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redstringtheories2021-09-05 08:32 am
TDM #3
(cw: potential for severe disorientation/vertigo, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, body horror)
It happens in the blink of an eye. You may have been asleep. You may not have. You may have stepped through a door or turned a corner. You may have seen a flicker of something at the corner of your vision and turned to look. Or maybe you didn't.
It doesn't matter. What matters is that you find yourself somewhere entirely new and entirely unfamiliar. The arrival point is not always the same. (If you're lucky, it might be a canteen or an open office. If you're not, well... you aren't claustrophobic, are you? Or arachnophobic. These ducts do seem to be a bit cobwebby.) There is no one waiting for you but you don’t seem to be alone, either. Even in a janitor’s closet or the bathroom, you’ll find at least one person who seems to be just as out of place as you are.
If characters have arrived in a location devoid of NPCs, they may want to work together to figure out what is going on... or to avoid their 'kidnappers.' If you’ve arrived in the middle of the entry foyer or the gym, there may well be a few people who startle a bit at your arrival and try to approach (or discreetly leave the room... where are they going?). Will you cooperate or fight? Do you even understand what they're saying? You might need to find a translator, if you’re not immediately willing to follow a stranger.
After characters follow their new hosts (or are forcibly taken in) there will be a limited tour and the chance to settle in at the ADI-provided housing. (Do you enjoy living with strangers? Well. It's a new situation to navigate, anyway.)
(cw: animal death, both human and animal butchery, implied cannibalism, potential for flesh/small limb removal)
Weird things happen in Dogtown, everyone knows it. The Apocalypse Disruption Initiative (ADI) is not above taking advantage of that to test out the waters for its newest arrivals. They're not looking to send anyone to their death, though. That's far too much paperwork, you'd been assured with a wink from the employee who'd directed you to the park trailhead. You've been left with another person. Maybe they're a new arrival, as well, or a more seasoned 'veteran.' Either way, you're together for the next while and you've been asked to find and record any paranormal activity in the park. You have your phones and any other equipment you might have brought with you. Those who succeed in documenting anything peculiar will receive a $100 reward to be used as they see fit.
This month characters who venture into Dogtown will eventually stumble across what seems to be an abandoned camp. Its usage is fairly obvious: the remains of a hunting camp. And remains really is the operative word, considering that whoever used the camp wasn’t particularly fastidious about cleaning up after themselves. There are bits of various animal carcasses strewn around and by the looks of things the prey of these hunters was quite varied. Not all of them are prey animals either.
Stepping into the camp seems to have an effect: anyone who passes over the threshold to investigate will find themselves powerfully driven to mark themselves - or their partner - with lines that seem to indicate where a butcher might cut. There are black, red, and white paint pens littered around the camp that are perfect for this exercise. As they proceed, they will get the sense that once the lines are completely drawn, something will be coming along to make use of them.
Staying too long after those marks are completed - either through curiosity or through some other force - will result in a sudden unconsciousness. And when you wake up? (If you wake up…) Well. It seems the butcher has returned and taken just a bit more flesh. At least the wound is properly dressed, though. Thank goodness for small mercies.
(cw: altered perceptions and unreality/hallucination, body horror, dissociation, wounds, cancer, stalking)
Something is wrong with the mirrors.
Everywhere around Gloucester - at ADI headquarters, in ADI housing, at Bonnie's Flophouse, even in the bathrooms of mundane businesses (and, presumably, the homes of the innocent and uninvolved), looking in the mirror has become...risky. It's not predictable; it doesn't happen every time and may or may not happen to any given person the same way twice, but look into the reflection and you may see something that should not be there.
Perhaps your own reflection has changed, a face (human or monstrous) you don't recognize looking back at you, eerily in sync as though it has every right to be your true reflection… or un-synced from your movements, smiling knowingly at your distress.
Or maybe you still see your own face, but something about your body is warped, wrong: a growth or a seeping wound you can't find on your own physical form but that exists glaring and insistent in your reflection and feels, somehow, as though it's there in phantom form.
Maybe it's a pair of eyes watching from over your shoulder, hiding in the shadows, peering at you from every mirror you pass. Is it watching you from your reflection in that window, too? Is it growing nearer?
Possibly there's nothing wrong with your reflection at all, but the reflection of the room behind you stretches and twists, a view into an impossible, broken world that leaves you dizzy and wandering, lost down an imagined maze of hallways or following a phantom figure until someone else can snap you out of it.
Something is wrong with the mirrors. Best not to look again, lest you find out what else they have to show you.
(cw: hallucination, hypersomnia, vehicular accidents, potential for injury)
The summer is fading, and businesses around Gloucester have taken note. Fall decorations go up, and even some very early Halloween decor is on sale. The air is crisper in the mornings and evenings, the ocean breeze just a bit stiffer. There also seems to be a new melody floating around the town, one that leaves people feeling fatigued, heavy. Did you hear a snatch of it near the docks? Something that's vaguely familiar to you, nostalgic, almost. Maybe it's more a memory?
That song or memory seems to grow stronger when approaching the graveyards scattered throughout Gloucester. So, too, does the fatigue. Wouldn't it be nice to just sit down and rest? To close your eyes and let every worry that troubles your mind be soothed into the quiet oblivion of sleep?
Those most affected might find themselves passing out, and they always seem to do it when they are putting themselves in the most danger. You might drop while crossing a busy street or while riding a bike or some other wheeled mode of transportation. Those who investigate will find that traffic accidents seem to have seen an uptick recently, associated with the onset of these haunting tunes. They seem to be focused on the graveyards, but there's nothing immediately apparent there that might be causing problems.
Drink lots of coffee, and be careful trying to do anything. Stepping outside could be the last thing you do.
- ARRIVAL (Sep 1 - 21): Two people will always arrive in the same general location together. Arrivals occur throughout the early month, not all on the same day or in the same place. Arrivals are not naturally fluent in English/other languages immediately upon arrival. Characters may attempt to evade capture, but they will eventually be snagged before they can leave the building. PC's already in-game are more than welcome to interact with and try to guide new PC's to get them oriented. Please refer to the Arrival page for details regarding the arrival and onboarding process.
- THE BUTCHER'S CAMP (Sep 1- 24): Characters will only encounter the camp once. Everyone will feel the compulsion to draw carving lines along their own skin or that of the person they're with. If they stick around for long enough, they will pass out and may not wake up again. Those who do wake up will find that a piece of their flesh is missing and the wound has been bandaged. Whatever is taken will be non-fatal, but it will likely be inconvenient (e.g., some part of their calf or forearm, perhaps a finger or toe). Once ADI is made aware of injuries happening, they will stop sending people to Dogtown for training and only send people with the understanding that this is a potentially dangerous mission. Please bear in mind that if a character dies in the TDM prompt, they are dead. A different version who doesn't have TDM memories may be apped in their place. Similarly, injuries will not magically disappear. If your character loses a chunk of themselves, it is gone unless they can find someone who might be able to magically heal them. No one at ADI will offer this service, just mundane medical assistance. Magical healing is reserved for fatal injuries given the price of it!
- MIRROR, MIRROR (Sep 1- 24): Characters may encounter a mirror effects multiple times, and may experience the same effect each time or different ones. As noted in the prompt, there is no apparent rhyme or reason to when any particular mirror exhibits any particular effect. Within the first week of the effects becoming known, ADI will cover all the mirrors within their headquarters and send out an advisory for characters to do the same in their homes. Characters who experiment and/or interview locals will, after a lot of legwork, be able to ascertain that the effects seem to be most concentrated on the west side of town, nearest the empty fields where the Fenix Down Extravaganza had set up their circus tents last month, with additional concentrations around ADI-affiliated buildings and Bonnie's Flophouse. Mirror effects will gradually grow less frequent over the course of the month and cease to occur after the 24th.
- HAUNTING TUNES (Ongoing Effect): The tunes will be oddly familiar to the character, even if they are not from modern Earth. There are currently no ill effects from the song apart from inducing fatigue in characters. They can fight it off with coffee/caffeine, or other things they'd typically use to wake themselves up, but that tiredness always returns. An examination of the graveyard will not turn up a specific source. It just seems to be something there.
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[calls back the child's voice as if his name is the one being called because it literally is. He doesn't recognize this woman's voice, whether from his time in his universe or his time in this one. Yet either she recognizes him or "Loki" is the part she's grabbed onto amidst everything he yelled. That's worth investigating more than these mirrors, especially since his older self doesn't seem willing to talk. It must be an illusion without much substance, he figures.
So, without answering her other question, he heads into the women's restroom! Seemingly embarrassed by his outburst, he fiddles with his thumbs.]
Hello? I apologize for the noise. I... saw something.
[Which he realizes makes him sound like a scared little kid, but he'd rather be that than that ugly old man.]
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she is quite surprised, nonetheless, startling a little at his appearance in here, but finding something quite forgiving about it all seeing that he is, in fact, a kid. though confusing enraptures her for a moment, it is quickly replaced with concern.]
Was it in the mirror?
[this is exactly what she's been trying to avoid. finishing up with putting a cloth over the last mirror in the restroom, she walks up to him and, hesitantly, puts a hand on his shoulder, ushering him outside.]
It sounded like you were arguing with someone. [with loki???] I was going to cover them up.
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[He bristles at her touch, but doesn't fight the ushering. The mirrors may be covered in that room, but part of him still wonders if his vision lies beneath those cloths.]
That would likely be for the best. [Now that they're outside and any purpose of her hand on his shoulder is done, he slips away from her and readjusts his hoodie.] You'll find no one else in there, by the way. I was arguing with myself.
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wanda frowns in question, but turns her attention instead at the men's restroom. she holds on to the cloths she has remaining and finds herself with a few questions.]
I heard you say the name of a person I know.
[or a god, whatever.]
You're familiar with Loki of Asgard?
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I am Loki of Asgard.
[Loki points to the miniature horns on his head like that'll help.]
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she raises an eyebrow.
maybe it's just — younger loki??]
...let me cover the mirrors first.
[she retreats into the men's restroom (he may follow if he wishes to), quickly draping one of the cloths on the first mirror she approaches.]
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As he sneaks in behind her, his reflection sneaks in as well. The younger Loki stares himself down, while the other's smile remains the same as before.
It's not him, he tells himself. It's not you either.]
Not a very pleasant thing to see while washing your hands.
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wanda covers the last two mirrors quickly, making sure to tuck in the edges of the cloth securely behind them.]
I can only see the dead in my reflection.
[her brother, her lover, her friends, her sons—
turning to the kid, she feels that believing him is the right thing to do. the man in the reflection that she got to catch a glimpse of was unlike the loki of her world—and that's exactly the thing: who is to say this isn't the loki from a different world?]
I believe you. [she has to, in the end.] Though it is a little surprising... this place has done weirder. [hm] I'm Wanda.
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[No matter which Loki the mirror had shown, that would be true. At her name, he tilts his head.]
Maximoff, yes? [She doesn't look like the Scarlet Witch, but he finds it difficult to believe another Loki is out there meeting random non-magical women named Wanda.]
no subject
Yes. [uH—] Maximoff.
[she stares at him for a moment, trying to distinguish something about him, but finds herself drawing blanks. instead, she decides she doesn't actually want to be in the men's restroom discussing whatever this is—
and so, she steps outside, but narrows back onto loki soon as he exits the restroom, too.]
How do you know?
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[And he has the advantage in this situation, but that's not worth mentioning. Loki shrugs, explaining multiversal theory the same way he might explain an elementary math problem.]
You're familiar with some version of Loki, even if the two of us have technically never met. Your name is Wanda, which then narrows it down further. It makes sense then that you are some version of Wanda Maximoff.
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So, [she points at him] we've met before. As different versions.
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[However, that's usually Loki's thing, not hers.]
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[and, as inferred, it's more of a loki thing than hers. she crosses her arms; even if this is a version of loki, wanda sees him as a child, and she can't not act a little less guarded than usual for it.]
I imagine you've recently arrived. I advise you steer clear of mirrors for now. They haven't been working right since the circus that came by.
no subject
[His older self has officially been pwned. This is his way of coping, which Wanda has no right to judge him for.]
But recently, yes. I had heard talk of this mirror thing and wanted to see it for myself. I suppose now I have.
no subject
[what she managed to get a glimpse of certainly looks like a performer with a rather ridiculous act. wanda's feelings towards certain performers of the circus have left her, frankly, disenchanted by the whole affair.
and this kid certainly has the mannerisms of a norse god, stepping into danger despite the warning.]
Where are you staying? I imagine you've been told about this place already.
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[Guessing where this line of questioning is going, he adds]
You need not worry about me. Despite my appearance, I am still Loki. ... that is not an invitation to try and kill me, should you hold any grudges against my other selves.
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[wanda has no reason to dislike any loki. other than the whole new york thing, but far as she is concerned, her home country had been through worse for so much longer.
she is curious, still.]
What is the Wanda version you're familiar with like?
[and she might as well just roll with the punches.]
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I've never met her, not since I was reborn in this form. But I do have the internet, which is a reliable source as any.
[Loki thinks for a moment. He is a fan of the X-Men, but particularly the New Mutants so that seems like changing the subject. Oh right, there was that too!]
Her sons seem interesting. They were part of a team known as the Young Avengers. I like to think I'd fit right in if I weren't dead.
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regardless, it's the next words out of loki's mouth that catch her attention the most. her sons. the young avengers. she pauses, hesitant.]
You've met her sons?
[—echoes of voices calling for her across what she can only assume were different realms—]
What were their names?
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[They will eventually go on to sorta befriend this Loki's body. Just not this Loki.]
Billy Kaplan aka Wiccan. Tommy Shepherd aka Speed. Very boring hero names if you ask me. Although I suppose I should be thankful Kaplan no longer goes by Asgardian.
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You follow their...?
[excuse her for a moment as she finds herself veritably at a loss of a reaction. her sons exist in a different world, whatever that may mean, and if their (very boring) hero names are anything to go by, they hold the same powers wanda remembers them having in westview.
she draws closer to loki.]
Can you still check their Instagrams here?
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No. If I could use Instagram, do you think I would still be here?
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Guess not.
[it would only be too good if she could take a look at these children who were definitely not her children, but some other wanda's boys. if she has questions, she figures now that asking loki of all people might not exactly be fruitful. he is the god of mischief, after all.]
—don't go trying out things like the mirrors on your own. What happens here can be dangerous.
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I'm a god, not a child.
[A god with the appearance and mannerisms of a child, but still a god.]
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