September 2023 Event Plotting

[singmod]

SEPTEMBER 2023 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS: The Aurora comes, bringing chaos to the town of Milton. Electronics go haywire, and the Interlopers learn of the original citizens of Milton.
THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS — CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural horror; ‘ghost’ horror; hauntings; death of npcs in various ways including suicide, murder or exposure to elements.

PROMPT TWO — THE HOUR OF THE WOLF: Tainted by the Aurora and attracted to the noise of people inhabiting the town, several packs of wolves descend upon Milton.
THE HOUR OF THE WOLF — CONTENT WARNINGS: (wild) animal attacks, altered wildlife, possible character injury/death, possible (wild) animal injury/death.

PROMPT THREE — IT SPEAKS: A voice comes to the Interlopers, one that knows them and their darkest fears and deepest insecurities, persuading them to fade into the Long Dark by any means necessary.
IT SPEAKS — CONTENT WARNINGS: psychological horror; mental manipulation; themes of suicide; themes of depression; potential self-harm; potential feelings of isolation; potential attempted suicide.

THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS

After the feast, and making sure the newcomers to Milton are seen to, Methuselah packs up. He will explain to others that while he will return to check in, he is no resident of Milton and will not stay. He is a nomad, something he has been all his life. He lives in nature. That is where he belongs. But he does assure that people are welcome to remain sheltered in the Hall if they wish to. And sure enough, the old man leaves, wishing the newcomers well. He can still be found out in the wilderness, and will shelter and feed those out exploring should they come across him.

And so the days and nights of this world roll on. The initial time of those who have come to be stranded in this world is unsettled. The weather is always changing, even if it remains bitterly cold. On some nights throughout the next month, however, the snow clouds clear and Interlopers are given a rare, clear night. At first, it’s beautiful: without the light pollution, all the stars can be seen, the moon casts an eerie glow upon the snow in the dead silence of the night. One might even say there is a kind of peace that comes with it all. And for some of these evenings, they pass by: uneventful and silent — the long darkness of an endless winter’s night.

But on others, it isn’t so uneventful. The noise starts: faint at first, but then growing louder. Something in the heavens above. An ethereal, high-pitched chorus of sounds difficult to place. There’s a kind of electrical buzzing with it all, a low, endless hum punctuated with cracks and pops that echo. The sky is alive with sound, louder than anyone could ever expect it to. With it comes the swirling streaking of colour against the inky black of night, growing brighter and brighter as the night goes on: The Aurora has come.

And it isn’t the sky that comes to life too: the whole town does too. Streetlights, illuminating the town’s roads; lights in stores and homes will come alive, buzzing and flickering often. Previously abandoned cars will turn on, their headlights blaring but faltering. Electronics that had previously seemed broken flick on — and whilst there are no broadcasts available on televisions, and the radio waves only drone on in static, both only occasionally blaring standard emergency broadcasts. Any computers and phones will turn on, but will have no internet or reception. Instead, Interlopers may find texts and emails — many of them unsent. The everyday lives of their users stored within, now readable.

But there’s something else too. The Aurora doesn’t just awaken the electronics of the town. Dotted around, in the streets, in homes, in stores, the lights of the Aurora begin to take shape: spectral-like forms of people, their faces hard to make out, details difficult to define. They move in glitching patterns, they speak with voices distorted by static. Eagle-eyed Interlopers may recognise the forms of some, a body or an action:

These are the residents of Milton, in their last moments on this earth.

The forms act out short scenes on repeat: a desperate fight between two men over a vehicle, a murder in a store during a riot, a suicide alone in one of the many houses. An argument over the communication lines going down. A sobbing teen curled up on his bed. A child stares up at the skies, their hands over their ears, crying in fright. A woman begs for her father to leave his home and head to the coast with her, to try to make it to the mainland, but he refuses to leave. A man succumbs to the cold walking alone in the outskirts of town without proper clothing for the elements. Several of these ‘ghosts’ are people fleeing before they stop and simply gasp, staring off into the distance for a few seconds before they drop dead on the spot.

There is nothing that can be done to stop these endless loops. Nothing to help these poor souls. Each of these moments are captured by the Aurora: final, desperate and tragic moments in some unknown, chaotic time. Some of these ‘ghosts’ maybe stop after so many loops — flickering out into nothing, others will last all night. But all will be gone by the morning and the Aurora comes to an end. There are answers, and there are none.

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

The growing presence of people within the town of Milton has meant more light, more warmth, more noise. The Aurora has created great change, but people are not the only thing the ethereal lights in the sky has brought down upon this old mining town.

When the sun slips below the horizon, and the clear skies of burnt embers and inky blues alight with stars, they come.

A lone howl, long and haunting. It is the first signal, which carries on the air. You can’t seem to place from which direction it comes from, it feels like it encompasses you. Then another voice joins it, and another, and another. A chorus of them. As the sound echoes off, another fills its place: a strange feral chittering, snarling and snapping — the drumming of feet upon the snow, heading right for you.

Wolves.

Unnatural, glowing green eyes in the dark — tendrils of light seeping from them as they rush in and encircle those they come across outside. They come in packs of three or more, and they are clever. They’re quicker than any wolf you’ve ever known, bigger and hardier too. They will try to strike fast by zipping in when you’re distracted, snapping and nipping at legs or trying to take quick bites out of arms before drawing back. They work together to bring their prey down, a solid unit of noise and teeth. They will hunt down those who hide inside, try to claw their way inside of homes and buildings — dead set on finding you and tearing you apart. There is no hiding from them. They will find you.

But breaking the pack can send them back. If they’re broken, their morale is depleted. Fire is your biggest friend: torches, campfires and flames will keep them mostly at bay and only the bravest of these packs may attack. Striking them with flares or flames will actually send them into brief retreats. Bullets and arrows are effective with both noise and injuring the wolves, and although hitting one will be difficult due their speed, it’s possible. Killing one of these wolves will dissolve the pack’s morale entirely, and the rest will flee off into the night.

Until next time. Maybe it’s best you don’t stick around. They do hold a relentless determination.

IT SPEAKS

There are whispers. Small, at first. Distracting. Perhaps it is only the wind you hear. Milton is so quiet, even with the new hustle and bustle of the new people to this place. Wood creaks and the trees rustle, there are plenty of sounds you could mistake it for.

‘Interloper.’ It is an old voice. Something deep and dark and ancient. Something impossible, older than the earth itself. It floats into your ears and nestles there, sending an ice-cold shiver down your spine. Even to the most stoic and unshakeable souls, it is a unnerving voice. It feels wrong. It feels like an ending. To hear the voice is deeply unsettling... and yet... you recognise it.

It comes to you, in the dead of night when sleep is far. In the long stretches of day as you go about your business, as you travel across the frigid landscape or gather firewood or try to pass the time within whatever home you’ve made for yourself. For some the voice will be clear as day, for others it may be some distant whisper — something gently murmuring in your ear. But the voice will be heard, no matter the person.

‘Interloper. Do you know what it means?’ It asks. ‘It means one that involves itself in a place it does not belong. You do not belong.’

That it isn’t the only thing it tells you. For everyone, it’s different. It knows you. It picks up on any weakness, any insecurity. It makes you feel small, insignificant. It tells you all the quiet, terrible things you hide down within yourself. For days, weeks, the voice is there. Speaking to you. It will wear you down, insist you are not wanted, that you do not belong here.

... And wouldn’t it be better if you weren’t here at all?

The voice seeks to break you. It will push you to your limit. Sleep will become hard to find, your spirits low and hollow. In time you might seem to believe it. Maybe it’s better if you weren’t here. You don’t belong in this place, why should you stay?

‘Disappear, Interloper. Go into the Long Dark.’

Perhaps you next find yourself atop the steep cliffs, looking down into the Milton Basin below. Perhaps you find yourself with a gun in your hand, or a rope. Perhaps you find your feet carrying you out into the snow. You’re going to disappear. You’re going to go into the Dark.

Or maybe the voice isn’t so loud. You can push it down, ignore it. Perhaps Faith is what keeps you steady, perhaps knowing who you are despite your faults stops the voice from taking over. Maybe you can help those who can’t block out the voice. Words of encouragement, affirmation, kindness, determination, even spite. The voice wants you dead, but you will not let it. You will not fall. You will not let anyone else fall, either.

FAQs

THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS

1. While examples are given, players are encouraged to come up with their own ghostly loops of similar loops. The key thing to remember is that the people of Milton have descended into public disorder. Fights, arguments and murders have occurred, as have suicides or other unexplained deaths. People are frightened. They want to leave the town.

2. Ghostly loops cannot be interacted with, only witnessed.

3. There is no way of putting these 'ghosts' to rest. These loops are more like residual memories, as if the energy of the townsfolk remained, and have been reconstructed by the Aurora.

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

1. Due to the Aurora's influence, these wolves are harder, better, faster, stronger, than typical wild wolves. They do not die as easily, and are much more difficult to wound and kill. But not impossible. Scaring the wolves will be far easier to accomplish than killing them.

2. Wolves will return, sometimes more than once on the same night, or on other nights during the month. The only sure-fire way to have them stop coming back is to kill the pack or beat them back enough until they finally learn to leave the Interlopers alone.

3. Wolf meat is technically edible. But not advised due to parasites. Characters are still welcome to harvest the wolves they kill, however. Who would say no to a cool ass wolf cape.

IT SPEAKS

1. Characters can be talked down and broken from the voice's influence by others. Genuine connection and empathy will work massively, but even encouragement and affirmations to keep surviving will be powerful enough to break the voice's hold.

2. Players are welcome to play with the length of time the voice can be heard with characters. Some may want to have it over a short space of time, others can have this progress over a longer time period.

PLOTTING FORM

<b>Player Name:</b> Your name here. <b>Player Contact:</b> What’s the best way to reach you? <b>Pacing:</b> What's your monthly speed looking like? Explain it here. <b>OOC Limits:</b> Any hard limits for RP go here. <b>Character Name:</b> Your character name here. <b>Canon:</b> Your character canon here. <b>Wanted CR:</b> Friends? Mentors? Hunting buddies? Lovers? State preferences here. <b>Unwanted CR:</b> Not keen on romance? Mortal enemies? State preferences here. <b>Event Ideas:</b> Your event plotting here! <b>Anything Else?:</b> You know what to do.

EVENT POST

Comments

vash | trigun maximum

[amo]

Player Name: Fen
Player Contact: gusts
Pacing: I'm a bit on the slower side this week and the start of the next, but I should be back to my usual pace of tagging back at least once a day after that!
OOC Limits: Other than no death atm, none.

Character Name: Vash the Stampede
Canon: Trigun Maximum

Wanted CR: ANYTHING tbh! friends are always loved, as well as people to care for and god knows he could use people to look out for him in this drastic new environment too, people to butt heads with over his pacifistic ideals, people to shun him for/be weird about what he is (see aurora below), etc.
Unwanted CR: Romance is pretty off the table for him, he's in his sad widower era.

Event Ideas:

— the aurora: Being a (former) walking energy battery of some sort, the Aurora affects Vash particularly and draws out his inhuman nature. This manifests itself as Vash sprouting useless feathers and wings like this, the degree of which will vary and fluctuate wildly. He'll do his best to hide what he can under layers of clothes and still go about Milton when it's not too bad, but he'll go hide in places (most likely and most often the church) when he's looking more Creature than supposedly human because he doesn't want to freak anyone out and there's a fair bit of trauma involved in him going full turbo trauma chicken mode. So he can be found either being out and about trying to be helpful while also a touch sketchy & likely crying over the loops or hiding his feathery ass and being an unintentionally creepy angel in the rafters somewhere for others to stumble upon.

— hour of the wolf: Vash for sure will go around rescuing people, but will not kill any of the wolves and thus might end up also needing some rescuing in turn?? He's a capable fighter and an excellent marksman (although only has a few bullets on him that he's trying to save), but will approach any situation trying to preserve lives on either side and will want others to do the same. Feel free to call him out on his bullshit or help him find alternative ways to deal with the wolves (let's get creative with fire!!).

— it speaks: Fortunately (uhh) Vash is very used to being an unwanted presence and nothing the voice tells him will be anything he hasn't told himself already. Although his mood might suffer a bit, he can Deal and he'll be there to help talk people down and provide some positivity. If you need a little touch of kindness in these trying times, he's your guy.

Anything Else?:

[solitarysoul]

i think itd be fun to have levi freak out at wings and/or get positivity while the voices are around. they could also clash about killing wolves; while Levi won't seek to kill them he's not going to play nice if someone else is in danger

[amo]

OHH YES i'm so down for combining the freaking out about wings and positivity because the mental image of featherball vash trying to cheer levi up is hilarious to me. Be Not Afraid, Levi he just wants you to feel better! :c

and vash gets that, hurting the wolves is probably inevitable but just don't kill them please!!

Marlowe | Nie Huaisang

[fanoperator]

Player Name: Marlowe
Player Contact: marlovingian
Pacing: Moderate to slow-ish, I try to reply to everything within 3 days but sometimes that might go longer if I'm having a rough week. Happy to boomerang a bit on occasion!
OOC Limits: Prefer to avoid writing out violent/gory things.

Character Name: Nie Huaisang
Canon: The Untamed

Wanted CR:
Friends: Huaisang wants to be friends (or at the very least thought of as tolerable and harmless) with everyone.
Anyone who will protect him, feed him, spoil him, help him survive, in any capacity: He's used to being a spoiled nobleman's younger son and will gladly impose on others if it means he can avoid work.
Flirty Friends/Lovers: Huaisang will flirt with everyone and everything. He's more comfortable around other men, but he is pansexual and takes a pretty casual approach to things. He will assume that any flirtation (or more) is casual and not exclusive unless other terms are specifically discussed.
Unwanted CR: I prefer to avoid negative CR if possible! I'm fine with initially negative CR that has the chance to develop into something more, and I know that sometimes things will happen and a thread might take an unexpected turn to make our characters dislike each other, but I'd prefer to avoid things that we expect to turn sour.

Event Ideas:
Pre-Event: Huaisang wants to set up a house of his own and may even have picked one out, but he knows he can't live on his own. So he'll be actively interested in seeking roommates (especially roommates who are willing to do most all of the cooking and cleaning). In the interim, while he's staying at the community house, he's assigned himself the responsibilities of monitoring (and encouraging people to use) the message board that he set up with Five, and keeping the fire burning. That and some basic field medicine are just about his only applicable survival skills, so he's pretty sure the best thing he can do is to keep the home fires burning. If you want to stumble in out of the cold he'll have a warm fire, mugs of hot water (sorry he hasn't been convinced on the coffee yet and can't find any acceptable tea, so it's hot water for everyone), and the ability to triage injuries until Thirteen can be found to offer actual medical care.

The Aurora: Huaisang is from ancient magic china, so he's going to be very concerned about all these electronic devices that are apparently possessed by angry spirits?? So if you'd like a thread with Huaisang shrieking at Modern Technology, hmu.

Wolves: Huaisang's ability to build a fire is also his only applicable skill here! He can run pretty fast and is good on mountain terrain, but certainly not enough to outrun any wolves, and 'shrieking' also probably isn't going to be much help. But if you need fire, he's probably to be found sitting next to one 90% of his time at the moment, and if you fight off some wolves for him he will gladly tell you how strong and brave and attractive you are.

Interloper: This won't hit him too badly, he's used to hearing that he's useless, worthless, unwanted. He accepts that's all true and then just does what he wants anyway. This is somewhere that he actually can help and rescue people: he loves making others feel valued, and he's a great cheerleader for encouraging and reassuring people.

Anything Else?: Huaisang 'helping' in a war situation by telling the enemy how they're going to get their ass kicked ... from the safety of hiding behind the person who will be doing the actual fighting:

[dr_unconscious]

idk if you want to do something specifically for the event (assisting with wolf injury-related field medicine maybe?? Clayton is Doctor so he can give some pointers) BUT the potential dynamic these two could have as friends really tickles me. Clayton is Southern Polite 90% of the time and goes out of his way to help people, especially if they seem helpless, so he's in a prime position to do some spoiling for Huaisang's benefit and just generally be more tolerable of his Everything than he really ought to be

[fanoperator]

Yes, certainly! I just put up my event top-level if anything on there strikes your fancy

Clayton | Original

[dr_unconscious]

Player Name: Thalia
Player Contact: manicmuse or manicmuse on discord
Pacing: I've been pretty sluggish lately but I try to be around to boomerang on Fridays or Thursdays if I can get away with it, EST
OOC Limits: Not ready to kill this guy just yet!! Stuff that involves sexual assault also is a no-go.

Character Name: Clayton Epps
Canon: Original Character

Wanted CR: Anything!!
Unwanted CR: Can't think of anything!

Event Ideas:

• Aurora: The thing that is probably going to make Clayton handle the last prompt the best is going to make him handle the first prompt the worst - excessive compassion. He hates the idea of watching others suffer, nothing that is happening with these ghost townspeople will be ok. Kinda thinking he's just going to hide away in the town center for most of these auroras and try not to think too hard about...everything, but he'll probably go outside at least once right at the start and attempt to "help" one of the ghosts before he realizes they can't be, if anyone wants to watch him have a breakdown about it lol


• Wolves: DOWN FOR ALL OF THIS, lmk if you have a character that needs a burly-ish guy to come running in arms swinging like an idiot so they can both get mauled or a doctor to help with the aftermath, happy to supply Clayton for either or both!!


• It Speaks: Clayton isn't exactly well-adjusted but most of his self-doubts include a) powers that he doesn't have right now and b) events that he's beaten himself up about plenty for most of his adult life, so! While he'll obviously be disturbed by whatever the hell is talking to him (and he has a few theories about what this something could be that might be interesting to discuss with someone else), he's better suited to provide absolutely uncompromising and maybe a little overbearing compassion and sympathy for the people that need it more. Never met him before? Doesn't matter, dude will attempt to bond with anyone.

[solitarysoul]

it occurs to me that clayton is the only doctor levi's met. he should bring someone to clayton at some point during wolves

remy hadley/thirteen | house md

[symptomatic]

Player Name: kaye
Player Contact: virginiawoolf or pm me!
Pacing: august was a wash for a variety of reasons, but september is looking a lot easier! i usually aim for a tag back between 24-72 hours. i have outstanding tdm tags that i'd like to discuss/handwave for a clean slate for september and i'll chase 'em up momentarily, but lmk if there's anything you'd like to continue for any reason!
OOC Limits: n/a! if you're feeling unsure, feel free to hmu.

Character Name: remy "thirteen" hadley
Canon: house md

Wanted CR: friends, medical colleagues/in-training (see: pre-event below), and anyone from a historical or sci-fi context to help her accept that uhhh, these things can happen! also, explaining basic germ theory. guys. please. PLEASE.
Unwanted CR: i am up for anything and everything (negative cr included, as long as there's a developing nature to it), except shipping, where ymmv.

Event Ideas:

pre-event: here we go! thirteen is a Doctor and i'd love to start up a small rotating crew of medical folks! i'm happy to either thread out something not-quite event related to set that up, or we can handwave the introduction! no real medical training needed: it's really more about basic medical triage/a helping hand, though i'll preface this with the fact that thirteen is likely to have a fairly stringent screening process (questions will include things like genuine "how are you"s and an expectation for personal transparency re: your own capabilities to deal with the stress, but nobody will be turned away unless you want that!). i'd also love to set up roommates (she will almost never be home!) filled! and, funnily enough, a running buddy (this 'cr route' has to do with her diagnosis, so just a heads up if you'd like to not interact with that!).

the aurora / aftershocks: ah, yes, it is totally normal for weather patterns to make electricity work. thirteen will be freaked out, but ultimately not think too much about it, until the echoes of the residents start to show. i'd love to pair up for some investigation (following a kid, only for him to just cry in their room?) and general freaking out -- she also has some significant Family Trauma, so that might have some potential here!

hour of the wolf: thirteen is a DOCTOR and she is BISEXUAL (and the mandalorian gave her a GUN). she is not a great shot or soldier by any means, but she does have matches and, you know, can sow people up. if anyone would like to rescue or be stitched up in the aftermath, she's your doc! she will also be telling people to not eat wolf meat are you nuts, there are so many parasites, hello??

it speaks: (cw euthanasia) thank you mods for horrific trauma cr option! thirteen euthanized her brother and it is very much something she has not processed, so this is not going to go great! having said that, i am also definitely up for her talking someone off the ledge. or tackling, even! otherwise, thirteen's issues will be about said brother and about how, in all likelihood, her own death will be much earlier than she'd like it to be, and best case scenario, she'll be too sick to pull the plunger. you can guess how the rest of it will go.

Anything Else?: at any point throughout these events, thirteen will be available for general medical issues, so please hmu if you'd like to action anything! c:

[fanoperator]

you cannot teach huaisang basic germ theory he refuses to understand how things work

he will accept learning improved ways to clean and care for wounds to prevent sepsis but he refuses to understand why

[thephix]

if you wanna thread roommate things i'm down but if you're happy to handwave lets do something with it speaks and crack this cr nut open 👀

[rescapee]

Volunteering La'an here for being patched up after the wolves invasion! Also sci-fi things because she lives in space and is from 200 years in Thirteen's future, and running buddy things because she takes physical training very seriously.

Also also, mentioning that there could be some possibly very interesting, potentially complicated cr for these two involving brothers who have died. If that's intriguing for you, I offer her content warnings for perusal!

[forasecond]

Five would have already told her at this point, like... he can help with medical stuff if she ends up in dire need of just More Hands On Deck b/c of some Situation, but ultimately he's definitely not medically trained and is more of a in a warzone/in the field sort of "throw some alcohol on it, stop the bleeding, a quick and dirty sewed up stitch" kind of guy.

[burying]

THANK GOD FOR THIRTEEN ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGING THE FACT NO ONE SHOULD EAT WOLF MEAT

I would offer Kieren as a running buddy but... he can't run. Honestly, if you watch him run in canon it's just really fucking funny. It's just... awkward flailing....

THAT BEING SAID I am still here for introducing these two, if you have any preferences! Even if it were with a more general prompt! Kieren does have his ~vague questions~ he needs a doctor to answer.

[dr_unconscious]

I know I already dropped into your plurk about this BUT formally requesting here that Clayton and Thirteen need to do some Doctoring together (and probably also fretting about how horrible this whole situation is and how people are handling it) (don't eat the wolf meat good grief what a mess)

takashi shirogane | voltron: legendary defender

[earthshine]

Player Name: Terra
Player Contact: sevenhelpings
Pacing: WELL now that I’m not traveling and my schedule is far more predictable, I should be able to tag fairly regularly, aka once a day at least. Boomeranging is also highly possible. I'm HST.
OOC Limits: Nothing SUPER gory ( I’m talking in-depth descriptions of gore ), but other than that, I’m fairly open.

Character Name: Takashi Shirogane, he goes by Shiro though
Canon: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Wanted CR: It’s not like I’ll say NO to any kind of CR, but in particular:

Friends
PTSD/traumatized buddies
Hunting group/survivalists; trade skills, aid each other in their survivability
Shiro tends to be the mentor type, so people to take under his wing

Unwanted CR: Oh. See above LOL. But yeah, even negative CR is fine. If our characters don’t get along, I have no complaints about that; don’t feel obligated to provide friendly CR! I'd just say, no negative CR for the sake of negative CR.

Event Ideas:

→ THE AURORA

He’s still sort of sus about Methuselah

Shiro is a space boy, he used to LOVE stargazing ( this was, of course, pre alien abduction ). He’s a little more wary of ~the stars~ than he used to be, but y’know, he’ll still be out there, bundling up and braving the chill to watch the stars a bit. So is anyone wants to join?

I’m not sure if the Aurora will affect the tech of his prosthetic right arm, so I may pop back in here if it does. Other than that, he won’t shy away from the ghosts too much. Initially, yes, because wtf is going on?? But after a few loops and some hefty desensitizing… Yes, they’re creepy. Yes, it’s horrific to watch these moments. But he’s kind of hoping for answers??

→ THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

Shiro will, of course, be That Guy who has to go out and face the wolves. No hiding and cowering for him! One of the items that came with him was a sword from his gladiator days, so he’ll be butchering some wolves – and hopefully not being bit or mauled. Anyone who wants to watch his back and give him a hand though, very welcome!

Also, if anyone knows how to skin an animal carcass… – Shiro would very much like to salvage some of these wolf pelts. Good for warmth, y’know? So if anyone knows how to do that and would like to teach Shiro… Shiro can pay with a wolf pelt or wolf meat?? Or he’s good at collecting/chopping firewood. They can barter something out.

→ IT SPEAKS

Shiro has… a lot of inner demons, so he is very susceptible to whatever terrible things this voice is going to barrage him with. Murderer, failure, deformed lab rat… Shiro isn’t kind to himself on a regular day, so in a way, he might be able to resist the coaxing to give into The Long Night. Either way, he’ll likely suffer a few panic attacks, thanks to an array of unresolved traumas.

He used to be the prime giver of inspirational encouragements, though. He’s likely a bit rusty, what with the whole being isolated and a prisoner for close to a year, but! If anyone needs to be talked down from doing something to themselves that can’t be undone, Shiro could do this. As jaded as he’s become, he still cares for the well-being of other people, so… a straight up good dude who wants to help where he can.

Anything Else?:

/casually c/p from intro. FOR A QUICK BLURB on who Shiro is:

Basically, he's an astronaut who was abducted by aliens in the midst of a deep space mission. He's spent close to a year as an arena gladiator, forced into death matches. And when he isn't entertaining a mob? He's being experimented on -- see his cybernetic right arm. Don't be swayed by the mass murder, tho. He's a sweetie... with some hefty PTSD that has not been addressed.

[solitarysoul]

hello possible ptsd buddy

Keith | Voltron

[marmoron]

Player Name: Maru
Player Contact: PM or feel free to message me @ partyraven
Pacing: I aim to tag at least once a day, but depending on grad school I may be a bit slow
OOC Limits: No eye horror please.

Character Name: Keith
Canon: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Wanted CR: Is it lame to say p much everything? Friends, enemies, hunting and sparring buddies, fellow teenagers to talk about life with, cryptid enthusiasts, alien enthusiasts, people to talk space and space robots with, found family, adventure buddies, people to get in trouble with.... c:
Unwanted CR: I love negative CR, but I would prefer that it had some substance rather than just being assholes for the sake of it.

Event Ideas: Your event plotting here!
The Aurora: Before the mes goes down, Keith will be out to stargaze at night. I'd love to get some chill, gen CR with others here. Maybe talk about home while sitting by a fire? Things for our characters to get to know each other a little. Alternatively, I'm cool with handwaving some basic introductory chit-chat and for this to be like a second of third interaction, /nods. I'm also down for our characters being together when the ghosts start playing out their deaths on a loop, and for them to be horrified together. Get in some good bonding moments over witnessing something horrible.

The Hour of the Wolf: Keith can fight with his knife, and can absolutely help anyone who needs it. I'm also down for botched rescue attempts, in which one or both of our characters gets injured. Alternatively, if your character wants to do the saving, I'm good with that too! As a heads up, Keith is half-alien and starts to manifest more alien traits under extreme stress, so that could be an interesting angle if you'd like to go that route.

It Speaks: Keith already struggles with feeling detached and disconnected from others, so the voice might get him feeling pretty down. He might spend more time outdoors, staring into the wilderness with passive suicial thoughts about not being here anymore. Even so, he'd at least want to help if he sees your character self-harming etc.

Anything Else?:

Zoey Westen | Original Character

[pythianwoman]

Player Name: Bri
Player Contact: PM or plurk, where I’m ThriceWiddershins
Pacing: I tend more towards the slow end of things, with occasional bouts of boomeranging and general speediness. I also tend to be a nightowl so I primarily tag at night.
OOC Limits: Character death

Character Name: Zoey Westen
Canon: Original character

Wanted CR: EVERYTHING. Friends and exploring buddies. Sparring partners. Snark friends. Zoey is a mouthy little shit on a good day. Not opposed to lovers, either, especially if there’s chemistry, but anything involving feeling is a slow burn with her and I'm 100% not looking for that right off the bat. But flirtiness and banter? YES PLEASE.
Unwanted CR: Negative CR just for the sake of negative CR.

Event Ideas:
➤ Pre-Event: Zoey has been exploring and gathering supplies, as well as trying to map things out a little. She’s claimed a house to settle into and has probably tried to find some paint or markers or SOMEthing and started mapping things out on a wall in her claimed house. Transcribing from notes and map-sketches she’s made in her journal during her explorations. Also she’s been patrolling a little, although she’s been doing her patrolling from the rooftops.

➤ Aurora: She is going to be mostly unfazed by the ghosts; she’s USED to seeing bad things, used to seeing people’s last moments due to being a seer. She will, however, be taking notes and trying to piece together what happened to cause said last moments. Seeing if maybe there’s some clues in what she sees.

➤ Hour of the Wolf: Zoey is 100% here for coming to someone’s rescue as they’re facing off against the wolves, or help distract them so folks can get inside where it’s marginally safer. She has her swords and she has throwing knives. So she’s definitely armed and here for a fight. Also here for her getting injured while protecting someone and needing help in return.

➤ It Speaks: OH GOD. This is not going to be a good time for her. She’s good at ignoring shit like this, but it’s going to eat at her no matter how high a level her ignoring creeping little voices skill is at. She’s felt like she hasn’t belonged since she was a child, when her seer powers came online, manifested themselves. So she KNOWS this feeling intimately. And its going to hit her where it hurts even if she pretends like everything’s fine.

So she’s going to distract herself trying to help others dealing with the voice. Keep herself busy. Be a little more reckless than usual.

Anything Else?: I'm sure there's probably something I've forgotten that I'll think of later and kick myself a little about it because it was SO OBVIOUS AND THE BEST IDEA EVER so instead here, have a gif.

[forasecond]

Five needs to discover that Zoey has some skill in cartography. He's like "We're doing all this exploration, but there's no MAP for people to follow", it's a problem!!

[dr_unconscious]

HELLO YES I'd totally be down to do something with the wolf or It Speaks plots - the former because Clayton's a doctor so Obligatory Doctoring if Zoey is hurt and needs some help with that, the latter because Zoey's seer powers sound kind of similar to Clayton's astral projection abilities and they both have kind of the mindset of "this makes me weird and I feel weird" about them, so, maybe they could help talk each other down a little bit?

[aetherialshackles]

Player Name: Fey
Player Contact: Discord, easily.
Pacing: Fast in the weekends, slower in the other days. If I plan some boomerang with someone I can usually sit for 3-4 hours and just write replies.
OOC Limits: None in particular


Character Name: Erichthonios
Canon: Final Fantasy XIV
Wanted CR: Friends, mentors, people to chat with, people he can fight with too!
Unwanted CR: Not currently looking for romance but that seems low priority anyway in the setting

Event Ideas:

THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS
For general CR? Erichthonios has never seen the stars. From what we have in canon about him, the young man spent his life holed up in a dark facility surrounded by a permanent storm, so I'd love to see him befriend people while learning about the night sky or something like that. His eyes also shine in the dark, like they have their own personal light, so funny shanenigans like throwing him something as he pekaboos your character in the dark would be fun?

For more adventure-inclined CR he would absolutely explore what is happening between the ghosts, trying to take notes and all. He's a researcher so after the initial fright he'll definitely jump into 'action' and try to document the event as much as he can.

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF
Seriously talking, he'd probably like to try to catch one of the wolves alive to study the local wildlife a bit more. Those animals are alien to Erichthonios, but he has an extended background as monster carekeeper so he'd probably want to see WHAT they're like since they're more aggressive and tenacious than most 'animals' he read about.
But, really, survival comes first. He'll probably try to run away or seek refuge on a roof and I wouldn't be against having him getting his first kill. Erich has been trained to trap dangerous creatures and while he assisted to a few deaths (As he calls it 'returning to the star') he never actually dealt the final blow.

IT SPEAKS
Oh man. He will be absolutely susceptible to this voice. He has major self esteem issues and he believes that he should be dead anyway, since he's taken from the Final Days in his canon (if you're familiar, shortly after recording his memory crystal). Having a whispering voice reinforcing his crappy beliefs that he is a nuisance will not help and he may need some help not to leave himself freeze in the woods or something like that, on the line of 'at least your corpse will feed the wild animals and you'll be useful for once'.

Anything Else?: I will not really available until the weekend but after that things should settle and I should have more room to breathe and write.

[solitarysoul]

i want to be involved in wolf-catching somehow. levi could also tell him about stars or something, maybe hide behind him when the ghosts show

vasiliy yegorovich ardankin | original — historical/(secret) revenant

[m1895]

Player Name: yasmine
Player Contact: pm this journal; redmaresociety on discord; bluehellgazette in order of preference.
Pacing: all over the place but i try to do at least a tag a day. my horse just had spinal surgery and she came home today! so i'm finally able to actually sit down and post to this meme, but i have to work her every evening so that does take some of my time. i like to boomerang from time to time but i'm only really able to do that on weekends.
OOC Limits: dog/horse death or abandonment, eye/tooth/finger- or toenail injury.

Character Name: vasiliy yegorovich ardankin.
Canon: original character; he's from the russian 1930s. here's a quick summary of him; the super truncated TLDR is that he's a devout communist born in 1910 who during the russian great purge served as an interrogator in the nkvd (secret police/kgb predecessor). his role was emotional manipulation, not violence - vasiliy posed as a sympathetic figure with prisoners' best interests at heart to convince them to sign falsified confessions that got them sent to the gulag or shot outright, which he rationalized by telling himself they'd still confess in the end if they were tortured. after four years of this the head of the nkvd fell out of stalin's favor and was executed; as was the style of the times the entire bureau was purged, vasiliy among them. he was arrested, interrogated, and shot dead just like all of the people who passed through his hands over the past four years— only to wake up lying in the snow in the middle of nowhere in 2015 with the documents of a man by the same name born in 1985.

while acquainting himself with the modern world and coming to grips with how his actions—and stalin's regime—were remembered, he trained as an EMT and immigrated to the US to avoid being discovered and executed again. three years have since passed, and he's mostly destalinized (though he still grapples with kneejerk feelings of filial loyalty to stalin); vasiliy is constantly followed by an overwhelming sense of guilt over his actions and fear of being discovered, and is incredibly guarded and paranoid as a result. he's continued to work as an EMT with the feeling that he's counterbalancing some of the cosmic harm his four years in the nkvd put out into the world, though realistically nothing will ever actually ease his belief that he has no right to be alive.

Wanted CR: honestly open to pretty much anything. vasiliy's a pretty decent guy who has the wisdom/soviet era conditioning to keep his political opinions to himself unless he's convinced that he's in the presence of someone likely to be sympathetic to them, but i enjoy negative cr and am happy to brainstorm a reason for it. shipping is possible if a character's political/moral beliefs closely align with his, even if they don't verbatim self-identify as communist or agree on every single point, but it definitely takes time with him because he's not overly trusting. i'd love for him to start gradually making some friends - he's profoundly lonely, and has been since returning to the living world.

Unwanted CR: threads where people ~school him on communism~, 'let me show you around the modern world' types of threads. both get really old!

Event Ideas:

aurora: toying with the idea of having vasiliy see something that brings him back to his old life - generally speaking he's notably underreactive to horrifying displays of violence compared to most modern people, and he's seen plenty of gruesome injuries/dead bodies, but i think seeing someone pulled out of their house and/or shot execution-style in the back of the head would fuck with him.

i'm interested in having vasiliy go around town and explore during the aurora to try and get a sense for what's happening - only to encounter a situation in which he and the other character need to go into a basement, which, having been executed in one himself/having committed atrocities in one for 4 years, is one of his biggest triggers. if you're interested in cr that could eventually lead to your character knowing some or all of his real story, this could be a good way to start to raise their suspicion, because at the very least this EMT who's been pretty damn stoic for the duration is going to freeze up and clearly have to will himself to go deeper--not a typical reaction to a normal ass basement. it could also

generally exploring type threads could be fun!

wolves: time to shine!! guess who's literally always carrying a gun and is a much better shot than a normal and regular EMT in an urban area has any reasonable excuse to be? this guy!! let vasiliy bust out the piece he's always carrying under his clothes in inappropriate situations and rescue your character - or maybe patch them up after the wolves have already done their damage. just don't think too hard about why someone in an area where recreational shooting isn't easily accessible for low-income people is that good of a shot.

voices: this is definitely going to push him over the edge; vasiliy is going to assume that the interloper thing is connected to why he abruptly clipped back into the living world after being shot dead in 1940. he agrees that he shouldn't be here, and between that and his crushing guilt over the number of deaths he played a part in/belief that he of all people has no right to be given a second life, he's going to try to end it. grace is going to talk him out of it, but after that, he'll be available to talk characters down from the ledge.

i'm really interested in having him step into his persona as an interrogator for the first time since 1940 - vasiliy is incredibly persuasive and very good at reasoning with people, so he'd make a really good suicide negotiator.

Anything Else?: n/a

[fidior]

hello!!! slamming into more plotting a bit late, but if you're still down for cr with Edward (Terror Version), then I would love to Do A Thing with Vasiliy! I see there's a spot open at his top level for the first aurora encounter and another wolf one, so I thought I would check to see if you might have a preference. I was thinking a Wolf Rescue could be fun cr meeting; cue Lieutenant Little, who is very uncomfortable actually shooting things, paired with Vasiliy who is quite the opposite :) Taking it further with him getting hurt and Vasiliy patching him up a bit afterwards could be interesting, h/c is always a gr8 way to introduce characters and see how they do, if you might be down for it! OR if you have any other requests / thoughts, I'm absolutely here and flexible 👀