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ph_ooc2025-10-11 01:41 pm
pumpkinhollow) wrote in ph_ooc2025-10-11 01:41 pm
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(Late Ass) October Plotting Post
Monthly Plotting Post | October
Hey there, pumpkin patch! It is officially SPOOKY SEASON, which means it's time for our annual Halloween special! Due to the fact that people currently already have been pretty busy, which we felt would deter people from the original "Curse of Slasher Island" premise we'd been going off of because it's so action-heavy, we thought we'd switch things up a bit. After interviewing the Discord server, we managed to land on an event that we think people will really love!
That said, we're really looking forward to getting spooky with y'all! We've got some fun things on the horizon, so let's jump right in!
It's also worth mentioning that the timeframe where it makes sense to onboard new members is starting to dwindle. If you have people you want to harass into joining us, strike while the iron's hot! We're definitely still new-player and new-character friendly!
Once upon a time, in a very specific iteration of London, England, there was an academic institute dedicated to studying and recording supernatural occurrences caused by fear itself made manifest, come to terrorize and feed off any living thing capable of feeling terror. This institute sorted these ostensibly-higher beings, their activities and their acolytes, into fourteen (later fifteen) distinct categories, each based on a primal, instinctual fear. They existed on the outskirts of reality, picking their victims off the fringes. Until one day, they didn't, thanks to the elaborate efforts of a few deeply terrible people, at the (sometimes willing) expense of Jonathan Sims. An apocalypse was born, and then ended by sacrifice. That should have been the end of the story. But one Annabelle Cain made sure that this would not be the case.
Deep in the heart of Paradesium, there is a crack in the world. From it, all manner of interdimensional terrors have come through to Pumpkin Hollow. And also, a water park that one time. But mostly terrors, hand selected and pulled through by demons or by Nyarlathotep. But this October, it will be used to create a miniature version of the temporary apocalypse that the people of Archives Universe London came to know only as "the Change."
The Fears will each occupy a physical space on Marrow Isle, arranged as follows:
Each Fear Domain will have a specific aesthetic design as a jumping off point. However, due to the Fears operating on dream logic and wanting to terrorize each person as much as possible, some elements will be flexible and bend themselves to suit you. Each player must pick one starting point for each character, even if they have multiple suitable fears, so pick one that suits your character best or sounds the most fun--- but feel free to have them move through many! This will function pretty similar to the nightmare event from last January, for those familiar. Only those who begin in the End domain will be capable of death, meaning that others will remain alive and aware despite any injuries they might sustain--- no matter how fantastical.
Here's a breakdown of what each Fear is, and what their domains will be like.
The Buried - Also known as "Choke" or "Too Close I Cannot Breathe". Claustrophobia, the fear of being trapped without enough space, suffocation, being buried alive or drowning, or otherwise being crushed. Located inside of Crane's Ridge, occupants will find themselves trapped in tight, winding, abandoned caves or literally buried alive in loose but heavy dirt. Attempts to escape will be frequently quashed by rain, mudslides, rock slides, earthquakes, and other events designed to shuffle the earth and sink you lower. You may also find yourself crushed on a more abstract level, by feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and despair. Work together to escape... or take advantage of each other to further your own escape, like crabs in a bucket.
The Corruption - Also known as "The Crawling Rot", "The Flesh Hive," or sometimes simply "Filth." This represents the fear of corruption of bodies and spaces via disease, rot, insects, mold, and other things evoking feelings of deep disgust. The fear of unsanitary or revolting things. While this fear is almost always extremely literal, it can sometimes also manifest as toxic love. Centralized in the Winterbottom Clinic but using dream logic to tie all the medical facilities around town together via horrible "portals," the Corruption has formed a dingy hospital, where medical staff are presented with an endless string of patients with infected injuries and given only dirty tools and contaminated medicines to try and treat them with. Are you a physician, or a patient?
The Dark - An extremely old and deep fear of darkness, the unknown, and things that lurk out of sight in the darkness. Also sometimes called "Mr. Pitch" or "The Forever Blind". Often manifests as profound, endless darkness, shadowy figures, monsters that hide in shadow, deep and dark bodies of water and blindness. The Dark has its domain set in the vast majority of Lockwood Forest, where the woods will be consumed in complete darkness. This simple domain forces you to use your other senses to try and avoid whatever else is lurking there in the shadows with you. But sometimes the tiniest flashes of light allow you a faint glimpse of what is hiding in the trees. You may not like what you see.
The Desolation - Also called "The Lightless Flame," "The Blackened Earth," or "Asag." This is the fear of pain, agony, random destruction, loss, and burning. It often manifests in the form of destructive fire and things associated with it. Forest or house fires, destruction of potential, loss of loved ones, sabotage of success, and severe burn wounds are common. Its victims tend to lose the things they love most or die before realizing their potential, as well as come to harm by literal fire. Having taken up residence in the burned out shell of Larkin Estate, the Desolation has chosen to take a fairly literal approach, causing the manor to relive its devastating inferno indefinitely. Perhaps, over the roar of the flames, you can hear the voice of a loved one, calling for your help...
The End - Also called "Terminus" or just "Death". Represents the fear of dying, especially painfully, as well as the fear of what comes after (or lack thereof, in some cases). Its victims and its servants alike tend to be those who have had close calls or near-death experiences, if they survive at all. Finding itself right at home in Fall's Promise Cemetery, the names on the headstones have been replaced with the names of this domain's occupants, who wake to find themselves in hungry, open graves. Trying to escape will involve facing a terrible and dangerous fate tailored to your personal fears that is extraordinarily likely to kill you--- but don't worry, the End has graciously allowed you a much shorter respawn time. You'll wake up after only three hours, back in your grave, ready to start again, but bearing some injury or scar from your previous death. The more you collect, the harder it will be to escape your next fate, but those who do manage to escape the End's domain will be able to retain their three-hour respawn rate until the barrier goes down.
The Eye - Also known as "The Beholding" or "Ceaseless Watcher". The fear of being watched, stalked, followed, or exposed. Fear of a lack of privacy, fear of judgement from others. Fear of knowledge that could destroy you, and obsession with knowing. Manifests in the form of any eye, either real or symbolic. This can include drawings or photos of eyes, mirror images, camera lenses, and more. Its victims usually have experiences related to being watched intently, followed by unseen eyes, or other similar experiences. In this case, the Eye has created itself a miniature Panopticon in the clock tower. Jonathan Sims is trapped here, forced to watch the suffering of his neighbors as he was during the original Eyepocalypse. Victims trapped within the tower will wander through the obelisk, which now has glass walls so that they can be watched and judged by those on the streets below as they fail to navigate their way out of the labyrinthine tower. And all the while, they will feel as though they are being followed, spied on, observed as if under a microscope, and scrutinized for their failure. Victims who encounter each other in the tower will immediately become aware of each other's greatest regret, failure, or secret.
The Flesh - Also occasionally referred to as "Viscera". This is a strange Fear that is primarily born of livestock animals and their fear of butchery. However, this also has expanded into human fears such as the existential dread of just being electrified meat, gore, body horror, and other more subtle fears and discomforts with one's body or physicality in general. This Fear is housed in a long-time home of butchery, and I don't mean the local slaughterhouse--- Leeds Estate, which normally serves as a safehouse, has been completely overtaken for a one of a kind Hunt-to-table dining experience, courtesy of the Hunt domain right out back. Victims who start here or are caught in the Hunt domain will be taken to the basement for "processing", where they will be taken apart (but as previously noted, unable to die) and loudly scrutinized for their inadequacies before being served to other victims (or perhaps Avatars) upstairs as the main course. As their bodies slowly regrow, they will be subjected to "processing" repeatedly or chucked back out into the Hunt to begin the cycle again.
The Hunt - Another fear born from that of animals, this is the fear of being prey or being chased by a relentless, violent pursuer. Manifests as predatory animals and monsters, animalistic tendencies and characteristics, and hunting of all sorts. In the somewhat brighter section of forest behind Leeds Estate which surrounds Hatchet Lake, victims here will be forced to fight or flee from monstrous predators, or transform into one themself. But no matter how wolf-like someone becomes, it won't stop the tables from turning so that they become prey once more, so never, ever drop your guard. Once prey is incapacitated, it will be hauled off to the Flesh domain to begin the next step in the cycle. But don't worry, you'll get another chance to play hide and seek when they're done with you.
The Lonely - Also called "The Forsaken" or "The One Alone." This is the fear of isolation, either due to being separated from others by tangible barriers or social/emotional ones. The fear of having no one to reach out to, of abandonment, of being unloved or unwanted, of being cut off from society. This domain features two distinct areas. The first is the Tundra, a freighter ship owned by one Peter Lukas. Sailors aboard this ship will carry out tasks without any means to communicate with one another, finding themselves unable to speak or emote in any way, so that even on the crowded ship, they will never stop feeling alone. Any attempts to work around this will be swiftly punished by the crew in the form of solitary confinement in the brig, so be careful not to get caught. And then, on the beach and Bluffs, victims will find themselves perfectly capable of speech but struggling to recall or retain any memories or perceive each other's features. Maybe for a moment you might remember something about who you are, but in moments it will slip away once more.
The Slaughter - Fear of random, unpredictable outbursts of violence, pain, and death. Its most common manifestation is that of war and combat. However, it can apply to any form of random or mass violence. In this case, war has broken out in the fields of Northwest Hollow. Soldiers and warriors will find themselves fending off an endless onslaught of faceless enemies (who look suspiciously like enemies they've fought before) that they know want to do harm to their friends, while civilians trying to hunker down in farm houses will find themselves only slightly safer--- but who knows when a stray bullet or explosive might do them harm, or members of the enemy army might drag them from their home and beat them bloody? Unable to die, occupants of this domain find themselves forced to carry on through injuries that would have otherwise killed them. And sometimes, victims will succumb to the sound of beating war drums and be briefly overtaken with an insatiable desire to do violence themselves.
The Spiral - Also called "It Is Not What It Is" or "The Twisting Deceit." It is the fear of madness, losing one's grip on reality, being gaslit, deception of the mind and the senses. Manifests as hallucinations or illusions and can cause victims to improperly perceive time. A common appearance is that of a door that should not be where it is and impossible spaces, as well as fractal images. In this case, the Oak & Iron has been taken over by the Distortion, turning the tavern inn into a maze of impossible architecture, false friends, and hallucinated images.
The Stranger - Also called "I Do Not Know You". The fear of the uncanny valley, things that are almost human but not quite, perversions of the human form, and existential dread regarding identity and selfhood. Here, the Stranger has chosen to simply lay itself over Pumpkinfest, creating a horrible carnival of uncanny performers. Lining the streets are booths that sell spare parts--- new names, new faces, new souls, stolen from loved ones, objects of envy, or shiny, plastic, and brand new. Carve yourself a new identity at the pumpkin carving station or have your "you" stolen by someone else in the streets. Forget your face, your name, don a mask and become a brand new you. How will you fight back? Do you even remember how to make a fist? Which of these hands are yours?
The Vast - Also known as the "Falling Titan" or simply "Vertigo". It is the fear of heights, falling, endlessness, and the existential dread associated with inconceivably large spaces like the open sky, the depths of the sea, and the entirety of the universe. It also addresses the fear and despair surrounding being very small in comparison with grander things so as to be pointless or infinitesimal. Stationed on the edge of Ripjaw Falls and the surrounding ocean, victims will find themselves with a stone wall to their backs, toes hanging over the precipice. Fall for eternity at terminal velocity through open air or plunge into a deep and endless sea with access to air impossibly far above. Or for those who are terribly, terribly unlucky, bear witness as a dark, colossal rogue planet converges with the orbit of Concorde, two worlds colliding into one another and threatening to swallow your minuscule form whole.
The Web - Sometimes called "The Spider" or "The Mother of Puppets". This in part the fear of spiders themselves, but also the fear of being caught in someone else's web. The fear of being manipulated by someone else or having your actions controlled, being part of someone's master plan. This domain also features two areas. The part in Town Hall forces you to navigate an intricate web of municipal red tape to try and get yourself out. Complex rules and office politics pull strings to keep you trapped and wandering, filling out form after form and performing increasingly oppressive and undignified ID checks to proceed. In the library, the only way to proceed is to read--- but beware. The text in these books determines what you or others do. Choose the wrong book and wander deeper into danger, or control someone else in ways neither of you like. And on top of it all, both buildings are terribly full of cobwebs...
There is, of course an opt-out/safe zone for this event--- you'll notice that the very top of Crane's Ridge is not colored. This is because Celestine has set up a safe zone where her festival is normally held. With little notice, she focused on snatching up those who most needed to not be down in the rest of the town (this is your opt-out), but she didn't have time to get everyone. Work with Celestine to try and create signals to the rest of town, trying to summon as many people as possible to the top of the mountain! But with the rest of the landmark owned by the Buried, there is only one way to get to the safe zone. Which brings us to our final Fear...
The Extinction - Also referred to as "The Future Without Us". This is a relatively new Fear that plays off of several others, but has begun to establish itself as unique as environmental issues and weapons of mass destruction become more of a pressing issue. It is the fear of apocalypse, of a mass extinction event created by human hands through violence or negligence. Due to its youth, it occupies only one space on the island: the train up to Crane's Ridge. Innocuous at first, those who board the train will simply find it full of detritus. However, as soon as the train begins to run, smog will fill the air and the train cars will become inhospitably hot. Riders will become consumed with the fear that the train is poisoning the land, be shown visions of an apocalyptic future out the windows of the train, cough up gobs of crude oil, have their train car fill up with concrete, or be attacked by humanoid figures made of garbage. These terrible visions only cease when the train does.
So it's no small feat to get to the safe zone, but doing so will allow you to escape from the horrors below and spend some time with the Mother of Autumn and Sky. Most people who do not opt-out will be considered victims. However, there will be some guests/infernal servants as well as PCs who are already entitled to an Avatar role. It's also possible for other PCs who are suitable to acquire an Avatar role during the event. For those unfamiliar, an Avatar of a Fear is someone who has a special connection to that Fear that affords them a slice of its power. Avatars feed off the terror of victims, so accepting such a role will force you to participate in the suffering of those around you--- however, it will spare you from further danger, and those who accept Avatar status will be able to retain it after the event. This status is accompanied by thematic powers that can be used to help out with later events, including Endgame, so if you were looking for a way to power up and be a meaningful contender against Nyarlathotep, this is your in.
Phew! This was a long one, but we wanted to bring out our best for the Halloween season! This event will ICly run from Oct. 18th to 31st, with the island back to normal on Nov. 1st, at which point Nyarly will shunt the Fears out of the barrier because they're pushy and he's bored of them. Happy Halloween!
Because I'm hilarious, Eligos will meet his end over the Ides of March, giving Aster until Halloween of 2026 to be King of Hell. At this point, Dahlia will step into her role as King of Woman Scorned, and begin planning how to go about removing the barrier. Because it's just a new worldstate establishing event, I was planning to introduce our transition to the Dreamlands in December of 2026 so that people will have some low-stakes slice of (weird new) life and exploring to do over the holidays, and then begin the endgame questlines in January of 2027.
The preamble part of endgame is intended to last 6 months and be comprised of 3 questlines that will be assigned 2 months a piece, each one belonging to a particular team. Those who remain back on the island will have their own things to do, but each of the 3 quests will involve excursions into the Dreamlands for their respective teams. Teams for these quests will be chosen from characters that have been consistently active and will favor characters to whom they are plot relevant, and we currently do not have a set number of team members (though most threads within those quests will be able to be done in pairs still, so don't worry about potentially needing to do like a 6 person thread for 2 months). Because it's going to be important to move the plot along during this time, after the 2 months assigned, members of the teams will be asked to provide a write-up of how their quest went, even if some of it needs to be handwaved or backtagged later. That way the next team can proceed to their quest! Finally, there will be a final showdown with Nyarlathotep, and then an epilogue, each one being a month.
Barring incident, this means that Pumpkin Hollow will conclude in August of 2027. Throughout this time, Team Pumpkin will be preparing Emerald Crown so that we will be more or less prepared to jump into a prologue for the sequel game in September of that same year. It seems like a long time right now, but we've learned from experience that 2 years goes by in a flash! If you're looking to get properly involved in the plot, or people are looking to power up their characters so as to be a contender against Nyarly, now's the time to begin discussing it so that we can give you a satisfying character arc! See our State of the Game post for more details on how we plan to make sure everyone gets a slice of the plot pie!
That said, we're really looking forward to getting spooky with y'all! We've got some fun things on the horizon, so let's jump right in!
FALL TDM
Sept-Nov
The fall TDM continues! It launched right as the gala was starting, so we're hoping folks will have more time to enjoy it now that the chaos is starting to dwindle somewhat. Pumpkinfest, comedy clubs, and forest monsters, oh my! It's also worth mentioning that the timeframe where it makes sense to onboard new members is starting to dwindle. If you have people you want to harass into joining us, strike while the iron's hot! We're definitely still new-player and new-character friendly!
HALLOWEEN SPECIAL - Statement Begins
October 19th
After a visit from a reality-breaking servant of the Web during the September event, the island is in for a nasty surprise, flavored after our beloved and broad Magnus Archives cast. Honestly, we'll probably blame Jon for it anyway, though.Once upon a time, in a very specific iteration of London, England, there was an academic institute dedicated to studying and recording supernatural occurrences caused by fear itself made manifest, come to terrorize and feed off any living thing capable of feeling terror. This institute sorted these ostensibly-higher beings, their activities and their acolytes, into fourteen (later fifteen) distinct categories, each based on a primal, instinctual fear. They existed on the outskirts of reality, picking their victims off the fringes. Until one day, they didn't, thanks to the elaborate efforts of a few deeply terrible people, at the (sometimes willing) expense of Jonathan Sims. An apocalypse was born, and then ended by sacrifice. That should have been the end of the story. But one Annabelle Cain made sure that this would not be the case.
Deep in the heart of Paradesium, there is a crack in the world. From it, all manner of interdimensional terrors have come through to Pumpkin Hollow. And also, a water park that one time. But mostly terrors, hand selected and pulled through by demons or by Nyarlathotep. But this October, it will be used to create a miniature version of the temporary apocalypse that the people of Archives Universe London came to know only as "the Change."
The Fears will each occupy a physical space on Marrow Isle, arranged as follows:
Each Fear Domain will have a specific aesthetic design as a jumping off point. However, due to the Fears operating on dream logic and wanting to terrorize each person as much as possible, some elements will be flexible and bend themselves to suit you. Each player must pick one starting point for each character, even if they have multiple suitable fears, so pick one that suits your character best or sounds the most fun--- but feel free to have them move through many! This will function pretty similar to the nightmare event from last January, for those familiar. Only those who begin in the End domain will be capable of death, meaning that others will remain alive and aware despite any injuries they might sustain--- no matter how fantastical. Here's a breakdown of what each Fear is, and what their domains will be like.
The Buried - Also known as "Choke" or "Too Close I Cannot Breathe". Claustrophobia, the fear of being trapped without enough space, suffocation, being buried alive or drowning, or otherwise being crushed. Located inside of Crane's Ridge, occupants will find themselves trapped in tight, winding, abandoned caves or literally buried alive in loose but heavy dirt. Attempts to escape will be frequently quashed by rain, mudslides, rock slides, earthquakes, and other events designed to shuffle the earth and sink you lower. You may also find yourself crushed on a more abstract level, by feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and despair. Work together to escape... or take advantage of each other to further your own escape, like crabs in a bucket.
The Corruption - Also known as "The Crawling Rot", "The Flesh Hive," or sometimes simply "Filth." This represents the fear of corruption of bodies and spaces via disease, rot, insects, mold, and other things evoking feelings of deep disgust. The fear of unsanitary or revolting things. While this fear is almost always extremely literal, it can sometimes also manifest as toxic love. Centralized in the Winterbottom Clinic but using dream logic to tie all the medical facilities around town together via horrible "portals," the Corruption has formed a dingy hospital, where medical staff are presented with an endless string of patients with infected injuries and given only dirty tools and contaminated medicines to try and treat them with. Are you a physician, or a patient?
The Dark - An extremely old and deep fear of darkness, the unknown, and things that lurk out of sight in the darkness. Also sometimes called "Mr. Pitch" or "The Forever Blind". Often manifests as profound, endless darkness, shadowy figures, monsters that hide in shadow, deep and dark bodies of water and blindness. The Dark has its domain set in the vast majority of Lockwood Forest, where the woods will be consumed in complete darkness. This simple domain forces you to use your other senses to try and avoid whatever else is lurking there in the shadows with you. But sometimes the tiniest flashes of light allow you a faint glimpse of what is hiding in the trees. You may not like what you see.
The Desolation - Also called "The Lightless Flame," "The Blackened Earth," or "Asag." This is the fear of pain, agony, random destruction, loss, and burning. It often manifests in the form of destructive fire and things associated with it. Forest or house fires, destruction of potential, loss of loved ones, sabotage of success, and severe burn wounds are common. Its victims tend to lose the things they love most or die before realizing their potential, as well as come to harm by literal fire. Having taken up residence in the burned out shell of Larkin Estate, the Desolation has chosen to take a fairly literal approach, causing the manor to relive its devastating inferno indefinitely. Perhaps, over the roar of the flames, you can hear the voice of a loved one, calling for your help...
The End - Also called "Terminus" or just "Death". Represents the fear of dying, especially painfully, as well as the fear of what comes after (or lack thereof, in some cases). Its victims and its servants alike tend to be those who have had close calls or near-death experiences, if they survive at all. Finding itself right at home in Fall's Promise Cemetery, the names on the headstones have been replaced with the names of this domain's occupants, who wake to find themselves in hungry, open graves. Trying to escape will involve facing a terrible and dangerous fate tailored to your personal fears that is extraordinarily likely to kill you--- but don't worry, the End has graciously allowed you a much shorter respawn time. You'll wake up after only three hours, back in your grave, ready to start again, but bearing some injury or scar from your previous death. The more you collect, the harder it will be to escape your next fate, but those who do manage to escape the End's domain will be able to retain their three-hour respawn rate until the barrier goes down.
The Eye - Also known as "The Beholding" or "Ceaseless Watcher". The fear of being watched, stalked, followed, or exposed. Fear of a lack of privacy, fear of judgement from others. Fear of knowledge that could destroy you, and obsession with knowing. Manifests in the form of any eye, either real or symbolic. This can include drawings or photos of eyes, mirror images, camera lenses, and more. Its victims usually have experiences related to being watched intently, followed by unseen eyes, or other similar experiences. In this case, the Eye has created itself a miniature Panopticon in the clock tower. Jonathan Sims is trapped here, forced to watch the suffering of his neighbors as he was during the original Eyepocalypse. Victims trapped within the tower will wander through the obelisk, which now has glass walls so that they can be watched and judged by those on the streets below as they fail to navigate their way out of the labyrinthine tower. And all the while, they will feel as though they are being followed, spied on, observed as if under a microscope, and scrutinized for their failure. Victims who encounter each other in the tower will immediately become aware of each other's greatest regret, failure, or secret.
The Flesh - Also occasionally referred to as "Viscera". This is a strange Fear that is primarily born of livestock animals and their fear of butchery. However, this also has expanded into human fears such as the existential dread of just being electrified meat, gore, body horror, and other more subtle fears and discomforts with one's body or physicality in general. This Fear is housed in a long-time home of butchery, and I don't mean the local slaughterhouse--- Leeds Estate, which normally serves as a safehouse, has been completely overtaken for a one of a kind Hunt-to-table dining experience, courtesy of the Hunt domain right out back. Victims who start here or are caught in the Hunt domain will be taken to the basement for "processing", where they will be taken apart (but as previously noted, unable to die) and loudly scrutinized for their inadequacies before being served to other victims (or perhaps Avatars) upstairs as the main course. As their bodies slowly regrow, they will be subjected to "processing" repeatedly or chucked back out into the Hunt to begin the cycle again.
The Hunt - Another fear born from that of animals, this is the fear of being prey or being chased by a relentless, violent pursuer. Manifests as predatory animals and monsters, animalistic tendencies and characteristics, and hunting of all sorts. In the somewhat brighter section of forest behind Leeds Estate which surrounds Hatchet Lake, victims here will be forced to fight or flee from monstrous predators, or transform into one themself. But no matter how wolf-like someone becomes, it won't stop the tables from turning so that they become prey once more, so never, ever drop your guard. Once prey is incapacitated, it will be hauled off to the Flesh domain to begin the next step in the cycle. But don't worry, you'll get another chance to play hide and seek when they're done with you.
The Lonely - Also called "The Forsaken" or "The One Alone." This is the fear of isolation, either due to being separated from others by tangible barriers or social/emotional ones. The fear of having no one to reach out to, of abandonment, of being unloved or unwanted, of being cut off from society. This domain features two distinct areas. The first is the Tundra, a freighter ship owned by one Peter Lukas. Sailors aboard this ship will carry out tasks without any means to communicate with one another, finding themselves unable to speak or emote in any way, so that even on the crowded ship, they will never stop feeling alone. Any attempts to work around this will be swiftly punished by the crew in the form of solitary confinement in the brig, so be careful not to get caught. And then, on the beach and Bluffs, victims will find themselves perfectly capable of speech but struggling to recall or retain any memories or perceive each other's features. Maybe for a moment you might remember something about who you are, but in moments it will slip away once more.
The Slaughter - Fear of random, unpredictable outbursts of violence, pain, and death. Its most common manifestation is that of war and combat. However, it can apply to any form of random or mass violence. In this case, war has broken out in the fields of Northwest Hollow. Soldiers and warriors will find themselves fending off an endless onslaught of faceless enemies (who look suspiciously like enemies they've fought before) that they know want to do harm to their friends, while civilians trying to hunker down in farm houses will find themselves only slightly safer--- but who knows when a stray bullet or explosive might do them harm, or members of the enemy army might drag them from their home and beat them bloody? Unable to die, occupants of this domain find themselves forced to carry on through injuries that would have otherwise killed them. And sometimes, victims will succumb to the sound of beating war drums and be briefly overtaken with an insatiable desire to do violence themselves.
The Spiral - Also called "It Is Not What It Is" or "The Twisting Deceit." It is the fear of madness, losing one's grip on reality, being gaslit, deception of the mind and the senses. Manifests as hallucinations or illusions and can cause victims to improperly perceive time. A common appearance is that of a door that should not be where it is and impossible spaces, as well as fractal images. In this case, the Oak & Iron has been taken over by the Distortion, turning the tavern inn into a maze of impossible architecture, false friends, and hallucinated images.
The Stranger - Also called "I Do Not Know You". The fear of the uncanny valley, things that are almost human but not quite, perversions of the human form, and existential dread regarding identity and selfhood. Here, the Stranger has chosen to simply lay itself over Pumpkinfest, creating a horrible carnival of uncanny performers. Lining the streets are booths that sell spare parts--- new names, new faces, new souls, stolen from loved ones, objects of envy, or shiny, plastic, and brand new. Carve yourself a new identity at the pumpkin carving station or have your "you" stolen by someone else in the streets. Forget your face, your name, don a mask and become a brand new you. How will you fight back? Do you even remember how to make a fist? Which of these hands are yours?
The Vast - Also known as the "Falling Titan" or simply "Vertigo". It is the fear of heights, falling, endlessness, and the existential dread associated with inconceivably large spaces like the open sky, the depths of the sea, and the entirety of the universe. It also addresses the fear and despair surrounding being very small in comparison with grander things so as to be pointless or infinitesimal. Stationed on the edge of Ripjaw Falls and the surrounding ocean, victims will find themselves with a stone wall to their backs, toes hanging over the precipice. Fall for eternity at terminal velocity through open air or plunge into a deep and endless sea with access to air impossibly far above. Or for those who are terribly, terribly unlucky, bear witness as a dark, colossal rogue planet converges with the orbit of Concorde, two worlds colliding into one another and threatening to swallow your minuscule form whole.
The Web - Sometimes called "The Spider" or "The Mother of Puppets". This in part the fear of spiders themselves, but also the fear of being caught in someone else's web. The fear of being manipulated by someone else or having your actions controlled, being part of someone's master plan. This domain also features two areas. The part in Town Hall forces you to navigate an intricate web of municipal red tape to try and get yourself out. Complex rules and office politics pull strings to keep you trapped and wandering, filling out form after form and performing increasingly oppressive and undignified ID checks to proceed. In the library, the only way to proceed is to read--- but beware. The text in these books determines what you or others do. Choose the wrong book and wander deeper into danger, or control someone else in ways neither of you like. And on top of it all, both buildings are terribly full of cobwebs...
There is, of course an opt-out/safe zone for this event--- you'll notice that the very top of Crane's Ridge is not colored. This is because Celestine has set up a safe zone where her festival is normally held. With little notice, she focused on snatching up those who most needed to not be down in the rest of the town (this is your opt-out), but she didn't have time to get everyone. Work with Celestine to try and create signals to the rest of town, trying to summon as many people as possible to the top of the mountain! But with the rest of the landmark owned by the Buried, there is only one way to get to the safe zone. Which brings us to our final Fear...
The Extinction - Also referred to as "The Future Without Us". This is a relatively new Fear that plays off of several others, but has begun to establish itself as unique as environmental issues and weapons of mass destruction become more of a pressing issue. It is the fear of apocalypse, of a mass extinction event created by human hands through violence or negligence. Due to its youth, it occupies only one space on the island: the train up to Crane's Ridge. Innocuous at first, those who board the train will simply find it full of detritus. However, as soon as the train begins to run, smog will fill the air and the train cars will become inhospitably hot. Riders will become consumed with the fear that the train is poisoning the land, be shown visions of an apocalyptic future out the windows of the train, cough up gobs of crude oil, have their train car fill up with concrete, or be attacked by humanoid figures made of garbage. These terrible visions only cease when the train does.
So it's no small feat to get to the safe zone, but doing so will allow you to escape from the horrors below and spend some time with the Mother of Autumn and Sky. Most people who do not opt-out will be considered victims. However, there will be some guests/infernal servants as well as PCs who are already entitled to an Avatar role. It's also possible for other PCs who are suitable to acquire an Avatar role during the event. For those unfamiliar, an Avatar of a Fear is someone who has a special connection to that Fear that affords them a slice of its power. Avatars feed off the terror of victims, so accepting such a role will force you to participate in the suffering of those around you--- however, it will spare you from further danger, and those who accept Avatar status will be able to retain it after the event. This status is accompanied by thematic powers that can be used to help out with later events, including Endgame, so if you were looking for a way to power up and be a meaningful contender against Nyarlathotep, this is your in.
Phew! This was a long one, but we wanted to bring out our best for the Halloween season! This event will ICly run from Oct. 18th to 31st, with the island back to normal on Nov. 1st, at which point Nyarly will shunt the Fears out of the barrier because they're pushy and he's bored of them. Happy Halloween!
CURRENT METAPLOT
We now have a set roadmap towards Endgame! It's still a good ways off, but we're at the point where we have a clear picture of how and when the game is going to conclude, which we would like to share.Because I'm hilarious, Eligos will meet his end over the Ides of March, giving Aster until Halloween of 2026 to be King of Hell. At this point, Dahlia will step into her role as King of Woman Scorned, and begin planning how to go about removing the barrier. Because it's just a new worldstate establishing event, I was planning to introduce our transition to the Dreamlands in December of 2026 so that people will have some low-stakes slice of (weird new) life and exploring to do over the holidays, and then begin the endgame questlines in January of 2027.
The preamble part of endgame is intended to last 6 months and be comprised of 3 questlines that will be assigned 2 months a piece, each one belonging to a particular team. Those who remain back on the island will have their own things to do, but each of the 3 quests will involve excursions into the Dreamlands for their respective teams. Teams for these quests will be chosen from characters that have been consistently active and will favor characters to whom they are plot relevant, and we currently do not have a set number of team members (though most threads within those quests will be able to be done in pairs still, so don't worry about potentially needing to do like a 6 person thread for 2 months). Because it's going to be important to move the plot along during this time, after the 2 months assigned, members of the teams will be asked to provide a write-up of how their quest went, even if some of it needs to be handwaved or backtagged later. That way the next team can proceed to their quest! Finally, there will be a final showdown with Nyarlathotep, and then an epilogue, each one being a month.
Barring incident, this means that Pumpkin Hollow will conclude in August of 2027. Throughout this time, Team Pumpkin will be preparing Emerald Crown so that we will be more or less prepared to jump into a prologue for the sequel game in September of that same year. It seems like a long time right now, but we've learned from experience that 2 years goes by in a flash! If you're looking to get properly involved in the plot, or people are looking to power up their characters so as to be a contender against Nyarly, now's the time to begin discussing it so that we can give you a satisfying character arc! See our State of the Game post for more details on how we plan to make sure everyone gets a slice of the plot pie!
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/CONCERNS
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AC Opinion Poll
Blue | Daisy, Alice, Gwen, CT, Melanie, Margaret, Alex
π»Melanie [Immune, rescue duty]
Gonna start with Melanie because she's got the most unique thing to do this eventβshe's immune! Blinding herself had the specific effect of preventing the Eye from sorting her into a domain in the Archivesverse apocalypse and the same stands true here. Melanie can move around the island pretty much freely and can get other people out of their domains and help them to reach somewhere else. You're immune too until you're separated from her.
Of course she's only one woman and still blind, so exactly how many people she can get and how far she can take them is limited, but she'll be doing what she can. Existing CR gets first dibs for planned rescue but she'll have to cross paths with others on the way so I'm open to others.
πΌDaisy [Buried, Hunt]
She comes with her own pre-packaged trauma so she will be starting in the Buried and very angry about it at the same time as being scared out of her mind. She's going to get out by sheer stubborn will and remembering that it was possible last time, so maybe she can help someone else out along the way?
After she's out of there she'll end up down in the Hunt area where she'll involuntarily be in more of the Avatar role on account of Being An Avatar. Whilst this isn't something she wants, it will be extremely hard to resist so folks could absolutely have a close call with her.
πΎAlice [Lonely]
Alice is going into the fog for this one. Loneliness has been the thing that's driven her poor decisions for years and years at this point and though she's edging away from it to having a real social life again, it's still got it's claws in her. I'm not yet sure whether to stick her on the ship or the beach, though I think the ship might slightly better represent her feeling of being alone in her life and job.
She'll probably be here the whole time unless someone drags her out.
πΈAlex [Spiral]
Alex is going to primarily be stuck in the Spiral (though her trauma also has flavours of Lonely and Desolation, so if she gets out I could plop her into those with others). Alex's most deeply ingrained trauma is being disbelieved about her abilities to the point of psychiatric mistreatment; she was made to doubt her perception of reality, told she was a delusional liar, and all that fun stuff. So her time in the Spiral is going to involve a lot of being disbelieved, perhaps with her perceptions of other people's emotions being actively manipulated to be wrong so she doubts her abilities, stuff like that.
How far I lean into the actual flavourings of the actual system will depend on comfort level, both mine and other people'sβI don't wanna do something insensitive so we'll see how it goes.
πͺCT [Eye (+ Avatar), Slaughter, Lonely or Vast?]
CT is going to get Avatar'd by Jon after she starts in the Eye area! Which she's going to keep post-event and thus have some new freaky eye powers going for her. She'll be a little freaked out by this, but maybe not as much as she should be, because it's going to be useful even if it is weird. Exact details are being hashed out but being able to see through real and artificial eyes of various kinds within a limited radius, compulsion, Knowing Things and truesight/foresight are the general idea.
In the event itself, for a while she'll be in the Eye domain suffering from unbearable paranoia, so if you want to bump into her and have regrets/secrets/etc exposed, she's there! Maybe she even pulls a bit more from you than you offered up at first. Then eventually she's going to making it out and head through the Slaughter, where she'll be being reminded of the hell of the battlefield and probably getting a taste of the Covenant war front she never saw personallyβcome get involved in violence with her! After that she's heading over to the Lonely, though she'll mostly be there with the intention of getting Ripley out.
She's also massively scared of the Vast because despite being in the space military, she fuckin hates open space! And vast unknowns and unpredictability in general. I just don't have a clear idea for her going that way rn.
π©°Gwen [Web]
Gwen's going to be primarily stuck in the Web domain, though she might escape and come to others depending on circumstance. Between the pressure of Canon Events and her brainwashing trauma from CRAU shenanigans, the Web is her biggest fear and she'll be focused in the library with the controlling books. These could do anything from cause her to act violently against her will, play on things like Gwen Stacy's ultimate fate in most universes, etc etc I think it'd be best played around with specific match-ups.
πMargaret [End, Corruption, Slaughter]
I think I'm going to start Margaret in the End, for flavour. It's not her strongest fear but fighting her way out is interesting to me and she's really my only viable mark for playing with the 3 hour death turnaround. So she'll die a couple times and then ultimately escape the End domain, only to end up pulled into the Corruption when she tries to go to the clinic. That'll involve her being made to operate with dirty tools and such, and I might play with some simulacrum of a doctor playing up a toxic dynamic but I'm less sure how to work with that even though I definitely think her Corruption connection includes that toxic idea of romance.
She's also a shoe-in for Slaughter but I'm not 100% sure what to do with her there besides generally inflicting it on her, so we'll see.
Special feature: Julia and Trevor will make a limited appearance in the Hunt domain. I don't want to do too much with them because even last year I failed to finish all their action threads, but 1-2 things with them terrorising someone would be fun. They're the adoptive dad-daughter duo who are just, so fucked up and Hunt other monsters.
plans (pls do not reply)
π»Melanie: Rescuing Phil, rescuing Anya
πͺCT: Avatar'd with Jon, rescuing Ripley from the Lonely
πΌDaisy: Something with Valdis, Eyed!Basira comes to her aid in the Hunt
πΎAlice: Lorelei
πΈAlex: Spiral thing with Sally?
Spider | Stefan Richter
Let me know if there's any in particular that look intriguing!
The End - Escape the deep grave Stefan died in, pursued by a murderous apparition. CW themes of intimate partner violence
Stefan's grave is an odd one--far deeper than a grave should be. The walls are natural stone, forty feet deep (~12m). The grave widens as it descends, making the walls impossible to climb. At the bottom is a space seven feet long and five feet wide (~215cm x 150cm). Dominating the space is a jet black box, 6' x 4' x 4' (~185 x 120 x 120cm). It's made out of a substance resembling no rock or metal known on Earth. The lid has been shoved off of it, lying beneath ancient, crude carvings of a serene, ageless woman, and a sinister man with his teeth bared in rage. Between them are three words in Ancient Greek: Here lies power.Stefan can be found lying crumpled on the floor beside the box, next to some spent bullet casings. Anyone who wants to help him will find a rope and other climbing and caving supplies at the surface, but the rope has a chance to unexpectedly fail, leading to a potentially fatal drop. The only other option is to navigate a cramped tunnel that leads through a cave complex. Either in the shadows of the cave or the fog of the cemetery, silhouette may appear at random, remaining almost unseen apart from the glint of a pistol or a knife. The figure will try to kill Stefan first and then attack anyone else with him, and will pursue until out of the graveyard or the tunnels below it.
The Stranger - Meet Stefan's old friends, who take everything from him. CW for disbelieving an abuse victim
Upon escaping the End, Stefan will attempt to get home and collect supplies. On the way, he'll encounter people he seems to know - most of them from his old life. They're outwardly friendly and very capable, but there's something off about them, and they absolutely don't believe Stefan if he mentions the figure that attacked him in the End's domain. Eventually, they'll steal his selfhood and leave to give it to someone else who needs it more than he does. At that point, Stefan will try to scrape together an identity from what he still remembers, and may try to steal from the market or from others. His parts can be stolen back from the interlopers, or he can be helped to reestablish himself.The Spiral - Shaken by betrayals, Stefan becomes paranoid and lost. CW for themes of abuse
Still trying to pull together an identity for himself or looking for a respite afterward, Stefan makes the mistake of going to the Oak and Iron. There, he, well, spirals! Did he ever really have any friends back at home? Did they all secretly want him dead, or did they not care that much? He may see the same figures from the street again and pursue them, mistake others for them, or just be too worked up to behave rationally around people he knows.The Desolation - A rowhouse fire blends with relics from the Great War. CW for white phosphorus and its effects, thanks WWI!
He doesn't know how he ended up there after his time in the Spiral, but the Larkin Estate around Stefan is twisted into a few different aspects. First, a low-rent apartment block around the turn of the 20th century. He may hear the voice of his father or sister in the blaze. Get out to somewhere open, and the danger rises--there are green mortars painted with "W. PHOS" and grenades stamped with "WP" that have fallen out of broken crates. They're white phosphorous munitions, and they're emitting a garlicky smell that says one or more of them may have broken open and are exposed to the creeping flames.The Corruption - Stefan awakens in a field hospital. It ain't good, chief. CW for suicide.
Having been badly burned in the fire, Stefan is taken to get medical attention. Expect to find the facilities around him like those of a WWI field hospital, overwhelmed from an influx of wounded. There's been a gas attack somewhere--men are coming in with horrible blisters, coughing blood, and blindfolded due to the temporary blindness common after mustard gas exposure. Victims of the normal sort of shelling are also being brought in, many with horrible injuries they may not survive.The hospital has run out of beds, leaving Stefan to be placed on the floor. The normal flow would have him prioritized for anti-shock treatment: morphine, IV saline, blood transfusion, while also removing phosphorus from his wounds. This would mean keeping his wounds damp so unburned phosphorus can be removed from them without causing more burns, dousing the wounds in bicarbonate to neutralize phosphoric acid, and debriding the wounds to remove fragments that can't be dug out. Or at least, that'd be the normal procedure. Everything's a mess, and supplies may be missing or contaminated. Knowing how long recovery can take even under good conditions, Stefan may decide that he's not going through with that: the End's way out will get him upright quicker.
The Web - Trying to head north, Stefan ends up stumbling into the Web and trapping himself in responsibilities.
Stefan's personally fond of spiders, so that's not a problem for him. But he's back in an old nightmare of daily life - he's told he needs to manage medical care for someone, and he loses the ability to say no. He'll be trapped, trying to find where delivery of some painkillers has gone. Eventually, he'll work free of that and into the library, where he'll remember he needs to find the way out of this hell - but he doesn't quite recall which hell. Expect to find him surrounded by books in dead languages, trying to find reference to some sort of magic of the gods, and may include prophecies of dubious nature.The Eye - Trying to find a vantage point, Stefan ends up forced to share his regret that he ever met his best friend.
What it says on the tin. Stefan's fraught relationship with his 'best friend' ruled his entire life before PH from the age of six onwards, and so much of his damage is wrapped up in that. Expect him to handle that poorly.The Lonely - Trying to get to the marina to circumvent the island's horrors, Stefan ends up on the Tundra.
Stefan isn't in the mood to take orders from anyone. He'll be finding work-arounds. Do you know morse code? he'll be quietly tapping out messages. Maybe risking writing on something. He may intervene if someone's getting dragged to solitary by causing an accident on deck that blocks the path.The Vast - Jumping ship from the Tundra, the insignificance of struggle becomes overwhelming.
Stefan isn't afraid of heights, or water. Falling or drowning are horrible, and he won't have a fun time if he ends up pulled into someone else's fear. But the rogue planet is another matter - there's no escaping that. But he might still try.The Slaughter - Stefan swims ashore and into the trenches. Horrible death is random and often strikes completely without warning. This is the longest one, but don't worry, it'll all be over by Christmas 1914! Welcome to World War I baybeeeeeeee
This was inevitable, really. The trenches and barbed wire extend all the way to the island's edge. They're chaotic, confusing, full of shattered corpses - but Stefan seems familiar with it all. Get yourself armed, and expect a few distinct waves, over the course of a day:Sunset: Things are "quiet". There's random sounds of gunfire. Attempts to peek out over the top of the trench will tell you why - snipers are trying to pick off observers. Attempts to cross No Man's Land will be met with a roar of machine gun fire. Expect trench raids from faceless German storm troops, which attack with grenades, guns, sharpened shovels, and knives.
Early Night: The barbed wire in front of the trenches needs replacing, and night time recon has to be done. The moon may suddenly come out from behind the clouds, or a star shell may detonate, illuminating the scene. Anybody who doesn't immediately go prone will be shot.
Midnight: An artillery barrage begins. You'll hear faint pops, which Stefan immediately reacts to. Four to ten seconds later, the shells start coming down. You may think that you'll hear a whistle of a shell heading straight toward you - and you will! But the longest whistles will be for those that are coming down hundreds of feet away. The ones that are landing close only whistle for a fraction of a second. Expect some who die to be torn apart, and others to seem perfectly untouched. The barrage will last for hours, with your own side's artillery also firing as they try to deny the enemy any advantage. Stefan will take shelter, and may even fall asleep - if he isn't killed by a shell. This is the most passive part of the night, and also the most deadly single portion of the experience: hundreds, possibly thousands of bodies may litter the trenches as dawn approaches.
Daybreak: You're in a bad spot, the sun in your eyes if you look out across No Man's Land. The barrage changes: smoke shells start coming down, signaling that an assault on the trenches is imminent. High explosive shells will still fall in a "creeping barrage" that screens the approach of enemy troops. What's it going to be this time? Just mortars, grenades, and guns? Or will there be gas, or flamethrowers? All of these are horrible possibilities. The fighting will continue for hours, with defenders pushed back to secondary trench lines.
Noon: The tide turns, and a counterattack begins. Stefan may hear the drums and lose himself entirely to the violence. The enemy trench lines are on the reverse-slope of a hill, meaning that your supporting artillery can't actually see where they're hitting. Barbed wire will not be completely flattened, and you may end up tangled in it, or funneled toward enemy machine guns. Your own artillery may blindly start bombarding you. If you make it as far as the enemy trenches and dig in, congratulations! You've scored a victory over the enemy. You're still not safe: the trenches are facing the wrong way to fully protect you, and there are still enemy troops and booby traps that may kill at random. And everywhere is covered in corpses and nearly-corpses, who will not be treated well. This'll be one to write home about. Someone might even get a medal.
The sun goes down over the trenches, and orders come in: no rest yet. You're marching north...
The Dark - Night maneuvers were common in World War I, but they carried the same fear of random death.
Stefan escapes the trenches of the Slaughter, but some of its stench stays with him - he begins among faceless soldiers who are ordered to march north, but they're soon blinded by the dark. Electric hand lights are primitive during this time, lasting only for a few seconds before they have to be noisily recharged. Nobody really wants to use them either - this is still enemy territory. Progress is slow.
Stefan will be listening for familiar sounds of danger, including the distant crack of rifles or the approach of unexpected footsteps. There may be sudden potholes in the path, barbed wire underfoot, caltrops, tripwires, you name it. And more and more of the faceless soldiers simply disappear without a sound.
Finally, light up ahead will lead to...
The Buried - We're still not out of the WWI woods yet!
The dark becomes a little less oppressive in the muck of another captured German trench, covered over with a wooden roof that drips mud and worse things down on anybody inside. It's cramped, dark, there's random zig-zags and intersections, and the meager amenities that make the trenches slightly more bearable have fallen apart in the cold, muddy water that comes up to your knees. If the roof collapses, you will be trapped in the mud.After a slight rise that seems to lead toward escape, the path dips back down and into a bunker complex. A corrugated metal tube acts as your ceiling and walls, but the boards that would normally be underfoot are mostly missing. Parts of the ceiling also seem to be buckling, and may collapse behind you. And in front of you. Did you bring a shovel? Stefan did from over in the Slaughter, but digging out may take a while.
The Hunt - Stefan finally loses it. Avatar time, huzzah!
After several days' tour of the worst parts of his life, Stefan is feeling vengeful, ready to take out his frustrations on anything that seems to deserve it. Attacked by hunters, he'll fight back viciously, and make the whole rotten system work for him for once. This could all be over, the world could all be better if people would just stop fighting it. And he'll make sure of that now.Rather than wolf-like traits, Stefan is starting to get spider ones: paralytic venom rather than the Hunting Scream, and his strengths will shift toward ambush-hunting tactics.
The Flesh - Bad luck gives Stefan a turn through the Flesh processing.
Standing 6'6" and with heavy muscle, Stefan's often been treated as dumb meat by people who don't know him, and now that's becoming more literal. Dehumanizing treatment ahoy! And given his recent affinity for the Hunt and the changes it's made to him, Stefan's processing will be somewhat experimental. Any complaints from him are just noise, the really interesting thing is cutting him open to see how he can be used.If, by chance, someone ends up eating part of him - beware! His new paralytic venom may have leeched into the meat. On the low end, it may result in tingling lips and tongue, and on the high end, difficulty walking and breathing. He may try to use this aggressively to escape, or he may end up tossed back out into the Hunt, to complete his transformation.
The Extinction - Chasing prey takes Stefan onto the train. He's not in danger. He is the danger. Except that first part's a lie, everyone's in danger.
Depending on his mental state, Stefan may or may not be helping matters on the train. He can either be a roving threat, or turn his anger toward anything that attacks the train from outside. He may not make it all the way to the end of the line, either - in a moment of single-minded pursuit, he may leap from the train, or decouple the car he's on to isolate a threat.QV | Leon S. Kennedy
Triumphant(?) Return ( on the TDM )
So unlike the last uhhhh couple turbo hiatuses I took I worked it out such that Leon's actually been here pretty much the whole time I was gone, but in a little bit of a depressive funk and self-isolating because of it, pretty much just going between working at the police station, patrolling, and going straight home or to Paradesium in between. If anyone wants to handwave their character having checked in on him during this time, or otherwise let me know things you'd like him to have noticed despite being caught up in his own bullshit please feel absolutely free to let me know!! I'm available either on discord at quodvide or by PMing this journal. Other than that, he's back now and engaging with people, and can be found on the TDM as linked above.
Anyway with that out of the way let's get to event plans!! Mind the content warnings.
Statement Begins (cw: limb loss, cannibalism, autocannibalism, altered mental states re: hunting/killing other people, discussion of zombies) (Click for details!)
So as you can imagine by the warnings above, Leon's gonna be starting out in the Huntzone and getting shunted back and forth between there and the Fleshzone repeatedly for a good amount of time. For the hunt I really want to dig into that instinctive prey animal fear - dangerous like a cornered stag kicking a wolf to death. Subject to change, but I may have him convinced that everyone he comes across is a zombie or otherwise Not Themselves and trying to kill him or others. Threads when he's in this state are more likely to be actiony than conversation focused, but if that sounds good to you please hit me up!!
(If you'd rather find some way to talk him down and get him to snap out of it that's cool too, I'm totally open to that.)
Additionally, I'd love someone else in the Huntzone to somehow take Leon's right hand/arm off. For a stupid joke. It's important.
Anyway when he's not playing the Most Dangerous Game he'll be at the horrible bullshit cannibal feast over in Flesh, as guest and meat both. For obvious reasons Leon's got significant trauma regarding getting chunks taken out of him, albeit usually by zombies, and has had a lot of nightmares about being turned himself, so. He's not gonna have a great time of that!! I'll probably get prompts up for both being 'processed' as well as the world's most awkward and terrible dinner conversation of all time.
That's all I got planned for now, but if anyone else wants him anywhere - especially over in the Slaughter or possibly the safezone eventually - please let me know!! I'm open to plotting.
Swirl | Papyrus
The Gala's size and speed intimidated me a bit, since I'm so used to small games these days and did not anticipate how Much it would be! I don't think I'll be writing a belated top level to it, but with the statement scheduled for the 19th, I might be down for starting some backtagging earlier this weekend. Don't want to let my search for a fashionable skeleton go to waste!
But for now, STATEMENT PLOTTING
I have not TMA'd, so I only know bits and pieces of things by osmosis. Right now I'm mulling over several options, and am feeling indecisive enough that I think I'll probably have him move around so as to dabble in at least a few of them.
Under consideration, bolded for ones I feel more confident w/ possibilities:
= The Buried
Very funny to me to think that a guy who's been literally living in caves, might actually be unsettled enough by that confinement to get got. Could be made worse/funnier/better by how, if his arrival here was his first time under the open sky, he hadn't realized until now that the caves upset him. Imagine.- The Eye
This is a self-conscious skeleton who values his privacy on all the things he doesn't choose to overshare, practices monologues for talking about his feelings and self-affirmations to ward off his doubts, and who deflects probing with jokes and weirdness. Feeling watched and judged would get him trying to double down on his positive thinking and stubborn refutations, loudly, maybe until it's brittle and cracking into criticism.Main concern: "Victims who encounter each other in the tower will immediately become aware of each other's greatest regret, failure, or secret." requires decisions on headcanon re: his history that I'm not 100% I wanna do yet.
- The Flesh
Why is this skeleton in the viscera one? Partly because I expect he'd find it horrifyingly gross, but mostly because I like the idea of making him into soup at least once. Mmm, marrow.
= The Hunt
So THIS Papyrus hasn't faced the murderous human of Undertale, but the underground generally has been living in the post-slaughter imprisonment for generations, aware of the risk that humans still pose them. He's been working as a sentry alongside the (canine) members of the Royal Guard, and he worried a lot about making his puzzles and fight fair for the human. Being relentlessly pursued or feeling driven by his own new predatory instincts, either way it'd hit some of his baggage! (And I even have a couple icons courtesy of a game where he was a werewolf.
- The Lonely
Forgettable.
Fear of being unwanted/unloved, and its related drive to seek popularity / prestige / friendship, are pretty key to Papyrus's whole thing in Undertale. It's an easy fear to see him getting caught in, especially since I'd already been considering having him switch to trying the sailor life this month.
THAT SAID, I did see that caution about how tricky it is to get functional & enjoyable top levels out of this particular fear, and I'm still getting my footing in Pumpkin Hollow.
= The Stranger
Forgettable applies here too, I'd say, going by that summary! But this is the delicious sort of forgetting oneself more than feeling disconnected from others, which might fit some of his weirder comments even better. (That's my emptiness, not yours) I can see some fun in scrabbling for a name, an identity, something to give him meaning and relevance to others - I was having a lot of fun with him lacking a name back in Crossing. Could jack'o'lantern him for funsies too.
- The Web
Possible! Papyrus is in a weird place in Undertale of doing things that scare him with a smile on his face, and it's ambiguous how much he knew of the plan he was helping someone with in the ending I've taken him from... but I'm working with the headcanon that he knew most of it, and was only surprised/betrayed at the very end by a certain key piece of the whole thing. So fear of being puppeted and directed by someone else, but not able to subvert it or circumvent it the way he was in canon? Going to the library in search of info, only to get caught in the reading? I think that'd be fun.
Jhey | Dr. James Harvey
I'm happy to be here and to meet everyone!! You can find/add me at hagfishs both on plurk and discord β where I can be found in the game server as well. You'll have to forgive me if I make a Dumb Mistake there; I'm not suuuper discord-savvy, and am also still relatively new to DWRP itself. This isn't my first game here but I think compared to most people I'm still a big newbie... I found my way to DWRP (after a lengthy public rp hiatus) from the days of ye olde forum rp.
ANYWAY, I've got Doc Harvey here, and some potentially helpful links for this guy:
character info | game claim & some info | a growing collection of insulting shitposts with which to describe him
In terms of plotting, I think I'm going to keep things lowkey with the event (I adore everything going on, very much chef's kiss) since he just showed up here and I want to get him established a bit / get to know the lay of the land! So I'd love to do some general cr-building things: first meetings, exploring, utilise the tdm prompts. I have a toplevel for him that I'm very happy to continue playing with for those types of things, or doing wildcards for anything else! I also realise he's coming in smack-dab in the middle of TMA Horrors for the event so I'm also happy to wait until November to do things as well, and use that as a time for him to meet cr post-event, if you prefer!
I'm looking to have him take on the role of a physician, with an emphasis on mental health since he is a psychiatrist (and most recently working as a therapist for the dead). So I fully welcome all the fun there β he'll be thinking that his purpose in all of this is to help as many fellow "lost souls" who have been brought to this place as he can. And he'll definitely have an especially soft spot for any Young People, as he's going to be missing his daughter immensely. I think he'll be staying at the inn for a few weeks but then post-event will be setting up a house & clinic in a cottage out in Northwest Hollow!
So all that said, I'll be opting out of giving him a Fear (god I think his would be The End which would be FUN but I think I probably shouldn't subject him to TOO much just yet), so he'll be available to help folks out as needed and play a support role for anything there.
I think that's all for now, hmu anytime β‘ I'll also be poking up a plotting thing on the discord server!
Tavion Axmis | Star Wars: Legends
Long story short, Tavion resurrected an ancient Sith spirit and became its unwilling Avatar - or, rather, her body did. This was her death, essentially. Her powers have always derived from her fear of her own death - she's lived a life of win-or-die, so fear in general (and of death specifically) is her power source.
But that all requires control, which...well, she's about to lose completely. So her powers will be running fine, but she's not in any control of them. She's going to realize how shallow her control of the Dark Side actually is. After the event. Which will open her up to major philosophical changes I look forward to playing through.
So why am I bothering you with all this?
Well, Tavion is steeped in Force Lore, and this event will bring out a lot of thoughts about Darth Traya (if you know your KOTOR II) and I'd love to, as she descends into overwhelmed madness, open up a few things:
1. She needs comfort and rescue, because she will be absolutely unable to care for herself in some of these realms, which also is "food for thought" going forward, if anybody is willing to help out there.
2. I'd love to lean into the eerie aspects of the Force (tis the season), and I'd like to have her occasionally actually use the mental arenas of the Force. If you're explicitly willing, I'd love to have her read thoughts, find secrets, see futures - anything that might be interesting playing out or can further your own narratives. She will forget everything at the end of the event.
To be completely clear, this will not happen without your express agreement, and you choose what she 'sees.'
So yeah, going for a King Lear-esque meltdown, hope some people will help me play that out and I can meet a few more characters.
3. She has presented a very edited version of her past. Though it'll be chock full of CWs, now's the time to draw out her unedited backstory if you're interested. Including that she ran the Cult of Ragnos, a cabal of dark siders bent on obtaining Sith artefacts to gain galactic power.
So yep, lot of thoughts and options - specific starters will follow probably tomorrow.
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As Avatar, Valdis doesn't necessarily lose everything that makes her her, but she is more distant and cold, she might pry more and seek the fears of the people she encounters.