obscurissime: (010)
Mr. Scratch ([personal profile] obscurissime) wrote in [community profile] singillatim2024-05-02 10:11 pm

( open ) i'm with the regulars

Who: Scratch and OPEN.
What: Settling in.
When: Early May.
Where: Around Milton (Basin Overlook, the actual basin, community hall...), primarily in evenings.

Content Warnings: None intended, but really that could change and will be updated if it does.



For a guy who's used to the idea of travelling between realities, the whole Ending Up In Some Winter Wilderness isn't too jarring for Scratch. What's jarring is that all he remembers before getting here was a too-bright light and the feeling of what he can only describe as pain or discomfort. And, yes, his self-appointed nemesis was there too, which has Scratch almost entirely convinced that said nemesis is behind this. He's also determined that he's stuck here. At least, for now. Despite his best efforts he can't slip his way back into the Dark Place he comes from, which is very upsetting, so he'll bide his time by playing along with everyone else here.

In his first few days, Scratch takes the time to get familiar with Milton, mostly venturing out in the evenings. The sun isn't exactly his friend, and he hasn't gotten used to the idea that he won't cause him harm just yet. The home he chose for himself had a heavy plaid (gross) jacket inside to be insulated against the weather, which he wears with great reluctance. Too bad this hick town doesn't seem like the sort where anyone was wearing obnoxiously overpriced designer parkas, but he's going to keep his eyes out. Just in case. Until then, the plaid will do, keeping out the bite of the cold as he gets a lay of the land. One of his early stops is the community hall. He recalls it from his initial arrival, when it'd been filled with warmth and a disturbingly welcoming feast, considering the circumstances. He takes the time to survey the message board before leaving a note of his own. He'll take the time to make small talk with anyone who might also be around.

If anything, the homey apparel makes it easier to get into character.

Should someone be interested in answering his query, he can indeed be found spending much of his time at his chosen home on Basin Overlook. Like everything else, it's far below his standards, but he's drawn to the multiple wood burners. He doesn't bother tidying up outside. The ground is too frozen to tend the dead garden, and keeping things alive is sort of the opposite of his schtick. Inside, though, he's content enough to clean the place up. The cottage may be beneath him, but that doesn't mean he has to live in squalor. Others living on the street, or even those passing by, may notice the soft light of fires burning in the windows and are welcome to come by and knock. Or maybe you're fortunate enough to catch him chopping wood for them, which is actually very enjoyable to him. He seems to know his way around an axe.

Beyond the town itself, Scratch spends a day or two down and around the basin itself. There's a purpose to his visits, his keen eyes open as he looks for anything familia. He'd even take a sense of déjà vu, knowing that his writer counterpart leans heavily on motifs and recurring themes these days. He finds nothing of the sort. What he does find, however, is a pleasant surprise. As he walks through the snow along the edge of the basin one evening as the sun is just setting, his foot crunches on something. A quick look has him pulling up a photograph, in a now-broken frame, of an averagely pretty blonde woman with an averagely nice smile.

"Well, I'll be," he says to himself. Judging by the look on his face, someone nearby might assume he's just found something very delightful indeed.

While he spends the majority of his first few days in these places, he does his best to take in the whole of Milton. Those going about their own business will likely see him making his way around and are welcome to bump into him.
meadqueen: (Default)

[personal profile] meadqueen 2024-05-03 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
If Scratch thinks his own outfit is lame, he's going to love the look of the woman who shows up at his door: heavy wool clothing (incorporating an entire fox pelt) that wouldn't look out of place in a Thor movie, supplemented by a heavy pair of modern winter boots, bright orange mittens, and a white 'Canada' souvenir toque patterned with red maple leaves. True to the request on the board, a yellow plastic tape measure hangs from her belt next to an ornately decorated war hammer.

“Was it your message at the hall?”
friendsfordinner: (smirky little shit)

[personal profile] friendsfordinner 2024-05-03 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
You know what's at the basin? Fish. Hickey's traps turned up absolutely nothing today, so he's made his way to the basin to set up a few more. After all, it's a bit out of the way for most people. But he's found that he can easily clamber up and down the treacherous incline, especially after the gift the Aurora gave him.

He's wearing a sensible outfit: a pair of deerskin boots, a set of blue jeans, a modern water-resistant jacket. Hickey looks almost modern, if it wasn't for his evil little Victorian beard (so in actuality, he looks very hipster). He's got a few homemade snares of dubious quality slung over one shoulder and a handmade fishing pole over the other.

And there's someone new here. Good. He likes new people, they're easier to work with. He lets out a loud "Oi, new guy!" to get Scratch's attention before walking over with a devil-may-care smile.

"Haven't seen you around much before."
webshootings: (bWYpQvg)

[personal profile] webshootings 2024-05-03 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Peter does not have a tape measure so he won't be answering the query. But, he does spot the man putting up the note and he can't help but be a little curious.

He steps closer, reading it once he's up before humming.

"Doing some interior design?" he wonders since that's about all he can think of when it comes to the dilapidated houses around Milton.
meadqueen: (Outside)

[personal profile] meadqueen 2024-05-04 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
Randvi nods, oblivious. Opening the door to this cold would make anyone flinch, let alone a newcomer.

“My name is Randvi. I assisted Louis with the repairs at his store, so I may be able to help you.”
pythianwoman: (Default)

Lets get this party started

[personal profile] pythianwoman 2024-05-04 09:41 am (UTC)(link)
Zoey checks the message board semi-regularly. Just to try and keep apprised of things. She doesn’t expect to see a note written in what looks like pretty familiar handwriting, and signed with a familiar set of initials. The chances of it actually being him is… miniscule. The number of times she’s found the same people in multiple worlds she can count on one hand.

But it’s enough to make her wonder. Enough to make her curious.

And she has a tape measure plus enough carpentry skills to get by. So she goes, her warm longcoat billowing behind her. She needs to see for herself. Needs to know, one way or the other. “I come bearing a tape measure,” she says by way of greeting in a voice laced with what sounds like a rather proper English accent. England by way of a few other places, anyway.
flambeaux: that's what she said (babygirl amusement)

Basin Overlook

[personal profile] flambeaux 2024-05-04 10:45 am (UTC)(link)
Louis is properly pomaded and wearing his tie, though in the cold of the night his long wool coat from home takes center stage. When he isn't minding the General Store just a few streets away, Louis takes walks and runs errands, hoping to score some easy animal pickings without having to hunt in the forest. While deer are more substantial, rats are convenient. No animal blood is as good as human, though.

The cabin with its unkempt dead yard might be empty, except there is the telltale smoke of a stove keeping the place warm. And there is a man dressed in such plaid that would make a lumberjack proud.

"I should hire you to chop wood," he says admiringly. He doesn't truly admire this stranger beyond his physique, but it's easy flattery to give. Making nice with the neighbors is something he learned at his mother's knee, and he hopes it'll be a point in his favor should more humans discover his secrets.

"Louis de Pointe du Lac. I run the general store most nights, except when I'm hunting down things to sell in it."
webshootings: (v9OLhYz)

[personal profile] webshootings 2024-05-04 12:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"Kind of sounds like something duct tape would fix but I haven't seen any of that laying around."

Now that he thinks about it, he wonders if there is any duct tape still stuck somewhere in Milton. Maybe something to do today.

"Could always move to a better location but if you're settled, you're settled. I know these houses are super nice."

Ha ha.
webshootings: (xsxV446)

[personal profile] webshootings 2024-05-04 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"Does the sauna actually work?"

Not that Peter's ever been in a sauna before but he knows what it is, at least. He's just never been a fan of sitting and sweating himself into dehydration.

"Everything else is broken or busted here and you find something with a sauna? That's pretty lucky."
meadqueen: (Default)

[personal profile] meadqueen 2024-05-04 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Randvi doesn't much feel the cold any longer, so it's all the same for her, but she appreciates the gesture. She does not seem enthused about the process of replacing the window, though. All these thin, clear panes of glass. So wasteful.

“I can see why you wanted to measure. It's possible, I think, but might be more trouble than it’s worth.”
Edited 2024-05-04 21:23 (UTC)
goingtobeunwell: (arctic. thoughtful)

Crossing Paths to Milton

[personal profile] goingtobeunwell 2024-05-05 12:35 am (UTC)(link)

Crozier's cabin is nestled in a wooded area between the basin and the entrance to mines, which means he frequents this area like some sort of redheaded sasquatch, stomping about in the thickets and through the trees in his caribou parka and matching boots for firewood and herbs and the various small animals he catches in his makeshift traps. He tends to move outside the paths, but every once in a while he uses the roads to haul his finds to Milton for trade purposes.

He's overburdened when he happens upon a fellow Interloper, looking...well, new. Trying to find his feet, as it were. He's seen the Aurora, he knew more were coming, though this one seems less perplexed and more resigned than most.

He nods to him, raising his left arm with the ragged stump instead of a hand at the end of it in greeting. "Are you busy?"

salamanca: (003)

Community hall

[personal profile] salamanca 2024-05-05 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
Lalo is dropping off food in the community hall, some smoked venison and a few things he's grabbed from Louis's general store — when he spots a new face staring at the noticeboard.

"Well hey, stranger!" he calls, to get the man's attention. He'll wave, if Scratch looks over.
pythianwoman: (🗡️ thoughtful)

[personal profile] pythianwoman 2024-05-05 10:57 am (UTC)(link)
Zoey might not have her gift of sight, but she doesn’t need it in order to figure out almost immediately that this is NOT Alan Wake in the slightest. She’s spent a lot of time around both the author AND his shadowy knife-happy doppelganger to be able to pick out the more… subtle differences between the two. Even with Scratch lacking his suits and hair products.

The lack of recognition tells her that she’s not dealing with HER Scratch, either. And she’s surprised by how much that bothers her. He’d tried to stab her countless times, succeeded the once… and yet here she is, oddly bothered by the fact that he doesn’t know her. The hope of a… well, not friendly face, kind of the opposite of that, but a familiar one.

Nothing shows on her face, at least. Just a polite, friendly little smile. “Depends. Do you want factual, or home repair? Better with the factual, but I'm all right with home repair. Couldn’t replace the glass, necessarily, but I could board one up, fix up the frame, put in a screen or some curtains. The basics.”
Edited 2024-05-05 10:58 (UTC)
webshootings: (K8Xzc1T)

[personal profile] webshootings 2024-05-05 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"Shows you what I know about saunas. I've always seen them advertised in those high priced spas so just thought electricity was involved."

And he hadn't really done a lot of looking into it, obviously. Peter Parker wasn't meant for spas. Just seemed like a lot whole of sweating and doing nothing else.

"I haven't really gone looking for much more than a place to sleep at night so I don't sleep in the snow. So, I don't know either. But, there has to be some somewhere? All this forest and stuff? Stones would be out there too."
friendsfordinner: (i am the only person finding this funny)

[personal profile] friendsfordinner 2024-05-05 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"Smart," Hickey says, with a nod. "After all, this place can get a little ridiculous at times. Best to know your surroundings when we get the next batch of creepy fog or murderous wolves or what have you."

You know. Totally normal things.
notarat: (013)

[personal profile] notarat 2024-05-05 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Billy doesn't necessarily spend all that much time around the community hall - but he just happens to be there at the same time as Scratch is working on his note, while Billy just came out of the storage with some thread for his projects.

He figures he should check the notice board on his way out, just in case there's anything important or useful on there, which means that he reads Scratch's note at the same time as the actual guy is still putting it up.

.. small talk isn't necessarily Billy's speciality, but he is kind of curious upon reading the note. Curious enough to look over at Scratch and ask: "Are you working on some sort of project?"
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Small smile)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2024-05-05 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
One of the times Levi returns to the hall he finds Scratch standing near the board. The boy in the oversized coat with the rifle on his back offers a shy smile. "Oh. H-hello. Were you, um, putting up a note or looking for one?"

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