𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘, 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄.
july 14th, 1988.

The night had been undisturbed, unshaken. A brisk breeze blew against bushes, as rain settled from what had been a downpour. What had been rapid thudding against the ground would turn into light taps. As the rain de-escalated, Officer Taft was running his nightly rounds. Derry was a small town, not large enough for more than one cop to patrol at night. Officer Taft wouldn't worry, since if anything were to happen, his radio would have caught it. New technology they hadn't had when he first started policing Derry's streets.

    It was an absent-minded job, any cop in Derry would tell you that. Derry was a peaceful town, the perfect place to be. It was small, not too cramped, not in the slightest. There were no other towns for miles around, there was no getting away. A small town where everybody knew everybody. That's how they wanted to keep it. The officials of Derry were very good at keeping secrets. Do you want in on a secret? Oh, of course you do. Derry wasn't as carefree as the adults of the town would lead you to believe. For everything the town of Derry saw the cops solve, there were three cases being covered up.

    Just this past two weeks, there had been a surplus of strange occurrences. A fire caught in a local single mother's home- she was paid to keep silent by the Mayor, and told they'd privately investigate it. A father had reported strange scratches upon his baby, which he claimed he hadn't caused. Nobody believed him, but he was a working man of the city. No point in persecuting a tax-payer. They assured him they'd take care of it, a placebo effect. And now, as Officer Taft patrolled the town's beloved streets, he found himself upon Clements Avenue.

    Nothing had interested him as he strolled down the road slowly. Looking onwards, as the houses began to blur together. He'd been down this street far too many times, bored of the same old sights. As the night encapsulated everything in it, the only light coming from his own headlights, and the open windows of houses that had yet to rest for the night. That was when he saw a figure on the other side of the road. Laid out beside a sewer drain, as if nothing more than a bump in the road. It was unnatural, and a shiver ran down the Officer's spine. Officer Taft's eyebrows would furrow, as his eyes crinkled and he attempted to get a better look at what it may be, as the car came to a halt.

    As he exited the car, he shut the door with a loud thud. His large boots scraped against the pavement, the only sound in the night, as the rain had come to a close. The sounds seemed too loud in the presence of silence. Cautiously drawing closer to the shadow, what he hoped was a figment of his imagination. As he pulled his flashlight out, pointing it towards where the figure lay, he began to pray. Officer Taft couldn't help but blame himself for not praying sooner, perhaps than God could have prevented the sight that was so abundantly clear to him now. Feeling his breathing halt, and his eyes widen as he looks onto a horror that sickened him to his core, feeling as though he was rotting from the inside out. His head churned, and his hands shook as he saw a little boy- a child that he knew.

    The boy's small, frail body lay pulled into the drain. His eyes stared into Officer Taft's, glossy and unwavering. His mouth hung open with his head pressed to the groove in the pavement, leaned back. His lower half, mangled, unrecognizable hanging into the sewer drain. As if he had been drugged through Hell by a noose, far too feeble to fight against it. The boy's skull had split like a cracked shell, the pavement smeared with what should never have been seen outside the fragile cage of bone. A ravine created at the top of his head, ending just before where his forehead began. Hair would cower, parting ways for mass amounts of gore. Blood had been long spilled onto the pavement, revealing only flesh and muscle. Masses of skin, intended to be guarded by what was now splintered bone. By now, the former soldiering of rain, had created a wash of blood down the drain. Drowning out the smell of the boy's body, leaving the Officer with only the sight of the boy. Not a sound, not a scent. Just the mauled corpse.

    Officer Taft felt himself heel over, as he tripped over his own feet. Attempting to pace to the car, admittedly frightened by what he had seen. A grown man, running to the safety of his car. Leaving the corpse of the boy, the poor defenseless baby. Officer Taft's former steps would become rapid thuds against the ground, as he entered his car attempting to communicate with whoever had been working dispatch that night. What had been a horrific sight for the Officer would become the first of many for the community of Derry, as the horrors of IT had just begun. The poor boy being the first of many, many of whom would go undiscovered, as the city grew numb to the disappearances of the young children who lived there. Forgetting their names, and silencing their stories, just as any other cowardly town would. A sinful town full of fearful bastards, allowing their children to be tormented, so they could create a veil of safety. Just know, in Derry? You'll float too.

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒.

I. Starting off simple, please be kind OOC. I know this isn't really something I should have to remind people of, but clearly some people do need a reminder!
II. I feel as though this is a given, but if you are not in a good mental state, please don't expect yourself to be able to cope with these themes. IT is a very dark plot, and I don't want anybody to feel obligated to partake. Things such as gore, abuse, SA, psychological horror, bullying, etc. They're all trigger warnings, keep yourself aware.
III. No insensitive jokes pertaining to things such as rape, SA, or any type of abuse. Since these are topics that will be handled, I want to get this out of the way. These aren't funny, little tidbits to joke about, it isn't silly. The Bev Slot is really the biggest reason I'm making these rules, but just keep them fresh in mind.
IV. When writing, please do not write anything sexual in a current sense. I feel as though this is a given, but nobody needs a recount of sex, these are children. I'm really trying to hit the nail on the head here, since sadly, there are people who do things like this. But in a summary, SA cannot be written in a current standing. If you are doing Bev's slot, understand when and when it isn't appropriate to bring up.
V. There is going to be a surplus of gore, but do not overdo things for the point of edginess. Nobody wants to deal with it, it makes things feel so artificial, and it really isn't necessary. Don't expect things to go well if you do, this is a pet peeve of mine, I will be calling you out on it.
VI. There needs to be somewhat commitment to this roleplay, since it will be long-term. I totally understand school and work conflicts, but if anything is impossible to work around, don't sign up! It's really not a problem, I won't be offended whatsoever :). Sometimes there will be breaks, of course, and if you are going to disappear, that's fine if you give me a warning at least a day in advance. I will be more than happy to replace somebody who doesn't give me these warnings though!
VII. This is semi-literate to literate. I want the found family vibes to go hard here, so complete novels of text are not required at all! But I would like important details, and development from characters. At least a paragraph is required, please keep that in mind!
VIII. This will take place on Discord, and a part of the form will be giving your Discord username. If you can't do that, totally fine! You just can't join the roleplay, I'm sorry!
IX. The word limit for forms will be 3,000 words, since I feel you should be able to summarize their backstory and personality in 3,000 words. Even that really feels like a stretch, since I'd really like to start as soon as possible, and ideally tomorrow, but if there isn't enough traction, I'm willing to start later, since this is a late post!

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𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙊 —
11/28/24

Honestly, I have no idea if y'all want this or not, but it's my hyperfixation right now. I'm very, very stressed out, and I realized I wanted to destress through a roleplay! This is just an opener to the plot of the roleplay. After this, the slots will be posted, along with the non-roleplayable characters. And then after that, the forms will be posted! These forms will be much simpler than my typical ones, since I do prefer to keep things simple in roleplays, and let the actual starters explain them, but until then, this is the starter for IT: Remastered! Not used to writing gore, but this is going to be a very dark plot thinly-veiled with a found family cover, so I'm excited to see what y'all do! Mwah!!
Also, first story in dark mode, woohoo!! Please, ignore the sloppy layout, I'm so tired right now, it's not even funny.