TDM NO. 1

[silentspringmods]

TDM № 1 : December 2023
Part I; Chapter 1. Fires We Don't Put Out

premise & faq rules application invite requests activity NPCs calendar

Hey, neighbor, welcome to the very first TDM for Silent Spring, a semiprivate suburban 60s horrorgame based loosely on the likes of We're Still Here, Holly Heights, and similar. Characters wake up in the uncannily idyllic early 1960s suburbia of Sweetwater, Maryland, an integrated bedroom community of Washington, DC - in the same household as a complete stranger to whom they have apparently always been married, at least according to the eerily and unwaveringly chipper neighbors who seem to know a little more than they should. This TDM will give you a place to test out the setting and get some sample threads if you're going to apply for an invite. Right now there are at least 20 slots available to the general public.

This game and its world, including this TDM, heavily feature nuclear panic, the Red Scare, conformism, sexism and restrictive gender roles, heteronormativity/gender binarism as it relates to being forced into a 'nuclear family', surveillance, gaslighting, brainwashing/propaganda, disinformation, pollution/contamination, poisoning, loss of control, and uncanny valley. IC consequences can involve anything from social shunning to sleep deprivation torture, brainwashing, and nonconsensual administration of large doses of haloperidol. These are the crux of the game and cannot be opted out of — this game offers a very specific flavor of horror and it is up to players whether or not they want to engage. The atmosphere is a dystopia, and while people can certainly bond with each other in extreme circumstances, the point of this game is not an ingame domestic AU, found family, 'adopting' other characters, etc. Although this TDM has been opened for everyone to enjoy, I ask that you be respectful of the work I've put into cultivating a very specific environment. You have full permission to borrow this setting/premise for PSLs focusing on those things.

universe/setting information, role assignment, and FAQs

I. National Everyone-Smile-at-One-Anotherhood Week

Maybe you were on your deathbed, taking your last gasping breaths. Maybe you had just drifted off into sleep. Or maybe you were just in the middle of another ordinary day—but whatever the case may be, you now wake staring at an unfamiliar popcorn ceiling, dressed in a coordinating pajama set or nightgown straight out of the Sears catalog. A complete stranger lies asleep beside you. Perhaps a dog or a cat you don't recognize lies sleeping on a red tartan bed on the floor behind the mahogany footboard.

This is your house, but it’s not your house: on one of the twin dressers in the room, the morning light reflects off the cover glass on a framed photograph of the two of you standing side-by-side and smiling like figures in a Norman Rockwell painting, maybe with a third, also unrecognizable younger party in the foreground between you. A Civil Defense booklet titled ”Survival Under Atomic Attack” hangs halfway off the corner of the dresser, its pages and cover curling upwards with wear atop a dogeared Macy’s Christmas catalog. The other dresser hosts a watch box and a compact radio: yours, if you’re the one wearing the coordinating flannel shirt and pants, or your new husband’s, if you’re in a babydoll-style nightie.

It’s not immediately clear if you’ve found yourself in the fifties or the sixties, at least until you throw on the robe hanging on the back of the bedroom door and head out into the driveway at some point. There you find a rolled newspaper tossed onto the concrete beside a shiny new car, dated December 1, 1960.

Prompt Details:

— All characters wake in a normal human body with any disability aids (including glasses or contact lenses) converted to the most common form of them in the 60s unless a modern development like a sip/blow powerchair is needed for them to be playable. Although cutting edge technologies like myoelectric limbs were just starting to come around at the time, they were not common and readily accessible, and therefore are not allowed.
— Characters have no powers, and regains will not happen in this game. If they biologically need something to function that is fantasy in nature (ex: have to drink blood), that need is gone and replaced with only a normal human’s needs.
— Characters will find their belongings, up to 3 items from home, around the house in normal places for each item to be: a book on the shelf, a framed photo on a flat surface, etc. Items that don’t exist in the regular universe in 1960 may not be brought (ex: gameboy, pokeball, wizard’s staff).
— Characters may bring one normal, non-livestock pet, or may meet said pet for the first time when they wake up in Sweetwater. They can also be petless.
— No items or weapons from after 1960 are allowed, and no weapons more powerful than a hunting rifle or handgun can be brought with them. One weapon per character.

II. Death of a Salesman

You haven’t had much time to acclimate to your new life—maybe a day or two at the most—before there’s a knock on your door. When you open it, a man in a hat and a brown two-piece suit smiles at you, holding a briefcase in one hand and a brand new vacuum cleaner in the other.

“Hey there! My name’s Charlie and I’m here to tell you all about the latest in vacuum technology. Is the man of the house home?”

Regardless of what you say, Charlie the vacuum salesman finds a way to barge into your home and set up his briefcase and vacuum in the center of the living room. He insists that everyone in the family join him to watch, and then the demo begins as he tells the family how inadequate their current vacuum is and how the dirt it leaves behind will make you sick and make your wife look like she can’t keep up with running the house—but if she just buys this vacuum, she’ll be the envy of all of her friends, and isn’t it great timing that there’s a Christmas special on this very unit right now?

He tells the family he’ll give them ‘a moment to think on it’ while he fills up the water canister for the steamer function in the kitchen sink. Characters can hear the faucet running and then shutting off, but the salesman doesn’t emerge with a water tank—he emerges with a butcher’s knife.

“You took too long!” He announces. “I better get to the next house!”

With that, he charges, and begins to attempt to slice or stab whoever’s closest. You’re in luck, or at least it initially seems—it’s two or maybe even three against one. But once you attack him, you’ll notice something odd—the salesman doesn’t seem to react to being sliced at or stabbed, and if your character has a gun, gunshots don’t stop or even slow him. Shooting him in the head, cutting his jugular vein, or beating him on the back of the head are the only ways to kill him - good luck!

Should your household manage to kill him before he kills you, something even stranger happens. The moment he takes his last breath, lying in a pool of his own blood, there’s a knock on the door. If characters ignore it or say “one moment please!”, the knocks get more and more vehement until the hand is practically banging on the door. If they still ignore it, the neighbor strolls around to the window and looks in to see if they’re home, cupping her hands to the glass— but doesn’t react to the dead body. Instead she just smiles brightly, gives an enthusiastic little wave, and points to the door.

When characters finally open the door to let her in, they’ll notice that she’s holding a mop and bucket, smiling brightly.

“I thought you could use a little help cleaning up the mess!”, she says, barging past just like the salesman did before her. At no point does she stop smiling, or seem to register that it’s a dead body—she just starts mopping up the pool of blood, occasionally dunking her mop into the soapy pink water of the bucket, never referring to it as anything other than the vague “the spill”.

If characters ask her for help disposing of the body, she’ll bring in her husband, a similarly cardboard figure who assists the ‘man of the house’ with digging a grave-sized hole in the back yard and dropping the body in. The next day, the ground is undisturbed.

III. We'll become silhouettes

Whoa there, Neighbor! I hope you and your picturesque new family didn't get so comfortable you lost sight of the looming Red Menace. No, it's not just confined to the silver screen: the Communist threat is everywhere, maybe even in your own home—and the skies above. Around 1:15 PM on December 20th, they hear the sound: the air raid sirens clustered like bananas atop the tall poles dotting the city come to life like singing frogs on a bank, sending out long, drawn out calls in a chorus of overlapping pitches. The radios in every room crackle on as if by magic, and a man's transatlantic voice reads the announcement:

"Your attention please. This is Ron Chapman, one of your official civil defense broadcasters with a special message. Military authorities have advised us that an enemy attack by air is imminent. This is a red alert. You are advised to go to your nearest shelter area immediately. Find shelter. There is not time to leave the city.

Your state civil defense director has just issued the following instructions: Please remain calm. Every precaution will be taken for your protection. Keep your radio tuned to this place on the dial throughout the alert period for information. Telephone service to your home may be cut off to permit military and civil defense authorities to carry out vital operations. Do not attempt to join your family or children if they are now separated. They will be cared for where they are. Obey your civil defense warden and find shelter NOW. Take shelter in your basement or in your nearest shelter area. If you can plug in your radio in the basement, take it with you. Use a portable radio set if you have one. Otherwise turn up the volume of your radio so that you can hear it in the basement. Keep calm, don't lose your head. If you are at work, obey your civil defense authorities. Go quickly and calmly to their designated shelter. If your children are at school, they are being directed to shelter by their teachers. If you are in an automobile, pull over to the curb and then go immediately to the nearest shelter area. Do not leave your car where it will block traffic.

This station will continue to stay on the air throughout the alert period to bring you authentic information and official instructions. Stay tuned to 640 or 1240 kilocycles on your radio for official information. Refuse to listen to unauthorized rumors or broadcasts. This is your official civil defense broadcast . . . Your attention please. This is Ron Chapman, one of your official civil defense broadcasters with a special message . . ."

If characters are at the high school, teachers will usher them out of the classroom and down a single packed cement staircase in the direction of the basement, past a yellow and black sign on the wall over the hand railing that reads FALLOUT SHELTER. They don't visibly panic—but it's clear to almost everyone that the teachers are just as afraid as they are, if not moreso. They've simply been deliberately trained not to show it, though there is a quality to the eyes that training can never reach.

The portable emergency radios echo off of the cement floor and stacked barrels of drinking water lining the walls opposite unopened boxes of survival rations. Teachers call roll in strained voices, accounting for every student left in their care—and then, once everyone is in, the heavy metal door to the shelter is closed, shutting out the aboveground world as Principal Jones tells everyone to stay quiet so they can hear the portable radios.

Characters at home have the option of going into the basements of the homes they awoke in, which have some survival rations but hardly qualify as fully outfitted bunkers, or disregarding the civil defense office's commands and risking it to seek safety in the community fallout shelter beneath the Sweetwater Fire Department. It is up to each "couple" whether they split up or seek safety in numbers, whether they prioritize immediacy or amount of protection.

If characters decide to hunker down in the fallout shelter under the fire department, they will be joined by dozens of their terrified neighbors. Responses vary dramatically: some seem almost catatonic, as though unable to believe that the events before them are really unfolding; others weep with fear. A woman breaks free of her husband's arms, screaming that she has to get her son, but a firefighter keeps her from climbing back up the staircase more and more people stream down.

Regardless of where characters choose to shelter, they are trapped there for the next five hours, listening to the Maryland civil defense director's warning circulate over and over in the claustrophobic space. Now might be a good time to field any questions to Dick Clark, your town Civil Defense Officer and Police Chief.

—until at last, the message changes.

"Your attention please. This is Ron Chapman, one of your official civil defense broadcasters with a special message. Military authorities have advised us that the anticipated enemy attack has been diverted. You may now leave shelter and rejoin your families. This concludes the red alert. Your attention please . . ."

Uh oh. Hope you didn't say anything in the heat of the moment you might now regret.

IV. There's no place like (your new) home for the holidays

What a stressful week–even if the townspeople don’t seem too phased by it. In fact, they’re acting as if nothing’s happened at all, and will laugh off any suggestion that anything different might be the case. The neighborhood Christmas party at the grand neocolonial home of HOA president Marjorie Taylor proceeds as planned on the 22nd of the month–Characters’ wardrobes, of course, already contain some cocktail attire, but if it doesn’t suit their tastes, they can find all of the latest fashions on display in the completely normal department store.

Punch made by Marjorie herself is served in a tremendous green Tupperware bowl, though those who would prefer a simple cocktail will have no trouble finding one on any of the bar carts around the house. Mistletoe dangles from the arch leading to the secluded hallway lined with doors to the guest room and downstairs bathroom, out of the sight of those who might judge a character for stealing a kiss from someone other than their new spouse. Married couples dance in the living room while their friends perch on the couch like an overloaded liferaft to watch. The air of the room is bright, jovial, loud - the red threat looms in the dark unknown beyond the windows, but for the moment, all is well. Enjoy yourself, neighbor!

V. Slip a sable under the tree

Three days after Marjorie's successful neighborhood Christmas party comes Christmas morning. When characters head down the stairs (or step into the living room on the same floor, if they're the 'child' of one of the newly introduced couples), they'll find the fully decorated Christmas tree that greeted them upon their arrival now has a few presents wrapped in metallic reds and silvers resting at its base, one for each party in the household, addressed simply with From: Santa.

The catch? The wrapping paper is impossible to open, the ribbons are impossible to tie and uncut, until everyone sits down as a family and opens them together in a true representation of an old-fashioned American Christmas morning.

Characters will receive 1 extra item from their homeworld abiding by the starting inventory guidelines—but the item has to be deeply personal, and something that they're uncomfortable with others seeing... which, judging by the similar reaction their new housemates have to their own presents, almost seems to be by design. It could be a compromising photo, a piece of subversive literature, a relic of who they were and things they'd rather remain hidden... but whatever it is, they've now been seen with it.

Players may keep TDM threads canon if both players are admitted, and TDMers are encouraged to play around with multiple possible family member matches. Have fun!

Comments

[carniravenous]

[Sokka is also not mentally ready to grapple with the prospect of having a mother-figure somewhere in this place. He can barely stomach the idea of having a father-figure; the only reason he is stomaching it is by (1) not thinking about Bucky in that way and (2) taking some sort of solace in the fact that Bucky is skilled in warfare and smart enough to look for spies (cameras) and make plans.

But Sokka also believes in being logical, and the logical thing to do in this situation is to find her, because she's either ally material or she isn't. It would be best to figure that out quickly and make decisions accordingly. Sokka can't let his personal feelings get in the way of any progress he's capable of making toward getting back to everyone, and that means shoving aside the issue of parents and treating this like another stepping stone in ending the war. He'll help find her.

As far as being important goes, Sokka is pretty certain that Bucky wouldn't be making that statement so easily if he realized who could have been kidnapped in Sokka's stead. Sokka has a prodigy of a waterbending sister, a friend who literally invented metalbending, and a friend who is the Avatar. Sure, he's important to his dad, and to Katara, but in the grand scheme of things, Sokka is not an important person. He's definitely not kidnap-and-bring-to-another-world important. It's not an argument he's going to have now, though, because they have other, more pressing matters to discuss, and Sokka wouldn't be able to make Bucky understand without describing Team Avatar to him, anyway.

But he does spare a comment to say:]

You're worth a lot more than me.

[Or, well, his arm is. It's worth more than Toph, even. So, you know, in the grand scheme of who is important — Sokka isn't up there with billions.

It's true that Sokka doesn't know the currency, but he doesn't need to in order to understand the magnitude of what Bucky is talking about. It's good information, because it gives Sokka a hypothesis that he can test once he speaks to others — figure out if, they, too, are worth something or have something of significant worth to offer. Sokka doesn't — his father couldn't afford a ransom even if he desperately wanted to — but there might still be a common thread that links everyone else. Or it could be something else. Figuring that out might help him figure out who is behind this.]

That's a good plan. [And it's kind of nice to have someone else doing a little planning, after Sokka botched his last one so thoroughly — even if Sokka is taking that plan and adding elements to it, including steps for finding out more about how things work around here, hopefully this time without enraging the neighbors.] We should find more weapons, too. I can make some, if we need. [Because how easy will it be to find weapons here? Aside from kitchen knives. Ask him about his spear-making skills.] But — [a little pause] do you need an arm?

[Not the arm, but an arm, in the meanwhile. Sokka doesn't know how much of a limitation that is for Bucky, but since he had one before, and doesn't have one now, he figures that could be a hindrance. And he also thinks he could volunteer an idea, if it is.

Regardless, Sokka's totally got this, even if it's a laundry list of items, and even if some of them feel a little impossible — like discovering the who, why, and how of this place. Defeating the Fire Lord also feels impossible, and Sokka's still chipping away at that. Of course, he has Aang, and everyone else, alongside with him — and he doesn't have them here. But at least he has...Bucky, his not-dad, whom he can't fully trust, but — it's a step up from having no one.]

[freakymagoo]

I'm not. [There's only so many ways anyone could keep someone like Bucky under control. Making sure he knows he's worthless is just one of the many tactics employed to keep him in his place, keep him coming back. And he can shake some of that mindset off, rebuild a lot of that confidence and certainty back. But he's internalised a lot of beliefs that he isn't likely to address anytime soon.]

We should be able to buy a gun. [Which reminds him - they'll need to find some money. He isn't sure how deep this farce goes, whether he's been assigned a name, a job on top of this house and this fake family or if they'll have to figure something out. Neighbour lady did seem to believe that Lee would be enrolled at the local school so it probably isn't too farfetched to believe he might be missing work right now.]

What? An ar-- no. I'm fine. [He's managed just fine with one arm. Of course he'll miss having it, it does add some complications, and they could do without all the unnecessary, unwanted attention, but it's nothing he can't manage without.]

Do you want to go get changed? We might have to go out together. [Does he trust Lee to be able to dress himself? At least the clothing pieces were arranged in Bucky's wardrobe in roughly the correct grouping, so he expects it'll look quite similar for Lee. There shouldn't be a lot of guesswork involved.]

[carniravenous]

[Well, if Bucky doesn't think he's worth much, and Sokka doesn't think he's worth much, then maybe what they have in common is a lack of self-worth. It isn't exactly an avenue that Sokka is ready to go down himself, though, even if he wants analyze commonalities as objectively as possible.

Sokka has never seen a gun, but a weapon is a weapon, so it sounds good to him. Buying is certainly faster than making weapons, though Sokka has no qualms with the latter, as he has pretty extensive experience with it. It comes with being raised in the Water Tribe, and then traveling the world on limited funds. He's good at making stuff — he even made armor for Appa, and technically, he made his space sword, too — but without having to dedicate time and effort to creating weapons, he'll able to put more energy into executing on their plans.

He nods, an answer to both buying weapons and Bucky's statement that he's fine. Sokka hadn't meant to suggest that Bucky wouldn't be fine — he knows that warriors can fight, even if they are missing limbs — however Sokka is also a problem-solver and, occasionally, an inventor. He might not be able to design something worth billions, but he did design a submarine, so it wouldn't be out of his wheelhouse. He spares Bucky this explanation, since it is another skillset he'd rather keep in his pocket, anyway.]

Yeah, I probably should. [For a fleeting moment, something sheepish creeps into Sokka's expression — a shade removed from the serious expressions he's been making this whole time. He doesn't see anything wrong with these clothes — they're easy enough to move in, at least — but running out in them was a blunder, and he's trying to refrain from making too many of those. Hence, he takes Bucky up on his suggestion, and goes and changes.

When he returns, it's evident that he did manage to dress himself properly. He's wearing a blue button-up and slacks that fit him like a glove, as Bucky predicted they might, and his boomerang is sheathed and slung across his back. He tries not to, but he fidgets with the clothes, finding them to be really uncomfortable and restrictive. Barely an hour into living here, and Sokka already wants to go shopping — for something better to wear. A hint of something earnest and reflective seeps into his expression again, and it's a testament to how he feels united with Bucky in the mission at hand that he doesn't try to maintain the hardened demeanor he had employed earlier.]

I should tell you something first. Before we go.

[freakymagoo]

[Well he wouldn't stop him from building something to fill his left sleeve with if he's really all that interested. Or maybe they'll have some time later on to work on some personal projects. Bucky doesn't need anything functional. But maybe even something to stuff into his sleeve with a not-hand that he can shove into his pocket might keep some of the unwanted attention at bay. He honestly hadn't thought that much about it.

Bucky turns when he hears Lee's footsteps coming back, and he passes a critical eye over his outfit. The curt nod signals enough approval, hopefully, even if he just grunts and reaches out, tugging on his lapel and undoing the first two buttons. There's also no need to wear his pants up so high even though they'll find that most people will insist that that's the only acceptable way to wear trousers. Bucky tries to tug Lee's pants slightly lower so he won't be that uncomfortable with the middle seam riding all the way up his crotch. It's about as casual as he can get away with, especially since he can get away with more at his age.]

Sure. [Bucky doesn't always exude the best or warmest 'you can tell me anything' vibes. But he listens at least, and he's not chatty or interested in small talk enough to seem to be the type who can't keep secrets.]

[carniravenous]

[When Bucky reaches for his shirt, Sokka tenses, just a little. This is — not something he's used to, not even from his own father. Maybe adjusting his clothing — pulling a hood over his head, or making sure he was buttoned up tight — is something his father did when he was younger, but Sokka doesn't remember. His father was at war for two years, and before that, things weren't — great, because of what happened with his mom. Adjusting his clothing is something Katara would do, but they would bicker about it and she'd end up too frustrated at him to follow through. And, really, anyone outside of Team Avatar being in his space makes him wary.

But Sokka doesn't do anything except stiffen a little, because these are the kinds of lessons he needs in order to fit in, and also — the clothes are really uncomfortable. Despite his knee-jerk reaction, he's glad for the help, because by the time Bucky is done, he feels better and breathes out a genuine:]

Thanks. I was suffocating.

[Dramatic, but also, a sign that Sokka is letting up a small bit around Bucky. It helps to have a shared mission, and to feel like Bucky can be relied upon to think things through — it also helps that Bucky knows enough about life in this place that Sokka can rely on him to give context clues and help with things like clothing. Which brings him to:]

I, uh — lied to you. [One direct lie, the rest was kind of skirting around the truth and lying through trying to pretend. Weirdly, this kind of feels like the time he confessed to Master Piandao that he lied to him — even though Bucky isn't his master, and even though Sokka had plenty of good reasons to lie. Maybe he feels this way because the lies could, technically, endanger them both — if Sokka's lack of knowledge about life in this place, and things like guns and cameras, get pulled out into the open. Sokka already made one blunder — he could make more. And Bucky may not be someone he can fully trust, but Sokka also doesn't want to endanger him. So:] My name isn't Lee. It's Sokka, and I'm from somewhere really different from this.

[freakymagoo]

Yeah. We loved our polos and turtlenecks. [You wouldn't catch Bucky dead in either of those types of shirts. He might go for an old man cardigan on top of a shirt but he's rarely ever that cold. Although that might change with his new and opposite of improved body. Buttons are annoying enough with two hands; he doesn't want his time here, however short it hopefully ends up being, to be filled with frustrations over the little things.]

I see. [That's-- well, it's smart isn't it? Bucky doesn't blame him. He doesn't take it personally either. He'd be more guarded over his own identity if Zemo hadn't blasted his name and his face out there to the world, made sure everyone could identify the metal-armed terrorist from a mile away. Hell, if he wasn't wearing dog tags with his name engraved around his neck. These days he just doesn't care.]

How different's 'really different'? [That's far more important to establish right now, and preferably before they leave the house. Bucky's not sure if he needs to give a crash course on not having a total meltdown shitfit out in public or attacking everyone who looks at them funny, or exactly what he's dealing with.]

I've been all over the world. You don't have to be afraid. [Of course he doesn't know anything about the Nations, or the war, or the Avatar. He's thinking Sokka might mean Japan or Mongolia or something.]

[carniravenous]

[Even though Sokka has entered into this conversation with a plan — to tell Bucky enough so that he understands that Sokka is working off of a deficit of knowledge — he still hesitates a little before answering his question. He does have to be afraid, because if whoever is responsible for bringing him here finds about about Aang, they could (and probably would) bring him here — and Aang needs to stay where he is. He has to be paranoid in case there is someone from the Fire Nation behind this somehow — or if not behind this, then in case there's anyone from the Fire Nation here, deposited alongside him. He has to be careful because he has people to protect, and people to rescue, and while he's resolved to tell Bucky a little about himself, he can't reveal anything that might get in the way of that — or in the way of getting him back to where he needs to be.

Bucky has been all over his own world, but Sokka doesn't think he's been to the Water Tribe, or the Fire Nation, or the Earth Kingdom. He thought it was possible at first, but he had been caught up in paranoia, blinded by a strange and dangerous situation, and influenced by his experiences in the war. It's hard to break free of that, Sokka is learning, especially when he doesn't have Team Avatar to keep on track. It feels difficult to make jokes, or act silly, or deflect the seriousness of situations if there's no one to do that for. Take all that away, and that's left is Sokka, grasping a boomerang and trying to survive.

He's already gone through all the options in his head: he can't talk about how he travels around on a flying bison, because that would lead to Aang. He doesn't want to talk about bending, because he doesn't know if anyone can do that here — and he wants to find out first. His tribe feels like it should be entirely off limits, because there's no one left to defend it anymore — he doesn't want to risk bringing any attention to it. So he settles on:]

I don't know what a camera is. [He's been dying to find out, ever since Bucky mentioned it. Actually, if there weren't many more important matters to worry about, Sokka would be asking Bucky a ton of questions. Remove the incredibly creepy nature of this place, and take away Sokka's desperate desire to get back to everyone, and Sokka would consist solely of curiosity and an eagerness to learn.] Or a gun. I know what a fridge is now, and I guess polos are clothes — or a punishment. [Sokka will be anti-1960's fashion until the end of time. How is he supposed to fight in this?] But I hadn't heard of those before, either.

[Congratulations on your new not-son, Bucky. He's new to the concept of electricity and vehicles that can move without the power of bending, and he's definitely bound to upset more neighbors, but he's a quick learner who doesn't shy away from the horrors of war. (And this kind of like war, isn't it? War against whomever brought them here.) He's also discovered he really likes Bucky's pancakes, so small blessings?]

[freakymagoo]

Oh. [Oh boy. Where does he even start? Well he sort of knows a little bit about how a camera works. It's got. Mirrors and shit in it right? But that's not really the crux of the problem. There's a lot to explain about-- well. Everything.]

Polos are clothes. [And Sokka must be from a lot further, or at least a lot further back, than Bucky had assumed. He doesn't actually mind showing him things slowly? But they'd be in the house all day, all week even, if they really went into everything in detail. And Sokka had seemed very eager to leave.]

I can. Try to explain anything, if you want. Not necessarily well but. Enough to get by. [But now that Bucky is mindful of this, he figures he should try to understand exactly what Sokka does and doesn't know, and cover the most important basics.

Somehow, the boomerang still doesn't really make a lot of sense? But hey, they can now do not-father-and-son things together like learning how to shoot or change a tire...]

Do you want me to-- go through things in the house or do you just want to go out for a while?

cannot wait until bucky takes him to a shooting range...and sokka shows him how to throw a boomerang

[carniravenous]

[Sokka isn't sure what he's waiting for, after saying all of that, but he finds himself tensing all over again after he (sort of) explains his situation — as though there's still a chance that Bucky could make an inference about the Four Nations, or his role in the war — or anything that matters. He's conditioned to expect the worst because — well, the worst tends to happen to him. Just look at where he is now.

But Bucky's reaction not only demonstrates none of that, but it's also helpful, in a way that Sokka isn't used to. There have been a lot of times during his travels where he and the others needed information, or help, or even just a simple audience with someone, only to be forcefully denied. It's — kind of strange to have someone willing to be patient and walk Sokka through everything he needs to know.

They don't have that kind of time, though. Sokka doesn't have that kind of time. He shakes his head.]

I don't need that. [Not now, and hopefully not later, because Sokka doesn't want to spend any more time here than he absolutely has to. He does want to know what a camera is, but it isn't important, in the grand scheme of things.] I'll learn as we go. [He is a fast study, and he's good at extrapolating information. Technically, he grew up sheltered in the Southern Water Tribe, but he managed to learn and grow very quickly once traveled to the other nations. He can do that here, too.] But I thought you should know, in case I make a mistake. [And in case that mistake could get them taken away or imprisoned. Sokka's track record hasn't been great in that regard lately, so he's giving Bucky the knowledge he needs to intervene if it comes down to it.]

he will be so irritated with the boomerang not coming back 😒

[freakymagoo]

...okay. [He kiiiiind of needs to know some of it, unless they get displaced again in the next few minutes. But Bucky will just make the time and give them the space and the questions will just come. If there's anything useful he picked up from therapy, it's that you can't outstubborn someone without everyone losing, and as long as he commits to making the time and the space, one or both of them will come to fill it with something eventually.

Anyway. There are no mistakes. Only learning opportunities or whatever. But because Bucky had been shown the newspapers, he just takes an extra two minutes before gently shooing Sokka out.]

Here. Before we go. This is something you have to know. [He'd already checked out what's behind every door in the house so he makes a beeline straight for the basement shelter.] If you hear the sirens - the. Loud annoying repetitive noises, and you see everyone running. Try to get back here. [He opens the door and lets Sokka peer in to see the stairs headed down.]

Every building should have one of these. There'll be water, food, first aid supplies and a radio down there. Stay dry, stay warm, stay hydrated. Don't come out until the sirens stop. If wherever you are gets hit, there might be a fire up top. Always feel the door, like this, [Bucky demonstrates by pressing the back of his hand to the top of the door.] and make sure it's not hot before you open it. Got it?

[Sokka might have questions, but if they don't have to be answered there, they can keep talking once they've left the house.]

[carniravenous]

[Sokka listens to Bucky's instructions, following him to the basement door and looking down into the darkness below. He takes all of this seriously, because Bucky has knowledge of this place that he doesn't, and Sokka isn't going to spurn that which could help him.

Except...maybe he is, a little, but only because of one tiny detail that is sort of contrary to everything that Sokka is and does. He looks back up at Bucky, frowning like he's reassessing him all over again, as he says:]

Wait. You want me to hide?

[That's the opposite of what you're supposed to do if there's a battle of some kind, loud noises or no loud noises. Sokka runs into battle, he doesn't take cover and crouch in dark places and wait for it to pass. He isn't going to cower just because there are a few explosions — he's fresh from a battle where there were plenty of those.]

[freakymagoo]

I want you to live. [Long enough to be able to go back to his home, but just, in general. It would be ideal if everyone survived their little throwback to the 60s.]

What're you going to do, throw your boomerang at a heavy bomber? [Bucky shoots the kid a slightly incredulous look.] If somebody drops their payload from a few thousand feet up in the sky, there's nothing you can do. [If he's too close, he'd be dead if he's lucky, permanently injured if he isn't. Far away enough to survive the blast - there's nothing he can do for the people caught up in it. There's no real benefits to staying above ground in any scenario unless he's got some X-men ability to show off.

Bucky is done scrapping idiots off the pavement. He refuses to let himself feel any way about losing people on or off the field. But he would rather not have to deal with kids, fake his or not, running into bombs and bullets, skin-melting chemicals or fucking alien weapons. Whatever the world throws at them.

Maybe at one point Bucky had been hot and angry and looking for a fight. These days he'd rather not. If he doesn't need to fight, he won't. But he knows better than to try and convince a hot-headed young man of the same. He'll learn eventually what it means to be a man. It is not Bucky's place to teach him, despite what this quaint little town wants them to think.]

[carniravenous]

[Sokka is from a warrior culture; he was raised to fight, and to protect, and it's ingrained within him. He's been in many fights where he was at a disadvantage because he couldn't bend, or because he was armed with his only boomerang, and he has never let that hold him back. He has been up close and personal with war, and he has also been up close and personal with loss, and he still rushes out in front of the powerful benders he travels with every single time they fight — because they are people he wants to protect, and because he's a warrior.

He can't fathom the scale of nuclear bombs because he has never seen anything like that in his world. Still, he read the paper, and he understands there is a different level of warfare here, compared to what he knows. He doesn't plan on being stupid, but the idea of hiding away doesn't sit right with him. Not when there could be people stuck outside, in need of help; not when he can be useful doing, instead of waiting.

But it isn't the suggestion to hide that really gets to Sokka. It's the disparaging way that Bucky talks about his boomerang, his weapon of choice, and one of the few combat arts that Sokka is truly a master at wielding. Sokka is aware of his shortcomings, and he knows that being the boomerang guy doesn't make him seem particularly formidable, especially when compared to the others — and he has been trying to do more, by learning how to wield a sword and honing his other skills — but that's exactly why it stings, especially coming from someone with whom he has been building up a slow, albeit necessary, rapport.

But Sokka isn't going to stand around and let someone he barely knows really get to him — he isn't. Especially because, at the end of the day, this is falling back into the territory of what expected from Bucky in the beginning anyway.]

I might. [Throw his boomerang at a heavy bomber.] Or I could, I don't know, help the people who are stuck out there, or drag the injured to safety, or look for people who can't hide themselves.

[You know, just war things.

It's not that Sokka wants to die; it's just that there are more important things than protecting one's own life. He needs to get back to everyone, but how could he face them, if he just cowered underground while there were people in need of help?]

[freakymagoo]

[Well, Sokka would be able to face his friends if he listened and decided to live to fight another day by taking shelter, instead of being shot to pieces, or vaporised, or worse - surviving whatever happens to him with some debilitating condition and severe chronic pain that will make him wish he had died in the war. Maybe Bucky is underestimating the young man but he's never seen anyone bring a boomerang to a gunfight, and unless Sokka can fly or is some kind of god, sorcerer, alien, mutated monster thing or failed test subject, he's pretty sure even the most skilled boomerang flinger in the entire multiverse wouldn't be able to use it to defend themselves in an aerial assault.]

All the helping you can do is in the shelter. There won't be anyone alive above ground to help, including you. When it's all over, someone will have to go out there scraping and waterblasting your skin and flesh that's melted onto the asphalt. [When the siren stops and the smoke starts to clear, assuming the town hasn't been reduced to irradiated wasteland. Is Bucky agitated? Just a little. Just enough to make it clear that he's not trying to scare Sokka. That's just the facts of what happens when the shooting and the screaming and the praying isn't happening in minefields and muddy trenches. Mother Nature can reclaim all manner of sins and tragedies, and in time everyone conveniently forgets the soil fertiliser that spilled between rusty shell casings and tufts of luscious grass. Urban warfare is going to be years of cleanup, repair, filling scars in broken streets and building new on top of old ruins. Sokka can choose which part of the rebuild efforts he's going to get caught up in.]

It's your choice. You're smart enough to decide. [Bucky grabs a light jacket hanging on one of the coatstand hooks and ignores the fedora, although he does shoot it a wary look before quietly popping the front door open, making sure Crazy Neighbour Lady isn't going to ambush them before stepping outside.]

[carniravenous]

[This is a frustrating conversation — not only because Bucky is advocating for a position that Sokka finds extremely difficult to accept, but also because he is simultaneously telling Sokka he's smart enough to make his own decisions while also making it very clear that one decision would be incredibly stupid. And Sokka — isn't used to that kind of conversation from adults. Katara, maybe. But Gran-Gran is too no-nonsense for this kind of thing, and his dad — actually, Sokka doesn't want to think about his father right now.

It isn't like Sokka doesn't know when to retreat or stand down; he's had to do it before. He had to do it shortly before arriving here, even. But there's a big difference between hiding away, and fighting until you need to make a choice to stop. He doesn't want to hole up somewhere because it goes against the way he was raised — and the way he wants to be, for Team Avatar and for anyone else who might need his help. But beyond that knee-jerk reaction of No way, Sokka also knows that he doesn't understand life here. He's only been here for, what, a couple of hours, and already he's painfully aware that it's incredibly different from anything he knows. It's hard to be logical, because he has strong feelings about what being a warrior means to him, but he has to be logical regardless. And that means learning more before making any decisions, this included.

Bucky is the only resource that Sokka has at the moment, and the whole point of sticking with him is to learn. Sokka can't dismiss his opinions, even if he kind of wants to, because that would be stupid. He's never going to find out what makes war here so different from the war he knows, unless he asks more questions. And ever since Sokka first met Suki on Kyoshi island, he has tried to be open-minded, and he has tried to learn as much as he can. Sokka knows how to humble himself and admit when he's wrong, or out of his depth, and he knows how important that is to improve — as a warrior and a person.

So with another glance at the basement, Sokka says:]

Okay. But you're going to have to explain exactly what a heavy bomber is.

[And more about the way war works here. Meanwhile, Sokka shuts the basement door and follows Bucky outside — also warily, because even though Crazy Neighbor Lady wasn't the worst of what he assumed he would encounter, he'd rather avoid her for the rest of his time here.]

We should go left.

[Crazy neighbor lady lives on the right.]

[freakymagoo]

[Yeah, well, unfortunately they're going to have a few teething pains around Bucky's dry humour and missed landings. They'll have to work on bridging the sarchasm. Hopefully it'll come naturally, in time. Suffice to say, he has petty snips and quips, immature moments lashing out - he doesn't know how to use other... less maladaptive defence mechanisms to his advantage.]

Lead the way champ. [He mentally puts hunting down a local WWII museum on the list of things he has to do. He's not sure if it's too recent for them to have built anything, or whether this town is too small. Maybe there's a local VA at least?]

Can you uh. You can read, right? [Sokka was practically hovering when Bucky was skimming the papers but he could have just been looking at the photos and copying what Bucky was doing. He's seen plenty of barely literate guys cheat their way into military service, so he doesn't make any assumptions.]

There should be a local bookstore, if not a proper library. You can learn a lot about a town from the books they carry.

[carniravenous]

[Ultimately, it's less about Bucky's approach and more about Sokka's perspective as someone who has traveled the world without adult guidance for nearly a year. In his mind, he isn't a child, and he's more than capable of making his own decisions; that's what he's been doing throughout his time with Team Avatar. He's planned an invasion for adult warriors, and even though that didn't end the way he wanted to, Sokka feels like he was reaching the level of pride he wanted his father to have in him — until it all fell apart. To show up to a place where he's out of his element, with adults like Crazy Neighbor Lady treating him like a child and Bucky making Sokka's approach to battle sound like it's foolish — it hits a raw nerve. It's usually the other way around for him — he has judged many adults as being stupid or blind or downright dangerous in their rigid inability to think clearly. He doesn't want that turned around on him.

But he knows that he's working from a big disadvantage, and that's exactly what he's trying to fix. So he leads the way without further comment about hiding away or fighting. He slips back into trying to soak up as much as he can.]

Really? [He gives Bucky a surprised look.] I didn't think it'd be that easy. [To find a book store or library, he means.] The last time I went to a library, I had to [go to a desert, then go underground...and then escape an angry owl spirit...] travel pretty far. Do you think they'll have a map of this place? [Then, as an afterthought:] I can read. [Books and maps both.]

[It's clear he's a little excited by the prospect, earlier mood dissipating in favor of putting together a plan. If he can read a few books and get a copy of a map, he might be able to arm himself with enough knowledge to leave this place.]

[freakymagoo]

Well. We might need to prove that we stay here before they give us a card. [Bucky just assumes that this is Sokka's concern and not that it would be an arduous side quest in heroic challenge mode to get there. Considering they're usually centrally located in a historic-looking building.] But it shouldn't be far. We might be able to walk in and browse even if they won't let us borrow.

Might be a map on the wall. Otherwise we'll have to find a gas station or shitty giftshop. [Would anyone really stop them from just driving out of town? Other than the fact that they might want to stick around a little bit longer to figure out what's going on, why they were brought here and what they're supposed to do while they're here.

Yes, he's contemplating carjacking and joyriding already. No, he's not going to mention it to Sokka, even if he's welcome to tag along. Plausible deniability and all that. Also, he doesn't want to give any reckless ideas.

Cars and roads are going to be a whole other world for Sokka to discover. Especially when there are white and yellow lines on the road, raised kerbs, and places where people just randomly abruptly stop walking.]

sokka, after his first joyride with bucky: you HAVE to teach me how to do this

[carniravenous]

[Sokka once defied a spirit librarian in pursuit of the knowledge necessary to beat the Fire Nation. He would do it again; or, in this case, he would defy a non-spirit librarian in pursuit of the knowledge necessary to get back to everyone. Having to prove that he belongs here isn't going to stop him from looking for books or maps that could help him. Besides, knowledge shouldn't be locked behind barriers — not underground, not behind cards or residency. Knowledge should be used where it's needed — and Sokka needs it right now.

Sokka doesn't say this, but he does say:]

I just need a little time with a map.

[Sokka is actually good with maps, but he doesn't have a photographic memory; what he does have is a somewhat inaccurate idea of his own artistic abilities. He thinks he can draw a copy of a map; the reality is, he probably should find someone else to draw him one.

That said, Sokka doesn't know what a gas station is, but he's now considering what he might find in a gift shop and imagining the ridiculous scenario where he returns to everyone with pockets full of souvenirs. It would be nice if he could, to get something nice out of this experience. And Sokka does love shopping.]

What do you think they sell in gift shops here? [Please tell him all about the dumb trinkets he can buy.

He has priorities! The library is far more important, as is getting home, but also, could a tiny detour in between hurt? He's stuck here, so maybe he can spare a few moments...]

sokka, no

[freakymagoo]

Huh? I 'on't know. Keychains, t-shirts. Caps and mugs. Pens and magnets. Usual shit. [Bucky looks over at Sokka, studying him in these clothes he's clearly not used to wearing. Has he never seen the kitschy display in those gas stations in the middle of nowhere just off a state highway? Or the hundreds of gift shops selling junk in New York City to overly eager tourists?

All of Bucky's worldly possessions, he can pack into one duffel bag. He's not one to collect random baubles. But if it makes Sokka happy, he'll take him shopping, sure.]

You uh... traveled much? [He's not the best at small talk, but. That doesn't mean he's not interested in finding more about Sokka. Or at least, whatever he's willing to be honest about with Bucky. It's understandably not a priority during wartime, but it doesn't mean Sokka might not have any prior experience, or future aspirations.]