In-Universe News/Rumor Fodder Round-Up!

[scramasax]

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life...           
         As someone who you were not the day before.

Welcome...
To Locke City."

/PRELUDE




LOCKE CITY NEWS/RUMOR FODDER MEME

Let us all round up just what is going on in the as of this past year apparently plagued Locke City, NJ.

As 'tis well-known, Locke's been subject to such events as mysterious pink lights in the sky, that recent much-too-sizable earthquake that killed over a hundred, and alleged terrorist activity - say nothing of the rumors around an explosion in the sky in early November and of cockroach men in the sewers, pigeon flu, snake-monsters in the now-bombed Dead District and so on.

But o' course what else might our supernaturally-inclined characters have been getting into that might've attracted some notice?

Feel free to note, gather, and share any shenanigans your characters might've been up to that might have caught a few eyes or fed into the media here - for the referencing and/or plotting around as you please: from there, feel free to peruse and plan exactly what the word on the street around them might be in-universe, and/or ask and poke around for anything that characters might be able to react to or use as a seed for future interaction/plotting!

Comments

[sun_sun]

Annie, Winter and Russel have had at least one excursion as a color-coded team of ridiculously-attired superheroes near the Dead District. This seems like the sort of thing that might start someone talking.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime has no idea where this cockroach men in the sewers rumor came from stop looking at him like that

[scramasax]

Anthony committed an indiscretion. 8| Which is to say that last time he was out to receive an Echo, he dropped dead, reanimated, and did so in front of a curious passerby - one who as per a combination of conference and enabling was recording it, and would've posted it someplace.

[flamberge]

Karl/Richard has gotten the ability to fly via blueish pixie angel wings and has been practicing flying around Chloe's ranch on the outskirts of town. He's been PRETTY careful, but may have accidentally flown a bit too far/in too dark conditions so there may be rumors floating around of a glowing pixie/angel/alien thing dressed in black and in a ski cap (he thought dark clothes and covering up the hair would be a good idea just in case!!) flying in that area.

[professorwolf]

... Lyall thinks this is kind of cool, just sayin'.

[flamberge]

Haha you flatter him, Lyall~! No really, if Lyall tells this to Karl's face, he will likely blush.

[gogoghostpowers]

I would just like to point out that Danny's family runs and frequents a Locke-based conspiracy forum at www.unlockethetruth.com

I've been bullshitting all the rumors and theories on there so far, but if anyone wants a rumor or something to show up on there for certain for some reason, I am more than happy to oblige and can include that rumor in the next conspiracy round-up post Danny makes.

(or I could just. Take my ideas from the other comments to this meme. Y'know. No big.)

ALSO in terms of theories Danny's created himself, there are some murmurings about radioactive waste after he BLED ALL OVER THE STREET last week. Some people think that a kid with bright green eyes might've been in some radioactive waste accident and was spreading it around. Others are calling for quarantine and radiation sickness treatment of anyone who was in the area, but most people are just rolling their eyes about it.

[peacefulwinter]

I know it got around, and this'll probably be the last time I mention it, but as a result of the drug bust early in December, Winter was carted off for a night; that in and of itself turned a few heads, but probably didn't hold attention for long. What did hold attention was that she was very suddenly and very publicly dismissed from the student council about ten days later; the story made local news that evening, though it didn't use her name.

I would assume that the council began looking for a new secretary shortly after Winter's removal (and, with it being finals week, not had much luck), but in the meantime, the rumor mill has probably had a field day with this one, wondering what the hell she was really arrested for.

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

Britany may or may not have started a rumor that it was for possession of forbidden edritch knowledge the likes of which man was never supposed to know.

It was a joke.

[skycutter]

Miles has recently turned an old industrial building into his personal training grounds for his ~magic~. He'd visit it a few nights a week. Expect a lot of noise and mess. Some people would live/work nearby would think there's some kind of angry ghost haunting and thrashing the place. A ghost that leaves scorch marks and water puddles.

[paradiseshrinemaiden]

There was a weird light show a few nights ago somewhere in Japan Town, which may or may not have had something to do with Reimu using Fantasy Seal on a couple unsuspecting Blood Keys who tried to accost her on her way back home from the arcade.

No one was actually close enough to see what happened, except someone might have seen a couple Blood Keys members unconcious and slightly singed on the ground if they had the guts to go investigate. This rumor might have ended up feeding into the rumor about mysterious costumed heroes near the Dead District through mental gymnastics of a few conspiracy theorists. Maybe.

If anyone on the network were to think to actually ask Reimu about it, she'd probably just shrug and say that they couldn't see her face and she didn't kill them or anything, so it doesn't matter. >>

[originaloddcouple]

There is actually a pre-network rumor that might have been running around: Something Old Antiques is haunted.

Let's give a little backstory here: Once upon a time there was a bitter old lady who just so happened to be a fashion designer. Due to all sorts of reasons, as well as epic tales of betrayal and the harsh world of fashion, she was ostracized. She didn't take it well and thought the best solution was BUYING ALL THE CATS. She ended up holing up in this place near Dead District where she put on daily fashion shows.

For her cats.

People thought she was creepy and crazy, which is tremendously rude and didn't help her growing fears, anti-social behavior, and pre-existing mental issues.

Eventually, she died. Now, normally this wouldn't be enough to start ghost stories in modern America. All her cats fiercely preventing her body from being taken for about a week or so however, caused quite a few people to think that the old lady must've had some ghostly influence on the place.

Needless to say, the place has a reputation and no one wants it. Especially because you'd have to be an idiot to invest your money in a place that required HUUUUUUGE renovation costs, thanks to decades of building decay and a lack of house maintenance.

You can guess where the Dians came in.

[moarnomsplz]

Alex started his sophomore year at Locke City Academy with a stutter he didn't have before, and people definitely noticed. There are also rumors about his lengthy absence in early November, attributing it to everything from getting busted with drugs to cracking under the pressure his parents put on him. He says he was pulled out for (failed) intensive speech therapy.

[von_uberwolf]

The police did a PRETTY good job at covering it up, but there are still rumors that someon (or something) is stealing bodies from the morgue. Explanations run from semi-plausible (Gangsters harvesting organs from the recently dead to sell on the black market) to totally off the wall (Alien mind control rays are reactivating the dead and getting them to just walk away so they can be easily harvested for their sinister experiments.).

Of course, the ACTUAL explanation (The missing body just got up and walked away because it was a werewolf and not killed with a silver bullet) is closer to the deep end of madness.

[not_good_not_wicked]

Let us not forget the night that strange light blasted into the sky near a ranch at the edge of town. The ranch's owner claims to have no idea what caused it, saying just that whatever it was it set a tree on fire. Possible explanations floating around include alien space craft, meteor explosion, unusual lightning activity, government weapons testing, etc etc etc.

[reapsthewind]

this is mostly just stuff relating to Chris personally buuut

Rumors have been flying around since last semester as to the real reasons she quit her teaching job; people who knew her decently well rolled their eyes and just went "Well, she's flighty" but then after she had to drop out and quit her OTHER job, and basically stopped talking to her non Network friends, rumors got more serious. Everything from a nervous breakdown to depression to that she's working on building a giant robot in her garage.

Mostly, the freshmen at LCU are really glad that she's not teaching freshman calc anymore.

Recently, as rumors have flown around about the true nature of the Blood Keys, there have equally been some wonderings among her non-Network friends that she joined then, esp since she's been seen around the Dead District.

[wirsinddiejager]

Of course, students of Locke High were a little surprised to find out that their classmate Alan Hunter was a Real Life Terrorist. Probably not massively surprised because let's be real he was always weird and loud and angry.

Even before the terrorism announcement, some people may have seen weird lights in his window on Halloween, and those same lights appeared in the Dead District a little over a week ago.

What this amounts to is that the terrorists have some kind of crazy weapons and are possibly aliens. This theory explains Alan Hunter a lot better than most others.