thisavrou | video 02 | Alzheimer's Disease

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video 02 | Alzheimer's Disease | Introducing the Losers

(It felt a little bit like a blessing. After losing his memories, getting them back, and going through that alone, Eddie had damn near broken himself down with how badly he had missed his friends. But then they showed up. Not all of them, but the three boys he had been the closest to for the longest, the kind of childhood friends that started out in the single digits. Eddie Kaspbrak was happy. Maybe not perfectly, but for the time being, they were each other's perfect distractions and it was good to have them around.

On top of that, Eddie wanted them to know everything about this place. Including, most importantly, the people who lived there. He could have dragged them from place to place to introduce them to everyone he has come to know and care about, but then he remembered how the device worked and realized how much faster it'd be if he just sent out a video introduction.

So here he was, turning on the video feed and smiling into the camera. Anyone who had seen him lately would have noticed the kid was a bit off, but not here. He might still have bags under his eyes, but there was a brightness in him that hadn't been present in nearly an entire month.)

Hi! It's Eddie. So I know I told some of you about my friends a little bit? And guess what! They're here. Not all of them, but my best buds are- like. Childhood best friends.

(Can you feel his excitement? Eddie is practically vibrating. He's sitting in his room currently, and all it takes is him removing the device entirely from his wrist and turning it around to show Richie Tozier sitting on the floor.)

This is Richie Tozier. He's probably like, my best best friend. You might also notice he has some striking similarities to a trash can.

(He whips the video back around and grimaces a little. Richie was already speaking up with 'Whatever, eds, it's trashcan, not trashcannot.' The quib comes as Eddie's already turned the camera away, and Richie doesn't bother waiting for Eddie to stop talking. Them talking over each other is nothing new, though. Eddie doesn't even hesitate before plunging on.)

Really though, I have to apologize on his behalf for anything stupid he says. And trust me, most of what he says is really stupid.

(And Eddie's up and rushing out of the room, jogging down the hall before bursting into the nearby room that Bill and Stan were sharing. The camera gets whipped around and focuses on Stan. Not looking so amused at the intrusion.)

This is Stan! He's um- the man with the plan, you know?

(Then just like that, he's pulling out of the room, and heading into the main area.

The video doesn't focus on it, but as Eddie slides it across the room, people might notice that the door heading out of their unit is covered in several words painted in black. A large Derry painted over the door, a long list of names down the back of the door, including the Losers' names themselves. And of course, the ominously crookedly written It at the bottom of the door. On the wall beside the door are other words, some sketches, one that almost even looks like a map of something with 'sewers' written over the top of it. But it's a brief passing, something that slides in and out of perspective like a passing thought.

Then Eddie's focusing on a new boy and zooms in on Bill Denbrough's face.)

And this is Bill. He's practically my brother. He is arguably the coolest of us all.

(At first, Bill looks rather grave for his age, waving at the camera for his introduction. But then Richie has to go and jump at Eddie's back, grabbing at one of his cheeks which automatically has Eddie shrieking on the other side of the camera, and at that, Bill starts to laugh. Richie's voice filters through, indistinguishable (probably) insults not easily heard between Bill's laughing and Eddie's whining.

Eddie barely gets the camera back around, his face flushed, and he gives a long exasperated sound. Richie's hand can be seen coming out and grabbing at Eddie's cheek. Again.)

So that's- oh my God, stop- my best friends. So say hi. As for us? Well...We got some uh- stuff to do.

(Is that a small pile of what looks like Kaittan fireworks in the background? Oh boy. Let's just hope those are actually just strange looking sticks.)

OOC | It's completely up to you how you want to interact with this! Feel free to talk to Eddie directly, or make a post directed to all the Losers that they can respond to via separate threads. It's a free for all sort of thing so do whatever.

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But you still love them, right?

(That, he thinks, is the most important thing. Even if someone was really annoying.

Now that's curious. Eddie looks surprised, tipping his head to the side.)

What, really? But you're like. (He draws a vague, non-descriptive shape with his hands.)

Who wouldn't want you as a leader?

... Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

[Because they're family. No matter what happens. He'd do anything for those guys. Every one of them.]

I -- don't know? It's just not something I hear.

(Eddie nods, and there is a sort of emotional look on his face. Shiro was a real good guy, Eddie thought to himself. Literally no one who cared that much about other people could be bad. It wasn't like his mom's version of caring either.

Shiro's team was lucky to have him.)

Oh, well, now you're hearing it sooo. (You're welcome. Have some validation from a twelve year old.)

You should meet them, sometime. You'd like Hunk, I think.

[Then again, Hunk is pretty easy to like. He's an incredible guy.]

Hah. Well.

Thanks, man.

Is he a...hunk?

(It's a horrible joke, but Eddie can't resist. Not with 'hunk' being a pretty popular term for the 50s ~~I think~~. But after their little pun war, Eddie is pretty sure it'll be appreciated at the very least.)

Sure, Shiro. (Said with a smile. It felt nice to give someone like Shiro a compliment.)

Hah. Well. I know a Balmeran who might think so.

[Bless your rock person heart, Shay. You've got good taste.]

[It's not a bad joke. He's just not in a position to judge teammate aesthetics.]

What's a Balmerman?

(Not what Shiro said, but hey, he tried his best.

Eddie wasn't really in a position to judge anyone's aesthetics- but that hadn't been the point anyway.)

Balmeran.

[Said more slowly, carefully. So it's clearer how it sounds.]

They're a race of people who coexist with a giant organism the size of a planet. Hunk's close to one named Shay.

Balmeran.

(Nailed it. He looks so proud too.)

Man. There's so many different people. It's wild. I used to think that it was like, just boys and girls, black and whites, that kinda thing. But it's totally not.

(It's actually kind of enlightening to him, really.)

Yeah, you got it.

[He is proud of you, Eddie. Good job.]

I'll say this. When you get to space, none of that really matters anymore. It's all... species.

I'm human, my commander and her father are Altean... That kind of thing.

(Gosh Shiro, you're amazing. Let him aim for the stars of acceptance.

Though this does pose a very interesting theory to this child with a mentality harvested from a well worn system of privilege. He has, of course, noticed people's differences on the ship. The obvious ones, like Kurt, and the more human ones, like Shiro.

What he has not noticed, really, is this idea of 'mattering'. He stares at Shiro very thoughtfully, because huh. It wasn't really like the kid had this problem with different races or anything. Ignorant as hell, clumsy with words, completely politically incorrect- yeah. But he didn't hate anyone. He didn't want to. But he really, really wasn't so sure about this 'not mattering' thing.)

I think it matters. Not that like, people are different, but those differences. I mean, they gotta matter enough to bug people. In my town, there was this club for black people, and all these white psychos in white cloaks decided they wanted to burn it down 'cause of that. I guess it mattered to them.

(Eddie does not sound supportive of this idea. Actually, he sounds rather scared of it.)

Then there was the whole Jew thing and what the Germans did to them. And Jews don't even look different from white people- but they still wanted to hurt them.

(Eddie is trying to puzzle this out, frowning hard now.)

If it doesn't matter, then why do people hurt each other over it? (Eddie's spent a life being different. So were all of his friends.)

Does it mattering have to be a bad thing? (Yeah Shiro sorry you got him in a mood here. Good luck.)

Edited (THIS POST IS HARD.) 2017-12-05 07:36 (UTC)

[Black Lion save him. It... hasn't really occurred to him to think about this kind of thing. The dubious benefit of being in space for what had to be several years now... fighting a universal war, trying to survive Thisavrou, being surrounded by aliens who had their own hundred thousand sets of rules...]

[Plus. You know. He's not exactly in the same position Eddie is here.]

That's... that's a really hard question. And I don't know if I'm best equipped to answer it.

[He shakes his head. It doesn't feel right to leave the answer like that, but he'd rather be honest about it than give the kid a half-thought answer full of fluff.]

Things are different where I'm from. I don't want to say that's stopped happening, because I'd probably be lying to you.

But, Eddie, I haven't... been around a large group of humans for years now. I've been in space. With a handful of human beings, and a lot of aliens.

What I think is going to be based on that.

[He pushes his hand through his hair. Suddenly feeling... weirdly young. Which doesn't happen very often. Maybe he'd be better off asking Diana this kind of question.]

I think... that it doesn't matter to me if someone is... different than I am. It matters that I trust them. [Keith -- buddy, I get it now. And nothing's changed. ] That they've got a good heart. They'll stand up when people need them to. Differences do matter, yeah. But not as something to be afraid of.

Without my teammates being different people... we wouldn't be able to do what we've done. We would have gotten stuck and probably died in the field a long time ago.

That's all I can say about it, without sounding like a lecture. It's probably best you ask more people than just me.

Edited 2017-12-05 08:43 (UTC)

(Eddie was starting to realize that the adults here would actually talk to him about serious things if he asked. Maybe he should start asking more instead of relying purely on assumptions. He doesn't interrupt Shiro, doesn't try to interject with his own experiences and stories. He just listens, his face rapt with attention. It is a question Eddie wants a serious answer to, after all.

He nods, because okay, that's fair. He still thinks Shiro's perspective is an important one to have though. Shiro was a good man, he thinks, and good men had good ideas of how the universe ought to operate.

Frankly, Eddie agrees with Shiro. It does only matter if you can trust someone, if they have a good heart. All of the Losers were an outcast in their own separate ways, but Eddie wouldn't trade any of them for the world.)

Me and my friends are all huge losers at school cause we're all different. We all got somethin' about us that makes people hate us really easy. And real bad. The kids are mean to Stan 'cause he's Jewish and Henry killed Mike's dog 'cause he's black.

(Eddie doesn't go on, instead his mouth is pursed together. There was a laundry list of horrors that Henry had done to all the Losers, but he's pretty sure he's made his point.)

But we still did more than any other kids could do in that stupid town this summer. And I dunno if we coulda done that with anyone but us. Maybe people who like each other for their differences just got something that people who hate people's differences don't have.

I like knowing there's more different people than I realized before. It's fun to meet them and talk to them.

(Like Shiro. First Japanese man he's ever properly talked to, and Eddie thinks he's pretty great. Eddie grins at Shiro.)

I don't really know how to ask people about this kind of stuff. But I think maybe I want to.

[His turn to go quiet and listen. More and more, the picture of where these kids come from is painting itself to be... not great, to say the least. Maybe sometime in the past. Because timelines were -- they didn't make sense here, to say the least.]

[The look on his face darkens, but not toward Eddie.]

That's... I'm sorry, Eddie. That shouldn't happen to any of you. [He can't say if his world is any better. He honestly hasn't been there often enough, of late. Things in the universe are too important. Still though--] It's disgusting.

That's not the kind of world you should have to put up with. None of you should.

[He blows out a breath, calming himself, forcing his tone to smooth out. Even if it is something he feels strongly. This kid doesn't like it when people raise their voices -- that much, he remembers.]

I think, maybe, you have the right idea. Don't ever lose sight of that, all right?

[He hopes it won't happen. There should be more people with those ideals in the world -- in any world.]

Diana Prince and Professor Xavier might be good places to start, if you're looking for better answers.

They're good to talk to. About anything.

(It was disgusting, and Eddie knows it better than anyone. Eddie was never exaggerating when he said Derry was an absolute steaming pile of shit.

What Eddie was still adjusting to was this idea of 'deserve'. Adults back at Derry weren't sadistic, necessarily, but they weren't real good at caring either. None of them ever gave genuine sympathy, or empathy, towards the Losers. Eddie feels his face flush, not out of embarrassment, but emotion. To be told that you shouldn't suffer shouldn't really be a conversational luxury, but it was for Eddie.)

Thanks Shiro. (He means it, his voice soft and quiet.) At least it's better here. On the station. People are...

(He doesn't know. They're just better people. People Eddie feels safe with. Maybe not all of the time, but much more than he ever felt back home.)

I'm really glad I got to meet you. (He means everyone, really, but specifically right now? Shiro in particular. Shiro for taking the time to talk to a little kid about something so important, to talk to Eddie about something like this without making Eddie felt nervous or guilty.)

I won't! (He holds out his hand, palm up, where the scar from their promise was fairly healed by now. A straight, obvious pink line.) Blood oath.

(He explains this seriously, like it was some archaic law that would be understood universally. Maybe it was.)

I love Diana. (He says this at once and shamelessly. She was a hero of his, after all, but he did still feel a teensy bit shy around her. His expression softens.)

Charlie believed me. He's..I like him a lot.

(Maybe he loved Charles too, he doesn't know. Eddie's heart was immense and consuming all at once. People who were kind and good to him were soaked into him, and he held them close and tight.)

You're good to talk to too. Thanks for um- listening, I guess. And helping.

[That's why they're fighting, isn't it? So people don't have to suffer at the hands of those who thought they were better. Who thought other people, other species, were so worthless they could be used as nothing more than slaves. Nothing more than science projects pinned under hot lights and stinging metal. Their war might not change anything on Earth...]

[But it's the core of it all, still, isn't it? Make the world, make the universe safer. For people who had suffered too much already.]

[He nods -- yeah. It's different here. People want to work together, for the most part.] Glad I got to meet you too, Eddie. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer to your question... but I hope it helped a little. Gave you a place to start.

[The smile he gives in answer to the scar, the oath suggested, is tired and lopsided. But genuine. He won't ask specifics for now. If Eddie wants to volunteer, he's sure the kid will. He'll let him come to it on his own.]

All right -- looks like you're set for life, there.

[And it looks like there's no argument from him about Diana. Yeah, he understands that feeling. Even if, coming from a young kid, it's probably a different sort of feeling. But boy, can he ever relate.]

They're both incredible people. I'd trust either one of them with anything. Charles... I already have.

[A way of suggesting Eddie could too, if need be.]

That's what I'm here for. Speeches and Paladin wisdom, apparently.

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video 02 | Alzheimer's Disease | Introducing the Losers

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