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apocalypsehowooc2023-09-14 04:58 pm
apocalypsehowmods) wrote in apocalypsehowooc2023-09-14 04:58 pm
Entry tags:
Event OOC - A Little Perspective
A Little Perspective - OOC
Welcome to the idyllic seaside town of Gloucester located along Cape Ann in Massachusetts! It's a place haunted by interesting stories and ghoulish tourist attractions, but this month, there's a new item taking center stage. As mentioned in news reports as far back as July, there's been construction underway for a new town square in Gloucester. In the center of this square sits a miniature version of town, an exact, scale duplicate sitting upon a large stone slab measuring 15x15-feet (roughly the size of a master bedroom). The slab raises the tiny town up about 3 feet from the ground.
The ringing of a replica bell hails the hour in the miniature Gloucester, a perfect plastic, foam, wood, and metal recreation. Perhaps you might enjoy the sight on a day out. But should you hear the ringing of the bells at just the wrong hour… you'll find yourself being sucked into the miniature town, itself, to suffer whatever fate awaits you there.
Summaries and content warnings for each prompt in the event are provided below. Please pose questions to the designated mod comment, and plot away!
➥ Small Fears: 16-19 September
➥ Big Fears: 16-19 September
➥ One Fear: 16-30 September
➥ Small Fears
(cw: Altered perception of reality, existential crisis, possible starvation, isolation)
Seven members of ADI go missing in the wider city, according to everyone else around them. Meanwhile, to those seven people, it’s everyone else who vanishes, leaving them in a faux ghost town haunted by very specific horrors and no way to put things right. Not from their side, at least. The unlucky seven will be chosen randomly from the list of sign ups below, we only ask that those signing up have a real and definable fear. Please also be aware: there is a strong possibility of characters being traumatized or even dying if part of the unlucky seven and death is still permanent as part of the setting. Characters might be injured, starved, crushed, or fall to their own nightmares if not rescued in time.
➥ Big Fears
(cw: gaslighting, potential for sadism, potential for large-scale destruction and injury/death, body horror, nausea, vertigo, supernaturally induced dread)
While some characters are drawn into the replica town, the rest will be left outside to help where they can. They'll be able to see tiny figures darting around the mini-Gloucester, but these figures are incredibly fast and it's likely going to take more than one person and/or traps to catch them. Or maybe you can find a way to communicate without words! In any case, the goal is to get people out. As soon as you're able to pull them past a certain 'bubble' they will regrow to their full size and suffer some illness as a result of this transformation, along with the sensation that they are much too big for their body.
Rescuing people will be complicated by a few things:
1. Normal citizens of Gloucester and even some native ADI members don't seem to notice the people trapped in the town.
2. Damaging or destroying buildings or other objects in the display seems to destroy the real version of them in Gloucester. This may result in panic, injury, and death for the regular citizenry.
3. Characters will have until the 19th to get people out, and they will feel that impending doom deadline when they see a little countdown clock in the replica city. After that entire town will disappear along with anyone still in it, and it will be like it was never there. No ordinary person in Gloucester will have heard of it or seen it. Even those native members of ADI who couldn't see the tiny figures will be wildly confused by talk of the town. All news stories about it will have vanished along with the town.
➥ One Fear
(cw: altered mental states; compulsion; painful transformation; dehumanization; being hunted; potential for violence, injury, and death, including gun violence)
Offworlders and staff of ADI find themselves in the role of hunter or hunted. At random, some characters experience small but unmistakable transformations that leave them with a feature associated with a traditional game animal–that is, an animal that has long been hunted by humans. Characters might sprout horns or antlers, animal ears, a tail, feathers, or any other distinctive animal feature; as long as that feature remains, everyone around them will feel the compulsion to hunt them down. What happens after that depends on the character; those particularly deep under the spell of compulsion may try to attack or kill the semi-transformed characters, while others may only trap them, or catch them only to let them go so the chase can resume. The only way to end the effect is to physically remove the animal feature, however painful that may be. Please note that character death remains permanent in the game's setting.
A Handy Plotting Form
The ringing of a replica bell hails the hour in the miniature Gloucester, a perfect plastic, foam, wood, and metal recreation. Perhaps you might enjoy the sight on a day out. But should you hear the ringing of the bells at just the wrong hour… you'll find yourself being sucked into the miniature town, itself, to suffer whatever fate awaits you there.
Summaries and content warnings for each prompt in the event are provided below. Please pose questions to the designated mod comment, and plot away!
➥ Small Fears: 16-19 September
➥ Big Fears: 16-19 September
➥ One Fear: 16-30 September
➥ Small Fears
(cw: Altered perception of reality, existential crisis, possible starvation, isolation)
Seven members of ADI go missing in the wider city, according to everyone else around them. Meanwhile, to those seven people, it’s everyone else who vanishes, leaving them in a faux ghost town haunted by very specific horrors and no way to put things right. Not from their side, at least. The unlucky seven will be chosen randomly from the list of sign ups below, we only ask that those signing up have a real and definable fear. Please also be aware: there is a strong possibility of characters being traumatized or even dying if part of the unlucky seven and death is still permanent as part of the setting. Characters might be injured, starved, crushed, or fall to their own nightmares if not rescued in time.
➥ Big Fears
(cw: gaslighting, potential for sadism, potential for large-scale destruction and injury/death, body horror, nausea, vertigo, supernaturally induced dread)
While some characters are drawn into the replica town, the rest will be left outside to help where they can. They'll be able to see tiny figures darting around the mini-Gloucester, but these figures are incredibly fast and it's likely going to take more than one person and/or traps to catch them. Or maybe you can find a way to communicate without words! In any case, the goal is to get people out. As soon as you're able to pull them past a certain 'bubble' they will regrow to their full size and suffer some illness as a result of this transformation, along with the sensation that they are much too big for their body.
Rescuing people will be complicated by a few things:
1. Normal citizens of Gloucester and even some native ADI members don't seem to notice the people trapped in the town.
2. Damaging or destroying buildings or other objects in the display seems to destroy the real version of them in Gloucester. This may result in panic, injury, and death for the regular citizenry.
3. Characters will have until the 19th to get people out, and they will feel that impending doom deadline when they see a little countdown clock in the replica city. After that entire town will disappear along with anyone still in it, and it will be like it was never there. No ordinary person in Gloucester will have heard of it or seen it. Even those native members of ADI who couldn't see the tiny figures will be wildly confused by talk of the town. All news stories about it will have vanished along with the town.
➥ One Fear
(cw: altered mental states; compulsion; painful transformation; dehumanization; being hunted; potential for violence, injury, and death, including gun violence)
Offworlders and staff of ADI find themselves in the role of hunter or hunted. At random, some characters experience small but unmistakable transformations that leave them with a feature associated with a traditional game animal–that is, an animal that has long been hunted by humans. Characters might sprout horns or antlers, animal ears, a tail, feathers, or any other distinctive animal feature; as long as that feature remains, everyone around them will feel the compulsion to hunt them down. What happens after that depends on the character; those particularly deep under the spell of compulsion may try to attack or kill the semi-transformed characters, while others may only trap them, or catch them only to let them go so the chase can resume. The only way to end the effect is to physically remove the animal feature, however painful that may be. Please note that character death remains permanent in the game's setting.
SMALL FEARS - SIGNUPS
Signups close on Friday, September 15 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Seven characters will be selected from among all signups via RNG.
Finally, we would like to remind all our players to fill out a content warning request if there are any topics or imagery for which you would like the mod team to provide warnings or to completely avoid when engaging with you or your character(s).
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→ FEAR: Terra Snapdragon. Head of the Plant Coven, and was in charge of making sure Raine didn't step out of line after they were caught helping Witches escape the Day of Unity. She's known them from quite a young age, and will go to lengths to keep them under her control, including trying to brainwash them.
→ FEAR: Stage fright. Despite being Head Bard, they do still have a vested fear of performing in front of others.
→ FEAR: Emperor Belos. Belos is terrifying on his own, as the ruler of the Boiling Idles. Thanks to the death stairs, Raine now knows that he has a much more monstrous form. He can/will possess them and use them for his own agenda, only to leave them dead or incapacitated in the corruption that he spreads.
→ FEAR: Raine’s coven sigil allows those with the power to use them to incapacitate them and any other witch that has one. The coven sigil is also used as a source to drain magic for the Day of Unity.
Acknowledgment:: I, rainestorms, acknowledge that I have read the full OOC information for this prompt and the event in which it features. I am aware that if my character is one of the seven selected, this prompt will be traumatizing and potentially deadly for my character, and that character death is permanent within the game's setting.
no subject
cw: societal pressure, public derision, compulsion/brainwashing
The place is warm, almost more like a greenhouse than the cottage it's supposed to be, and it is dark. The only lights within are ones that shine directly down upon the people inside. Murmurs issue from the shadows, commentary on whatever Raine and their companion are doing. Searching? Oh, they're not doing that very well, are they? Have they ever done this before? Calling for help? Have you ever heard such poor projection? Maybe someone should help them learn their cues better. There are some titters when it seems like anyone is distressed, catcalls to put on a better show. Give them something to enjoy!
Exploration will yield some results; although, the spotlit nature of the lighting makes it challenging. Not to mention the 'crowd' growing ever more restless and demanding if someone isn't actively entertaining them. The Plant Coven symbol is in a bedroom on the upper floor. As they draw closer to it, they will feel their own symbol begin to ache and burn, the sensation of it creeping up their arm. If they look, they'll find their coven symbol is warped, bleeding magical 'ink' into their veins that are beginning to blacken on that arm. They'll also hear a voice in their ears, telling them just to perform like a good little bard and stay here. This is where they belong. They have an audience. There is always an audience, Raine. The stage may change, but you must always be acting, always singing and dancing. That is their only purpose.
The words will seep into their consciousness and take root, much like the coven symbol. They are true and Raine should obey. This is where they belong. They must stay and perform! As they begin to comply, a crown of vines will slowly twist around their head.
Please feel free to embellish and run with your nightmare as much as you'd like! We only ask that their solution to escaping be either inspired, assisted, or in some way aided by another character!
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Just wanted to let yall know though that the embedded picture is broken!
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It should be this guy:
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(no subject)
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→ FEAR: Beast hunt - One of Eda’s fears is being on the run. In the past she’s been hunted by Emperor’s Coven Guards and, before they made up, by her sister Lilith. Being caught could result in being locked in the Conformatorium prison from her setting, or some other version of being caged like a dangerous animal; more consequences could include the threat of being petrified, a method of execution she has escaped in the past. Canon nightmare of hers for inspiration!
→ FEAR: Emperor Belos - The ruler of the Boiling Isles, and the witch hunter trying to destroy her home and her people. She’s personally experienced him as a menacing, masked figure. She’s heard about him as a distorted, skeletal antler-bearing monster made of goo and covered in eyes; she hasn’t seen this directly, but that’s always an excuse for her brain to conjure up worse body horror! She’s also heard about the creeping fungus and rot he spreads.
→ FEAR: Puppet show - This is a new fear as of her canon update. She experienced Raine, among others, being transformed into marionettes and controlled by an entity called the Collector. Options for this could include the other people in the tiny town being transformed and potentially attacking her, or simply fake versions of her loved ones as puppets—or she could be turned into one. This could also include the Collector directly, or be a good place to work in Web imagery given her experiences in Gloucester. Have a puppet clip too.
Acknowledgment: I, Ilya, acknowledge that I have read the full OOC information for this prompt and the event in which it features. I am aware that if my character is one of the seven selected, this prompt will be traumatizing and potentially deadly for my character, and that character death is permanent within the game's setting.
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She and her companion aren't alone in the forest, either. Something stomps and crash and quakes the ground. Something that sniffs and seeks and hunts, though what it is seems impossible to see in the darkness beyond the trees. Maybe she runs or maybe she waits and looks around even as fear nips at her, but eventually her mind might supply why the trees feel so close. Why nature itself seems to press in and suffocate, almost like a slowly rotting cage. What glimpses of the monster she can see likely tells her enough: grey feathers, yellow pupils from black eyes and vicious, ripping talons. Hopefully her companion might help her and not fall victim to the hunter within the cage as well.
Please feel free to embellish and run with your nightmare as much as you'd like! We only ask that her solution to escaping be either inspired, assisted, or in some way aided by another character!
no subject
You said it's alright to add, but I wanted to check if it's okay to change part of what's there. (It was actually really intentional on my part that I didn't include the owlbeast itself AS a fear for this.)
My first thought for sticking with the basic idea would be to make it the ravenbeast (Lilith's cursed form) if that would be alright! If not, I'll try and think about different angles that still use the owlbeast.
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Please note, you do not have to be ultra-detailed in the fears list. We're just looking for fodder to prepare a prompt.
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JohnSheppard→ FEAR: Himself - John's biggest fear is himself and the darkness within him. What he can do, what he's willing to do, how far he's willing to go, and how ruthless he is. This is also tied into a fear of letting people down and failing them. He fears letting his friends down, Rodney dying because of his failures, being responsible for it happening.
→ FEAR: Acastus Kolya - a Genii commander that John has a lot of history with. He is a terrible man and John loathes him.
→ FEAR: Iratus bugs - John was bitten and almost killed by an Iratus bug by it draining his life force, and then in a separate, unrelated event, he gets turned into a hybrid Iratus bug creature. So he hates those bugs.
→ FEAR: Clowns. He hates clowns.
Acknowledgment:: I, Indy, acknowledge that I have read the full OOC information for this prompt and the event in which it features. I am aware that if my character is one of the seven selected, this prompt will be traumatizing and potentially deadly for my character, and that character death is permanent within the game's setting.
no subject
cw: spiders, egg sacs, insectoid feeding, dead bodies, body horror, clowns
On stepping inside, though, the illusion of safety instantly falls away as the door shuts and locks behind them with a metallic clang of finality. Inside, the house is an empty husk without rooms or doors, its stone walls slick with condensation, a damp chill in the air. From the ceiling hang bulbous, all too familiar egg sacks. Underfoot is the squelch of rotten leaves and perhaps something worse, and strewn haphazardly from the walls and ceiling are long, sticky strands of web strong enough to catch and hold human prey.
Speaking of prey, it appears they aren't the first to stumble into this place--there up ahead is the shape of a human body caught in the web, twitching helplessly as an iratus bug feeds. Come closer, and Sheppard will recognize the visage of Acastus Kolya, his mouth twisted into a rictus of agony as the bug slowly leeches his life from his body, a form of torture Sheppard knows firsthand. And there, another--this one with the face of Captain Charlie Holland, letting out soft cries for help through the pain. Keep going and they'll keep finding more victims immobilized by iratus bugs, each and every one of them with the face of a dead friend or enemy Sheppard has known. Go far enough, and some of them wear the faces of the living--of those not yet lost. For the moment the iratus bugs that skitter here and there seem to simply accept the presence of Sheppard and his companion(s), as though acknowledging some shared link that makes them companions rather than prey. That, however, will change quickly and violently should anyone try to kill the bugs or free their victims.
For Sheppard's companion(s), things look a little different. The cold and damp remain, the egg sacks and the iratus bugs that skitter across the ceiling and down the webs. The bodies, though, don't twitch or cry out. These are long-dead husks, strangers with no spark of life remaining. This is a charnel house, and the victims here are beyond any help.
In Sheppard's eyes, one final element differs from what this place presents to his companion(s), initially hidden from his sight by the darkness of this hollowed out house. From his companion's perspective, Sheppard and anyone they entered with still look entirely like themselves. But in Sheppard's eyes there's something wrong with his companion's silhouette--is that an unnatural bulge on the end of their nose? Their face is too pale, the noise of their footfalls too loud and clumsy, uncanny in this of all places. It's when a rare shaft of light falls across their face that he finally sees their facepaint, their red rubber nose, and their loudly colored outfit with its long, flapping shoes. All recognition is gone--in his eyes this is not his friend or coworker. This clown is a stranger to him.
Please feel free to embellish and run with your nightmare as much as you'd like! We only ask that their solution to escaping be either inspired, assisted, or in some way aided by another character!
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→ FEAR: Violence/physical pain. Rodney gets intimidated very easily by show of force. He gets tortured canonically once and lasts exactly one knife wound to the arm. You'll find your heroic enduring elsewhere.
→ FEAR: Whales. According to Rodney his father read Moby Dick to him over and over again when he was a little child and he's had nightmares about getting eaten by a whale ever since. When they're attacked by a nightmare-inducing alien entity, Rodney is rowing through a storm in the middle of the ocean, getting attacked by a giant underwater creature that is very whale-like.
→ FEAR: Being trapped underwater and drowning. He got stuck in a spaceship on the ocean floor once and almost did that. Very traumatic experience. Not a fan.
→ FEAR: Catastrophic failure and people getting hurt because he made a mistake or can't solve a problem fast enough.
Acknowledgment:: I, LP, acknowledge that I have read the full OOC information for this prompt and the event in which it features. I am aware that if my character is one of the seven selected, this prompt will be traumatizing and potentially deadly for my character, and that character death is permanent within the game's setting.
no subject
cw: Thalassophobia, threat of catastrophe
The moment he sets foot past the threshold, there can be no doubt he's stepped into water with how it sinks through to his skin and the chill follows deeper, down to his bones. The current feels gentle, a small sway that moves his hair and tugs at his clothes, but he does not sink and he does not float.
There would be no light at all, but for the fact there's a fractured ceiling high above casting light down into the depths. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust, but once they do, it'll become more clear: what appears to be breaks in the 'sky' above is only glass panels creating the illusion not unlike the view from inside an enormous fishtank. A person walks across it as though crossing the street and soon after another, normal people milling about their lives and unaware of the yawning, watery, depths below. A sharp eye might even put together this appears to be a specific street reflected above: the buildings lining it are the same as those lining a street nearby ADI headquarters.
Just about the time the thought crosses his mind, something blocks out nearly all of the light above, something massive that swims overhead and seems to knock ever-so-slightly against the glass above. At least until it turns two, man-sized and glowing eyes in Rodney's direction.
Rodney and whoever might be with him will find they're limited by their own ability to swim, but drowning seems less a concern than being eaten or outright killed by the beast, the details of which are hard to discern in the deep and dark aside from the sharpness of its teeth.
Please feel free to embellish and run with your nightmare as much as you'd like! We only ask that her solution to escaping be either inspired, assisted, or in some way aided by another character!
no subject
→ FEAR: Doctors and medical paraphernalia. He's experienced a whole lot of medical experimentation/torture and now being exposed to even benign medical professionals and their stuff results in panic, flight, and/or disassociation. Arnim Zola in particular is associated with this fear.
→ FEAR: Memory loss. He's has his memories wiped again and again and he still doesn't even have most of them back. He's paranoid about losing more, and has taken to somewhat obsessively writing them down.
→ FEAR: Loss of autonomy through his trigger words, and killing people he loves. The ONLY mind control I can play out is the trigger words, which he does have ability to fight, but only with time and/or with help from people with a strong enough connection to break through them. Alexander Pierce in particular is associated with this fear, though we don't have any evidence Pierce ever used the trigger words. Pierce was just his last handler, and the one he had for the longest.
→ FEAR: Trains. He won't get on one if he can help it. This is probably pretty limited for this event, but figured I'd mention it.
Acknowledgment:: I, Gail, acknowledge that I have read the full OOC information for this prompt and the event in which it features. I am aware that if my character is one of the seven selected, this prompt will be traumatizing and potentially deadly for my character, and that character death is permanent within the game's setting.
no subject
cw: potential for mind control, vertigo, medical horror, memory loss
Желание
Ржавый
Семнадцать...
They're almost right, words that prickle at the back of the mind that pull him toward those rails. And at some point, Winter and anyone with him will find themselves on one of the plastic train car platforms, whether they actually get close or not. The world races by too quickly to make out more than blurs. It's frigidly cold, and looking out, anyone gazing off the train or leaning out will find themselves with a sudden sense of intense vertigo.
In the cars themselves, there are toy soldiers and doctors. The doctors seem to be working on the soldiers, disassembling and reassembling them, opening their chests to check on beating hearts or heads to prod at brains. They seem to be frantic, as well. Something will happen when the train reaches its destination and they want to finish before that. They need to work quickly and, oh! More people have joined. Well, sit down and strap in; they'll get to you soon.
The doctors are not violent, but they are insistent, trying to strap Winter and his companion(s) into chairs with belts and manacles. If anyone is strapped in, the doctors always seem to be just about to use a device on them, about to cut into them or jab them with a syringe.
What awaits at the 'end' of the tracks is an unknown and efforts to get to the front of the train and talk with the conductor will find that there isn't anyone driving this train. If left long enough, it will seem to plunge off a broken bridge, dropping everyone from a height and 'killing' them on the landing.
Except... that's not the end. Instead, the scene resets. They're back on the platform where they started and Winter has no memory of what has just transpired, what he's seen. His companion does, though. The scene will continue to reset if the train is forcibly derailed or reaches its end point (of derailing).
Please feel free to embellish and run with your nightmare as much as you'd like! We only ask that her solution to escaping be either inspired, assisted, or in some way aided by another character!
no subject
→ FEAR: The loss of community, not just from people leaving, but also serious interpersonal conflict.
→ FEAR: The Dread Watcher, a 'goddess' of nightmares from the mythology of Mercy's world. She has long claws, bone white skin, and is covered in eyes. Her lair has walls woven with spider's silk. The floor is pitch black, and it's absolutely silent.
→ FEAR: Spiders
→ FEAR: Being directionless/without something to believe in or the disappointment of her god.
Acknowledgment:: I, Terri, acknowledge that I have read the full OOC information for this prompt and the event in which it features. I am aware that if my character is one of the seven selected, this prompt will be traumatizing and potentially deadly for my character, and that character death is permanent within the game's setting.
no subject
cw: arachnophobia, nyctophobia, the void, scopophobia, potential violence
Inside, all sound disappears...along with the door once it shuts behind her and her companion(s). The floor, though solid under their feet, is a black void that plays tricks on the mind, making it difficult to walk without feeling as though one will fall into that forever darkness. The walls are gray webs stretching from floor to ceiling, light from where the windows ought to be filtering through the web only weakly. All sound is swallowed up--speech, footsteps, and even the sound of one's own breathing. All that remains is the dull roar of blood flowing through their veins, seeming to grow loud in the absence of all other input.
The layout of the building remains roughly the same, close enough to be recognizable with the familiar shapes of furniture formed from the webs. Upstairs and downstairs, it's all familiar but all strange. It seems as though a trick of the light makes the walls seem to shift and move almost imperceptibly--but look closer and it's not the movement of light at all, but the movement of hundreds of tiny spiders in and among the webs, continuously spinning strands that thicken the walls and slowly, slowly shrink the space between them tighter and tighter.
Mercy and her companion(s) aren't alone in here. Clustered here and there in doorways and halls are people she knows, or the shapes of people she thinks she knows. They seem agitated, gesturing angrily at one another, mouths forming unheard insults. The tighter the walls close in, the more wildly they gesticulate; let this go on long enough and they will come to blows, and then to deadly violence. Interfere and they turn on the interlopers, just as angry with Mercy and her companion(s) as they are with one another, though it's impossible to understand their diatribes or give them any answer, their faces too distorted by bitter hatred for even their lips to be read.
Long claws wrap around a doorframe as the Dread Watcher emerges to observe, too many eyes peering at Mercy and her friends from bone white skin. This is her realm, the comfort and power of Mercy's god cut off as though in another world.