else all the time. There's no real place for privacy, even down in the cabins and... to be honest, those are kind of cramped and starting to smell a little bit like puke. Kyna has decided it's much less gross to make laps up on deck, even if she's still terrible at balancing on these waves.

At least she's not throwing up, though. She does look a little pale, and she's got one hand carefully latched onto the railing, but the Dramamine is mostly doing its job. It's a good thing, too, because she can see Ian puking from yards away. When she finally reaches Ian and William, her eyebrows go up. This is cozy, which means she's immediately going into teasing mode.]

Gross.

[Does she mean the vomit or the cuddling? Who can say?]

Am I interrupting a moment here? And there's like, five dudes hacking up their lunch right now down in the cabin, just so you know.

[ He does not think he's going to fall, thank you William. His death grip on this rail could keep him clinging to the skin of the earth if the atmosphere disappeared and suddenly sucked everything but this boat into the vacuum of space. At least he has that going for him.

This is a very real moment. It is a way too real moment. He's not a big fan of this moment, nor is he a fan of the fact that Will's reassurance is almost as comforting as it is embarrassing.

On the bright side, at least no one else--

Oh, good. He groans low and long at the sound of Kyna's voice, muffled by his arms and his torso.

Alright, Fowler, you got this. We're gonna tee one up here and whack out a home run of a witty rejoinder. Gonna really just knock this one out of the park, let's dunk on her.

Opening mouth, preparing for burn in three, two... ]

Hey, how bout y--

[ Aaaaand he's tugging himself up over the rails to retch. At this point there's practically nothing left in there, so it's mostly noises followed by spitting.

In the end, all he manages is a lame: ]

Fuck you.

[ With absolutely 0 conviction, said to the waves beneath his hair. ]

( Ian wretches and William just throws Kyna a look. Seriously? Obviously, it's gross. )

Thanks. ( And, to Ian. ) Maybe don't -- go back then.

( Not that Ian could bring himself to.

Protectively, William doesn't move away from Ian.

He still doesn't know if this is a moment or not. It's unconditional and closer than he's felt with anyone. His own 'fuck you' is at the ready at this point. Ian obviously doesn't want this woman bothering him. )

So. Is this future biphobia or does throwing up gross you out? Because I'm pretty sure it grosses everyone out.

( He keeps inclusivity. He's gay but Ian's bi. He's not about to pigeonhole homophobia for them.

Or is this about their moment. )

Edited 2020-07-11 19:35 (UTC)

[Kyna's eyebrows go straight up. Wow, this dude is aggressive.]

Dude, I'm bi. The hyper defensiveness is not a good look.

[Translation: Yikes. But Kyna brushes it off almost immediately to focus on Ian instead.]

I'm glad the tequila didn't make you puke like this. Do you want more Dramamine?

[She digs in her pocket to produce the little bottle she was given, rattling the pills.]

[ For what it's worth, Ian does pry a hand off the rail to wave it vaguely behind him. That gesture is up to extreme interpretation because it's hardly a standard one, but it's sort of a... waving... flappy... something before he tucks it back in again. ]

She's fine. He's fine. Everybody's fine. Nobody's homophobic and also vomiting's always gross.

[ If an argument starts up behind his back he is, for once, not in a fit state to play diplomat between the two parties. That's normally an area where he shines, bringing people together to an amenable company.

The only way he could do that now would be to puke on them both simultaneously and then they could turn their hatred upon him like Cesar.

Et tu, Kyna? ]

Please don't say the T word right now. I feel like I'm in Jiang's dorm room after Hell week all over again. I'm ninety percent sure I'd hurl that Dramamine straight back up.

( And Ian knows her. He drank tequila with her. And she's LGBTQ. All reasons for William to lower his raised hackles. Some people are homophobic. Obviously, not this chick. )

...Sorry. You two drink tequila together.

( It's an awkward way of (not) asking if they're friends, but William's running a bit on autopilot as he plays catch up to what's going on. )

And you're right. You're both right. Vomit's -- ( Gross. He's just being cool. He's -- a friend. Right? Not everyone does this. )

[Kyna snickers, both at Ian's complaining and William's awkwardness.]

Gross. Totally gross.

[She scoots closer, brushing a bit of Ian's hair back. The empathy bond kicks in for a second, and while there's a hint of amusement, she's concerned, too. Maybe surprisingly, she's not actually grossed out.]

Oooh, tell me all about Hell week. Did you have flashcards? Were they color coded?

[Apparently her method of comfort is "joke to distract" with a little touchy-feely stuff thrown in for flavor.]

[ Will says tequila again and Ian groans softly into his arms. You ever puke something up so hard you can still kind of taste it a decade later and the association gags you a little? He can taste a specific brand of extremely cheap tequila in the back of his throat right now. ]

We can stop saying vomit too, any time you guys want.

[ Tequila, vomit, spaghetti-os, all of those things are on his no list right now.

His voice is raspier even than his normal default occasional-rust-notes. It's an octave lower than normal, and you might have to get in a little close to hear him mumbling unenthusiastically into his arms. ]

It's a fraternity thing. I wasn't in it, I just showed up to party and nobody ever kicked me out because I brought a gallon of Montezuma.

[ And he had a huge crush on Jiang, until he finally got around to hanging out with the guy sober. So hot, but so dumb... ]

( Will slips his hand out from Ian's pocket, but stays close. They're familiar enough that she's touching him with a bare hand. He'd give a look around them, but everyone is either sick or not paying attention to the momentary blue glow.

He's done talking about throwing up and about vomit. )

You stuck around a fraternity during Hell Week?

( Sounds like he partook, too. )

Did they make it worse on you?

[Kyna bursts out laughing this time. The glow is safely hidden under her thick coat, so she just runs her fingers through Ian's hair idly for a moment before pulling her hand away.]

Wait, we're not allowed to say the V or T words, but you're allowed to talk about Montezuma? And thank God you're not a former frat bro.

I'm feeling, like, an awful lot of judgement.

[ He comments flatly, lifting up for a second to spit again over the rail. It's that disgusting tacky post-puke feeling like his saliva's too thick. It sucks. ]

Don't say the M word either.

[ It's okay if he says it, alright, he doesn't have to think about it when it's coming out of his own mouth. Hearing it is somehow worse. ]

Anyway, it wasn't... like... a super impressive frat. I went to CSU Chico. The worst it got was like. Banana costumes and tea-bagging.

[ Neither of which he was a part of, though he did occasionally have to watch it unfold. ]

I just... really, really wanted to sleep with Jiang.

[ The boat rises five or six feet suddenly, then drops back down quickly in the choppy water.

His stomach hits his throat.

Oh, fuck boats. ]

He tea bagged you instead?

( William is clearly paying attention to the important parts of the story.

The boat jolts - slowly, lifting them all up. William grasps the railing now, holds onto Ian. Once it settles back down and he can see Ian is holding himself up, he brings his arm and hand back, letting Ian do this on his own. )

So. The boat lurching. It is gross. ( His own stomach is starting to feel it. ) As for letter words we can't say, we're going to run out of words we can. Can we say, 'Hey, nice to meet you, we've never met?' Do all of those words have your approval. ( All of the previous, of course, was pointed at Ian, though he does turn, bracing himself against the railing, gripping it, looking over at Kyna. ) I'm William, by the way. Rarely do I lead with outright hostility. I owe you an apology.

Kyna. [She gives him a brief wave before locking her hands on the railing again.] And don't worry, Ian's a big boy who only cries a little bit at my dumb jokes.

[She's not annoyed by the way William greeted her, really, but she does have to give them both a little shit. And then to Ian, almost as an afterthought:]

Frat dudes are never worth it.

Edited 2020-07-13 03:22 (UTC)

Nobody tea bagged me. I didn't tea bag anyone. There was no tea bag proximity.

[ He feels the need to set that record straight, and it only sounds slightly miserable.

And no, she's very right, the frat dude was very much not worth it at all. All that puking, no results. Didn't even end up hooking up. All game, no score. Almost as tragic as this boat ride.

He's stuck in fucking limbo right now; not currently heaving, but with just enough sense of nausea to be afraid to leave his post. God knows if he made it more than ten steps away he'd wind up having to run straight back. ]

Sounds like you both have plenty of words. I think you'll be fine.

( He'd probably do better with the cold floor inside, or not if everyone inside is upchucking like Ian. )

Words you're letting us use. For the record. ( It's fun to gang up on Ian as intelligent and suave and easy as he makes everything. It's a dynamic he wonders if he and Kyna are settling into. ) She's right about frat guys. Did you end up sleeping with him?

( If it didn't end in tea bagging, what did it end in? He looks to Kyna again. )

What do you think? Do you think he and Jiang...

I don't think they slept together.

[Kyna leans over slightly, as though trying to peek at Ian's face. This is fruitless, so she gives up pretty quickly.]

Or if they did, it sucked and the dude lasted two seconds and thought he was a god because he had nice hair.

[Okay, maybe she's speaking from experience here.]

[ His sigh is so, so long. So weary. It is the sigh of a man who has lived five life times. The sigh of a mythical immortal creature who has done everything there is to do and is solely waiting to die so he can finally be at rest. ]

This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me, and I lived through the apocalypse.

[ The flattest declaration ever, and without a single scrap of emotion in his tone. Just, dead. Dead inside. Dead forever.

Pretty close to confirmation about the Jiang theory.

Wistfully, and under his breath: ]

His hair was so good.

( What an exasperated sigh. Why not cause it again? )

Hey, don't knock nice hair.

( He leans forward again, getting a full look at Kyna. She's shorter than him, pretty, with a tongue on her. He decides he likes her energy. )

And it sounds like the worst thing that ever happened to you may have been Jiang. It wasn't me. ( He's about to joke about a scale of Jiang to 10, where does he fall... but they're in mixed company and Ian is puking his guts up. See, the brackets said it, but he didn't. He's sure Jiang probably did his own fair share of puking. )

[Kyna's eyebrows go up at that. She frowns at Ian, frowns at William, and then leans down so that her head is level with Ian's on the railing. She has a feeling Ian is going to hate this, and so she can't keep a mischievous smirk off her face. Time to stage whisper.]

Am I cockblocking you right now? I mean like, hypothetically. If you weren't puking. Would I be cockblocking?

You know that scene... in the movie Titanic... where Kate Winslet is about to jump off the front of the boat and Leonardo DiCaprio's like... Don't be stupid, that water's gonna feel like Lingchi?

[ Death by a thousand cuts, or whatever? He doesn't know it well enough to quote it.

He is saying it loud enough for them both to hear. ]

That literally sounds better than what's happening right now, please push me off the side of this boat.

( William just watches Kyna's reaction (realization?). And the thing about a stage whisper is it's not a whisper and Ian clearly knows this. )

We could leave you to die. Maybe he could find the strength to fling himself over?

( William hasn't made the Kyna-connection. Maybe it's embarrassing to be seen like this, or to be seen with someone he's slept with. Kyna obviously doesn't care that he's a guy - or that they've done anything. Is it that he hadn't told his friend? William had mentioned Ian once on a date. Not in the context that this would count with, but most people don't know about it. Are they a secret? Is... he a secret? )

Not that we're going to let that happen.

( Not telling people. Wait, is there something to tell? )

It's fine, I think. He's not getting any from me like that. Like this. And I don't usually kiss and tell. So. Our one date's out of the bag?

please remember how attractive he is after this, Will

all Ian will have to do is open his mouth into one of his lopsided smiles

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