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ph_ooc2025-08-02 08:29 pm
pumpkinhollow) wrote in ph_ooc2025-08-02 08:29 pm
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Monthly Plotting Post | August/September
Monthly Plotting Post | Aug & Sept
Hey, everyone! Happy August! Things have been both crazy and slow around here because adult life remains incredibly weird. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m looking forward to getting back to full steam now that this stupid heat is finally moving on. We’ve got some pretty exciting stuff on the docket for these coming months, so this time around I’ll be doing a 2-for-1 plotting post so we can all strategize as far in advance as possible.
Also, just a final reminder that items from the Interdimensional Flea Market will no longer be available for purchase after August, so please get those purchases in!
Alright, there’s a lot of ground to cover, so without further ado, let’s get into it!
Which also means our autumn TDM is right around the corner. Pokemon types will be changing--- September, October, and November will feature Ghost, Dark, Flying, Electric, and Poison type Pokemon available for befriending! As usual, our spooky suggestion box is open for TDM prompt ideas, or just inspo! What’s your favorite thing to do outdoors in the fall? What’s the best Halloween decoration display you’ve ever seen? What’s a story, image, or piece of media that freaked you out lately? We love your input!
And of course we’ll have plenty of our own Halloween tricks and Autumnal treats in store! And of course, as with the other goddesses, Celestine will be here to visit during the TDM. Stay tuned for surprises!
Mendel, the Prince of Fools, was the first demon royal to perish due to Aster’s machination, as well as the one to reveal Dahlia’s true nature as his niece. This wicked jester held domain over madness, lies, and cruel trickery, and while he did not survive the infamous gala, one of his court members did. A face-changing theatrical puppet called Seemingly, whose voice, personality, and gender swap with their faces, remains at large--- and they have a bone to pick with all of you. Especially you, Jonathan Sims.
An elaborate music box is placed in the town square, playing a tune and ticking away. At each week-long interval, a new mask slots into place on the front, representing one of Seemingly’s four faces. Each week, there will be a new affliction making havoc on Marrow Isle--- and a new opportunity to help end the nightmare. Four pairs/groups will be selected to brave the danger and collect one of the keys to unlock the music box, whether on purpose or by happenstance. Efforts to unlock the music box are being led by Jon Sims, who has a long-standing beef with Seemingly and is eager to see them defeated at long last.
The structure of this event is such that it expands and changes each week, representing four separate mini events that make up the larger one, then finally a last push by Jon to take Seemingly down directly once the music box that’s shielding them is opened. The event will launch on August 9th--- but only with the text for the first week! It will update each Saturday evening with the next week’s events.
We’d like to keep as much of the specifics of the event a surprise as possible, but we can tell you up front that each week will feature a new (super)natural disaster with terrifying side effects!
Here’s a brief sneak peek:
Burning Wrath - based on Seemingly’s Wrath face, an intense heatwave that can reach lethal heights and has strange effects on exposed bodies.
Twisting Wind - based on Seemingly’s Twist face, galeforce winds howl through the town, whispering memories, regrets, temptations, and fears… and possibly taking parts of your house along.
Gleeful Tidings - based on Seemingly’s Glee mask, flash floods rip through town from the Paring River down to Tawny Beach, with water so dark that it’s hard to tell what tricks hide underneath.
Hollow Chill - based on Seemingly’s Hollow mask, a cold snap that kills the summer heat with a miniature winter, freezing over all that wet ground, and plenty more besides.
All of these will have opt-outs of some variety, so feel free to sit out parts of the event that aren’t to your taste or handwave whatever you need to in order to manage your thread load. Anyone can sign up to be a part of the teams acquiring keys, but please refrain from volunteering if you don’t believe you could be expected to complete the thread before the start of the next event (Sept 20). I’m going to be working hard to make sure that my plot-vital threads are done before then, too!
It will function with similar rules. Each character can have up to two visitors from their homeworld, living or dead. These guests can be played by you (either from the associated character’s journal or a custom one) or by another player on your behalf. You can even invite non-member players to play that character for the event with moderator approval! For this event, characters will be here for the weekend ICly--- the Saturday of the party and the Sunday after.
Since this event is less intended to inspire deliberate chaos than its predecessor, you are under no obligation to have your visiting characters be more honest than usual about your regular characters’ history. However, this is still a working of Eligos, so feel free to include that if you like. After all, what is a fancy gala without some interpersonal drama? Let’s get this thing as messy as it is glamorous and turn Dahlia’s birthday into a Jane Austen novel in the absence of any spookies! Don’t worry, with October right around the corner, we’ll be right back in horror territory in no time!
The plotting post is a great place for prepping which visitors you'll have for which characters and keeping a reference list, so please feel free to make use of it!
SUMMER & FALL TDMs
June-Aug & Sept-Nov
There’s one more month of our summer TDM! If you were planning to do any more shipwreck dives now’s your chance to get them in!Which also means our autumn TDM is right around the corner. Pokemon types will be changing--- September, October, and November will feature Ghost, Dark, Flying, Electric, and Poison type Pokemon available for befriending! As usual, our spooky suggestion box is open for TDM prompt ideas, or just inspo! What’s your favorite thing to do outdoors in the fall? What’s the best Halloween decoration display you’ve ever seen? What’s a story, image, or piece of media that freaked you out lately? We love your input!
And of course we’ll have plenty of our own Halloween tricks and Autumnal treats in store! And of course, as with the other goddesses, Celestine will be here to visit during the TDM. Stay tuned for surprises!
AUGUST EVENT - Seemingly's Revenge
August 9th
The final living member of the Mendel’s Court of Fools returns after a year in hiding to perform their grand finale.Mendel, the Prince of Fools, was the first demon royal to perish due to Aster’s machination, as well as the one to reveal Dahlia’s true nature as his niece. This wicked jester held domain over madness, lies, and cruel trickery, and while he did not survive the infamous gala, one of his court members did. A face-changing theatrical puppet called Seemingly, whose voice, personality, and gender swap with their faces, remains at large--- and they have a bone to pick with all of you. Especially you, Jonathan Sims.
An elaborate music box is placed in the town square, playing a tune and ticking away. At each week-long interval, a new mask slots into place on the front, representing one of Seemingly’s four faces. Each week, there will be a new affliction making havoc on Marrow Isle--- and a new opportunity to help end the nightmare. Four pairs/groups will be selected to brave the danger and collect one of the keys to unlock the music box, whether on purpose or by happenstance. Efforts to unlock the music box are being led by Jon Sims, who has a long-standing beef with Seemingly and is eager to see them defeated at long last.
The structure of this event is such that it expands and changes each week, representing four separate mini events that make up the larger one, then finally a last push by Jon to take Seemingly down directly once the music box that’s shielding them is opened. The event will launch on August 9th--- but only with the text for the first week! It will update each Saturday evening with the next week’s events.
We’d like to keep as much of the specifics of the event a surprise as possible, but we can tell you up front that each week will feature a new (super)natural disaster with terrifying side effects!
Here’s a brief sneak peek:
Burning Wrath - based on Seemingly’s Wrath face, an intense heatwave that can reach lethal heights and has strange effects on exposed bodies.
Twisting Wind - based on Seemingly’s Twist face, galeforce winds howl through the town, whispering memories, regrets, temptations, and fears… and possibly taking parts of your house along.
Gleeful Tidings - based on Seemingly’s Glee mask, flash floods rip through town from the Paring River down to Tawny Beach, with water so dark that it’s hard to tell what tricks hide underneath.
Hollow Chill - based on Seemingly’s Hollow mask, a cold snap that kills the summer heat with a miniature winter, freezing over all that wet ground, and plenty more besides.
All of these will have opt-outs of some variety, so feel free to sit out parts of the event that aren’t to your taste or handwave whatever you need to in order to manage your thread load. Anyone can sign up to be a part of the teams acquiring keys, but please refrain from volunteering if you don’t believe you could be expected to complete the thread before the start of the next event (Sept 20). I’m going to be working hard to make sure that my plot-vital threads are done before then, too!
SEPTEMBER EVENT - Guest Appearances
September 20th
It’s time once again for Dahlia’s birthday gala, this time with a special surprise. Back by popular demand, Dahlia Leeds’ highly anticipated birthday ball will serve as the stage for a remix of one of our most popular events ever, Ghosts of the Past!It will function with similar rules. Each character can have up to two visitors from their homeworld, living or dead. These guests can be played by you (either from the associated character’s journal or a custom one) or by another player on your behalf. You can even invite non-member players to play that character for the event with moderator approval! For this event, characters will be here for the weekend ICly--- the Saturday of the party and the Sunday after.
Since this event is less intended to inspire deliberate chaos than its predecessor, you are under no obligation to have your visiting characters be more honest than usual about your regular characters’ history. However, this is still a working of Eligos, so feel free to include that if you like. After all, what is a fancy gala without some interpersonal drama? Let’s get this thing as messy as it is glamorous and turn Dahlia’s birthday into a Jane Austen novel in the absence of any spookies! Don’t worry, with October right around the corner, we’ll be right back in horror territory in no time!
The plotting post is a great place for prepping which visitors you'll have for which characters and keeping a reference list, so please feel free to make use of it!
CURRENT METAPLOT
As the five archfey of this world make proper contact for the very first time, we meet not only Elsie’s fairy father in earnest, but also his peers, and learn a bit more about the incredible world of fairies--- whimsical, dangerous, and diverse. Queen Niamh of the Golden Sunspots, angelic bird-fae and celestial creatures who deal in dreams and desire--- often with wicked loopholes.
King Griswold of the Green Willows, classic forest fairies and tree spirits who represent the beauty and brutality of nature without remorse.
Queen Meriadne of the Indigo Scales, a host of naiads, sirens, selkies, and other water fae who sing the praises of the ever-changing fluidity of life.
Regent Copricus of the Teal Rain, myconids and rain spirits who rejoice in the rot and decay of all things--- and the renewed life which comes after.
And King Olwylder of the Red Butterflies, flower and insect fae who celebrate the liberating anarchy of a life unbound, finding joy in the chaos of the natural world.
Their relevance to the world will carry over to Emerald Crown, so don’t feel like there’s a whole new mystery being unveiled at the last minute, but knowing a bit more about the basis for Elsie’s lineage will certainly be helpful for events to come!
Additionally, this month it was OOCly revealed that the true identity of Nyarlathotep is Neil West in our Discord server! Hopefully that allows players to make decisions about how they want to interact with him during the final leg of the game. Do bear in mind that characters do not know this--- please use this metaknowledge appropriately! This reveal was to help players make mischief for themselves later, not give them a leg up in uncovering the mystery, so please don’t info-mod! Thank you, and have fun!
Also, since we have a crop of new people, I thought that a link to our Lore Document would be helpful! It could use a bit of updating but has most of the relevant info to help folks get caught up, so check it out when you have time!
Connor | Ellen Ripley and Agent Carolina
Okay, so—
Carolina:
I'll start with her, who I have the biggest ideas for. The Twisting Winds are going to temporarily displace her from her home by destroying a large portion of it. This will be part of some character building I'm doing around the idea of having a 'home' continually taken from you. During July's event, as an act from Niamh, Carolina is granted her biggest desire; love from her father, which materializes as a visit to her childhood home. (I'll be putting this toplevel up soon, if anyone's interested!) The cost of this; CR who forgets her for a timespan equal to what she spends in Niahm's illusion.
She's going to come out of this experience feeling terrible. She gave up something important for a 'home' that doesn't exist anymore (albeit without realizing), and so losing her house to the winds will feel like just punishment. But she's stubborn, and she'll to push herself against the elements for as long as possible before finally caving in to needing help/asking for a place to camp. This might include her getting injured or coming close to dying. Could be a good CR building opportunity for anyone interested?
In the midst of this, she'll be helping wherever she can, so if you're looking for a partner to a specific task, consider bringing her along!
As for guest appearances, I'm torn between bringing back the Director (evil nasty stupid dad), Allison Church (cool army mom), one of the Freelancers she was closest to (York?? Maine??) orrr, Catherine Church, aka baby Carolina, because oh my god she deserves a hug.
Ellen Ripley:
I only have vague plans for her. Carolina's tags will be priority, since I don't want to bite off more than I can chew given the schedule, but Ripley will be around. She'll take shelter in the mines during the first two weeks, and be flooded out during the third. Which could be fun to write out, if anyone's interested?
I'm not sure if I'll be giving her a guest appearance. If I did, it'd either be Captain Dallas or Ash!
Re: Connor | Ellen Ripley and Agent Carolina
Ellen: I'm up for trying to get her and Max together in a less awkward scene now so we could do something with them too if you would like? He'd stop short of offering her to sleep over without consulting Valdis first, but if she washes up hungry, he's got her covered.
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Yess, I was hoping I'd get some more Crichton / Lina bonding time! Her experience with Niahm's illusion, then losing her actual home on top of this is definitely going to culminate into a breaking point. I think Crichton will do a great job being able to get through to her, and helping her down from that. Also- I am SO down for bunk buddy time. She'll agonize over asking for help, but ultimately she'll be really grateful for him.
I'll send Ripley Max's way when she gets washed out by the floods! It'll be the perfect worst time for coffee and a little pick-me-up snack. She'll roll up like a sad, wet dog; 'can I have some of those magic pancakes you're so good at making pls...'
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Aaw, poor Ripley, he'll get her fixed up right. His chance to prove he's a gentleman like he says he is, too. Pancakes will be on the house.
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we've already talked about some stuff on discord ofc and it goes without saying that CT's probably going to have words with the Director, but I'm also looking at that thread of dad-related commonality between Marg + Carolina and both Carolina + Daisy staring at their kid selves like :tailswtf:
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Yes to all of these! CT and the Director are definitely on the table. I'd love to have Lina interact with either of your ladies, too. They can bond over their mutual 'what the fuck' thoughts LOL. Tiny Catherine and Daisy should also definitely cause some chaos together
Re: Connor | Ellen Ripley and Agent Carolina
Also Rip is welcome to come up to Dahlia's place on the hill during the flood!
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Oh nooo, she has to go live with Gerry in his cozy apartment until she fixes her house? oh noooo how awful :3c I'd love to thread this out w/ you. She'll feel embarrassed at needing to ask for help, so that'll make for a fun convo. I also want to do our memloss stuff, and I'd be happy to back date it if we want to wait until things are slower! Just let me know and I'll send her to his inbox?? Gerry will def antagonize the Director- I'm ready for him to be scared shitless. Also down for Pokey time! We could have them do something fun at the gala
I'll keep that in mind for Rip!
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- your friendly neighborhood clerk who grew up in Tornado Alley and probably went through his share of nasty storms that flattened nearby houses (so he knows a thing or two about rebuilding) (AND has his own slightly tangled feelings about missing/losing "home" between Iowa, Korea, and PH)
- another guy from space whose home doesn't exist anymore (and is also close friends with CT)
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AGHH such a hard choice! I'll sayyyy... Let's have her meet Gaeta, I've been wanting to see them interact for a while. I'm not sure how much CT has told him about Carolina specifically, but it'd be fun to see him parse the information slowly throughout their conversation. Carolina can also relate heavily on the 'Commanding Officer/authority figure blindsided by trusting the Wrong People, and, as a result, fails the entirety of their crew'-- so there's that going for them.
If you have the time/energy to also throw Radar my way, I'd love to continue developing their CR <3
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(And I would love that too!! Their CR delights me, and Radar is still thoroughly convinced that The Power Of Friendship will eventually make her less grumpy lmao. I'll plan to tag her during or slightly after the windstorm!)
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YESS THAT'S PERFECT. I'm so down. Do we wanna thread him appearing in her house this week, then next week do a second thread for the windstorm stuff? It's gonna be suchhhh a mess when the house comes down. Maybe I'll have her get a couple superficial injuries while lifting debris that might fall on them. Poor Gaeta about to witness a woman try and fail miserably at not freaking out LOL
(Also, sounds good to me!)
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